Xcels' Rant: Are You a Bodybuilder?

**xcelbeyond** · 01-04-2003, 09:46 AM

Since this is a bodybuilding forum, I guess I can say this

Do you have to tell someone that you are a bodybuilder? If you do, then you aren't one - sorry if that's blunt!

Are you a bodybuilder but all you're concerned about is "how big you get?" There are PLENTY of people that are BIG - natural or on juice. I feel that being a bodybuilder is to be lean and cut-up - in other words, they "look the part." That's what separates a bodybuilder from the "rest of the world." Now I'm not saying that one has to be in "contest shape" all the time as we know that would be difficult if not impossible.

I'm not trying to sound arrogant or conceited with this statement - I have people all the time comment on my condition. Now this occurs after I've been "cutting-up." In other words when I'm lean; at a low bodyweight - at times I even feel "small" from the diet. People say to me when I'm in that condition "WOW - have you been putting muscle on?" Little do they know that it's been just the opposite. When I was 30 pounds heavier (with actually "more muscle") NOBODY said squat to me!!!

IT IS POSSIBLE TO PUT ON LBM WHILE NOT GAINING FAT. I'm nearly 50 (in 8 days) and STILL doing it!!

xcel

**silverfox** · 01-04-2003, 11:32 AM

I agree w/ you to a degree, I think anything over 14% or so is to much off season, however, some guys have to strugle to stay at those percents. I think training hard and eating right year round then looking the part contest time is bottom line. If you look "fat" off season, but come in tight and ready at show time, your a bodybuilder.

**primodonna** · 01-04-2003, 12:25 PM

xcel...if you posted this on the general forum, you would probably be flamed to death...there are people 6' 150# who consider themselves bodybuilders because they're continuously trying to improve their physique

It just depends on what your definition is of a bodybuilder. I know people who think that unless you have stepped on stage at least once in your life, you will never be a bodybuilder. So i guess to these people, once you have retired from competing, even though you're still living the bb'ing life in terms of training and eating, you aren't considered a bb'er anymore.

There's a difference between being a competitive bodybuilder, a bodybuilder, and a person who lifts weights. I doubt many of us have the same definitions of what they are.

Oh, BTW... if you saw me, you wouldn't have to ask that question

**xcelbeyond** · 01-05-2003, 09:58 AM

Originally posted by primodonna
Oh, BTW... if you saw me, you wouldn't have to ask that question

I've seen your pics - YOU'RE CORRECT!

xcel

**xcelbeyond** · 01-05-2003, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by primodonna
xcel...if you posted this on the general forum, you would probably be flamed to death...there are people 6' 150# who consider themselves bodybuilders because they're continuously trying to improve their physique

If someone is happy with their body and progress - that's what really counts; personal gratification. But if they think they look good and nobody tells them they look good, and then they have to "tell them" they are a bodybuilder?!?! Something's wrong with that picture

xcel

**Big_Dan** · 01-05-2003, 04:57 PM

Youre officially a bodybuilder in other peoples terms when you have an eye opening physique. Usually low fat levels and lots of muscle is what puts you in this picture..but thats in other peoples eyes.
Im a body builder. I dont looklike one, but I attempt to build my body and have knowledge about diet and steroids and working out. I constantly push myself to lift more and keep a log book. Hell, dunno why other people would think im not a bber. How else do you seeit?

**saboudian** · 01-06-2003, 02:12 PM

This really is a true rant, no point in this thread.

**MIKE_XXL** · 01-06-2003, 08:37 PM

You are a bodybuilder if you eat like bodybuilder, sleep like BB, train like BB, and have a mental focus like a BB, you do not have to look at par to be one, if you are constantly working torward building bigger stronger phisique you are BODYBUILDER...when i put a sweatshirt on i do not look like abody builder just a stocky guy, now when i take out my 2 cans of tuna mixed with 1 table spoon of flaxseed oil and black pepper, i become a bodybuilder, and no one will take it away from me...it's a life style not the way you look...my 0.02 cents...XXL

**RON** · 01-06-2003, 09:01 PM

I don't consider myself a Body Builder. Yes I eat, sleep, and train like one but I just don't feel right about calling myself one till I at least do my first show.

**Warrior** · 01-06-2003, 09:12 PM

IMO - Bullshit. Anyone can be a bodybuilder, but the select few are professional or otherwise truely successful at it.

A bodybuilder is simply anyone who trains with resistance for muscular hypertrophy and deffinition - mostly for cosmetic results. A powerlifter trains for strength and function.

I would call an 80 year old woman a bodybuilder if she was on a routine to develop her physique and grow her muscles.

