Competing - for yourself, or to win?

[majorflavazz]

lol thanx bro

[ThreeWhiteLights]

If you aint first, you're last Ricky Bobby

[Bruce Al]

Do you think bodybuilding is right down the bottom of the competitive sports list compared to say fighting sports which would be at the top?

[HarryB]

Bodybuilding is not a sport... it's a pageant.. a spectacle... a pursuit but in and of itself it's not a sport. There's no athletic criteria and the judging is based on "look"

[Rebel101]

Bodybuilding is not a sport... it's a pageant.. a spectacle... a pursuit but in and of itself it's not a sport. There's no athletic criteria and the judging is based on "look"

I would challenge you to say that those who compete are not athletes.

If they are athletes joining in a common pursuit then surely this is a sport.

sport - definition of sport in English from the Oxford dictionary

www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/.../sport

OxfordDictionaries.com

1An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

The definition of sport does not include the necessity of judging criteria.

[Realtalk]

Who cares if it's a sport it not... If you think it is good for you. Whatever makes you feel special.

[Bruce Al]

Im sure they were trying to get it into the olympics not that long ago?

[HarryB]

I would challenge you to say that those who compete are not athletes.

If they are athletes joining in a common pursuit then surely this is a sport.

sport - definition of sport in English from the Oxford dictionary

www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/.../sport

OxfordDictionaries.com

1An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

The definition of sport does not include the necessity of judging criteria.

Ok so by what concrete measure do they compete against each other? I'm not saying the competitors don't work hard but bodybuilding isn't competing in the gym... that's where the work goes in like a beauty queen needs to spend time making sure she does her make up properly. I'm just saying the competition of bodybuilding isn't a sport.

[Rebel101]

Ok so by what concrete measure do they compete against each other? I'm not saying the competitors don't work hard but bodybuilding isn't competing in the gym... that's where the work goes in like a beauty queen needs to spend time making sure she does her make up properly. I'm just saying the competition of bodybuilding isn't a sport.

Bodybuilders compete against each other on stage, a "concrete measure" does not need to exist, one wins and the others place.

You do not need to beat each other in the gym, just as in boxing, boxers do not compete against each other during training in the gym. They go out to a stadium of some kind and in a boxing ring they do battle. They train everyday with coaches , with sparing partners, on equipment this is where the work goes in so to speak but they do not win the race in the gym either. So does that make boxing any less of a sport!

Saying that the make up of a beauty queen ends up winning them of the title is also perhaps a little short sighted, there is alot more to it than that. But lets not get into that discussion here.

[HarryB]

Ok

Boxers compete in a ring and the scoring is based on the number of hits in target zones or a knock out or number of knockdowns. Football players score goals or tries or touchdowns, tennis players score points, weight lifters and powerlifters lift weights and whoever lifts the most wins.

Beauty queens win based on how they look and so do bodybuilders. And the judging standard varies due to subjectivity. There's nothing athletic about standing next to each other doing a front double bicep it's just how one person looks as compared to another. And that is subjective.

I'm not saying bodybuilding is easy. But the competition part... that ain't a sport

[Rebel101]

Ok

Boxers compete in a ring and the scoring is based on the number of hits in target zones or a knock out or number of knockdowns. Football players score goals or tries or touchdowns, tennis players score points, weight lifters and powerlifters lift weights and whoever lifts the most wins.

Beauty queens win based on how they look and so do bodybuilders. And the judging standard varies due to subjectivity. There's nothing athletic about standing next to each other doing a front double bicep it's just how one person looks as compared to another. And that is subjective.

I'm not saying bodybuilding is easy. But the competition part... that ain't a sport

Boxing results are also subjective not absolute. There is always more than one judge so that the likelihood of the angle the fight is viewed from does not obstruct the view of all the judges and in the case of a single judge this could affect the results. Even employing multiple judges the results can still be up to some debate. All sports are subject to some kind of subjectivity, for example how a rugby or soccer game is managed by the referee can affect the outcome. Even the results of a powerlifting meet are also subject to the review of 3 judges to help eliminate subjectivity and by conceding that three judges are needed powerlifting too has conceded that there is a degree of subjectivity.

The competition part is simply the quantifiable component of the sport, boxers and rugby players spend many hours training and then a single match or game to determine an outcome.

The competition alone is not "the sport" but "part of the sport which is bodybuilding", just as a boxing match is not "the sport" but rather a "part of the sport of boxing".

[HarryB]

Boxing results are also subjective not absolute. There is always more than one judge so that the likelihood of the angle the fight is viewed from does not obstruct the view of all the judges and in the case of a single judge this could affect the results. Even employing multiple judges the results can still be up to some debate. All sports are subject to some kind of subjectivity, for example how a rugby or soccer game is managed by the referee can affect the outcome. Even the results of a powerlifting meet are also subject to the review of 3 judges to help eliminate subjectivity and by conceding that three judges are needed powerlifting too has conceded that there is a degree of subjectivity.

