I cringe when people call this a sport. I love weightlifting but the “sport” bodybuilding seems like a joke to me…getting that fake orange tan, putting on a speedo, flexing on stage being judged by a bunch of other men.
Bodybuilding is neither a sport nor a pageant. It’s artwork, sculpting. Arnold said it best in Pumping Iron. Bodybuilders are essentially creating a work of art and their bodies, weights and diet are the mediums used. The competition itself is not a pageant at all. It’s more like a showing or an exhibit. Sure, there is competition involved because there is a winner at the end, but if you went to an art show where judges decided whose sculpture or painting was the best, and the artists created their art specifically to win based on a set of criteria, that wouldn’t make the physical act of making the art a sport, nor would it make the exhibit/competition a pageant.
People’s perception of what “good” art is changes over time and the changes occur as a result of key influential artists (Van Gogh, Picasso and Warhol all helped change what “good”, contemporary art was). Bodybuilding is the same. In Arnold’s day, symmetry and definition were important, whereas now size seems to be a more important factor. But it’s still art. It’s a different kind of art than what people are used to, and painters and sculptors might feel otherwise, but it’s still art.
[quote]Mutu wrote:
I cringe when people call this a sport. I love weightlifting but the “sport” bodybuilding seems like a joke to me…getting that fake orange tan, putting on a speedo, flexing on stage being judged by a bunch of other men.[/quote]
It sounds like you have more of a problem with your own sexuality. You could make playing football sound gay using your way with words.
“I cringe when people say, “I play football”. Playing a game like that as a grown man just seems like a joke to me. Putting on those tight tight spandex pants that just squeeze your butt cheeks together, putting war paint under you eyes and then playing games and taking showers with big sweaty mens…ooooh, honey, I think I may need a minute!”
I bet you could do the same for a librarian:
“I cringe when people say, “I’m a librarian”. Spending time around all of those lifeless objects just seems like a joke to me. Putting away books with their Haaaard covers and firm long binders while trying to remain quiet as you slowly stroke each page faster and faster and faster until…Damn, that was a good book!!”
Bodybuilding is a pageant and it’s a sport. The world wide web has tons of dictionary sites that could easily resolve this for you.
Sport:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
A particular form of this activity.
Pageant:
An elaborate public dramatic presentation that usually depicts a historical or traditional event.
Even though Bodybuilding fits the above definition of a sport, not all sporting definitions require physical activity (Golf, Pickup sticks, poker), what they DO have in common is competition. That is what seperates fitness buffs, gymrats from Bodybuilders. Even hobbyist bodybuilders are in constant competition with themselves and others to be bigger, more ripped, and of greater physical aesthetics. It even seperates forum members, there is a clear distinction in the advice given between members who seek just to look good and those that follow the sport.
If you are not interested in bodybuilding you have no right to question it’s sports status. Simply put when you are not a fan of a sport you think it;'s less of a sport or not one at all.
I can easily say golf doesn’t require running, jumping, strength blah blah blah so it’s not a sport but the truth of the matter is it just bores me so I dont’ like it.
Any other dumb questions?
Can’t call it a pageant on account that it just sounds gay.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Mutu wrote:
I cringe when people call this a sport. I love weightlifting but the “sport” bodybuilding seems like a joke to me…getting that fake orange tan, putting on a speedo, flexing on stage being judged by a bunch of other men.
It sounds like you have more of a problem with your own sexuality. You could make playing football sound gay using your way with words.
“I cringe when people say, “I play football”. Playing a game like that as a grown man just seems like a joke to me. Putting on those tight tight spandex pants that just squeeze your butt cheeks together, putting war paint under you eyes and then playing games and taking showers with big sweaty mens…ooooh, honey, I think I may need a minute!”[/quote]
You’re right, after that extremely gay imagery you posted in your second paragraph there I guess I’m the gay one.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
In the grand scheme of things, do it really matter? Calling it a sport, a pageant or a zwygersborg (made up word) has absolutely zero impact on the actual content (bodybuilding).
