Ideal Male Body Type
MikeM53082
Posts: 1,199 Member
Not sure if anyone else caught this on ABC Nightly News last night, but I thought it was interesting and worth sharing.
The report says that the ideal male body type has changed over the years. Therefore young men are going to extremes to obtain a more muscular body type. I see absolutely nothing wrong with men trying to obtain an optimal physique and working hard for it.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/teens-turn-protein-shakes-pump/story?id=17760126#.UKu_y-RbZdc
Thoughts?
The report says that the ideal male body type has changed over the years. Therefore young men are going to extremes to obtain a more muscular body type. I see absolutely nothing wrong with men trying to obtain an optimal physique and working hard for it.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/teens-turn-protein-shakes-pump/story?id=17760126#.UKu_y-RbZdc
Thoughts?
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Replies
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The steroids part scares me but otherwise I think it is hopefully a trend away from our kids being sedentary and a prevalence of obesity. Why not learn healthy eating, and exercise habits early. I teach my kids healthy eating and exercise habits that they will hopefully carry with them throughout their lives.0
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i didn't read the article, but i do know a friend who has teenaged sons. she's had them on shakeology and body by vi shakes for over a year now. and they do p90x or insanity work outs.
i don't have any opinion on that really. i did read that if you do extreme work outs when you're younger you will have to do even more extreme to maintain as you get older.....
i'll go read the article now.0 -
i let my girls lift weights..... they are not allowed to drink protein shakes. we do planks and push ups together too. but, nothing serious or rigorous......
i don't know. i don't agree with steroids, and i think that protein shakes in a youth/ child is a bad idea....0 -
I watched the video and read the article. I guess I don't see where the body image for males has changed much (maybe I am just too young to have seen it). From the time I was a kid, boys were always supposed to be muscular. We had a weight room gym class in sixth grade for just the boys. They talk about toys and everything showing this muscular build...all my action figures were ripped, with the big V (wide shoulders into small waist).
I say let them go at it. The fact that we are in a "childhood obesity crisis", I don't see the ill-effects of them pumping up. Granted, the steroids is over the top. There are a lot of other, safer supplements that can produce many of the same results.0 -
I can`t listen to the video right now but yes,the mid 80s with the sudden popularity of the WWF,Rambo/Schwarzenegger movies took the male body image from the rugged outdoors man like Lee Majors to a ripped body builder style.0
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I guess I'll ask the question.. Are steroids really a bad thing?
I remember playing high school football and a handful of kids did steroids. Three of them played Division 1 football and one played for the Arizona Cardinals after being an All-American at Syracuse. Basically, all the kid that did steroids in high school ended up doing pretty well in life. Everyone from Mark McGuire to Lance Armstrong were dopers and did very well in their respected sports. Movie stars, like Sylvester Stallone, were notorious dopers and they're just fine.
There are some cases of people dying as a result of them, but that can be said about a lot of things. A famous amateur bodybuilder, Zyzz, died last year as a result of excess steroid use. On his YouTube video's, he bragged about using 3x the recommended dosage for an extended amount of time. I think anything done in excess can be harmful.
Note: I've never done steroids.0 -
this is probably why things like pec and calf implants are becoming more popular with dudes?
what's funny is that a friend and mine just remarked on a similar thing concerning women. back in the 60's/70's the ideal female body seemed to be skinny, now the idea is a bit more athletic .
i think it's because as time changes, we have different ideas on what's considered looking healthy and wealthy. so a hundred years ago that meant being a little fatter since the more well off you were, the more you could eat. now the idea is thinner but more muscular because that probably signals that not only can you afford to eat well, but you have the leisure time to make yourself look well too
ETA - don't steroids make a man's penis smaller? if so then yes that's a bad thing. sorry size kinda does count..0 -
Steriods will no doubt make you huge but....why cheat when you can do it naturally? People may do "roids"and never suffer any side effects but personally, I would get no satisfaction out of cheating to get big and ripped. Lance used them, sure and now he is stripped of his Tour De France titles, Mark McQuire used them and is now a baseball discrace and will never get into the Hall of Fame, same with Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa and the countless others that used them.
I say "NAY" to the roids!!0 -
Steriods will no doubt make you huge but....why cheat when you can do it naturally? People may do "roids"and never suffer any side effects but personally, I would get no satisfaction out of cheating to get big and ripped. Lance used them, sure and now he is stripped of his Tour De France titles, Mark McQuire used them and is now a baseball discrace and will never get into the Hall of Fame, same with Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa and the countless others that used them.
I say "NAY" to the roids!!
