Bodybuilding is not a sport.

[Soundness]

In which "posing" would be that skill?  I think that hurts your argument more than it helps it.

What I'm trying to justify is WHY people consider something like bodybuilding or racecar driving a sport...

Simply saying "it's a sport" doesn't get us anywhere at all. So, I ask, "what made people call these sports?"

Ask yourself, "what makes a beauty pageant not fall into this category, of 'sport'?" Big men instead of small women doesn't draw the line.  

Sucking in your stomache, maintaining perfect posture, maintaining the most attractive look on your face possible, portraying desired personality, putting forth the effort and discipline necessary for rigorous pre-competition preparation including diet and training do involve achieving a physical form and expressing muscle control similar to bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is a beauty pageant. Either both bodybuilding AND BEAUTY PAGEANTS are sports or bodybuilding is not a sport but is rather a beauty pageant...

[GoneAway]

Soundness, you seem to know alot about beauty pagaents. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but it's also clear that you know little about the sport of bodybuilding if you can't see how it classifies as a sport. Instead of typing here with misguided information, I suggest you visit the IFBB's website and educate yourself on the judging criteria and what the sport of bodybuilding is about.

[G o a t b o y]

If bodybuilding is a sport, so is taking a shit.

[Soundness]

Soundness, you seem to know alot about beauty pagaents. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but it's also clear that you know little about the sport of bodybuilding if you can't see how it classifies as a sport. Instead of typing here with misguided information, I suggest you visit the IFBB's website and educate yourself on the judging criteria and what the sport of bodybuilding is about.

That doesn't address the issue constructively. You're saying since there's judging criteria it's a sport? We're running in circles, that's just competition and in that case anything that involves competition would qualify as a "sport." And yes, I've known a couple females that participated in beauty pageants.  

[chaos]

If bodybuilding is a sport, so is taking a shit.

Debussey would be the Mr Olympia of taking shits.

[webcake]

Is golf a sport?

[webcake]

Yes.





Bodybuilding, however, is not.

Yes, bodybuilding is not a sport and bodybuilders are npt athletes.

[Soundness]

Is golf a sport?

SEE, it's the skill we should be looking at. THAT'S what makes people classify something as a sport, not "physical exertion."

It's the skill, and perhaps the fact is bodybuilding may be a sport, but so may be a beauty pageant. Like it or not, that's classification.  

[gordiano]

Is golf a sport?

Nope. Requires skill, but virtually no athleticism. It can be done by non-athletes, the elderly, et cetera.

[gordiano]

SEE, it's the skill we should be looking at. THAT'S what makes people classify something as a sport, not "physical exertion."

It's the skill, and perhaps the fact is bodybuilding may be a sport, but so may be a beauty pageant. Like it or not, that's classification.  

By your definition/standard, Poker would be a sport, but it's not, since it requires ZERO athletic ability.

[Soundness]

By your definition/standard, Poker would be a sport, but it's not, since it requires ZERO athletic ability.

FALSE. Here's my newly-formulated definition of a "sport," hope you like it.:

An activity involving competition of some type of physical skill between two or more people.

So, it requires simultaneous:
1) competition, and
2) physical skill

Yes, bodybuilding does qualify. Like it or not, "sport" is a category and that's how we as humans classify.

[GoneAway]

That doesn't address the issue constructively. You're saying since there's judging criteria it's a sport? We're running in circles, that's just competition and in that case anything that involves competition would qualify as a "sport." And yes, I've known a couple females that participated in beauty pageants.  

It's clear you have a very closed mind in relation to this arguement. You WANT to believe that it is not a sport and will not accept rational arguement that it is.

I'll simply state that if it's a skill you're looking for, then read the judging guidelines on what skill they require of the competitors in order to decide who should win. That should be fairly easy to understand. The rest is upto you.

[chaos]

Still not a sport.


Professional bodybuilding is a male beauty pageant.

[Earl1972]

Bodybuilding is a sport and the LA Times agrees with me

E

[Soundness]

Bodybuilding is a sport and the LA Times agrees with me

E

Earl, once I considered classifying sports in terms of SKILL, not "physical exertion," it made sense why things like golf, racecar driving, etc... are considered "sports." We were looking at the wrong thing; we should have been looking at skill. I came to agree that bodybuilding is a sport.

