Are you a "Real Bodybuilder" if you've never competed?

[rcp1936]

If you weight trained to change they way your body looked then I would say you were body building

[Young Gotti]

I actually did an interview awhile back called "I am not a Bodybuilder"...and I've never stepped on stage, i have no desire to step on stage though...just not an interest i have

so i work out 5 days a week and i follow bodybuilding...wouldn't call myself a bodybuilder even though it's dumb to label yourself anyway

[JG1]

Anybody else find this comment disturbing?

STEVE BLECHMAN:

-"I personally believe that Mr "O" isn´t about necessarily the biggest or the best physique on stage that day,it´s about the overall representation of the sport,and no one does it better than Jay Cutler..."-

Now, I don't believe competitive bodybuilding is a sport, but jeez, I do think the best guy should win, not the best representation of the sport.

[Curt James]

Editing an interview with Vlad Petric for Rx Muscle. Here's a sneak preview of a tiny section of that interview, relevant to this conversation...

Q.) At what point did you discover the sport of bodybuilding?

A.) There wasn't an actual point in time per se where I discovered the sport of bodybuilding. It was more so a progression into it. My lifestyle gradually began revolving more and more around health and fitness and it was only a matter of time before I started getting the questions and compliments in the gym. I think when people begin noticing that you look the part, that’s when you start feeling the part, and that is the point when I began toying around with the idea of actually competing as well.


Apologies to Steven Anixt, but I'd never call him a bodybuilder -- stage experience or not -- as he doesn't look the part.

Eddie Robinson, IFBB Pro, stated in at least one interview that he became a bodybuilder because he looked like a bodybuilder. Likewise Lenda Murray, who stated she always had her fantastic quads. Quads she would rather not have had before she became a bodybuilder.

Appearance has to be part of the equation. It certainly is in my mind or from my perspective. I can have as many gym memberships as a person can have, all the Gold's Gym t-shirts, every brand of supplements or bodybuilding gizmo, but if you don't look the part then it's just a joke. You're a fan. Or a guy who lifts weights. But you're not a bodybuilder. Recreational bodybuilder? What is that? No.

To each his or her own -- so far as answering this question -- but, for me, I'm much more comfortable calling myself a fan of the sport. And one who lifts and does cardio, but definitely not a bodybuilder. I'd feel out of place calling myself one. Kai Greene? Bodybuilder. John Meadows? Bodybuilder. Curt James? Fan.

[AnglicanBeachParty]

Anybody else find this comment disturbing?

STEVE BLECHMAN:

-"I personally believe that Mr "O" isn´t about necessarily the biggest or the best physique on stage that day, it´s about the overall representation of the sport,and no one does it better than Jay Cutler..."-

Now, I don't believe competitive bodybuilding is a sport, but jeez, I do think the best guy should win, not the best representation of the sport.

I agree with you. By that criterion, maybe Curt James could be Mr. Olympia. I think he's a great representative!

[Curt James]

The people who will ask or label you will most likely not know the difference anyway. I don't give a shit what they call me, after we leave the room they will be saying to themselves that they wished they looked this way whatever it is called!

A bodybuilder yes its a hobby, what I love to do . Thats what I'am doing building my body. Competitive, No, not yet anyway. So yes there is a difference with an extra word.

If I play baseball , I'am a baseball player when I play. If thats all I did then all I am is a baseball player.

How you (or any individual defines themselves) is what's the most important thing, but you definitely look like a bodybuilder. Plus the transformation you've accomplished would make you a bodybuilder to me.

[Curt James]

I agree with you. By that criterion, maybe Curt James could be Mr. Olympia. I think he's a great representative!

Steve Blechman is smoking the same stuff Isaac Hinds is smoking. lol

[Curt James]

AnglicanBeachParty? Bodybuilder.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

I look like a bodybuilder but I don't compete. I also dislike it when people call me a bodybuilder. For some reason, I don't want to be known as a "bodybuilder."

[RichDC2]

How you (or any individual defines themselves) is what's the most important thing, but you definitely look like a bodybuilder. Plus the transformation you've accomplished would make you a bodybuilder to me.

Thanks a lot Curt! I appreciate the kind words!

[soujerz]

I look like a bodybuilder but I don't compete. I also dislike it when people call me a bodybuilder. For some reason, I don't want to be known as a "bodybuilder."

Agreed bodybuilding is one of the many things i do in life as a hobby.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

Agreed bodybuilding is one of the many things i do in life as a hobby.

Yea, if I heard someone say "oh yea he is a bodybuilder" when talking to someone, I would not like it at all. I'd rather be called a big jacked dude

[BC123Jm]

Yea, if I heard someone say "oh yea he is a bodybuilder" when talking to someone, I would not like it at all. I'd rather be called a big jacked dude

but the truth is most just call you a "juice head" lol

[swingslammer]

Yea, if I heard someone say "oh yea he is a bodybuilder" when talking to someone, I would not like it at all. I'd rather be called a big jacked dude

This is precisely why you are not a "Real Bodybuilder" how can you be something you are ashamed or embarrassed to be called?

[swingslammer]

You have heard " I was country when country wasn't cool"? I was a Bodybuilder when it wasn't cool......when it finally was cool and now when it is not cool again.

" In and out of style since 1979" !