BBing: Sport or Beauty Pageant

Training Bodybuilding
1

Some on thie site classify BB as a sport others a Male beauty Pageant. The debate was getting pretty heated in the thread “Sock it to Me,” so it was suggested that a thread be started to end the hijack. Here it is.

According to me, BB is a sport. A BB competition is an all year event. It encompasses everywhere from training, to diet, and tanning. Everything needs to be perfect. Yes, the BBer’s are being judged on looks, but those “looks,” would not have been achieved w/o the sport of weightlifting. Weightlifting is a sport were you compete w/ yourself to achieve new numbers and measurements. This leads up to the competition where you are judged against others achievements.

2

Well, I haven’t heard of a case where another contestant has laced another participants clothe or tan product with pepper spray. So I say its a sport.

3

Hopefully this can stay civil…

Do those of you who consider bodybuilding to be a sport consider modeling to be one, as well? I, for one, do not consider bodybuilding to be a sport, just as I do not consider modeling to be one, either.

Models, like bodybuilders, employ both diet and exercise in order to be successful in their given field.

Models shave, tan, suit up and step out onto a catwalk. Bodybuilders shave, tan, hammock up, and step out onto their catwalk - the stage - to strut their stuff.

Bodybuilding is more in line with a male beauty pageant, as the participants are judged (for the most part) solely on their appearance - whether or not they embody whatever the ideal, “beautiful” male figure happens to be. Whatever “training” they go through - the minute they step on stage - enter into a bodybuilding competition - that is what is boils down to. There is no assessment of performance, really, just how good they happen to look that day.

I don’t know - I happen to find it is more in line with a beauty pageant than a sport in the traditional sense (basketball, football, even golf). I’m sure one can dredge up a definition of sport to make it fit, but I am speaking more of a traditional sport vs. a beauty pageant.

Of course, I don’t consider there to be anything wrong with that, and I don’t think that it detracts from the achievements of anyone who DOES compete - it takes more guts and balls than I have got. But I just have a lot of trouble looking at it the way I do soccer, tennis, or baseball, etc.

It should be noted that I don’t think professional eating, or chess, or even NASCAR are sports, regardless of what ESPN tries to make me watch.

4

I’d love to spend a lot of time arguing about whether bodybuilding is a sport or not.

5

i think a sport has to have a certain standard in order to win. a definite way to achieve points and points tallying to a win. bodybuilding is completely up to the judges, thats it. i wouldnt call it a beauty pagent, i would call it bodybuilding. it is its own genre.

6

[quote]Legcutter wrote:
Hopefully this can stay civil…

Do those of you who consider bodybuilding to be a sport consider modeling to be one, as well? I, for one, do not consider bodybuilding to be a sport, just as I do not consider modeling to be one, either.

Models, like bodybuilders, employ both diet and exercise in order to be successful in their given field.

Models shave, tan, suit up and step out onto a catwalk. Bodybuilders shave, tan, hammock up, and step out onto their catwalk - the stage - to strut their stuff.

Bodybuilding is more in line with a male beauty pageant, as the participants are judged (for the most part) solely on their appearance - whether or not they embody whatever the ideal, “beautiful” male figure happens to be. Whatever “training” they go through - the minute they step on stage - enter into a bodybuilding competition - that is what is boils down to. There is no assessment of performance, really, just how good they happen to look that day.

I don’t know - I happen to find it is more in line with a beauty pageant than a sport in the traditional sense (basketball, football, even golf). I’m sure one can dredge up a definition of sport to make it fit, but I am speaking more of a traditional sport vs. a beauty pageant.

Of course, I don’t consider there to be anything wrong with that, and I don’t think that it detracts from the achievements of anyone who DOES compete - it takes more guts and balls than I have got. But I just have a lot of trouble looking at it the way I do soccer, tennis, or baseball, etc.

It should be noted that I don’t think professional eating, or chess, or even NASCAR are sports, regardless of what ESPN tries to make me watch.[/quote]

While I don’t want to agree with this. But I find that I do. Never really thought about it before, but Hmmm, it’s kind of close to a pageant…

7

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
i think a sport has to have a certain standard in order to win. a definite way to achieve points and points tallying to a win. bodybuilding is completely up to the judges, thats it. i wouldnt call it a beauty pagent, i would call it bodybuilding. it is its own genre.
[/quote]

That’s a nice way out! I’ll subscribe!

8

I do not believe it is a sport. But it is a form of competition.

9

I’m gonna have to say that Bodybuilding is more of a sport than a lot of other stuff out there, even if the winner is determined in a subjective manner.

People who say Bodybuilding is a beauty pageant usually have never made any significant body transformation to understand how hard these guys work to look the way they do on stage.

10

I never thought of it as a beauty pageant before, but since you brought it up, I would say COMPETATIVE bodybuilding is more of a male beauty pageant. It makes just as much sense to say that as it is to describe figure competitions as female beauty pageants.

Outside of competition, I see it as a fitness activity.

11

[quote]Rugby_Owns wrote:
I do not believe it is a sport. But it is a form of competition. [/quote]

Isn’t that basically the definition of a sport.

12

I don’t get these discussions honestly. It’s like the word sport has some sort of special meaning to people and if what they do isn’t deemed a sport it’s less reputable. People can call this whatever they want; sport hobby competition beauty pagent, whatever let’s them feel good about themselves.

13

From Wikipedia: [quote]A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition based mainly, though not always entirely, on the physical beauty of its contestants…Beauty contests for men, like Mr. Universe, are more likely to be “body building” contests-quite unlike the traditional “beauty contest” in which women are judged upon many attributes both physical and otherwise.[/quote]

Of course, it is Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt.

It also refers to bodybuilding as a being a sport, though.

I would think that maybe some sort of middle ground would be in order if any sort of consensus is to be reached.

14

I agree with Scott. Who cares anymore?

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[quote]Legcutter wrote:
From Wikipedia: A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition based mainly, though not always entirely, on the physical beauty of its contestants…Beauty contests for men, like Mr. Universe, are more likely to be “body building” contests-quite unlike the traditional “beauty contest” in which women are judged upon many attributes both physical and otherwise.

Of course, it is Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt.

It also refers to bodybuilding as a being a sport, though.

I would think that maybe some sort of middle ground would be in order if any sort of consensus is to be reached.[/quote]

I like it, sport and “Physique Pageant,” beauty pageant seems to feminine. Are we in agreeal?

16

Why is this even being discussed? This is so stupid Who cares what word’s definition bodybuilding falls into. I think its a male beauty pageant sport competition. Any arguments?

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[quote]GetSwole wrote:
Why is this even being discussed? This is so stupid Who cares what word’s definition bodybuilding falls into. I think its a male beauty pageant sport competition. Any arguments?[/quote]

damn, sounding hostile, if it so stupid why comment in the first place?

18

Alright, I’ll just publically apologize for bringing up a “stupid” topic. The discussion in the other thread was getting kind of heated so I thought it would be better to bring it here. My bad.

19

i agree with the later posters…who cares what we call it? it’s what we do, it’s how we eat, it’s how we train, it’s how we view life. if that doesn’t say enough, then words fail me.

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[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
GetSwole wrote:
Why is this even being discussed? This is so stupid Who cares what word’s definition bodybuilding falls into. I think its a male beauty pageant sport competition. Any arguments?

damn, sounding hostile, if it so stupid why comment in the first place?[/quote]

not hostile, I understand your ending the hijack of the other thread…I just think its so pointless it never should have been discussed in the first place but you are in fact right…why should I comment. enjoy