Can Bodybuilding be accpected as a sport by the general public?

[HulkRow]

its the question weve asked for along time, and still the sport of bodybuilding seems "kinda out there" to most ,reason being people generally think drugs and "ulgy freaks" when talking about the sport we love.

the media is not going to help us by spreading around rumors and lies about drugs and the sport, ofcourse it gos on but not like they tell it.

if it is to became accepted as a sport then the drug issue has to be faced ,if the media showed how hard these guys/girls trained and dieted i bet alot of people would change there views.

but there are alot of different factors stopping this, the question is why?

 

[Lao Tzu]

How is it a sport? sports involves action, the attainment of goals/accomplishments. Bodybuilding is no more a sport than a swimsuit competition is a sport.

 

[WODIN]

7 entries found for SPORT.
sport ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spôrt, sprt) n.

Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
A particular form of this activity.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
An active pastime; recreation.

Mockery; jest: He made sport of his own looks.
An object of mockery, jest, or play: treated our interests as sport.
A joking mood or attitude: She made the remark in sport.

One known for the manner of one's acceptance of rules, especially of a game, or of a difficult situation: a poor sport.
Informal. One who accepts rules or difficult situations well.
Informal. A pleasant companion: was a real sport during the trip.
Informal.
A person who lives a jolly, extravagant life.
A gambler at sporting events.
Biology. An organism that shows a marked change from the normal type or parent stock, typically as a result of mutation.
Maine. See summercater. See Regional Note at summercater.
Obsolete. Amorous dalliance; lovemaking.

 

[Lao Tzu]

If bodybuilding is a sport then beauty paegents are a sport.

 

[WODIN]

Curling is a sport.
Bowling is a sport.
Softball, the bubba of all sport is a sport.

It's a sport.

 

[Frackal]

It's a sport nordstrom. It is a display of athletic ability...and the answer is no, not in it's current form

 

[distanced]

it can't be accepted as a sport cause it requires the use of illegal drugs. for that reason it will never be fully accepted

 

[Lao Tzu]

it can't be accepted as a sport cause it requires the use of illegal drugs. for that reason it will never be fully accepted

Wrestling & football require alot of drugs too. they are still considered sports.

 

[Bullit]

It is a display of athletic ability

What? Ability?
Bodybuilding is SKILLLESS. Zero skill.
You dont need coordination, timing, balance. Just time and effort.
Anyone can do it.
Everyone is equally as 'good', or can easily be as good. Eg: squats... once you know the technique you are as 'skillful' as anybody else. Once technique is down the only thing that seperates people is the weight itself. Pushing more weight isnt a sign of more skill... just more time/gear/genetic potential.


Bowling and Softball are WAY more 'sporting' than BB.

 

[minion]

Body building is not a sport. I agree with those that say Bowling and Golf is more of a sport if BB can even be considered as a sport. At least Power lifting deals with facts.
It won't be accepted because its unable to be regulated or quantified.

 

[saint808]

I don't consider bodybuilding a sport because you can't compete with a clear cut winner it's based on what judges think... much like a beauty pageant... altho i think they call those figure competitions for girls who are not athletic and can only shave their ass down so far.

 

[Testosterone boy]

Power lifting and the ilk are sports. Bodybuilding is not a sport. May be a religion however.

 

[HWY Patrol]

I don't consider bodybuilding a sport because you can't compete with a clear cut winner it's based on what judges think... much like a beauty pageant... altho i think they call those figure competitions for girls who are not athletic and can only shave their ass down so far.

Would you consider figure skating and diving (both springboard and platform) sports?

 

[PURE EXTRACT]

What? Ability?
Bodybuilding is SKILLLESS. Zero skill.
You dont need coordination, timing, balance. Just time and effort.
Anyone can do it.
Everyone is equally as 'good', or can easily be as good. Eg: squats... once you know the technique you are as 'skillful' as anybody else. Once technique is down the only thing that seperates people is the weight itself. Pushing more weight isnt a sign of more skill... just more time/gear/genetic potential.


Bowling and Softball are WAY more 'sporting' than BB.