Here's my newly-formulated definition of a "sport," let me know what you think.:

An activity involving competition of some type of physical skill between two or more people.

So, it requires simultaneous:
1) competition, and
2) physical skill

Yes, bodybuilding does qualify. Like it or not, "sport" is a category and that's how we as humans classify.

[Earl1972]

Earl, once I considered classifying sports in terms of SKILL, not "physical exertion," it made sense why things like golf, racecar driving, etc... are considered "sports." We were looking at the wrong thing; we should have been looking at skill. I came to agree that bodybuilding is a sport.

Here's my newly-formulated definition of a "sport," let me know what you think.:

An activity involving competition of some type of physical skill between two or more people.

So, it requires simultaneous:
1) competition, and
2) physical skill

Yes, bodybuilding does qualify. Like it or not, "sport" is a category and that's how we as humans classify.

i knew you were a smart guy

E

[The Master]

Could the G4P aspect of pro BB be called a sport? It do involves physical exhaustion and stripping skills. When there are many BB's doing it simultaneously, it could involve some competition when trying to get the money and attention from the highest paying sugah daddy.

[body88]

Bodybuilding is a sport and the LA Times agrees with me

E

Newspapers can be wrong.  They make mistakes all the time.  You have been shown why bb is not a sport.  As I said before, truck driving is a sport under your rules.

[The Master]

its prostitution for sure.. but still not a sport.

Please explain your position, and base your arguments on the definition of a sport (and the criteria it outlines).

[Soundness]

my position is this - selling your ass for cash is a transaction... not a sport.
 
a bodybuilding show is really a flesh market... men from the audience watch.. see which piece of ass they lust after the most.. and then buy that piece of ass.
 
its an activity - a lifestyle.. a glorification of flesh. just because you have a group of *judges* subjectively placing them in a particular pecking order onstage does not make it a sport. there is no real winner or loser.. just a bunch of lust crazy clowns.

OK so you're basically saying people win bodybuilding shows not because of what they do at the shows (skill) but because of what they do outside the shows? I get it and probably true, at least for the olympia. 

[The Master]

even if a bodybuilder won a show based on judging... the judging itself is subjective. its very much like a beauty pageant... is miss America an athlete because she was judged victorious at her pageant?
 
that's silly... though I do think the miss america girls could use the ifbb as an example - the girls need to be in thongs and oiled up at ALL times.

A lot of sports uses a judging system that = strongly colored by subjectivity.

Debussey must go and drink some piss and sperm now, will eat your arguments later sperms

[Soundness]

even if a bodybuilder won a show based on judging... the judging itself is subjective. its very much like a beauty pageant... is miss America an athlete because she was judged victorious at her pageant?
 
that's silly... though I do think the miss america girls could use the ifbb as an example - the girls need to be in thongs and oiled up at ALL times.

Conventional beauty pageants are about 70% sport (physical skill competition), if that makes any sense. The other 30% is non-physical skill and therefore non-sport. Therefore, we tend to only consider those competitions which depend 100% SOLELY on the performance of the physical skill to win them.

So, it could be argued that although bodybuilding involves physical skill it may not qualify exactly as a sport IF we can prove that winning it does not depend 100% on the physical skill (posing) performance. Apparently this is what you're getting at, and it's probably true...

[Soundness]

I googled the word *sport* for a definition.
 
these are the first two definition that came up -
 
1.an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition
2.the occupation of athletes who compete for pay

its a tough call... it can really go either way.

bodybuilding has those elements to be sure but its also a beauty contest.

They're wrong and they're confused, because that does not explain why activities like racecar driving and golf are "sports" when in fact they are...Through this thread I believe I came up with a valid definition. This is it:

An activity involving competition of some type of physical skill between two or more people.

So, it requires simultaneous:
1) competition, and
2) physical skill

Think of any sport in the world, especially the strange ones. By this definition above they all qualify. Looking at things in terms of competition with skill, NOT physical exertion reveals how we classify something a "sport." It is based on skill.

(The reason people are confused is because they're not using SKILL as the vital component, they don't realize this.)

[Soundness]

yeah.. at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. I'm content to call pro bodybuilding a meat market.
 
the truly disgusting part of the industry are the supp companies... oh the lies

True. Like everything else, including the population's knowledge base, it's all commercially driven. The world is about marketing for money.
$$$$$$

[chaos]

Still not a sport.