The psychology of those strangers who are "impressed" by you, the future of that?

[Loch Ness]

It is even harder sometimes being a female bodybuilder. I'm not a very big female, so I can't image what the pro female bb go through. It most be terrible. My parents were the worst. They have learned to not say anything now. They know it's just a topic that isn't up for discussion any more.

Yea women have it much harder. They are scrutinized by the general public, and to top it all off no judge can make up their freaking mind on what they are looking for.

 

[buselmo]

drive around in a ferrari and you'll have half the people saying "holy crap! that's an awesome car!!! what a lucky guy", and the other half will say "piece of shit show off... i bet he didn't even earn the money to buy it, he just inherited money and can buy anything he wants. i hate those people"...
this will never change with time cuz it's always been there.
same thing with bodybuilders... if you have 2.5 lbs of mass per inch of height and you are between 10-15% fat, you are big and ripped. just go back to when you were a normal person and didn't lift weights. when you see wrestlers and shit like that, they look fucking huge! but now? look back at the same fotage... not so big, are they? To us, 3 lbs per inch of height at 10-12% bodyfat is pretty good. not big, but pretty good. to normal people, that's fucking huge.
you know you are better than most people (physique wise) when you go jog outside wearing a tanktop and people look at you like they're saying "why the fuck are you wearing that? idiot." and if an obese dude wearing a tank top and short shorts passes by, they don't even act surprised. they just say "so?... that's normal... he's out exercising, that's what you should wear."...
The only place in the world where i saw bodybuilders by the handful walking around and people who are in shape roam the streets (and fat people are rare) is montreal. damn, i felt like i was a small fat dude ...

 

[Dave_19]

I don't see a trend toward more beautiful healthful people everywhere. I sure wish it was though. The trend is toward obesity now. We have the means readily available now to be healthy and people don't take advantage of it. There are all kinds of healthy foods available at the store, and instead they fill up the cart with soda, frozen pizza's and crap. I'm amazed at what people eat. Add to this in hard times when people watch their money, they tend to buy the cheaper fattening stuff. Fat tastes good and it fills them up cheaply. Protein is expensive. Big bodybuilders will always be a niche group. We do this because we like it. Add to that that most people are more AAS aware than they were years ago and you have many that look down on us if they think something is up. You can't even find a "bodybuilding" show or coverage of an Mr. Olympia on cable TV anymore. You could easily do that years ago. Of those that do like to stay fit, most will choose the "fitness" look, not the "big" look

So be it, I embrace the fact of being the minority.

 

[thebrick]

So be it, I embrace the fact of being the minority.

I totally agree Dave. Its all about liking who you are and embracing that. Nothing wrong with that, minority or majority.

particleacc has a point too. It's guys that check us out - presumably thats a primeval mating thing, where the biggest gets to shag all the women and the others look on!! If only that were true today!!

Good point. When I was at my biggest it was the guys that would say "looking good" or "looking huge". Then when I would diet down, the situation was flipped, it was the women that would say "you're looking good"

 

[phoenix13]

none of us embrace this lifestyle b/c it is easy. it'd be nice if the trend would be more fit people, and i hope that's what happens. a lot of people just don't want to willingly subject themselves to discomfort and rigorous discipline.

then again, "easy" is relative. i find doing what i have to do to create my physique to be a lot "easier" than it was to live knowing that i could've been doing better.

 

[brook]

Great thread. I love these threads that discuss the political and social aspects of being a bodybuilder... it has a massive (pun intended) social and political portion and it isnt analyzed enough IMO.

I fucking love it - the attention. Always during my younger years i wanted to stand out.. i had drug problems, mohawks, i fought, laughed.. whatever. I like being an exhibitionist.

I have trained with free weights for 10 years now and while i have gotten comments on my physique and muscular growth all the way back when at 5'8" i hit 150lbs.. (yes, really) but now at 200lbs it (the attention) is in a league of its own!
Men and women stare.. some positively, and some not so positively. But either way i stand out from the crowd.
Strangers now think it is appropriate to make comments to me.. whereas if i was terribly fat, people wouldn't say a thing - it is because they KNOW that when you look like we do, you are going to be proud of that fact. So even if they are being negative towards you, i remember they wouldn't express the same negativity to someone who was morbidly obese as they are just trying to take away from the pride that has been rightly earned by us.

These days - even with the masses of health and fitness advice and knowledge out there, not to mention the millions of personal trainers - people seem to somehow be even more unaware of how bad their posture has got, or how large their man boobs are or how ridiculously disproportioned their skinny-fat body is, and they ignore how embarrased they feel as soon as they have to remove their clothes for the beach, doctor, new g/f etc..

To conclude, my view is this: I like bodybuilding being non-conformist, non-commercial, non-mainstream. I also KNOW it always will be that way as no matter the technological advances in chemistry and mechanics there will always be the need for long sacrifices of time and most importantly, masses of hard work to build large muscles. Most of the humans we meet on the street are not too fond of that prospect IME!

Brook

 

[sguinn]

That being said, when I am out in public and even when I
am working out in the gym I rarely, if ever, wear revealing
clothing, usually wear long sleeved shirts and long pants.

I feel the same way. Some guys at the gym walk around with tight everything and constantly look at themselves in the mirror. It's kind of annoying but to each his own I guess. Sometimes I wish the gym had a rule that everyone had to go up one shirt size.(Ladies would be excused from this rule of course). One video that I have that still sticks with me is Dorian Yates' Blood and Guts. He wears oversized shirts for the biggest part of the video and I always thought that was cool. There's plenty of time to admire oneself in the mirror at home.

 

[GoneForever]

Once the MS blockers come out I really only think its gonna benefit bodybuilders. Regaurdless, your still gonna have to pound weights and train like a bb'er to look like one. The MS blockers will help but its not gonna turn your average joe into a freak. Your still not gonna get 18" arms from concentration curls and 30" quads from leg extensions.