If his postings on other threads and boards are a guide, Bay has no problem with skimpy trunks - or no trunks - in the right context.
It seems to me that what trunks are worn in bodybuilding competitions can or should be determined by three factors.
First, fashion. The high-waisted trunks of the 1940s (some covering the navel) look dated today and would probably look almost prudish if worn either on stage or on the beach. Board shorts are common beach wear nowadays (although they are not much use for a bodybuilding contest), but speedos were more popular some years ago; extremely brief posing trunks have never been standard wear in public (on stage or beach) except for the most extroverted.
Second, individual body-type. Long or short legs, a long or short torso, wide hips, appendix scars and other idiosyncrasies can be emphasised or downplayed with a higher or lower waist or a high- or low-cut leg or a straight-across or V-cut waistline on the trunks. And, as someone has already said here, the size (or lack of size) of the trunks can add or detract from the illusion of physique size.
Third, the occasion. A bodybuilding competition open to the public, with competitors and audience-members of a variety of ages and backgrounds, is a bodybuilding contest - not a package contest or a shredded-glutes contest - and so competitors should dress accordingly and appropriately for the time and place. What might be appropriate or indeed expected in a What a Hunk thread on another board is not the same as what is appropriate on the competitive stage.
