Are bodybuilders "athletes"?

[body88]

they aren't just standing there being judged, they need to proper posing skills to show off their body

i don't see a person that walks like they have two left feet ever being a good poser

E

Neither is a Miss America contestant. Is she a pro athlete?

[noworries]

Correct, however, in a bodybuilders case, they are not an athlete because they are judged on the way the look, not their athletic performance.

i like this

[Earl1972]

holding your breath and making your muscle hard is I guess a form of physical exertion. But being a mover, person who digs holes, loads trucks, and many other "jobs" require much more physical exertion than what a BB displays on stage.  

those jobs aren't organized competitions

those jobs are more physically exerting than baseball, maybe basketball too i felt more fatigued loading trucks at ups in high school than i did playing basketball for a few hours

E

[Earl1972]

Mine. I don't always believe what I read.

lol we're talking about the dictionary here, not a column in a newspaper



E

[Earl1972]

Neither is a Miss America contestant. Is she a pro athlete?

still waiting for somebody to tell me the physical exertion in a miss america pageant

if you guys used the dictionary, you would know physical exertion is required for "sport"

E

[FREAKgeek]

Huh? The Spirit of athleticism? A sport is defined by athletic competition that decides a winner based on performance. Not by how you look. BB is not a sport.

You can interpret performance as how well you have built muscle, how well you have dieted, and how well you present it.

[body88]

still waiting for somebody to tell me the physical exertion in a miss america pageant

if you guys used the dictionary, you would know physical exertion is required for "sport"

E

Posing on stage... the crux of your entire argument is that the level of athletic execution should not be what defines an athlete.

Here is the bottom line: bodybuilders are judged based on their looks, which makes them pageant contestants.

[pellius]

That might mean they lack intelligence. Drug users kill themselves to achieve a high, does that make them athletes too since they beat the shit out of their body?

I don't equate recreational drugs with performance enhancing drugs. And no where did I imply that physical abuse, in and of itself, is any form of athleticism.

Virtually all, if not all, sports that require strength, flexibility, endurance and extreme athleticism whether it's power lifting, football, gymnastics, MMA, basketball, tennis, wrestling... entails some degree of physical abuse. No one gets through their athletic career without suffreing some form of injury. Physical health often takes a back seat to athletic performance and an ambitious athlete will willingly sacrifice the former for the latter.

[Ursus]

Once again BBuilding is a time consuming pasttime that requires a lot of willpower, dedication and effort.

Bodybuilders are not athletes

Bodybuilding is a pasttime.

[haider]

still waiting for somebody to tell me the physical exertion in a miss america pageant

if you guys used the dictionary, you would know physical exertion is required for "sport"

E

oh my fucking god, what physical exertion is required in a bodybuilding contest? LOL!!!! Posing? Walking the stairs up the stage? Give me a break.  

[Chick]

oh my fucking god, what physical exertion is required in a bodybuilding contest? LOL!!!! Posing? Walking the stairs up the stage? Give me a break.  

What was it like when you competed?

[Ursus]

Hey come on Levrone ran a fucking 6.5 40yard dash.

That is pretty damn athletic!

 

[haider]

What was it like when you competed?

Sure, posing may nto be as easy as one thinks. But to use tha to qualify bodybuilding as a sport seems utterly ridiculous to me.

More often than not, the person who looks best on stage wins. How hard or how long you're able to pose without getting tired contributes very little to how the contest is judged. Feel free to critcise that statement.

[Chick]

Sure, posing may nto be as easy as one thinks. But to use tha to qualify bodybuilding as a sport seems utterly ridiculous to me.

More often than not, the person who looks best on stage wins. How hard or how long you're able to pose without getting tired contributes very little to how the contest is judged. Feel free to critcise that statement.

Of course it seems ridiculous to you...you have no expertise in the matter.

That said, posing is the means by which BBers display their physique...it's not the sole indicator of whether or not one wins, but contributes greatly....

I've seen many over the years, win, or lose contests because they had an inability to display their physique....and have seen many tank out because they werent properly prepared to do it at the pro level

BB is an art, and a sport...one of the few that is comprised of so many different variables, culminating with the competition.

It is what it is....

[Ursus]

It is a competition no doubt.

Not a sport.

[Chick]

It is a competition no doubt.

Not a sport.

Not to you

[GRACIE JIU-JITSU]

 Olympic sport discussion

In the early 2000s, the IFBB was attempting to make bodybuilding an Olympic sport. It obtained full IOC membership in 2000 and was attempting to get approved as a demonstration event at the Olympics which would hopefully lead to it being added as a full contest. This did not happen. Olympic recognition for bodybuilding remains controversial since many argue that bodybuilding is not a sport.



 Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[Cleanest Natural]

have seen many tank out because they werent properly prepared to do it at the pro level

BB is an art, and a sport...one of the few that is comprised of so many different variables, culminating with the competition.

It is what it is....

 

WTF are you thinking ??

[haider]

Of course it seems ridiculous to you...you have no expertise in the matter.

No one else here is an expert on what consitutes or does not constitute a sport either.

First of all, I don't agree with Earl's definitition as I do consider golf to be a sport, which is not a heavily physical sport but in its essence is physical.

That cannot be said about bodybuilding: it is first and foremost about how you LOOK, NOT what you DO.

That said, posing is the means by which BBers display their physique...it's not the sole indicator of whether or not one wins, but contributes greatly....

I've seen many over the years, win, or lose contests because they had an inability to display their physique....and have seen many tank out because they werent properly prepared to do it at the pro level

Ok I have no experience and have little knowledge of how physically demanding posing actually is for extended periods of time. It is clear however that is the bare minimum that you should be able to do to survive in a contest.

But I can say with a fair degree of certainty that this is not what separates the great bodybuilders from the not so great ones. It probably accounts for 5-10% of bodybuilding success.

BB is an art, and a sport...one of the few that is comprised of so many different variables, culminating with the competition.

It is what it is....

I may nto agree that it is a sport but I don't say that to demean the activity or people who partake in it. I highly respect people who are successful at bodybuilding.

[Chick]

 

WTF are you thinking ??

About what?

[WillGrant]

Once again BBuilding is a time consuming pasttime that requires a lot of willpower, dedication and effort.

Bodybuilders are not athletes

Bodybuilding is a pasttime.

Big Dumb John , who said you could remove the dunce hat and come out of the corner and speak? 

[Ursus]

Not to you

It's only a sport if you want it to be a sport.

[haider]

It's only a sport if you want it to be a sport.

actually thats not exactly but chick said 

[Ursus]

Genuinely takes a hell of a lot of efforty and dedication and time to bodybuild properly.

Kinda like restoring an old race car to show at a car event. Can take many years to complete it, prepare it and work on it so that it is in its old racing condition.

This alone is not a sport IMO.

[Chick]

It's only a sport if you want it to be a sport.

uhhhh...yeah, OK