Not everyone can do it my friend, it takes great discipline, just ask anyone that's actually tried competing. I'm sure they'd have something to say about it.
AS is legal in some parts of the world.

 

[saint808]

Would you consider figure skating and diving (both springboard and platform) sports?

yes there a set number of moves you must pull of during each of those sports you listed... albeit i don't like either of them.

 

[Burning_Inside]

bodybuilding a sport: no, cause like minion said, you can't regulate or quantify it.

Now, POSING *could* be a sport. The posedown on stage. Maybe. That's streamlined and it has its rules and it requires exertion to pose. But is it a sport or just a contest? But the means of getting there, nah. I don't think a beauty pageant is a sport, because there's no exertion going on..A contest, sure. Sport, no.

 

[Bullit]

Not everyone can do it my friend, it takes great discipline, just ask anyone that's actually tried competing. I'm sure they'd have something to say about it.
AS is legal in some parts of the world.

So many holes in this its not even funny. I won't even bother.

 

[PURE EXTRACT]

lol I hear ya man

 

[manny78]

I put Bodybuilding on the same foot as figure skating: so no its not a sport. It's based on what judges think. As soon as there's some objectivity involved it can't be a sport. Soccer is a sport, if the ball goes in, its a goal. Baseball too. Same with footbal, golf...

 

[HWY Patrol]

I put Bodybuilding on the same foot as figure skating: so no its not a sport. It's based on what judges think. As soon as there's some objectivity involved it can't be a sport. Soccer is a sport, if the ball goes in, its a goal. Baseball too. Same with footbal, golf...

hmmm...let's say a goal goes in and the ref calls it back because it was an offside yet replays show it wasn't offside and that team goes on to lose 1-0. Wouldn't that be considered objectivity by the linesman since he deemed it to be offside but it wasn't. Same can be said in all sports even with instant replay...there is always some sort of objectivity...

 

[manny78]

hmmm...let's say a goal goes in and the ref calls it back because it was an offside yet replays show it wasn't offside and that team goes on to lose 1-0. Wouldn't that be considered objectivity by the linesman since he deemed it to be offside but it wasn't. Same can be said in all sports even with instant replay...there is always some sort of objectivity...

But bodybuilding is based only on objectivity. 100%......

 

[HWY Patrol]

But bodybuilding is based only on objectivity. 100%......

true

 

[HulkRow]

wow, i was not expecting this.

i believe bodybuilding is a sport - why? because:

1- Bodybuilding is a physical activity that places man against man or lady against lady.

2- Bodybuilding is engaged in competition. (infact Bodybuilding IS the real gentmens sport, instead of bashing each other, we give our best and a judge desides)

3- Bodybuilding is an activity involving physical exertion and skill.

4- Bodybuilding requres hard training and correct dieting -- It is more than a simple beauty comp.

5- Competive Bodybuilding requres a man or lady to preform to a set of laws or rules as stated before competition.

6- Bodybuilding requres skill and perfect form to correctly demostrate ones body.

If bodybuilding is skilless and if anyone can do then does that mean what Arnold has achived means nothing?? does that mean that Ronnie's body and definition can be achived by anyone? NO

I think the general public dismiss bodybuilding because they themselfs cant do it...there too slow/fat/useless to get into our SPORT. Bodybuilding is not like football or track running, you cant just give up, you cant just stop and let a bench player take over,you cant just miss a training session...Its just too hard for most people to grasp the simple concept and teachings of Bodybuilding.

 

[Bullit]

If bodybuilding is skilless and if anyone can do then does that mean what Arnold has achived means nothing?? does that mean that Ronnie's body and definition can be achived by anyone? NO

Skill hey?
Yeah... I alwys sit by the the power rack and say "wow... that guy just did the fuckin coolest squat, what skills! I sure wish I could somehow be able to bend down then straighten up. What a talented individual."

BTW - everything you posted applies 100% to beauty pagents.

 

[HulkRow]

BTW - everything you posted applies 100% to beauty pagents.

3- Bodybuilding is an activity involving physical exertion and skill.

