A real sport?

[Rich Knapp]

white people have to get that silly "orange" looking tan.

Exactaly what people don't understand about the sport. That orange look comes from lack of prep and knowing the PH of your skin. There are many tanning products and ways to apply them all depending on your skin and its PH and stage lighting set up. All part of prep and competition is who preps the best. This is another one people think is cookie cutter and its far from it no matter if your pro or not. Just your personal attention to detail and carring to be your best is what brings you to pro.

One thing I really don't understand is the tanning. Black people have an automatic advantage when white people have to get that silly "orange" looking tan. They look like a poster child for skin cancer.

Sorry, but even "black" people have to tan. The lights bleach every one out. Tanning is so muscle definition shows up under the bright lights and don't get washed out.

If a person fully expereanced what it take to pull off the illusion to beat each other or even someone tape mesure size bigger than us and what we comptitive bber do, there out look would change.

I'm not taking the amitures that just work out then diet a little and prep like a knowledge less kid.

I'm talking the hard core bbers that knows its not about beating anyone, but only about beating your own last stage package.

You can't control what others do. Only what you do.

The term "Sport" is subjective to the people looking at the defonitions and THERE out look on what fills them.

As long as people just say "ya ok" then it stays that way. A good exaple is BMX bike riding and Skate boarding in a 1/2 pipe. Its was made a sport.

You say "Yes but they have to hit certain stunts for points." The proper execution of a stunk is subjective to judges.
BBers have to hit poses and the best poser gets the points also subjective to judges..

Yes there will be people that pull out dictionary's definitions but humans and there subjectivity wrote the dictionary.


To me and IMO , knowing what we go threw: Yes it is viewed as a sport to hard core competitive bbers. Anything that has a division between amiture and Pro division/static, and you can win money as a pro, is a sport.

[Off Road]

Bring back the lifting portion of the bodybuilding competitions...

[mikethemighty]

I can see it from both points of view. It is a sport because you do exert yourself. But I also see it more as a competition as well. It is just how you really look at things.

[_J_]

Naturally, being an American, I think there are only a few real sports: American Football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. Yea, I guess futbol counts, as does autoracing and every olympic sport.

There are a few activities that cannot be sports imo--things like hunting and fishing. They are not sports b/c both sides don't know they are playing.

Is bodybuilding a sport? Yes, in the same way that ice-skating and synchronized swimming are sports. They are all judged subjectively by a panel in an event that isn't about how strong, fast, coordinated, explosive, or enduring you are. It's a less artistic version of how well you present your previously-achieved hard work.

[Tannhauser]

Originally Posted by _J_

Is bodybuilding a sport? Yes, in the same way that ice-skating and synchronized swimming are sports. They are all judged subjectively by a panel in an event that isn't about how strong, fast, coordinated, explosive, or enduring you are. It's a less artistic version of how well you present your previously-achieved hard work.

That's an interesting comparison, but ice-skating or ice-dance routines do involve explosive lifts and jumps, speed across the ice and coordination. Synchronised swimming involves a lot of coordination and endurance. These elements are really integral to the judgements made on them.

I was just going to write - again - that movement and athleticism has to be part of the activity for it to be a sport. Then I thought about shooting, which is in the modern pentathalon, and archery. Where that leaves me with bodybuilding, I'm not sure. It still seems to me more of a moving aesthetic display than a sport.

[_J_]

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

That's an interesting comparison, but ice-skating or ice-dance routines do involve explosive lifts and jumps, speed across the ice and coordination. Synchronised swimming involves a lot of coordination and endurance. These elements are really integral to the judgements made on them.

I was just going to write - again - that movement and athleticism has to be part of the activity for it to be a sport. Then I thought about shooting, which is in the modern pentathalon, and archery. Where that leaves me with bodybuilding, I'm not sure. It still seems to me more of a moving aesthetic display than a sport.

Perhaps a hypo will help us flesh this out.

Suppose the following activity and ask yourself whether it is a sport:

I am an artist and I compete with other artists in a competition. We each have to produce a small art collection and present it as an exhibit. Whether it is paintings, sculptures, oil, charcoal, or watercolor, etc is up to you. Whether your art is abstract, popular, classical, etc. is up to you as well. In making the exhibit, we must make decisions on lighting, props, and how the exhibit will be hung, attached, displayed. The exhibits are judged by a panel of art experts.

Is this a sport? The art/muscle must be made. Sure, natural talent is involved, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to produce a good, balanced, and cohesive exhibit/body. The decisions on how the pieces will be displayed is akin to posing, tanning, and knowing how your body appears under different lighting. The judging is basically the same panel judging the exhibit/body in a subjective manner.

What do you think Tannhauser? If that comparison holds up, I have to say that it sure doesn't sound like bodybuilding is a sport.

[Tannhauser]

Originally Posted by _J_

Perhaps a hypo will help us flesh this out.

Suppose the following activity and ask yourself whether it is a sport:

I am an artist and I compete with other artists in a competition. We each have to produce a small art collection and present it as an exhibit. Whether it is paintings, sculptures, oil, charcoal, or watercolor, etc is up to you. Whether your art is abstract, popular, classical, etc. is up to you as well. In making the exhibit, we must make decisions on lighting, props, and how the exhibit will be hung, attached, displayed. The exhibits are judged by a panel of art experts.

Is this a sport? The art/muscle must be made. Sure, natural talent is involved, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to produce a good, balanced, and cohesive exhibit/body. The decisions on how the pieces will be displayed is akin to posing, tanning, and knowing how your body appears under different lighting. The judging is basically the same panel judging the exhibit/body in a subjective manner.

What do you think Tannhauser? If that comparison holds up, I have to say that it sure doesn't sound like bodybuilding is a sport.

I do think that comparison holds. An artistic competition is a good analogy.

I think that elevates bodybuilding's status.

[Ryano]

Sorry folks...but this is not a sport to me. It's borderline disgusting to me:

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by Tannhauser

That's an interesting comparison, but ice-skating or ice-dance routines do involve explosive lifts and jumps, speed across the ice and coordination. Synchronised swimming involves a lot of coordination and endurance. These elements are really integral to the judgements made on them.

I was just going to write - again - that movement and athleticism has to be part of the activity for it to be a sport. Then I thought about shooting, which is in the modern pentathalon, and archery. Where that leaves me with bodybuilding, I'm not sure. It still seems to me more of a moving aesthetic display than a sport.

Well, if it helps any, the Oxford definition of sport also covers skill which I guess would apply to archery, chess and such.

[ricka182]

In my brains dictionary :

Sport: Noun : [spohrt] -

An athletic event requiring direct competition from other humans, and not subject to human judging.

Examples of sports:

Football(both kinds), Basketball, Lacrosse, Track and Field, and as much as I don't like them, cycling and swimming also qualify.

Examples of non-sports, but possibly still requiring athletic prose and skill :

Gymnastics, ping pong, bodybuilding, cup-stacking, golf, chess, shooting, fishing, auto-racing, lumberjack stuff, spelling bee, to name a few.

I don't give much weight to ping pong or cup stacking. I'm not claiming they are easy. Some of those kids move their hands too fast for me to see when building a tower of cups; and if it helps keeps them off the streets, all the power to them. But it doesn't belong on ESPN, or any other sporting coverage network. Also, I am a racing fan, and have been an avid golfer for years, so I'm hitting down on my own activities. But in the long run, the discussion itself is never-endlingly subjective to individual definition of the term, sport.

$0.02