There are different stages: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Professional.

**BigMike J** · 01-06-2003, 10:44 PM

wtfe dewd. I guess since im not 5%bf then im not a bb

But i do hit the weights to build my body, hmmm i guess that makes me a BuilderBody.

**RON** · 01-07-2003, 12:56 AM

Originally posted by Warrior
IMO - Bullshit. Anyone can be a bodybuilder, but the select few are professional or otherwise truely successful at it.

A bodybuilder is simply anyone who trains with resistance for muscular hypertrophy and deffinition - mostly for cosmetic results. A powerlifter trains for strength and function.

I would call an 80 year old woman a bodybuilder if she was on a routine to develop her physique and grow her muscles.

There are different stages: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Professional.

Thats cool for you bro but when people ask me I don't feel confortable saying I am one yet. I don't mean to speak for anyone else but its just the way I feel.

Most people just ask if I'm a pro wrestler. Could be cause of my shaved head and goatee. I guess I could be a scarry looking 265lbs. I usually just say "yes, you want an autograph or something".

**RON** · 01-07-2003, 12:59 AM

BTW Mike I thought you said that avatar was a tempory one? It makes me sick every time I look at it. I think I'm gonna be sick just lookin at it now.

**BigMike J** · 01-07-2003, 01:58 AM

LOL RON. I had a nice looking girl but i think Cycleon deleted it

**Pete235** · 01-07-2003, 06:46 AM

I'm with Silverfox, I agree to a point. I will assert however, that there is a difinitive distinction between being a bodybuilder and competing in a bodybuilding show. Like Warrior said, if you "train with resistance for muscular hypertrophy and deffinition - mostly for cosmetic results" then you are building your body. Even powerlifters and strength athletes are body builders as they are consistanly putting stresses on their bodies towards an end, it may be more for function than for appearance, but they still reap the benifits of increased muscularity. As I am preparing for my first ever competition (this coming April) I will concede that preparing for a show is unlike anything I have experienced. Those who have been there will attest to this. This undertaking is more difficult than anything I have experieced to date, and in my younger years I was a nationally ranked athlete (I was a carded athlete). It is 110% true when people say "DIET" is 80% of the equation when preparing for a show! I bust my ass in the gym (to the point of exhaustion), I preform cardio for at least an hour and rest properly, but the diet is definatly the be all end all. So I think that everybody on this board is a bodybuilder, but only a selected few are competitive athletes...and I hope to include myself in that group 3.5 months from now.

***BIG TEXAN*** · 01-07-2003, 03:41 PM

Originally posted by MIKE_XXL
You are a bodybuilder if you eat like bodybuilder, sleep like BB, train like BB, and have a mental focus like a BB, you do not have to look at par to be one, if you are constantly working torward building bigger stronger phisique you are BODYBUILDER...when i put a sweatshirt on i do not look like abody builder just a stocky guy, now when i take out my 2 cans of tuna mixed with 1 table spoon of flaxseed oil and black pepper, i become a bodybuilder, and no one will take it away from me...it's a life style not the way you look...my 0.02 cents...XXL

Exactly!

Pete......good luck on your goals. I myself am looking at another year or so until I try to compete.

**ZachG_85** · 01-08-2003, 04:37 PM

Bodybuilding is as much mental as physical.

If you train, but don't eat right, don't sleep right, you're not a bodybuilder, even if you are big and lean. Bodybuilding is not just looking good, or lifting, or being cut, or being big. It's EVERYTHING.

Bodybuilding is always D) All of the above.

**Yung Wun** · 01-08-2003, 06:10 PM

i found the real checklist to knowing if you really are a bodybuilder!!!!!

You Know your a Bodybuilder when.........

1)You take so many supplements your urine glows in the dark.
2)You've ever taken a bucket to the gym "just in case of the post workout barf."
3)You've ever counted "reps" while masturbating.
4) You think that "feeling the burn" is almost as good as, if not better than, sex.
5) you pump up your traps before you get your photo identification picture
6) While discussing the intricate biochemical processes that occur during a steroid cycle with non-bodybuilders, they think you have a degree in chemistry
7) you heard your kid got ripped at a party and you ask him for his diet
8) you think max factor is a training technique
9)you wont enter a room if not lighten properly to show your physique well
10) you carry pictures of the gym members in your wallet but no family pictures

**BIG R** · 01-10-2003, 10:40 PM

Zach is right! It is a mental and physical state. You have to have the mental focus for it. If you are working twards achieving a better physique then you can be considered a Bodybuilder also. I myself have competed a number of times and have made it to the open level with a national qualification. I still struggle with size on a day to day basis. The right mentalitly is the key ingredient.