4- Bodybuilding requres hard training and correct dieting -- It is more than a simple beauty comp.

do b.p contestants train there bodys with maximum effort? NO
do b.p contestants require skills on stage? NO
do b.p contestants have total control over there muscular development?
do b.p contests requre physical exertion? NO

bodybuilders do need and have skills - holding there bodies so they show there maximum development at all times, flexing and corectly posing to show there body at it best and developing and watching EVERY single thing in his diet.- all skills.

 

[Island Son]

everything you posted still applies 100% to beauty pageants.
They have personal trainers, posing routines and are very aware of correct posture and body placement (like, standing almost sideways to the judge with the hips slightly rotated makes them look slimmer, because of the way the viewer's eye travels down the body). And heck, you try smiling seductively for 2 hours without wrinkling your eyes, i guarantee your face will be sore.
Beauty pageant contestants sure have it rough.

Jokes aside, training, skills, physical exertion, etc.... all there. I could say the same about playing Starcraft.

 

[beefybull]

Wrestling & football require alot of drugs too. they are still considered sports.

They dont 'require' drugs.

Kurt Angle won the world championship & the Olympics in wrestling while drug free.

A lot of FB players use drugs, but definitely not all.

 

[MortyJackson]

bodybuilding would have a better chance of being accepted as a sport if it was in fact a sport. the fact that it involves competition and working out is meaningless. there is cometition in work and just about anywhere but that doesnt make them sports. bodybuilding is just a pageant where people compete based on looks. miss usa puts on make-up, keeps thin and answers questions while mr olympia works out and poses.

 

[KnoXville]

There are seriously no big differences in the two events. Bodybuilding is essentially a male beauty pagent with lots of steroids. It is far from being a real sport.

Bodybuilding | Beauty Pagent

Posing routines - yes | yes
Sport politics - yes | yes
Sponsor oriented - yes | yes
Some use drugs - yes | yes
Workout / Keep fit - yes | yes
Diet for comp - yes | yes
Some grow tits - yes | yes
Dance to music - yes | yes
Some have implants - yes | yes
Fake tans - yes | yes
Wear skimpy thongs - yes | yes
Points for looking good - yes | yes

The talent portion is exclusive to beauty pageants though, bodybuilding doesn't really have that. Powerlifting is a sport as there is a strength competition based on year long training in that area | Same with the fitness Olympia (strength, stamina, agility etc ..) is trained for and delivered reminiscent of Olympic floor routines. All of the above are still athletes; PL, bodybuilders to pageant members - as they all physically train for a goal, whether that goal is strength or vanity based.

 

[edgecrusher]

I feel everything up to a bodybuilding contest could be considered a sport. The training and the cardio. These are all athletic activities that require skill and ability. The contests themselves, no they are not a sport, they are simply a display of the physical activity that occured prior to that point. A bodybuilding competition is like an indivdual version of espn sportscenter.

 

[vinylgroover]

the media is not going to help us by spreading around rumors and lies about drugs and the sport, ofcourse it gos on but not like they tell it.

if it is to became accepted as a sport then the drug issue has to be faced, if the media showed how hard these guys/girls trained and dieted i bet alot of people would change there views.

Are you serious with this statement. If so you are living in a fantasy world.

The ONLY reason bodybuilding has any appeal at all as a 'sport' is because of the drugs. People want to see freaks, and freaks is what Joe Weider and co. give them.

Does the media need to spread rumours? Of course not. One look at any pro bodybuilder and it's like looking at a shopping cart full of steroids.

IMO you could probably call it an artform at best, but not a sport.

 

[Tarheel]

Bodybuilders are athletes, but bodybuilding competitions are not sporting events.

 

[JohnyJuice]

Bodybuilders are athletes, but bodybuilding competitions are not sporting events.

Exactly.

 

[bodmin]

Bodybuilding is an ART.


bodmin

 

[DUSTY]

THE GENERAL PUBLIC JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND A GUY BUILDING MASS OF MUSCLES JUST TO SHOW OFF ONSTAGE. MOST PEOPLE THINK IT IS NOT NATURAL. SO THE ANSWER IS NO TO THE QUESTION.