ive witnessed the end of bodybuilding with my own eyes...

[jr]

[BayGBM]

now why would a self proclaimed straight man wonder about such things

Very good question. 

[local hero]

Very good question. 

We need answers damn it!!!... Seriously tho, this shit is ruining the 'sport' at amature level

[Howard]

Yeh it brings money in, it would make me think twice if I were a competitor looking to compete, if I were going to compete these days id switch to NABBA, at least you'd get treated with a bit respect instead of being rushed on and off

It does make money, but NOT by bringing in more fans of the sport.
It's a yearbook 101 business model.

Everyone pays an inflated entry fee to be seen on stage.
Their friends/family buy a ticket to see them .

99% of the crowd is a friend or relative of those in the show.

[Viking11]

The charismatic personalities of today will bring BB back

   I see your point.. but he does have a ridiculous amount of muscle there. Criminy

[Azure]

It does make money, but NOT by bringing in more fans of the sport.
It's a yearbook 101 business model.

Everyone pays an inflated entry fee to be seen on stage.
Their friends/family buy a ticket to see them .

99% of the crowd is a friend or relative of those in the show.

Agreed. They are smart to leave bikini and physique until last because the majority of people there are friends and family members of competitors. It doesn't translate well at the pro level either because Friday night at the Olympia, the arena started filling up when the men's open was on. I don't think bikini belongs on the main stage. I think the main stage should be men's open, 212, figure, and women's physique (which is really where  women's bodybuilding should have staged.

At the Olympia, the women's physique had a nice crowd. A lot of us were friends and family but still. I thought the Ladies who didn't know anything about bodybuilding  would want to stay for the men's physique since they thought men's bodybuilding was horrible except for 1 or 2 guys, but they weren't interested.

[local hero]

From what I can gather the British finals are going to be split into 2 days, with all the mens&womens bikini one day and bodybuilding the next which won't be so bad

[Alfurinn]

its invention and popularity has probably more to do with weak male identity than sexual orientation.

The concept of a muscular body as the ideal for men was created in Greece by homosexual men in ancient times. As I said, there is a topic where this has been discussed.

Now, today's bodybuilding has been associated with an identity crisis among middle class heterosexual men who see their masculinity as weak or threathened by the visibilisation of male homosexuality and women assuming roles deemed "for men".

[The Abdominal Snoman]

Just been to a British qualifier to watch a mate, there were half a dozen n each bodybuilding class, there were 35 odd in mens bikini, similar with womens in all the various classes... They had to realy rush the bodybuilding to accomodate the other classes

As an actual show it was shit, and I feel fir the guys who've trained and dieted and spent £'s on gear to get a poxy 2 mins and not even get to do an individual routine...

Its the beginning of the end, sad times....


Also, mens bikini is the gayest thing I've ever witnessed, total homo's

They kind of did the same thing with the Arnold this year. Men's bodybuilding is going the same route as Female bodybuilding... Extreme use of drugs Bodybuilding is heading back down to extreme cult status. Exactly where it belongs...The cat is out of the bag on how much drug use it takes to do what their doing.

[Mothballs]

 Jay Cutler was mr olympia all those times because he was a good manion stooge and had no problems kissing the ring. 2009 was his only legit win.

Last bodybuilding show (NPC) I attended had maybe 10 bodybuilders total. I think it was something like 2 bantams, 2 middles, 3 light heavies and maybe 3 heavies no supers.

 There were 4 mens physique classes each with a good 30-40 competitors in each.

Figure used to be popular at one time there may have been 10-12 of these girls divided in 2 classes.

Bikini was like mens physique 4 classes about 30 deep.

The show went on for like 4hrs or longer.

All NPC shows are now 90% physique and bikini. Times changed so has the industry. I went to the arnold classic this year and watched how the IG/Facebook social media fitness guys had lines going across the expo to see them and then I walked past bodybuilders who competed at the Olympia or even the Arnold with maybe one person seeking a picture or an autograph. Nobody cares or even knows who they are. It's all about the IG fitness "celebs", tattoos, pre-workout powder and the word "hustle" on their clothing. lol