Legalize it, maaaan. :smokin:0 -
Steriods will no doubt make you huge but....why cheat when you can do it naturally? People may do "roids"and never suffer any side effects but personally, I would get no satisfaction out of cheating to get big and ripped. Lance used them, sure and now he is stripped of his Tour De France titles, Mark McQuire used them and is now a baseball discrace and will never get into the Hall of Fame, same with Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa and the countless others that used them.
I say "NAY" to the roids!!
And Jose has officially lost his mind, just look at his twitter account.
Really though steriods have a negative effect on the brain and personalities. The term Roid Rage isn't just a made up term. There are more negative effects to steriods then positive.0 -
Drugs are a personal choice, and should be legal.
You can do as many bad things to other people drinking alcohol, why should it remain legal then?
If you hurt yourself by doing certain drugs, that is your own fault.
And no, LOL I don't do steroids if anyone was questioning that, my physique isn't even close to that level.
As far as fitness goes, I am all about it. Not sure I believe a "rapid trend", way too many sedentary people anymore. EDIT: What I mean by this is, it sounds like an ABC "entertainment" article trying to act like news.0 -
As far as fitness goes, I am all about it. Not sure I believe a "rapid trend", way too many sedentary people anymore. EDIT: What I mean by this is, it sounds like an ABC "entertainment" article trying to act like news.
They made protein shakes sound like they are going to kill people. Sensationalized new segment fer sure!0 -
As far as fitness goes, I am all about it. Not sure I believe a "rapid trend", way too many sedentary people anymore. EDIT: What I mean by this is, it sounds like an ABC "entertainment" article trying to act like news.
They made protein shakes sound like they are going to kill people. Sensationalized new segment fer sure!
Lol, evil protein shakes.
It is amusing because there are still many people who believe "protein shakes" are steroids.
Misinformed public gonna misinform.
Then again, there are many people who believe FOX, CNN, ABC, MSN, etc, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.0 -
Drugs are a personal choice but how does that correlate to they should be legal? If drugs are legalized then they would be taxed and the local pushers would be out of business because the big corporations will take over to give you a superior product.
Then all of the junkies will have to rob people and steal more, all the hookers will have to "hook" more, and it just keeps going and going because now your average drug user can't afford to pay for the drugs and legalized taxes for their particular drug of choice.
I agree it is their own fault if they hurt themselves doing drugs but we all know the majority of hardcore drug users do not have medical coverage and are flooding the local emergency rooms, just another reason we have socialized healthcare forced down our throats!
Edited to ensure it doesn't turn into a political discussion0 -
Drugs are a personal choice but how does that correlate to they should be legal? If drugs are legalized then they would be taxed and the local pushers would be out of business because the big corporations will take over to give you a superior product.
Then all of the junkies will have to rob people and steal more, all the hookers will have to "hook" more, and it just keeps going and going because now your average drug user can't afford to pay for the drugs and legalized taxes for their particular drug of choice.
I agree it is their own fault if they hurt themselves doing drugs but we all know the majority of hardcore drug users do not have medical coverage and are flooding the local emergency rooms, just another reason we have Obamacare forced down our throats!
Economics says that legalizing drugs would make the price of illegal drugs plummet.
More people would be able to afford them. If you need an example, look at alcohol prohibition.
Ask yourself how many people are running around in the streets in a craze killing people for booze?
As long as government and corporations don't get mixed up, distribution on drugs would not get that much more expensive, but even with that, they still wouldn't be as expensive as they are today.
Then again I would argue hookers should be legal as well, so this convo is turning into a morality issue, and I am not sure where to go from here.
Cliffs: Drugs cheaper, less crime.0 -
I personally don't see the issue with protein shakes. The article was quite set against them.
What I do find interesting are the adults who are trying to lose weight, eat healthy, take vitamins and drink protein shakes will still make their kids Kraft dinner, give them juice boxes and take them to McDonalds..while strictly avoiding those foods themselves.
To some extent, North American society still seems to look at food as a weight related issue only.. and we ignore the nutritional deficit we put ourselves in on a daily basis..0 -
If this were 100% true, yes let people do whatever they want, and face any consequences that may come along... but I hate to say.... that the answer is not that easy...If you hurt yourself by doing certain drugs, that is your own fault.
Somewhere along the lines "XYZ" has made it so that if someone puts something in thier mouth, and makes them have an adverse reaction and they end up at the local hospital whether it's thier choice or someone took them.... and they can't pay for the services that are rendered at said place....it trickles down enough to the point where technically I end up paying for a portion of it.
