Extreme Bodybuilding: Is This What Women Want?

When Body Image and Self-Esteem Suffer, There's a Bigger Problem

By Jeanie Davis
WebMD Medical News

Reviewed by Dr. Aman Shah

Jan. 16, 2001 -- You've seen them. They're at the gym every night and every weekend, perfecting that body. What's going on here? Are these guys just trying to look good, or is this bodybuilding to the extreme? More importantly -- is this what women want?

"It's not so much about what women want, but about what men think women want," says Roberto Olivardia, PhD, author of The Adonis Complex: The Secret Crisis of Male Body Obsession. Olivardia is also a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital In Belmont, Mass.

While the term "Adonis Complex" describes the various body image problems researchers are seeing in men, muscle dysmorphia is a preoccupation with the physique -- bodybuilding to the extreme, Olivardia tells WebMD. He has studied hundreds of men to better understand this phenomenon.

"We're seeing a lot of men who pursue the 'perfect body' for a lot of reasons -- just one of which is because they think women prefer a different body type than they really do," Olivardia explains.

In muscle dysmorphia, he says, "the bodybuilder's self-esteem almost completely relies on their appearance. They feel that if they look perfect on the outside, it makes up for the lack of perfection on the inside. If they have the perfect body, they will be perceived as strong and disciplined and attractive and masculine."

Unfortunately, he says, "it never works. Once they hit their bodybuilding goal, they don't feel any better. They look in the mirror and still see the 97-pound weakling." For the compulsive bodybuilder, that frustration typically propels them into steroid use. "Early on, they swear they aren't going to touch steroids, but at some point they are at such a level of desperation that they finally do," he says.

In his research, Olivardia has given more than 300 men a computerized body image test in which they adjust the measurements of a computer-generated figure to add or subtract fat or muscle. Each man "creates" a figure representing his current physique, another to show his idealized body image, and yet another to indicate what they think women want.

"We find that regardless of where we do the study, what age group we do the study with, men will often misperceive their bodies," says Olivardia. "They often think they're fatter than they really are. And their ideal is often 30-40 pounds more muscle than they currently have. They idealize to be very muscular -- to the range that is only attainable through the use of steroids."

Men think that women prefer a much more muscular build than what women really do, he tells WebMD. "Men preferred an Arnold Schwarzenegger build, but when we asked women, they preferred a Ricky Martin build -- a body that was much less muscular than men thought ... fit, lean, not necessarily hugely muscular but nevertheless in good shape," he says.

Studies of adolescent boys have shown similar results. "Even boys as young as 11 or 12 years old -- they have the same ideals and perceptions that men did," he says.

The drive to "overbuild" may actually have more to do with competition among men than competition for women's attention, Olivardia says.

Does this sound like your man -- or a friend? If so, how can you help?

"A lot of men are so stigmatized about these body problems that they won't get help," says Olivardia. "In fact, a lot of men who do come to us don't come for muscle dysmorphia. It's for their addiction to opiates, heroin, which they got interested in because of the steroids or because they're literally suicidal, literally housebound. It's such an assault on their masculinity to admit they have a problem, and when it's about their bodies, then they fear being labeled as gay or less masculine."

Many men will get liposuction or a nose job before they'll even consider seeing a psychiatrist, he says. "The men I see in treatment often almost have hit bottom by that time," says Olivardia.

So, how can you introduce the subject? Olivardia offers this advice:

Tell him you've read about this. Tell him he's not the only one struggling with it. Educate yourself on side effects of steroids -- both physical and psychological -- and tell him. Tell your kids about the dangers of steroids; it's not like the subject will be new to them, says Olivardia. "Steroids are widely available to boys as young as 9," he says.
Say "I love you" or "I like you" and "I think you're a great person, and it's not 100% because of your appearance. I value your sense of humor, your academic achievements." A lot of men don't see these other achievements in their lives; they just see their appearance, he tells WebMD.
Stay away from words like vain, narcissistic, and conceited. "These men are completely the opposite. They dislike their appearance," he says. "They're so preoccupied -- they are constantly thinking, checking mirrors, weighing themselves constantly -- because they think they're ugly."

"The object is not to completely eliminate their workout routine," he adds. "Don't tell them that, because that would completely keep them from treatment. They need the workouts; for a lot of them, it keeps them from being completely suicidal. The goal is to moderate it in a way that it doesn't interfere with other parts of their lives."

"I think it's very easy for this topic to get a little muddled," William Gayton, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern Maine in Portland and director of the Annual Sports Psychology Institute.

