Super-Biased Article: Men's Weight

Off Topic
1

Articles like this make me a sad panda :frowning:

I don’t understand the media - I really don’t. On one hand we have article after article scaring us about how certain types of food will make us fat or how we should do this or that to improve our body image.

On the other hand, we have articles like this, which seem to say that anyone who wants to change their body image is mentally unhealthy. And god forbid you act to change your body and suceed - because then you’re obsessive!

I understand this to a certain extent…there are certain things about your body that you just can’t change, due to genetics - and you should try at least to accept these things about yourself. But I for the longest time bought into this bullshit - that regardless of my body I should be OK with it. Of course, I was somewhat of a skinny-fat bastard who barely ever moved and was on the road to being a pretty unhealthy individual. I actually thought it was somehow bad for me to admit that I wasn’t OK with myself like that.

It’s all well and good to be happy with who you are, but no one lives in a bubble, and how the world perceives you DOES matter to an extent.

I love the quote by this andrew guy though:
“When I was in my early twenties I was very skinny, and a bit short, but I had no problem meeting attractive girls. Then, I got into weight training because I felt self-conscious about my weight and transformed my body completely. I put on about 30lb of muscle but I ruined my looks. People started calling me �??Mr Potato Head’. Now I’ve got injured and stopped training and, when I’m on the beach, I remind myself of one of those former Soviet leaders at a Black Sea resort.”

How the hell do you manage to put on 30lbs of muscle but ruin your looks? Unless you REALLY fucked up your muscle symmetry.

2

[quote]nowakc wrote:
Articles like this make me a sad panda :frowning:

I don’t understand the media - I really don’t. On one hand we have article after article scaring us about how certain types of food will make us fat or how we should do this or that to improve our body image.

On the other hand, we have articles like this, which seem to say that anyone who wants to change their body image is mentally unhealthy. And god forbid you act to change your body and suceed - because then you’re obsessive!

I understand this to a certain extent…there are certain things about your body that you just can’t change, due to genetics - and you should try at least to accept these things about yourself. But I for the longest time bought into this bullshit - that regardless of my body I should be OK with it. Of course, I was somewhat of a skinny-fat bastard who barely ever moved and was on the road to being a pretty unhealthy individual. I actually thought it was somehow bad for me to admit that I wasn’t OK with myself like that.

It’s all well and good to be happy with who you are, but no one lives in a bubble, and how the world perceives you DOES matter to an extent.

I love the quote by this andrew guy though:
“When I was in my early twenties I was very skinny, and a bit short, but I had no problem meeting attractive girls. Then, I got into weight training because I felt self-conscious about my weight and transformed my body completely. I put on about 30lb of muscle but I ruined my looks. People started calling me �??Mr Potato Head’. Now I’ve got injured and stopped training and, when I’m on the beach, I remind myself of one of those former Soviet leaders at a Black Sea resort.”

How the hell do you manage to put on 30lbs of muscle but ruin your looks? Unless you REALLY fucked up your muscle symmetry.[/quote]

What a bunch of crap that article is. If people like this guy want to stay physically unhealthy because they think there is something mentally unhealthy with being physically healthy, then let them. Obesity is an epidemic in the states, being a strong, healthy, fit individual is not.

I also agree with you about that comment. Unless the guy is REALLY short (like 5’) adding 30lbs of muscle to a very skinny frame is not going to be a huge difference. Yet another bullshit perpetuation of the “anti muscle” stigma.

3

He gained 30 lbs of muscle and it ruined his looks? Was he using his face to lift the weights?

4

fuck…i couldnt even get though that…i think i hate society

5

[quote]AngryVader wrote:
Was he using his face to lift the weights?[/quote]

…You’re not supposed to do that?

Interesting stuff. I fail to see how some of this is a bad thing–I don’t think wanting to look better or be stronger is in anyway a bad thing.

It’s a bad thing if that desire interferes with other aspects of your life, but it’s not hard to find an acceptable balance. Most of it have it down well, but we’d be considered dysfunctional because we structure our lives around eating and training.

I know that I never want to be a fat ass again, and that fact, my own “male body anxiety,” is part of what keeps me going back to the gym and, more importantly, eating good food. The myriad of health benefits and various compliments I’ve received must be awful side effects of bigarexia.

6

What I really love is that this guy compared himself to a former Soviet leader on vacation. THAT was priceless.

7

I think it’s pretty obvious that the article was written by some pathetic lazy fatass who is desperately trying to justify his grossness.

Kind of like the male equivalent of those obese lardass housewifes who constantly squawk at the top of their lungs that “real women have curves!”

Also, I have never heard of a man being ridiculed for wanting a six pack. NEVER.

8

[quote]MarvelGirl wrote:
I think it’s pretty obvious that the article was written by some pathetic lazy fatass who is desperately trying to justify his grossness.

Kind of like the male equivalent of those obese lardass housewifes who constantly squawk at the top of their lungs that “real women have curves!”

Also, I have never heard of a man being ridiculed for wanting a six pack. NEVER.[/quote]

Your last line here makes me think you don’t read the bodybuilding forum on T-Nation a lot =)

9

I approve of these articles now. The dumb guys will read it and stop working out.

Women aren’t going to drop millions of years of evolution in a heartbeat just to go for the skinny guy or the fat guy.

