Is Bodybuilding a Sport?

[StCapps]

I just don't understand it. It's not a sport. Weight lifting sure. Something objective. Who "looks" the biggest? What is this? Not a sport. But I agree it takes a lot of work to achieve that look. I'm not knocking it just call it what it is: a beauty contest.

So figure skating is not a sport? Gymnastics?

It's not just 'looking big.' Mass is just one element being judged.

Figure skating is certainly not a sport. Gymnastics...kinda...but, no, not a sport.

They are both sports, you just don't like them so you refuse to call them a sport because you don't want them being referred to by the same label as sports that you do enjoy. Nothing about gymnastics or figure skating disqualifies them from being sports, you just want the sports that you like elevated above the ones you don't, so deny that "lesser sports" are even sports at all, even when they clearly are and you just fail to understand the english language.

[Mercury]

A beauty pageant is a contest, not a sport.

An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Not seeing how a beauty pageant doesn't meet that criteria. Just because the physical exertion is minimal in a beauty pageant compared to the average sporting competition, doesn't mean that it isn't a sport. Just because the criteria for scoring such a competition is superficial and subjective doesn't make it less of sport, it just makes it different from other kinds of sports with more objective and less superficial criteria for scoring their competitions.

Sports have objective criteria for winning.

[Mercury]

So figure skating is not a sport? Gymnastics?

It's not just 'looking big.' Mass is just one element being judged.

Figure skating is certainly not a sport. Gymnastics...kinda...but, no, not a sport.

They are both sports, you just don't like them so you refuse to call them a sport because you don't want them being referred to by the same label as sports that you do enjoy. Nothing about gymnastics or figure skating disqualifies them from being sports.

I don't dislike them. There's nothing wrong with them.

Nevertheless, subjective judging makes some some sporting activities less legit than others.

[Mercury]

Figure skating is certainly not a sport. Gymnastics...kinda...but, no, not a sport.

They are both sports, you just don't like them so you refuse to call them a sport because you don't want them being referred to by the same label as sports that you do enjoy. Nothing about gymnastics or figure skating disqualifies them from being sports.

I don't dislike them. There's nothing wrong with them.

Nevertheless, subjective judging makes some some sporting activities less legit than others.

as "sports"

[Speaker to Animals]

Ok. Maybe I'm confused here. What's the one where literally all they do is get oiled up and flex on stage? Because that's not a sport anymore than runway modeling is.

That's bodybuilding. It's entirely aesthetic.

And the analogies are a bit stretched. Gymnasts are judged by their form and their ability to carry out more complex and demanding movements than their competitors. While it requires judges, it's not an entirely subjective assessment like a beauty contest.

Weightlifting is what you see at the Olympics. Powerlifting is a sport where athletes compete for the highest weight in their class on a few exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Strongman is a sport that includes most of what is in powerlifting, but also weird shit like Atlas stones and flipping cars.

[StCapps]

Sports have objective criteria for winning.

Some of them do and some of them don't. Some sports have subjective criteria for winning, combat sports like boxing and MMA for example. Having subjective criteria for scoring does not disqualify a competition from being a sport.

[StCapps]

Nevertheless, subjective judging makes some some sporting activities less legit than others.

No that has nothing to do with whether a sport is legitimate or not. Nowhere in the definition of the word sport does it say that scoring criteria must be 100% objective, you just pulled that assumption out of your ass.

[Speaker to Animals]

Yeah, it kind of does.

When I think of a sport, I think of objective criteria to demonstrate that the performance of one athlete or team has exceeded the performance of another. Carrying the football to 1st down is an objective metric. Jumping 10 cm higher than the closest competitor is an objective metric. Beating an opponent into submission is an objective metric.

Bodybuilding has no such thing. It's a beauty contest. I am not saying it's easy. I think it's really amazing that they can do what they do. I am just questioning it's status as a legitimate sport. Lots of difficult things are not sports. It's not a dis against bodybuilders.

[MilSpecs]

I just don't understand it. It's not a sport. Weight lifting sure. Something objective. Who "looks" the biggest? What is this? Not a sport. But I agree it takes a lot of work to achieve that look. I'm not knocking it just call it what it is: a beauty contest.

So figure skating is not a sport? Gymnastics?

It's not just 'looking big.' Mass is just one element being judged.

Figure skating is certainly not a sport. Gymnastics...kinda...but, no, not a sport.

So, there is no art in sport? It's just a numbers game? If we're just out to see the fastest, we could race cheetahs or have enhanced humans compete. There must be art in sport for it to be truly meaningful, and I believe it's what we look for when we watch any sport. Gymnastics and bodybuilding push the limits of the human body in an effort to win over the competition, and combine art with athleticism.

[Speaker to Animals]

I would argue that strength training in general is a sport. Calisthenics is a sport. Pylometrics is a sport.

You compete against yourself, but the metrics remain objective: increased working sets by one rep since last week; increased weight by ten pounds; advanced to next exercise in the calisthenic progression, etc. So to compete in bodybuilding, you still engage in sports.

What I am saying is that getting oiled up and posing in a beauty contest, by itself, might not constitute a legitimate sport when you really think about it, and it might not be a healthy pass-time for men.

Maybe we ought to focus more on our influence over the external world, our ability to manipulate weights or compete against other athletes in a physical match, etc. I see guys doing nothing but hypertrophy training and posing in the mirrors at the gym, and I really wonder if that is a healthy lifestyle at all. It might be physically healthy if they don't abuse drugs (a big if, btw), but is it psychologically healthy for a man to engage in female behavior like that, even if he does so under the guise of strength training?