Take a table for example… lets say that I now decide to claim that it is not a table but a chair. Doses it actually change the physical appearance of the object? NO!
So you can call bodybuilding anything you want. Claiming its a pageant (or a sport) has absolutely no bearing on the nature of the activity.
Starting tomorrow my name is David… will that change who I am? Will I look different, think differently, act in a weird way? NO! I’ll still be the same person regardless of how you call me![/quote]
I disagree.
Changing your name to David will give you over 9000 cool points. I have this on the best authority.
Way back in the mists of time, midway through the last century there wasn’t that great a difference between those who did Olympic Lifting, powerlifting or bodybuilding or even strongman. Winners/competitors in one discipline often competed in one or both of the others. There are a lot of crossovers happening even in the current era.
Bodybuilding = strength training with an emphasis on aesthetics
Powerlifting = strength training with an emphasis on generating maximum force
Olympic lifting = strength training with an emphasis on generating maximum power
This whole business of creating separate categories of what is really a continuum of training results serves no one and whether one pursues BB or OL or PL is purely a matter of preference. The sniggers and finger pointing of one camp at the others is becoming really ridiculous, since there is so much crossover and more similarity than difference among the disciplines.
If I snigger and fingerpoint, then really what I’m doing is trying to make myself feel better about the choice I’VE MADE, rather than having any real commentary about the discipline I’m attempting to denigrate. Please stop y’all and give each other some respect.
Body building in its most formal sense is a judged competition of muscular symmetry, proportion and size. In that respect I’d call it an art, because people are subjectively voting on worth of a given talent, much like gymnastics, diving, or an art auction for that matter. Regardless of the fact that physicality is involved, in the end there is no direct competition against a pre-established opponent or standardized system. Winners are decided entirely subjectively, I think that’s the difference between hockey and football versus figure skating and bodybuilding. If you score more goals you’ll win… if you do the most triple axles or have the lowest BF it isn’t a guarentee.
That being said I love bodybuilding and am in no way demeaning it. And I think powerlifting is a sport, the highest lift number with proper form will win. No subjectivity. Bodybuilding or weightlifting for your own sake is a hobby(which I do myself). It also takes physical exertion to collect stamps… just not as much.
Bodybuilding-art
Powerlifting/Strongman-sport
Weightlifting- Hobby
Fair?
Bodybuilding is a Beauty pageant for men. It’s all about how you LOOK and not Perform. Simple answer. Thats why it was always looked down upon. Seemed silly for men to be so vain. But aside from all that, who cares. If you like it do it.
Comparing bodybuilding to gymnastics or figure skating is an insult to bodybuilding, gymnastics and figure skating etc.
Maybe there is some political voting in gymnastics or figure skating but they have required moves they need to do with specified fluidity and also other moves that are reasonably judged according to difficulty which can be scientifically determined.
While in bodybuilding they just go out there with random, self-chosen music and strike poses that they wish will appeal visually to the judges but have no way of knowing whether they are going to be appealing or not. In every other real sport you have a pretty good idea of what you need to do in order to win but in bodybuilding you’re on your own in the dark and moving in a way that any healthy person can move in.
Obviously a lot of hard work goes into getting the proper physique but what matters is the competition. Chess players lift weights, box and do yoga on their off time but playing a board game is their athletic endeavour and that’s what counts.
Perhaps the bodybuilder who wins looks the most ‘powerful’ to more people than not but athletically it could be compared to high jumpers going on stage in shorts and elevating just a few inches off the ground for giggles and jogging about and the judges wondering who looks like he could jump the highest.
While those guys did all their jumping in their training time, they would refuse to jump high during the actual competition.
