Are bodybuilders vain?

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  • HotBodUnderConstruction
    HotBodUnderConstruction Posts: 420
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    Someone must have seen my earlier post, today, where I said body builders were vain. When a person takes time to admire themselves in a mirror... THAT'S VANITY! I don't care how hard you work to get there, the motivation is vanity (so you, and others, can admire you). As I said in the other post, you don't have to build muscles to be in good shape and healthy.

    Edit: van·i·ty/ˈvanətē/
    Noun:

    Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements.

    Key word here being: excessive. You can have pride in yourself without it being excessive. The excessive part is what separates those who are proud of their achievements and those who take it to a higher degree (i.e., those that are vain
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    I have to wonder what would motivate you to ask this question? Give me a list of qualities that ALL..........I guess I just can't understand the reasoning that brought you to ask this question.

    I'd like to answer you question with this statement:

    consider that most all athletes only train one side of their body, or one type of body shaping style:
    In bikini, fitness, figure, and body
    the participants have a specific body shaping goal to achieve in their sport's respective disciplines that will be "judged" by peers:

    symmetry of both sides of the body,
    development of the muscles,
    proportion of the body areas,
    definition of the muscle groups,
    grace in movement,
    posture and poise,
    style...

    To ask if it is vain to train to see if one can accomplish these sport specific goals is not a bad thing. It's a rhetorical question that Bry the OP has used to open the minds and eyes of people like you who may not yet be a fan of this sport.


    Wow, I like your response. Good wording, like you were in my head. I guess you just get me. :wink:
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
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    when you are ready to move up into figure fitness can I be your choreographer then? Great minds.... sabes? :)
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    when you are ready to move up into figure fitness can I be your choreographer then? Great minds.... sabes? :)

    Eeek, figure? Doesn't training last longer? I barely held it together the first time for bikini and getting back at it this time, lol, BUT in my defense I had a wee set back... but, if I do decide to up it to figure - definitely!!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Yes, but who said "vain" was inherently bad?
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    Yes, but who said "vain" was inherently bad?


    no one, but my initial thought is to vain = bad. I really just wanted a friendly discussion on the subject, nothing more.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    To some extent I do think so. Some may not be, but many also are extremely proud of how they look and their progress. What's wrong with that? They work damn hard to get where they are.

    There's a difference between being vain and being arrogant too. Anyone who thinks it's ok to put others down because they don't take as good care of their body or aren't into the same things, deserves no respect. Most of the bodybuilders I have met before happen to be really nice people though, whether vain or not :)
  • Murphy15
    Murphy15 Posts: 142
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    But they're too sexy for their shirts...
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    To some extent I do think so. Some may not be, but many also are extremely proud of how they look and their progress. What's wrong with that? They work damn hard to get where they are.

    There's a difference between being vain and being arrogant too. Anyone who thinks it's ok to put others down because they don't take as good care of their body or aren't into the same things, deserves no respect. Most of the bodybuilders I have met before happen to be really nice people though, whether vain or not :)


    definitely nothing wrong with it at all. I was just curious as to what others opinions on the topic were. I also agree on the bodybuilders bikini models, etc. that I have met have all been pretty nice and very helpful.
  • lickmybaconcakes
    lickmybaconcakes Posts: 1,063 Member
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    There will always be naturally occuring bell distribution curves for characteristics, this is no different for bodybuilders just that appearance of vanity is maximised by our perceptions led by media and those who wish to stigmatise it.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Yes, but who said "vain" was inherently bad?


    no one, but my initial thought is to vain = bad. I really just wanted a friendly discussion on the subject, nothing more.

    And that was my contribution to the discussing. Yes body builders are "vain" but no, vanity is not inherently "bad", therefore bodybuilders are not "bad" simply because they are vain. They might be "bad" for other reasons however, (maybe they flick boogers at people for example).
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    Yes, but who said "vain" was inherently bad?


    no one, but my initial thought is to vain = bad. I really just wanted a friendly discussion on the subject, nothing more.

    And that was my contribution to the discussing. Yes body builders are "vain" but no, vanity is not inherently "bad", therefore bodybuilders are not "bad" simply because they are vain. They might be "bad" for other reasons however, (maybe they flick boogers at people for example).

    lol, people at work are going to wonder what is wrong with me (having random fits of hysteria). That was too cute.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Yup, what Rae said. There's some vanity involved, but there's vanity involved in any competition of any kind. The vanity of a bodybuilder is no more or less vain than that of a spelling bee champion. Both are competing because they want to win.
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    But they're too sexy for their shirts...

    doh, now that song is stuck in my head, lol.
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
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    Vain is to be excessively overconfident! The sport of Body/Fitness/Figure/Bikini is not vain at all. The goal of all bodybuilders when they get up on a stage is to sell themselves to the judges.