R

***powerlifterjay*** · 02-12-2003, 06:08 AM

I got one for you! I got my WPO pro card in powerlifting in 2001 so i am a pro powerlifter. But i am 14 weeks out from a show and have always looked more like a bodybuilder. I got another show 3 weeks after that one. So what do i call myself?? LOL! Of course i am not concerned with i am titled but if you have to label yourself to workout, then in one word what do i say? I guess it depends on wether its spring (bodybuilding) or fall (powerlifting). I will say "bodyshaper"!!

**SneakerSeven** · 02-14-2003, 11:41 AM

Does a label even matter in the first place?
For example, let's take "painter."
You have those who are true masters, who create works resembling Rembrandt. They are painters, and it's obvious, and they have mastery over the skill. Those who are exceptional can make a living off of it.

You have those who are functional painters, like house painters. Yes, they're painting, but not necessarily for the art or the mastery of it, but to get the job done and do it well.

Then you have those who are minimalist painters, who work abstract. They are painters as well, but I wouldn't call them masters of the art. (Yet some would, and in their own eyes they are.)

Then you have the fingerpainters who don't have skill, but dabble in it because it's fun and they wanted to try it!

They're all painters, but they're at different levels, and have different goals... wouldn't the bodybuilding term apply in a similar way? Some do it professionally, some do it to better themselves, some do it casually.

</metaphor>

**Decoder** · 02-14-2003, 12:18 PM

Ive thought of that question many times, i consider a person to be a bodybuilder when they take it to a professional level, such as competing or modeling, this topic is very debatable.

**ShredBundy** · 02-16-2003, 08:47 PM

As far as being a BB, I think it comes down to it being your proffession. Those guys take it to a whole new level. Lifting is my hobbie, (again not to sound conceited but..) I use the looks, compliments, girls I get, and self satisfaction to fuel me to do it. I love feeling healthy and being able to handle myself in this rough world. That is something to stand tall for.. All you guys have that much, so rock that sh*t till your arms fall off and lets just enjoy what we all love doing. You guys took the time to join this forum & submit yourselves to it, so in my eyes if you take it seriously, i guess you can call yourself a body builder. Me, I just love training and gettin wicked pumps and having women in there 30's checking me out! actually no, sometime that was disturbing, lol being a teen and all, but w.e... do what makes you happy guys and gals

**Southern Cross** · 02-21-2003, 03:28 PM

Originally posted by Yung Wun
i found the real checklist to knowing if you really are a bodybuilder!!!!!

You Know your a Bodybuilder when.........

1)You take so many supplements your urine glows in the dark.
2)You've ever taken a bucket to the gym "just in case of the post workout barf."
3)You've ever counted "reps" while masturbating.
4) You think that "feeling the burn" is almost as good as, if not better than, sex.
5) you pump up your traps before you get your photo identification picture
6) While discussing the intricate biochemical processes that occur during a steroid cycle with non-bodybuilders, they think you have a degree in chemistry
7) you heard your kid got ripped at a party and you ask him for his diet
8) you think max factor is a training technique
9)you wont enter a room if not lighten properly to show your physique well
10) you carry pictures of the gym members in your wallet but no family pictures

**stillsmall** · 06-13-2003, 01:15 PM

i think xcel has a point here.. just cuz you play ball alot doesn't mean you can say "i'm a baller" when someone ask you what you are... It's pretty tough to answer with "i'm a bodybuilder" when the person had to ask that question... obviously you are not considered one if the other person had questions about what you do... Otherwise, he'd just say "dude you are huge, you must be a bodybuilder"

I'd seriously have trouble saying "i'm a bodybuilder" with a straight face if someone had to ask...

**xcelbeyond** · 06-13-2003, 02:17 PM

Glad to see people are still reading this "rant"

Again, I'm not trying to be arrogant. I FULLY AGREE with Mike_XXL about "bodybuilding" being a lifestyle - most people haven't a clue. When someone sees me in a tank, they ALWAYS say "still hitting the weights hard!?!" I want to say "No, been watchting what I eat" but don't because it would go over 99.9% of most people's head.

Now what I was referring to is claiming to be a "bodybuilder." To me, a bodybuilder is someone with "more than normal" musculature (should I say abnormal - LOL). Like I said, I'm far from being a monster, but I turn heads and get comments from strangers ALL THE TIME.

xcel

**stillsmall** · 06-13-2003, 03:30 PM

in my mind, you don't claim to be nothing... you let the other person do the talkin... the moment you have to claim something, you are admitting that no one else but you feel quite the same way