BayGBM --There is a difference between shmoes like yourself and normal bodybuilding fans. Shomes take pictures to jerk off to later on and normal bodybuilding fans take pictures because it aspires the to train harder, because they may want to look like that one day, gives them memory of the show.
One of my good friends is no not into bodybuilding and never saw bodybuilding contest. I took him to continental show in st.Charles, IL. He is the one who took the picture of branch warren. He did not take it for sexual reasons, he took it just to show it off to his friends and girlfriend (IFBB Pro is a huge shock value to regular people).
The only thing i hate about bodybuilding contests is when some bodybuilders start to pose like they are strippers (king kamali is one of them). That becomes extremely embarrassing to watch.
I can’t speak for any other gay guy, but when I go to BB show I am not in a sexual frame of mind. Nor am I interested in pix I can “jerk off to later.” If I want muscle sex I’m perfectly comfortable going out and getting the real thing so I don’t need to settle for the titillation of a BB show. Similarly, if I wanted to do so, I could go out and get all the muscle porn I wanted within a mile of where I live. Not many mainstream BB fans would feel comfortable doing that.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again: these contests and magazine spreads are for “straight” and bi-curious guys who want to satisfy an impulse that they do not really want to face or give voice to. If you want to get in shape--great!--but you are not going to do it by attending bodybuilding shows or snapping photos of Branch in a thong.
When so many of your bodybuilding heroes work as strippers, muscle escorts, wrestle escorts, pose for muscle gallery, offer private posing sessions, etc. that should make you rethink what is really going on in this sport from which you draw so much inspiration.
Developing a nice body as a by-product of real sports activity (run, jump, lift, swim, etc) is admirable. Developing a nice body simply so that other men will look at you is gay.