It's not just the women who are afraid...

[FitFossil]

On another message board was a post from a man who said he "wasn't fat but needed to tone up". He said he realizes "...that once I start working out I will bulk up some I just don't want to get huge. Just tone up..."

I didn't post this to make fun of (Ok, I admit I had a good laugh), but really I find it disturbing that EVEN MEN have been brainwashed into thinking having a strong body and possibly the muscles to go with it is somehow a bad thing?!

There are just SO many misconceptions out there that most people end up doing nothing. It's sad. I've even had men tell me they used to like lifting weights but stopped "...because lifting made them gain weight..."

Again it supports my theory that 9 out of 10 people who quit training all think they have incredible genetics, while only 1 in 100 (or more like 1 in 1 million!) who continue training believe they have good genetics.

 

[THeMaCHinE]

I hear this from guys quite often. I usually shrug it off with an uh-huh, sure. Perhaps it has something to do with not reaching to far, too fast and thus taking a greater risk of failure. Perhaps "big" guys have stereotypes associated with them and they think once they go over the 220 mark, they'll become meatheads.

That said, the fitness look is what women gravitate towards and what the Hollywood people consider beautiful ...

Sometimes (rarely) it has to do with athletic performance.

 

[vixenbabe]

Know what it sounds like to me? It sounds as if they are too flippin lazy to "build" a better body! It also shows they may be lackin a few brain cells as well!

I'd ignore anyone who made such a statement---Male or female!

 

[THeMaCHinE]

Know what it sounds like to me? It sounds as if they are too flippin lazy to "build" a better body! It also shows they may be lackin a few brain cells as well!

I'd ignore anyone who made such a statement---Male or female!

Word. That's a better way of putting it.

 

[Gladiola]

Agree that it may be laziness.

BUT - it may also be more misconceptions. Think about it - picture powerlifting or strongman types. When you watch the World's strongest man comp - many of those guys have big belly's & not much 'tone' (i.e. 6-pack, separated shoulders, defined pecs).

I think some men associate lifting seriously heavy with looking like that. Just like women associate lifting heavy with bodybuilders.

It's just further ignorance. I can't understand though how people can't make the connection that these strongmen are literally, probably 500X stronger than them, so how does the strongman physique impact their physique?! That's like saying, if I get a nose job, I might look like Michael Jackson.

 

[The Ranger]

Tell them like I do....To not get *Bulky*....Recent studies by numerous medical journals have show that 2 Butterfinger bars a day will limit the amount of *Bulky* muscle you can actually put on....No MATTER how hard you work out....

Ranger

 

[Kalas]

While I certainly say lazyness may be a factor, I have to be of the opinion that right now, it's not 'popular' for guys to be 'huge'.

Why?

Cause while a lot of people don't think it's possible, men *are* affected by the male images they are exposed to, I can guarantee it, it just took longer to get them 'brainwashed'.

Right now, the 'male model' physique is what's being pushed as the optimum male body: again, like 'fit' women, it may have nothing to do with athletic ability at all. A male model may have a comparable physique to a high-level basketball player, but the male model will get his ass whupped by the player who's learned the skill.


It gets reinforced with the way women have been brainwashed for decades: you'll get 'too big', you'll become a 'freak' (not in the posistive bodybuilder sense), all you'll do is lift weights 13 hours a day/become a meathead/lose touch with the world outside the gym.

Again, it just took longer to convince men that there's a 'correct' level of muscle, and anything above it is bad.

Men and women are being told that there's a 'ceiling' of fitness, and to go above it is wrong unless you're a hardcore competing bodybuilder. Now that's what I call fucked up, people.


Is it just me, or is American media (and in some cases foreign as well) trying to make people accept physical weakness as a good thing. First it's the waif girls, then it's "men can only develop to Taye Diggs muscularity, or it's wrong!", and the ever popular "show muscular people in media as thugs, or cavemen/cavewomen who only think about lifting things, grunting, and destroying/degrading wimpy people!"

It seems to me like someone's trying to cap physical development through subliminal media tricks...bleh


Sorry for the rant, but I started my research and project because of this kind of crap infecting people's minds. Just my two cents, I'll go back in a hole and shaddap if ya want, just ask.

Kalas

 

[zkm]

All of this boils down to a simple thing. We experience it everyday in every aspect of our lives.

LACK OF EDUCATION !!!

Laziness, 'popularity', opinions all play part with people's psyche, but in the end it is education. Boards like this help those who are willing to listen and open up their minds. Others will continue to make ridiculous comments and stupid statements. This applies to women and men. Spread the word and maybe people will listen. If you build it they will come lol

 

[Bikini Mod]

The stereotype is true (SAD) but true. I had dinner with my Frenchman, my girlfriend and her boyfriend. Not only is my guy tall (6'3") but he weighs about 240#, not HYUGE by bodybuilding standards but no pencil-neck geek either...

Anyways, my gf told me after we had dinner that her boyfriend was jealous of all the attention that my guy was getting because of his body. (My guy is very shy and reserved, not an attention-hound at all.) Her bf told her, "Why didn't you say anything about MY BODY to the waitress? Just becuase I don't look like some big dumb ape doesn't mean that I don't have a nice body."

I could only shake my head at this. My guy is surgeon who runs a very large rehabilitative fascility....

Bog Dumb Ape - Yea.... OK

(PS my gf is a fashion model so believe it when I tell you that she has NO LACK of attention and her bf while a tall attractive young boy... Is well... A SKINNY BOY)

Stereotypes are stereotypes. If a guy is afraid of being perceived as a "big dumb ape" by a room full of strangers, perhaps he should just sit with his clicker, can of beer and bag of chips. But for heaven's sake, make sure to occasionally dust the crumbs from you bitch-tits and bellies! After all, we are civilized... AREN'T WE?... NOT LIKE WE ARE APES?!?!

HEhehehehehehehehee

 

[T Bone]

So is it a cop out, an excuse for being lazy? Or do some people really believe that if they are not carefull they will blow up and have to compete in Mr. O in order to justify having such a freakish body?

I too have heard people say "i don't want to huge or anything, i just want to get into shape" Trust me, it ain't that easy!


T Bone