
Bodybuilding has always been a fringe sport that has gone through many changes as times and society has changed. There have been many controversies and triumphs for the sport. However right now in society we have a lot of negative views of bodybuilders. This paper will give a history of the sport and the many social aspects that have led to the current view of the sport. Then leading into why we should change our view of the sport.  

First off a history of the sport to set the stage. Physical culture in America dates back to the time of president Teddy Roosevelt. He was a symbol of athletic outdoorsman masculinity. He told young men they should get lots of physical activity, and learn how to be men while being outdoors doing hard physical labor. This lead many Americans to make association of success and masculinity with physical ability. Then After the second world war the American state department came to the conclusion that if another world conflict was to break out that the American people would not have enough strong healthy young men to fight the war. This has led to the many programs we see in schools such as physical education class, and school meals to ensure young men were getting proper nutrition. The government also ensured a societal change to loving physical culture by supporting sports such as WWE wrestling. This has in the past as it does today shows many large and strong men who are heroes to young men. About this time the famed Arnold Schwarzengger came into the public eye. He represents the American dream. He was a self-made man who became famous through bodybuilding. His career would include many movies and political positions. The two most coveted profession in the American eye. All the while being a very built and aesthetic man. This would influence a generation who would by default associate his success with his body and muscle. The last major turn in the history of body building is the steroid scandals on the 1980’s. They stated with baseball players who were found to be taking the drug. Then professional wrestlers who were the aforementioned heroes were found to have been taking the drug. Thus the image of physical culture and body building was tarnished and has not recovered to this day.

Modern ideas of modern body builders are that of men who are unintelligent, self-centered, emotionally unstable, and steroid users. People believe that the athletes are guys who can’t do much else but use their bodies. They believe that they are not the smartest, leading them into a sport that they don’t need to use their heads a lot. This is also perpetuated by the jokes in movies, and videos of bodybuilder show say dumb things like any other public figure. Self-centered ness comes from the view that athletes are constantly talking about themselves and how big they have gotten.  They see many pictures on social media, and it seems that fitness is the only thing they talk about. Views of mental instability comes from cases of steroid rage and the violence that has been associated with them. Lastly the idea that society has created that you can only become as big as many of the great through the use of steroids has led to many negative views of the athletes. These arguments however are broken down once one gets a good view into the lives of the athletes and what they do to achieve their goals. 

Maybe some young unprofessional body builders are not the brightest, but it takes a lot of understanding to reach the top levels. Body builders must learn the inner workings of the human body. They need to understand how the muscles are developed and maintained. Even further to the point that they must find out how their specific body works. Every athletes body is different and needs different use of supplements/ nutrition. A sample schedule would include figuring out what macros they need, when they need to eat, when they need to train, what supplements to take, and when to take the supplements.  The bodybuilder must know to eat just about every three hours. Their diet varies on if they are trying to “bulk up” or “cut down” (Schwarzenegger).

They need to know how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fats they need. This is called counting macros. This means they must stop whatever they are doing to eat. Their day is centered around eating. If they miss their timing they risk losing muscle and training ineffectively later.  They must find when they need to train so that they have ample sleep, but also keep up the intensity. They must know what supplements to take. Supplement types include amino acids, proteins, carb boosters, pre-workout, fat burners, and testosterone boosters. There are many more beyond even this list. The supplements must be taken at the right time so that it gives the desired affect if taken whenever it will do nothing. The supplement like pre work out can even hurt the body builder if not taken safely.  All of these variables to account for are to show that bodybuilders must be intelligent to some level to understand these products. How could an uneducated and insensible person figure this out if they could not learn to study this material. The sport is far from not mentally demanding. 