I hope it does not sound like I’m shitting on bodybuilding because I’m not. I think it’s cool but not really a sport. Just a very physical endeavour, a male pagent.
call it whatever the hell you like, shouldn’t matter to anyone who does it.
synchronized swimming is a sport
I’ve never really understood what the big deal with defining all this stuff is, bodybuilder, powerlifer, natrual, etc etc.
Not everything has to be put away in a perfect little box.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JEATON wrote:
CT, perception is the largest component of reality. Start calling it the Mr. Olympia pageant, and you audience begins to look even more like a San Fran YMCA. I dare say that the drive and passion the competitors feel are in some way diminished. I can get my juices up for a contest. A pageant, not so much. You change the culture almost overnight. Culture drives everything.
BTW, shouldn’t that Canuch ass be asleep by now?
Ok then, so it’s a sport. Why? Because the International Olympic Committee has recognized it as such about 8 years ago.
The actual definition of a sport is:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
Or…
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
These are the accepted definition by the IOC.
Is bodybuilding a physical activity? I personally don’t think that we can include training into the discussion. The ‘sport’ itself needs to be performed in a competitive setting. So is a bodybuilding competition a physical activity? 8 years ago, when I was still an olympic lifter I would have said NO. At that time posing didn’t look physically demanding to me.
BUT I have changed my mind when I actually competed in bodybuilding. Listen, I played football, rugby, hockey, soccer, baseball and competed in olympic lifting. And I can honestly say that posing in contest settings is one of the most demanding things I’ve done. The amount of energy you burn is immense. Every single muscle group needs to be flexed as hard as possible, oftentime this goes on for 30 minutes. Heck, isometrics for 12 seconds are hell… imagine for 30 minutes!
So yes, bodybuilding IS a physical activity AND it does involve physical exertion.
Is bodybuilding following judgement rules? Yes! People will argue that it is a subjective sport. True. But so is figure skating, gymnastics, diving, synchro swimming, etc. The fact is that there ARE rules and judgement standards. But sometimes the judges get subjective.
But is that different from hockey, where the referees basically stop calling penalties in overtime, or during the playoffs?
It is a sport. Maybe not a noble one, but according to the recognized definition, it is. Which is why it was officially recognized as such.[/quote]
This should have ended the thread, Instead, we get guys who start threads about “the disadvantages of getting bigger” (who apparently think 160lbs at 5’11" is what we should aim for) giving us the definition of an activity they either don’t understand or despise.
I could care less what you call it. I just find it hilarious that guys who are so underdeveloped they would avoid saying most of this publicly to anyone with any real size on them love to log into this site so much to tell us how much they hate bodybuilding or find it silly.
I personally wouldn’t call something that involves people weighing over 250lbs of solid muscle they built doing squats with more weight than most people lift in a life time a “pageant”…but hey, if using semantics allows you to sleep better at night due to what you haven’t been able to do in the gym, more power to you.
My guess is, no one is thinking “pageant” when one of these fuckers who are bigger than most bouncers in Texas walks through the door. But call it what you want. You jokers still stare way too much when I lift and competition is simply what you do with what you built…the real battle took place for years in the gym and you don’t do that by being a pussy.
[quote]stevo_ wrote:
call it whatever the hell you like, shouldn’t matter to anyone who does it.
synchronized swimming is a sport
I’ve never really understood what the big deal with defining all this stuff is, bodybuilder, powerlifer, natrual, etc etc.
Not everything has to be put away in a perfect little box.[/quote]
Look at the types of people rushing to call it a “pageant”…then look for pictures.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JEATON wrote:
CT, perception is the largest component of reality. Start calling it the Mr. Olympia pageant, and you audience begins to look even more like a San Fran YMCA. I dare say that the drive and passion the competitors feel are in some way diminished. I can get my juices up for a contest. A pageant, not so much. You change the culture almost overnight. Culture drives everything.
BTW, shouldn’t that Canuch ass be asleep by now?
Ok then, so it’s a sport. Why? Because the International Olympic Committee has recognized it as such about 8 years ago.