That is alot of the reason for the "illegal" label...too many people have had adverse reactions and hiked costs up so they had to do something to "fix" the problem. Enough said, I don't have the brain power today to argue it. :happy:
As far as the article. I don't have an overly strong opinion, I don't like the thought of using the items they mentioned partially because I don't know how (except for what they've mentioned) it affects someone, especially a young male.
On one hand I guess it's good information to see that men are somewhat feeling the pressure that women have for a while, that media is making them think they have to acheive a certain "look". I dont believe this is a good thing, but it is what it is.0 -
When did protien shakes become all that was evil. I missed that little bit of information. As for drugs I personally feel most of them should be legal and taxed one way for the government to make tons of money. I would also like to point out as a nurse that most of the medications you take (generalized you) have side effects. Even multi-vitamins. Personally I wouldnt use steriods but then again it is there body isnt it.0
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I like this. ^What I do find interesting are the adults who are trying to lose weight, eat healthy, take vitamins and drink protein shakes will still make their kids Kraft dinner, give them juice boxes and take them to McDonalds..while strictly avoiding those foods themselves.
To some extent, North American society still seems to look at food as a weight related issue only.. and we ignore the nutritional deficit we put ourselves in on a daily basis..0 -
As far as the article. I don't have an overly strong opinion, I don't like the thought of using the items they mentioned partially because I don't know how (except for what they've mentioned) it affects someone, especially a young male.
On one hand I guess it's good information to see that men are somewhat feeling the pressure that women have for a while, that media is making them think they have to acheive a certain "look". I dont believe this is a good thing, but it is what it is.
Maybe the men on here can back me up.. but I don't think there is anything wrong with putting the pressure on young men to achieve a certain body type. Yes, the media is setting the bar pretty high for us, but I think that's a good thing. It gives us something to strive for and hopefully one day achieve. It's serves as motivation more than anything else.0 -
As far as the article. I don't have an overly strong opinion, I don't like the thought of using the items they mentioned partially because I don't know how (except for what they've mentioned) it affects someone, especially a young male.
On one hand I guess it's good information to see that men are somewhat feeling the pressure that women have for a while, that media is making them think they have to acheive a certain "look". I dont believe this is a good thing, but it is what it is.
Maybe the men on here can back me up.. but I don't think there is anything wrong with putting the pressure on young men to achieve a certain body type. Yes, the media is setting the bar pretty high for us, but I think that's a good thing. It gives us something to strive for and hopefully one day achieve. It's serves as motivation more than anything else.
It is definently a good influence, generally a person who is physically active is usually healthier (not always but most of the time). I much prefer it over the "fat is fit" agenda that I usually see in the media.0 -
As far as the article. I don't have an overly strong opinion, I don't like the thought of using the items they mentioned partially because I don't know how (except for what they've mentioned) it affects someone, especially a young male.
On one hand I guess it's good information to see that men are somewhat feeling the pressure that women have for a while, that media is making them think they have to acheive a certain "look". I dont believe this is a good thing, but it is what it is.
Maybe the men on here can back me up.. but I don't think there is anything wrong with putting the pressure on young men to achieve a certain body type. Yes, the media is setting the bar pretty high for us, but I think that's a good thing. It gives us something to strive for and hopefully one day achieve. It's serves as motivation more than anything else.
Healthy yes, just not to the extremes to where like that kid committed suicide. I don't know what brought him to that point, but I guess being female myself the harder the media drives the more it screams in your head "You aren't good enough no matter what" that would drive alot of young kids-teens who tend to believe whatever it is... is the end of the world.
As much as I'd like to say the opposite, the push hasn't been towards "because it's healthy", it's been more towards do "whatever it takes" to acheive XYZ. And like Smallerbridesmaid said, bring back the facts, the nutrition aspect...0 -
It is definently a good influence, generally a person who is physically active is usually healthier (not always but most of the time). I much prefer it over the "fat is fit" agenda that I usually see in the media.
EXACTLY.
There's a big push for "fat is fit" by the media nowadays. Rubbish in my opinion. (and I certainly could stand to lose a few lbs!)
I'd much rather see TBS replay Rocky 4 ten times in a row and watch a ripped Stallone and Ivan Drago go 12 rounds than hear about "body acceptance".0 -
It is definently a good influence, generally a person who is physically active is usually healthier (not always but most of the time). I much prefer it over the "fat is fit" agenda that I usually see in the media.
EXACTLY.
There's a big push for "fat is fit" by the media nowadays. Rubbish in my opinion. (and I certainly could stand to lose a few lbs!)
I'd much rather see TBS replay Rocky 4 ten times in a row and watch a ripped Stallone and Ivan Drago go 12 rounds than hear about "body acceptance".
