Who's buffest of 'em all?

A competitive bodybuilders' epidermis is literally thin. It makes every flexed muscle and protruding vein look like it's going to pop out of the skin.

Some contestants thin their skin with diuretics, a dangerous practice that's known to cause heart attacks. Others down gallons of distilled water in the week preceding a contest and then hardly a drop 24 hours before show time, which results in all of the fat-retaining sodium being sucked out of the dermal layer as the liquid is excreted.

"That basically shrink-wraps your muscles," Evans said.

A bodybuilding contest is a snapshot in time. The months of military presses, leg curls and dips along with a disciplined diet void of sweets culminate in a few minutes on stage where contestants try to look their ripped best.

The Orem competition did not feature those supersize hulks who fill the pages of muscle magazines, the ones who push as many anabolic steroids as weights. There were no testosterone-boosted "she males" squeezing the femininity out of the "weaker" sex.

But that doesn't mean there were no steroid users in the group. Haycock, who has judged competitions, had little trouble pointing them out, adding "it is not cheating."

Though steroids are illegal and in the same classification of drugs like heroin, professional bodybuilding has all but given up on testing. Usage is rampant at the sport's highest level where a bigger body means bigger money. Unless a contest is specifically advertised as "natural," Haycock said, steroid-induced muscles are not only accepted but expected.

Boswell did not require urinalysis at the Orem contest because he said it runs as much as $2,000 a test. Competitors will be subject to a polygraph exam for the "Natural Utah Cup" next spring, he said.

Local amateurs, who compete for trophies not prize money, say they favor the natural approach.

"I don't go for any of that acne-making stuff," said Pleasant Grove resident Todd Clawson, 22. "I want to be healthy, in shape and look good. If I want to live long, (taking steroids) kind of defeats my purpose."

Bodybuilders' diets do include a variety of nutritional supplements, including protein powder, creatine, glutamine and vitamins. The bodybuilders lift, run, bike and hike.

And eat tuna.

Sticking to a high-protein, low-carb diet void of sugar and fat may be the hardest part of training. Rather than three big meals a day, bodybuilders eat five or six small ones to keep the metabolism going. The idea is to get as lean as possible. Competitors will drop about 20 pounds in training.

"You want to bring out as much dense muscle as possible," Milne said.