The actual definition of a sport is:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
Or…
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
These are the accepted definition by the IOC.
Is bodybuilding a physical activity? I personally don’t think that we can include training into the discussion. The ‘sport’ itself needs to be performed in a competitive setting. So is a bodybuilding competition a physical activity? 8 years ago, when I was still an olympic lifter I would have said NO. At that time posing didn’t look physically demanding to me.
BUT I have changed my mind when I actually competed in bodybuilding. Listen, I played football, rugby, hockey, soccer, baseball and competed in olympic lifting. And I can honestly say that posing in contest settings is one of the most demanding things I’ve done. The amount of energy you burn is immense. Every single muscle group needs to be flexed as hard as possible, oftentime this goes on for 30 minutes. Heck, isometrics for 12 seconds are hell… imagine for 30 minutes!
So yes, bodybuilding IS a physical activity AND it does involve physical exertion.
Is bodybuilding following judgement rules? Yes! People will argue that it is a subjective sport. True. But so is figure skating, gymnastics, diving, synchro swimming, etc. The fact is that there ARE rules and judgement standards. But sometimes the judges get subjective.
But is that different from hockey, where the referees basically stop calling penalties in overtime, or during the playoffs?
It is a sport. Maybe not a noble one, but according to the recognized definition, it is. Which is why it was officially recognized as such.
This should have ended the thread, Instead, we get guys who start threads about “the disadvantages of getting bigger” (who apparently think 160lbs at 5’11" is what we should aim for) giving us the definition of an activity they either don’t understand or despise.
I could care less what you call it. I just find it hilarious that guys who are so underdeveloped they would avoid saying most of this publicly to anyone with any real size on them love to log into this site so much to tell us how much they hate bodybuilding or find it silly.
I personally wouldn’t call something that involves people weighing over 250lbs of solid muscle they built doing squats with more weight than most people lift in a life time a “pageant”…but hey, if using semantics allows you to sleep better at night due to what you haven’t been able to do in the gym, more power to you.
My guess is, no one is thinking “pageant” when one of these fuckers who are bigger than most bouncers in Texas walks through the door. But call it what you want. You jokers still stare way too much when I lift and competition is simply what you do with what you built…the real battle took place for years in the gym and you don’t do that by being a pussy.[/quote]
The real battle is hard and the difference between bodybuilding and a sport is that in the sport, the competition matches the training. If a slim 5’11 shows up at a track competition looking like the 5’11 high jump olympic gold medalist Stefan Holm, he will not be handed any credit unti he actually succeeds the jump. Somebody could be just born very explosive and athletic (or muscular) and not have to train at all (unlikely but not impossible) but they would still have to make the jump or whatever a real sport requires.
Sport: Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively
So:
-
Is it a physical activity? Yes. If you’ve ever tried getting into the proper poses, flexing for all you got, you would see it as a physical activity. Plus, the individual routines are part dance part show and that is definetly physical activity.
-
Is it governed by a set of rules? Yes. See: Mandatory Poses
-
Is it engaged in competitively? Of course.
[quote]Alffi wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
JEATON wrote:
CT, perception is the largest component of reality. Start calling it the Mr. Olympia pageant, and you audience begins to look even more like a San Fran YMCA. I dare say that the drive and passion the competitors feel are in some way diminished. I can get my juices up for a contest. A pageant, not so much. You change the culture almost overnight. Culture drives everything.
BTW, shouldn’t that Canuch ass be asleep by now?
Ok then, so it’s a sport. Why? Because the International Olympic Committee has recognized it as such about 8 years ago.
The actual definition of a sport is:
Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
Or…
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
These are the accepted definition by the IOC.
Is bodybuilding a physical activity? I personally don’t think that we can include training into the discussion. The ‘sport’ itself needs to be performed in a competitive setting. So is a bodybuilding competition a physical activity? 8 years ago, when I was still an olympic lifter I would have said NO. At that time posing didn’t look physically demanding to me.
