Whatever what the word SPORT means .... Bodybuilding is a discipline that need incredible focus, research and learning, mental strength, dedication, etc .... way more that all those SPORT. Calling bodybuilding a sports would be a insult to bodybuilding if you want my opinion ... All the world top athlete in almost every sport from Golf to swimming to football, are now trained by bodybuilder ... Bodybuilding is a extreme discipline that involve pushing you mind and body there genetic limit !!! In Fact, bodybuilding done correctly with methodology like Mentzer HIT and German volume,etc ... with the appropriate nutrition program (usually zone or paleo) create enough stress on the body to trigger epigenetic change .... So ... I would say that it go even further that you genetic limit ...

By the way, about the bodybuilding show/contest .... this is not where the thing append ... people just use that pretext has goal to increase there motivation, It is just a esthetic representation of what the result of there work look like. It is not based on performance ... its just a show ... to look good and compare what you did with your per ... Every real bodybuilder have precise chart of there progress with different measure. In there computer ... for them ... All that is very measurable way more than what many athlete do in there sport, Skateboarding ... FigureSkating, Bobslee, and all those ridiculuse sport present at the olimpic ...

Hope you don't still think that bodybuilding is about tanning or looking buff. People who try bodybuilding, who come with those kind of goal ... they just don't make it! It way no enough!

By the way I'm referring here to real bodybuilding ... mostly without steroids ...

For me it's a hobby. I don't know about "real" bodybuilders. Maybe a "discipline". I don't know.

i think of it as more of an art.

once you start entering in shows it becomes a sport until then its a hobby

once you start entering in shows it becomes a sport until then its a hobby

Yeah this seems about right.

I agree with this, but more or less see this as a "way of life". Once you know what you're doing, you never forget and you always bounce back healthwise. It's the fountain of youth to me.

Bodybuilding is a lifestyle (or a sport that takes up 24 hours of every day). 7+ meals a day, meal timing, sleep, not to mention the 110% in every training session. It requires a 24/7 commitment unlike any other sport.

As for the drugs, nothing wrong with that, it's just another supplement. You're average joe could run a crazy cycle and still not see the kinds of results that the truly dedicated athlete will. Drugs don't make the athlete, period. It's the hard work, day in and day out.

Yes it's a sport. Kind of sports entertainment I guess. But to try to take away from it and say it's not a sport is crappy.
One of the few sports that requires 24/7 dedication.



Natural bodybuilding vs using steroids is kind of a dumb thing to argue about. The natural guys typically aren't even natural. And you can't hate on the real bodybuilders who are willing to use steroids, deal with risks and side effects, and do everything they can to be the best.

to me bb is a lifestyle and shows are an exhibit.

I agree with this. If you call bodybuilding a sport, would beauty pageants be a sport? For them it is as much a lifestyle as it is for bodybuiilding folks, only they are aiming for a different physique.

I see it as a Sport for sure. There is a lot more to the Judging for who wins. Symmetry, Size, Detail, conditioning and more go into Judging.

As for the being Natural or an AAS User. Doesn't matter. They don't compete against each other. Not all IFBB Pro's have to use Massive amount of AAS either. They have there Staples.. but the real drugs come after the AAS during PCT and Dieting. These have more Sides/Complactions then AAS do.

i see it as a hobby, or career like modelling when you make it. probably one of the most demanding hobbies ever though lol.
i see the lifting side of it as the sport. worlds strongest man, powerlifting etc