The competition part is simply the quantifiable component of the sport, boxers and rugby players spend many hours training and then a single match or game to determine an outcome.

The competition alone is not "the sport" but "part of the sport which is bodybuilding", just as a boxing match is not "the sport" but rather a "part of the sport of boxing".

Interesting perspective. I'll refrain from saying it's not a sport and just say in my opinion it's not a sport.

[Rebel101]

Interesting perspective. I'll refrain from saying it's not a sport and just say in my opinion it's not a sport.

And I can handle that too!

Yes its subjective , and yes the results can be frustrating but in the long run the individual is better off for having participated.

It is good to discuss and consider others perspectives! We are all entitled to our own opinions!

[Pseudonym]

I'm still on the fence on this one...
 

Boxing results are also subjective not absolute.

I read this, and thought it was a clinching argument - Harry, she's got you there!
 
But I can't agree with Rebel's last point...

The competition alone is not "the sport" but "part of the sport which is bodybuilding", just as a boxing match is not "the sport" but rather a "part of the sport of boxing".

See, I don't think boxing training on the bag or pads is really part of "the sport" in any sense other than being quite useful if you don't want to get your arse kicked.

 

You can enter a boxing match with no training, and it would still be a sport - because there's an element of skill or athleticism that's demanded by the definition of boxing. (How much of that skill you display is irrelevant.)

 

Bodybuilding, by contrast, leaves all its athleticism in the training. Therefore the competition is solely about judging the "artwork" that the bodybuilder has created.

 

 

 

Have I convinced anyone with that?

[Phedder]

Devils advocate:

Posing can be seen as a skill. Everyone has seen show's where the best physique hasn't won, sometimes it politics, sometimes it's because they just can't effectively show what they've got. 

Also, syncronised swimming is in the olympics... Bodybuilders already have the speedos down, throw on a swimming cap and the line grows thinner  :pfft:

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

Devils advocate:

Posing can be seen as a skill. Everyone has seen show's where the best physique hasn't won, sometimes it politics, sometimes it's because they just can't effectively show what they've got. 

Also, syncronised swimming is in the olympics... Bodybuilders already have the speedos down, throw on a swimming cap and the line grows thinner  :pfft:

everyone knows synchronised swimming is for women and homos bro kinda like ballet..

 

 

 

 

..........actually bodybuilding is also a lot like balet isn't it?

[Rebel101]

I'm still on the fence on this one...

 

I read this, and thought it was a clinching argument - Harry, she's got you there!

 

But I can't agree with Rebel's last point...

See, I don't think boxing training on the bag or pads is really part of "the sport" in any sense other than being quite useful if you don't want to get your arse kicked.

 

You can enter a boxing match with no training, and it would still be a sport - because there's an element of skill or athleticism that's demanded by the definition of boxing. (How much of that skill you display is irrelevant.)

 

Bodybuilding, by contrast, leaves all its athleticism in the training. Therefore the competition is solely about judging the "artwork" that the bodybuilder has created.

 

 

 

Have I convinced anyone with that?

Ha ha, no sorry cannot agree with that. A bodybuilder does not go on stage and simply stand there and be examined. They flex and pose (and this in itself requires its own skill and practice) their muscles in movements not dis similar to the training they do, this in itself is athletic. Ask someone who has had to do the compulsory rounds in front of the judges and then get called out for rounds of comparisons that shit is hard work, and the next day you are sore! And one could argue that you could enter a bodybuilding contest with little or no training (and might I say there are some that do).

And anyway just because the training is done in the years and months leading to a competition this does not exclude it from being a sport. Look at the definition of sort from the Oxford Dictionary

OxfordDictionaries.com

1An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

There is nothing here in this definition that says at what stage the majority of the activity is to be performed.

[Realtalk]

I'm guessing you think a dog show is a sport too?

Labrador athlete.

[Pseudonym]

The labradors are ok, bro. It's the poodles that get on my nerves. They just prance around looking for someone to sponsor them. ;-)

[Realtalk]

The labradors are ok, bro. It's the poodles that get on my nerves. They just prance around looking for someone to sponsor them. ;-)

Lol

[Skeletor]

Not a true sport as such. Sport isn't based on appearance. It's more of a show if anything .

[Bruce Al]

After they flex their muscles, they should immediately compete with each other in a lifting competition to find out who the real man is

[Spacebound]

bodybuilding is kind of a like a play/musical/board-way production in many aspects

 

lots of practice and training for a show, not really a sport

 

my 2c

[Bruce Al]

Is dancing a sport? Cheerleading?

[Bruce Al]

acrobats? 

Fishing?