BUT I have changed my mind when I actually competed in bodybuilding. Listen, I played football, rugby, hockey, soccer, baseball and competed in olympic lifting. And I can honestly say that posing in contest settings is one of the most demanding things I’ve done. The amount of energy you burn is immense. Every single muscle group needs to be flexed as hard as possible, oftentime this goes on for 30 minutes. Heck, isometrics for 12 seconds are hell… imagine for 30 minutes!
So yes, bodybuilding IS a physical activity AND it does involve physical exertion.
Is bodybuilding following judgement rules? Yes! People will argue that it is a subjective sport. True. But so is figure skating, gymnastics, diving, synchro swimming, etc. The fact is that there ARE rules and judgement standards. But sometimes the judges get subjective.
But is that different from hockey, where the referees basically stop calling penalties in overtime, or during the playoffs?
It is a sport. Maybe not a noble one, but according to the recognized definition, it is. Which is why it was officially recognized as such.
This should have ended the thread, Instead, we get guys who start threads about “the disadvantages of getting bigger” (who apparently think 160lbs at 5’11" is what we should aim for) giving us the definition of an activity they either don’t understand or despise.
I could care less what you call it. I just find it hilarious that guys who are so underdeveloped they would avoid saying most of this publicly to anyone with any real size on them love to log into this site so much to tell us how much they hate bodybuilding or find it silly.
I personally wouldn’t call something that involves people weighing over 250lbs of solid muscle they built doing squats with more weight than most people lift in a life time a “pageant”…but hey, if using semantics allows you to sleep better at night due to what you haven’t been able to do in the gym, more power to you.
My guess is, no one is thinking “pageant” when one of these fuckers who are bigger than most bouncers in Texas walks through the door. But call it what you want. You jokers still stare way too much when I lift and competition is simply what you do with what you built…the real battle took place for years in the gym and you don’t do that by being a pussy.
The real battle is hard and the difference between bodybuilding and a sport is that in the sport, the competition matches the training. If a slim 5’11 shows up at a track competition looking like the 5’11 high jump olympic gold medalist Stefan Holm, he will not be handed any credit unti he actually succeeds the jump. Somebody could be just born very explosive and athletic (or muscular) and not have to train at all (unlikely but not impossible) but they would still have to make the jump or whatever a real sport requires. [/quote]
I kind of wish MacGuyver would wrap you up in duct tape then poke you for hours with paper clips.
[quote]Alffi wrote:
The real battle is hard and the difference between bodybuilding and a sport is that in the sport, the competition matches the training. If a slim 5’11 shows up at a track competition looking like the 5’11 high jump olympic gold medalist Stefan Holm, he will not be handed any credit unti he actually succeeds the jump. Somebody could be just born very explosive and athletic (or muscular) and not have to train at all (unlikely but not impossible) but they would still have to make the jump or whatever a real sport requires. [/quote]
What? People all over the planet are born with different genetic advantages. Some guys are just faster than everyone else. They still had to fucking train to be in the Olympics but they were still born with advantages over their peers. Why do you hold this AGAINST bodybuilders but accept it in all other sports?
What bodybuilder do you know of who reached a HIGH LEVEL PRO COMPETITION without training for years for it? Even Ronnie Coleman didn’t just walk into a stage for the first time without years of training behind him.
You are speaking out of your ass…much like most of you who try to degrade what you don’t measure up to.
[quote]:
Alffi wrote:
The real battle is hard and the difference between bodybuilding and a sport is that in the sport, the competition matches the training. If a slim 5’11 shows up at a track competition looking like the 5’11 high jump olympic gold medalist Stefan Holm, he will not be handed any credit unti he actually succeeds the jump. Somebody could be just born very explosive and athletic (or muscular) and not have to train at all (unlikely but not impossible) but they would still have to make the jump or whatever a real sport requires.
[/quote]
this makes no fuckin sense at all.