"Using steroids, having an eating disorder -- give me a break -- that's clearly the majority of bodybuilders," he tells WebMD. "Those symptoms are not going to help us know whether or not someone has a body image disturbance. Just because somebody looks in the mirror and wants to be bigger -- all that might mean is that they recognize that in their particular sport, bigger is better, more defined is better. It doesn't mean they have muscle dysmorphia."

The simple truth, says Gayton, "is that bodybuilders will go to great lengths to build up their bodies. They can take steroids, spend a lot of time each day on the activity, and certainly when preparing for a contest they might spend three weeks eating raw tuna fish and egg yolks."

It's always some big fat slob, or some skinny tooth pick a**hole that says some sh*t like "Why do you want to be that big? its nasty" "Steroids are for losers, get in shape naturally" haha well they're anywhere from 50+ lbs overweight, or skinny enough for a gust of wind to knock them off balance.

Sorry for the post, just got mad when I read that.

Its silly we could say the same thing about skinny people: they call us insecure b/c they are insecure while around us. We constantly remind them what THEY ARE NOT DOING with the body given to them.

WTF is up with the heroin part??

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The fact that guys always fiercely lash out at this by calling "bullshit!" can be seen that he hits a chord with a lot of people.

quote:

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Originally posted by Slopain:

WTF is up with the heroin part??

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My guess...its another "scare" tactic. The same ol "gateway drug".
hell, I still remember my high school gym coach telling us using roids will shrink your dingy.
I'm sure everyone has heard countless times how if you smoke weed, you'll also start using coke and herion, they're just using the same BS for juice now.

Like I give a fuck if a chick does not like bodybuilders, don't date me then, somewhere there is a woman who does.

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lol

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[This message has been edited by new@gettinbig (edited January 18, 2001).]

The argument that "those researchers are a bunch of 90 pound geeks" is exactly what the world expects to hear from a "meathead". The argument doesn't hold water:

Criminal psychologists have never murdered, yet they can pretty much nail down the mindset of killers.

Some of the best teachers of how to control your emotions during trading stocks/futures, couldn't trade their way out of a paper bag.

Male psychologists can give women advice and vice versa. The difference there (opposite sex) is blatantly obvious.

So don't blast them for weighing 90 pounds. It makes no difference.

Someone asked why they don't go to the beach? Take a look around!!! They're everywhere on the beach: skinny geeks, fat whales... My muscular body is usually the exception, NOT the norm.

These scientists make broad generalizations about a group as a WHOLE. Taken together, a million bodybuilders will probably fit this mold pretty well. Obviously, there are thousands of individuals who don't. But the studies are "on the average".

We each choose to spend our time on what we want. For me, it's lifting and my finance career. Sometimes I wonder how good I could have been in something else -- say martial arts, for example, -- if I would have done that for the hundreds of hours over the past 10 years instead of lifting.

The researcher made a choice to do science. Maybe he dreams of a "what-if" where he went into business instead and made a lot of money. We all do things that other people will criticize. You just have to want to do it, and be satisified with our choices. If you feel the need to attack or blast someone because of a comment, then maybe you have issues with yourself that you don't want to deal with.

Even if that drink existed, I would take it and still want to workout, I like the pump and the feel of moving some weight!

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"Mr. Phillips, are you honestly telling me that people are really going to believe that I'm the 'before,' and he's the 'after'?"

Guys sit back and think about the article and what it has to say, then sit back and look at this thread and see how we defend ourselves and attack the authors saying they are '90lb weaklings' or fat.

Then again I feel that everyone does it for their own reason, and everyone has a different level of passion, or should I say obsession, with the sport.

i agree with some of the researchers findings, however, these findings are not representative as each individual engages in weight-training for personal reasons.....

muscle dysmorphia is an increasing phenomenon seen in men...its the equivalent to anorexia in women........

as the researchers stated--'Do you think of yourself as being small? That's the key question, says Gayton. "Muscle dysmorphia clearly involves their looking in the mirror and seeing something different than what everybody else sees".

essentially, this is muscle dysmorphia! personally, im 5'7 and a semi-solid 212lbs yet i find myself looking 'small' in the mirror while those around me say.....'damn...your looking good--your shoulders are huge!'.

have any of you experienced anything similiar to what i am describing?

i wish i had more time to talk on this subject as it interests me greatly but i have a boat load of work to do for school...........

in solidarity

I have one amp of Sustanon, two Clomids, and a used needle.

How should I cycle this so that I can look like Ricky Martin?

HAAAAAAAAAA Gimme a fucking break. I weigh 270 lbs. I guess I feel all those women's eyes on me in the gym because they like the skinny, pencil-necked look.

I cant tell you why I lift, I have many many reasons and they always shift in priority.

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- If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people. -

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