The sport has shifted from looking good and proportional, to overly large and freaky. While I still appreciate the hard work that it takes to achieve much is the result of better drugs .There also is this atmosphere of the so called toxic male that makes it less appealing to the masses. But screw them.
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Got to agree with you here. Miss John Meadows, a man of great wisdom. B-Town!!!
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Me too. I believe it was the first thing that got me interested in strength. We also went to a Power Team event, which influenced me as well. I am not sure which was first? I remember thinking at the time that I really wanted to be strong like those guys.
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Well nothing about me is gay but growing up in the 80’s and 90’s body builders were inspiring because that’s the body I wanted for me. They were like super hero’s. We did it for the ladies until we realized that most women thought it was gross. Women prefer the Mens Physique look so therefore that’s what I train to look like. Let’s be honest, it was always about the womens haha
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When I read again and again how great Nick Walker is and how he’s the future of professional bodybuilding and then SEE Nick Walker, I think of something Ronald Reagan said, modified for the situation, “I didn’t leave professional bodybuilding. Professional bodybuilding left me.”
I think Nick Walker perfectly represents everything that is wrong with professional bodybuilding. When I look at him all I see is a drug addicted mess. Well, that’s not all. I also see someone likely to die soon.
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No one but, casuals and people who watched Fouads podcast believed that. He is young, active on social media, and has a freak factor that some like. Markus Ruhl looked like shit and many liked that freak look same with Branch Warren.
Everyone else can clearly see that it is moving towards flow and aesthetics. There is a reason Derek Lunsford, Samson Dauda, Andrew Jacked, among the others I listed are making waves.
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As good as that sounds, it was never about the women. If I went by what any woman said when I was with them, it was always, “You don’t need to get any bigger.” This was the same tune whether I was 160lbs all the way up to 240lbs.
So, I must conclude: It was never about the women. It has always been about me.
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It started, for me, being about the women.
Then I got the woman, and she didn’t really care that much (she still preferred muscle over not-muscle though). I’ve added 40lbs muscle since then and she was happy when I was ‘normal’… making it no longer about the woman.
Now I have a little woman who is fast approaching the age of being a big woman - and the muscles are again for her. And by ‘for her’, I mean ‘to scare the fuck out of any idiot boys thinking they’re going to take my daughter anywhere’.
It went full circle for me.
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I always liked strongman. Very relatable.
Running with a keg? Thats saturday night when the cops showed up.
Logs, stones, and other odd heavy stuff- Yardwork.
Donning a banana hammock and getting oiled up?
. 
.
I did like body building as a kid. A few of my cousins were into it and introduced my to weight lifting when I was just a tyke.
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It started for me being a fat chubby kid that got made fun of before puberty. Then I fell in love with lifting weights.
I certainly never did it for the women.
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Ditto
Went from a fat 245 at 6’2 who couldn’t bench a plate or squat more than 185 down to 215 at 6’3 and then gradually to where I am today (with a short stint being a fatass again in grad school - I hit 315 at one point - yikes).
Now I do it to control health issues and not get messed with.
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I’m not suggesting everyone in to bodybuilding is gay. Just a much larger portion of the audience than likely recognized in the 90’s and especially 80’s. Specifically in the context of dwindling fandom correlating with general openness to homosexuality (and mainstream outlets for homosexuals).
I have disagree it’s all about the ladies though. And that training to fit a mould they like is motivation. This is what learning to shittily play an acoustic guitar is for.
I was introduced to weight training through athletics, and liked it. It’s fun being strong. I suppose I was in to “big and strong” before it was an online category.
But I’m just poking, we all do things for our own reasons.
Also, how is everybody actually quoting posts when responding? When I hit reply I just leave an awkward, often off topic comment many comments later.
If you hold your finger on the first word to quote, a blue box with tabs will appear. Then pull the tabs to cover the whole part you want to quote and hit the box that appears below that says “quote”.
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I graduated high school at 6’1 around 245 yolked and natty. Once I hit puberty, I shot up and got muscular and grinded myself in the gym.
I was the guy lifting weights after practice 4 days a week. I was also mean as shit, if I did not like you. I could never stand bullies and still can’t.
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