Self-centeredness is an interesting topic to discuss and debunk. While yes it is ramped in the sport it very necessary. Body building is a solo person sport, there is not team work involved. It is based solely on the efforts of the individual. This can be found in other sports like wrestling, tennis, golf, and track. The sport is designed to be focused on improving the self. One must have a keen eye to analyze and see the flaws in need of improvement. One must become their very own project. However, this is not self-centeredness as much as it is improving their craft. Their craft just happens to be their own flesh and blood. You would not fault a golfer for being obsessed with their back stroke, then why would you be mad at bodybuilder for being critical of his chest definition. While yes to someone who is not into the sport it may seem narcissistic it is only a pursuit of self-improvement. Which is something that everyone can admire and understand to some level. 

Emotional instability is something that is at some level a very prominent thing in the sport. Not in a demonizing way of that these men are bad people who are a danger to society. Rather in a way that is based in the reason they were drawn into the sport. Most bodybuilders have a self-imagine issue that makes them want to use the sport to create their perfect selves (Klein). They may have issue with masculinity or their ability to be a sexually active male. They believe that if they create a bigger body then men will see them as leaders, and that women will want them. These things are too an existent true. Yes, men will naturally respect a man with a great body, because of the mental work that must go into achieve these things. Yes, women will be attracted to a pleasing male body. While these things may seem to be shallow needs, why is bad to achieve them? When the body builders can increase their self-esteem then they work harder, they are better citizens, and live happier over all lives. They begin to set good examples of how to live healthy and inspire other people to do the same. It is always beneficial for a civilization to have healthy citizens who will live long and productive lives. Meaning while yes these men have problems, so do a lot people. At least they are finding a healthy way to deal with their issues. They could be on drugs illegal or legal, and not able to healthy cope. With bodybuilding however, they can live happy lives. 

Steroids have been in the sports since the cold war era. Knowing their history can take away some of their stigma and give better understanding of what they are. Steroids are synthetic forms of the naturally occurring hormone testosterone. They were first invented during WWI to help American soldiers maintain muscle mass on their rationed diets during the war. They then worked their way into sports when Olympic athletes started taking them to do better at power lifting events during the cold war years. They then rocked the world of baseball in the 1980s with many scandals. As can be seen their start wasn’t of any bad intent. Then why are they demonized? they have become evil because they seem to take away the hard work out of sports and the values we as society wish for our athletes to gain form participating in the sports. They are however only used currently as a recovery drug. The extra level of testosterone that the drugs provide give the athletes the ability to train hard and recover in time for the next day’s hard lift. It ultimately serves to make sure the athletes do not hurt themselves through prolonged repetitive muscle atrophy. With this history in mind why should the bodybuilders who use them be looked down upon. Consider also that it is a very small number of bodybuilders who use these drugs. That small percentage being the professional athletes who make a living doing this. Meaning they are putting their bodies at increased risk of being injured so these drugs can serve to help them prolong their careers. Making these drugs not as evil when properly used.

After having these common myths debunked opinions of the body builders should be changed. Now that the charter flaws seem less and one can begin to have appreciation for the effort that goes into the sport. Hopefully the athletes are less stigmatized. Why does any of this matter? Why has any of the information been worth understanding? It matters because society needs to change its view of fitness. Society as a whole has come up with this idea that fitness is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that only a small sect of people practices and are often looked at as strange for their obsession. This is why the modern view of body builders has become so exaggerated. However, the truth is that fitness is not a lifestyle. It is not a choice for only some people to make, and others to not worry about. Everyone needs to have fitness in their lives. Not always to the extent that professional body builders or athletes take it too, but to a basic health maintenance level. It needs to be in some way in everyone’s life because we are all physical beings. Much of our life quality and experience is through our flesh bodies. People only have one body that is constantly getting ready to fall apart if one doesn’t take care of it. Why wouldn’t a person want to live life at its highest quality by taking the time to maintain basic physical health. Physical health affects our emotions, social status, and ability to achieve our goals. Why then wouldn’t one want to have a healthy body to best live their lives in? This all comes back to why the image of bodybuilders/fitness people is important. As a society they have wanted to make people like that seem less for what they do because they are not physically fit themselves. It makes ignoring physical fitness easier when you separate yourself from the fit people, and even make them seem strange for being fit.  Hopefully their view will change, and people will take care of the most important thing they can control in their life. Their very own bodies.  