I agree regarding the replay of Rocky 4....if I had the choice between looking like Rocky did then or how Steven Segall looks in his movies, I would take Rocky every single time.0 -
Until the myth of the national food guides etc. and the way nutrition, advertising and overall health is treated.. I'm not sure that pushing these body types "instead" of body acceptance is really all that fair.
Yes, I think it is good to define healthy ideals, within ranges. However, much more work needs to be done on educating people before they are significantly overweight...in my opinion.0 -
As far as the article. I don't have an overly strong opinion, I don't like the thought of using the items they mentioned partially because I don't know how (except for what they've mentioned) it affects someone, especially a young male.
On one hand I guess it's good information to see that men are somewhat feeling the pressure that women have for a while, that media is making them think they have to acheive a certain "look". I dont believe this is a good thing, but it is what it is.
Maybe the men on here can back me up.. but I don't think there is anything wrong with putting the pressure on young men to achieve a certain body type. Yes, the media is setting the bar pretty high for us, but I think that's a good thing. It gives us something to strive for and hopefully one day achieve. It's serves as motivation more than anything else.
If you substituted "women" for "men" most people would be up in arms. Double standard? Lets not put pressure on normal people to attain an ideal body type. If you are obese or underweight by all means there needs to be support for those children. But the media and everyday people don't need to perpetuate that "standard."
Men do not NEED to be "buff" or use steroids. In fact, buff men are a turnoff for me. I just want a normal man with a little bit if muscle. Too much muscle creeps me out.
As for protein shakes - kids usually get the needed amount of protein in their diets and don't new supplemental protein...aka it's a waste of your money.
I feel enormous body pressure from the media. There are days where I'm watching TV or on Reddit or reading a magazine and I tell you, I feel like *kitten*. Either my stomach is too big, I don't have a thigh gap, my feet are too big, my hair isn't done enough, glasses are uncool, I wear not enough makeup, I have big thighs, or hairy arms...
Men are lucky they face less body pressure.
Mike, spend a day in a woman's body and you'll regret those words.0 -
Drugs are a personal choice, and should be legal.
I agree, but steroids used regularly are not healthy especially in young kids. I don't know what the issue is with protein shakes, unless someone can enlighten me as to whether or not they've killed someone?
I think that body image is always going to be an issue, and it's something that we all see in the media and try to emulate to some degree. What is "sexy" changes from decade to decade. I always think it's a bit sad when people feel they have to pursue unhealthy means to get to the "ideal" body... but the rest of it is good. Eat healthier + work out more = less obesity in children. I'm okay with it.
I love Rocky, but I love Rambo more XD0 -
Mike, spend a day in a woman's body and you'll regret those words.
Yeah, I've never been a woman before, but I doubt I'd regret those words if I were.
I could just as easily get down on myself and say "I don't have the 6 pack or V that Channing Tatum does." and be bummed out the rest of the day. Or, I could hit the gym and try to achieve that look as well.
Maybe I'm over simplifying it, but I think a lot comes down to mental toughness. Even if you don't get that perfect physique, at least you know you gave it your all and that should provide some piece of mind (along with some decent, but not perfect results).0 -
Mike, spend a day in a woman's body and you'll regret those words.
Yeah, I've never been a woman before, but I doubt I'd regret those words if I were.
I could just as easily get down on myself and say "I don't have the 6 pack or V that Channing Tatum does." and be bummed out the rest of the day. Or, I could hit the gym and try to achieve that look as well.
Maybe I'm over simplifying it, but I think a lot comes down to mental toughness. Even if you don't get that perfect physique, at least you know you gave it your all and that should provide some piece of mind (along with some decent, but not perfect results).
The thing is, you are saying those words to yourself.
Women regularly hear those words in the media. Everyday in fact. Not a day goes by where I don't read something in the media about how I suck and my body is not up to standards. That how will I ever expect to be in a relationship if I'm fat or don't have a thigh gap or have a stomach or don't get Brazilian waxes or don't have perfectly shaped breasts or perfectly shaped nipples, being pale. Hearing all of that stuff makes me doubt myself. I feel pressure to be perfect.
Men rarely hear that...if anything, they hear it about height. I'm sorry, but you have it damn lucky. And it makes me sad that you want to change that for men.0 -
Men are lucky they face less body pressure.
Men do face less body pressure, but let's be honest here. You only have to do as much as you want to. At some point you have to accept your proportions as they are (like how most women will never get a thigh gap), and simply work with what you have. You can look amazing and be healthy without caving to what magazine covers tell people is the best. Stop letting the media pressure you and go with what YOU want that is reasonable and healthy for the lifestyle you want. It's seriously liberating to accept that.0
This discussion has been closed.