    Confidence! Sometimes that comes off as vanity. Tell these beautiful athletes in their respective sports that they are vain because they run around in athletic wear performing feats of fitness and beauty that the average joe / jane can only admire and appreciate and they will politely shrug you off as the uneducated person you would sound like saying that to them.

    athletes10.jpg

    athletes09.jpg

    athletes04.jpg

    athletes06.jpg

    leighsa.jpg
  • juscallmeb
    juscallmeb Posts: 369 Member
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    Someone must have seen my earlier post, today, where I said body builders were vain. When a person takes time to admire themselves in a mirror... THAT'S VANITY! I don't care how hard you work to get there, the motivation is vanity (so you, and others, can admire you). As I said in the other post, you don't have to build muscles to be in good shape and healthy.

    Edit: van·i·ty/ˈvanətē/
    Noun:

    Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements.

    Key word here being: excessive. You can have pride in yourself without it being excessive. The excessive part is what separates those who are proud of their achievements and those who take it to a higher degree (i.e., those that are vain

    i like this :)
  • TrueBlueBruin78
    TrueBlueBruin78 Posts: 311 Member
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    This is just a question to see how others feel about it, so please play nicely. Opinions are welcome, so long as they are not bashing anyone else's opinions or each other....


    So, do you think bodybuilding from bikini to fitness to figure to physique to bodybuilding is vain? And, why or why not?


    my response - no. Why not? Because it takes someone with a great amount of restraint, discipline, dedication, determination, willpower, motivation, etc. to even consider getting into this sport.

    I agree with you completely. For me at least, i am building my body, so if that makes me a body builder, then yes i am, but i dont do it for stage (not yet at least maybe in the near future). But me personally, i like to pay if forward, things that i know and have learned throughout my journey, I love to share my knowledge with people who are willing to accept it. But i guess it depends on the person, a vain person is a vain person, no matter what. Thanks for bringing this up.
  • Z_I_L_L_A
    Z_I_L_L_A Posts: 2,399 Member
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    BWB you just bogart the whole post? I say you worked for it, you earned it and you can flaunt it all you want because you deserve it. Haters and trolls beware Hulk smashes puny haters and trolls. Okay I'm done.....Yeah the other day I looked in the mirror and admired the work that I have done, that I have worked and sweated for mind you and I said daaayuum you go Zilla. I stopped just shy of kissin my finger and touchin my brazilian butt lifted buttocks and giving the sizzle sound. lmao trump that....
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    This is just a question to see how others feel about it, so please play nicely. Opinions are welcome, so long as they are not bashing anyone else's opinions or each other....


    So, do you think bodybuilding from bikini to fitness to figure to physique to bodybuilding is vain? And, why or why not?


    my response - no. Why not? Because it takes someone with a great amount of restraint, discipline, dedication, determination, willpower, motivation, etc. to even consider getting into this sport.

    I agree with you completely. For me at least, i am building my body, so if that makes me a body builder, then yes i am, but i dont do it for stage (not yet at least maybe in the near future). But me personally, i like to pay if forward, things that i know and have learned throughout my journey, I love to share my knowledge with people who are willing to accept it. But i guess it depends on the person, a vain person is a vain person, no matter what. Thanks for bringing this up.


    I think you could compete, but I know how it feels wanting to be better than you are to present yourself on stage (or at least that's where I was before and am now that its been a while since training). I totally love the helping those who want to be helped and am actually looking at getting certified to become a trainer and hopefully (fingers crossed) will be able to quit my job to do that full time soon after. :bigsmile:
  • americaistoxic
    americaistoxic Posts: 7
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    My wife and I used to go to a gym where it was mostly bodybuilders (www.metroflexplano.com) and they were the nicest guys and gals we've ever met in a fitness environment. If you've never read about what exactly they go through to get ready for a show, you should. If they're a little vain because of that, then fine. What they do is extremely hard, and deserve a lot of credit for it. Is it healthy? Well, that's another question... But honestly, what is 100% healthy in our society?

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