Let me explain my self in this rant.

[Off Road]

I saw this answer on another forum and thought it was good and belonged in this thread. Maybe there is a happy medium in this reply.

Originally Posted by Some Other Guy

If someone plays a musical instrument, they are a musician. If they play a musical instrument professionally then they are a professional musician.

If you lift weights, you are a weightlifter. If you lift weights professionally then you are a professional weightlifter.

If you lift weights for the purpose of aesthetics, you are a bodybuilder. If you lift weights for the purpose of aesthetics professionally then......... you get my point.

[Fazc]

I really do not understand the preoccupation non-competitors have with being called 'powerlifters' or 'weightlifters' or 'bodybuilders'.

On the one hand I can see what people are saying, that my stance may come across as arrogant or condescending but I don't see this being considered the other way around. What are gym lifters saying when they label themselves in a way which makes it appear that they do the same things as people who actually compete. As I've mentioned in this thread already, competition is a very different kettle of fish to gym lifting and gym-lifters rarely appreciate that unless they have had some competition experience.

Just as I mean no disrespect to gym lifters I would ask people to consider what implications they are putting out there to competitors, when they as gym-goers want to be called 'powerlifters' without ever having set foot on a platform.

So again no disrespect to gym lifters, but at the same time let's call it what it is and not trivialise the hard work, financial commitments, money and time commitments that are involved in actually getting up there and competing on the day.

I can do a passable snatch & clean jerk and by anyones standards I'm in decent shape. I'm not going to be calling myself a bodybuilder or a weightlifter any time soon though. It is what it is.

[BendtheBar]

To me bodybuilder has a different connotation. Powerlifting is a sport. Bodybuilding is a process and a sport. If you search for the definition of bodybuilding, 9 times out of 10 you'll get something regarding physique changes and not a sport.

The Free Dictionary, for example:

exercise that builds muscles through tension

Whereas powerlifting is:

A weightlifting competition in which participants compete in the squat, dead lift, and bench press.

Wikipedia on bodybuilding:

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder.

On powerlifting:

Powerlifting is a strength sport.

My only point is that the general public views it in multiple ways, primarily as a transformation process. The sport of bodybuilding is seen as a freak show; a fringe side of the transformation process.

My 2 cents.

I called myself a bodybuilder for a long time. I certainly never meant to imply I was a competitor. 95% of the transformation stories I do, people say things like "then I found bodybuilding." Most people simply see bodybuilding as something that is personal, and not a sport.