10

First,

[quote]davidtower wrote:

Your last line here makes me think you don’t read the bodybuilding forum on T-Nation a lot =)

[/quote]

Ridiculous. [quote]A man who says “I wish I had a six pack” in public invites ridicule.[/quote] This is only true if all that guy is doing is WISHING.

Apparently, there are no women who want to build muscle mass or who don’t simply want to lose weight. It is nice to know that the good doctor doesn’t even consider the possibility that women have different ideals and don’t all think the same. Someone like this is a “lecturer in psychology”?

11

He wrote:

“I seem to have both concerns at the same time. If I look around my desk I can see a tub of muscle-building powder, creatine muscle-building pills and several books on weight training. In my drawer I have body fat calipers, testosterone-boosting pills, conjugated linoleic acid pills that are supposed to strip away fat and a vitamin complex that is meant to do something similar. Don’t get me started on the press-up bars, weights, and exercise videos under the stairs. I’m not even an extreme case. I quit and go back on the pies after about three months of overdoing it. Other men take it much farther.”

He admits that he wants to put on muscle, lose fat, etc. but that he’s not able to stick with it. Those of us that can stick with a program and make it a lifestyle are obsessive.

If there’s anything that gets my goat it’s somebody who can’t commit to something worthwhile trying to drag down those who can.

12

Psychology is an entire field of morons. How’s that for a generalization?

13

shit, i couldnt even finish the article.
btw, that pic of daniel craig is disgusting

14

[quote]WxHerk wrote:
He wrote:

“I seem to have both concerns at the same time. If I look around my desk I can see a tub of muscle-building powder, creatine muscle-building pills and several books on weight training. In my drawer I have body fat calipers, testosterone-boosting pills, conjugated linoleic acid pills that are supposed to strip away fat and a vitamin complex that is meant to do something similar. Don’t get me started on the press-up bars, weights, and exercise videos under the stairs. I’m not even an extreme case. I quit and go back on the pies after about three months of overdoing it. Other men take it much farther.”

He admits that he wants to put on muscle, lose fat, etc. but that he’s not able to stick with it. Those of us that can stick with a program and make it a lifestyle are obsessive.

If there’s anything that gets my goat it’s somebody who can’t commit to something worthwhile trying to drag down those who can.
[/quote]

I thought this part was pretty classic:

“It looks as though I’ll be renewing my gym membership every September for many years to come.”

He has already determined he is going to fail. Repeatedly.

15

[quote]debraD wrote:
Psychology is an entire field of morons. How’s that for a generalization?[/quote]

Your back looks fantastic and I’m glad you made that pic your avatar . . . how’s that for a specification?? :slight_smile:

16

GI Joe used to have 12" biceps, hot damn, I’ve got 12" biceps!
GO JOE, er ME!
62% of men worry about there caloric intake, it would be better if everyone in the general population worried about their caloric intake a bit more.
It takes the cake that women just want to be thin, what a stupid, un-researched opinion that is.
This article makes me mad at the world.

17

[quote]Professor X wrote:
First,

davidtower wrote:

Your last line here makes me think you don’t read the bodybuilding forum on T-Nation a lot =)

Ridiculous. A man who says “I wish I had a six pack” in public invites ridicule. This is only true if all that guy is doing is WISHING.

The rise of male body anxiety is harder to spot than the female equivalent as it’s more complex, says Dr Stephen Edwards, a lecturer in psychology at Swansea University. “In women it’s very straightforward - they want to lose weight. Men fall into three broad categories: those who want to gain weight, that is put on muscle; those who want to lose fat; and those who don’t care.” There are also competing body ideals. Thin is in for most women, but would all men like to look like Jarvis Cocker, Arnold Schwarzenegger or David Beckham?

Apparently, there are no women who want to build muscle mass or who don’t simply want to lose weight. It is nice to know that the good doctor doesn’t even consider the possibility that women have different ideals and don’t all think the same. Someone like this is a “lecturer in psychology”?
[/quote]

Way to complicate things. Here I was enjoying being simple and one dimensional.

Now I want to look like David Beckham.

18

Moral: Potato-heads are unattractive.

19

Who the fuck believes anyone’s stats without an accompanying picture. Anyone can claim anything in print, and in real life as well as long as they refer to it in the past tense. “Dude, i used to look like Ronnie Coleman, thn I realized I was unhealthy…so I dropped all that useless muscle and have been happy since”. Even here on this site not too long back, I’ve interacted with a guy who claims to be 240 pounds WITHOUT AN OUNCE OF FAT at 6 feet tall.

if someone takes anything (in that article) literally - they’re wasting time. And message board dimwits are there purely for comic relief. You’ll have an internet psychologist, an internet MD and an internet millionaire all posting responses “I’m a psychologist, and I conducted a study that proved that big muscles are icky”.

[quote]nowakc wrote:
I love the quote by this andrew guy though:
“When I was in my early twenties I was very skinny, and a bit short, but I had no problem meeting attractive girls. Then, I got into weight training because I felt self-conscious about my weight and transformed my body completely. I put on about 30lb of muscle but I ruined my looks. People started calling me �??Mr Potato Head’. Now I’ve got injured and stopped training and, when I’m on the beach, I remind myself of one of those former Soviet leaders at a Black Sea resort.”

How the hell do you manage to put on 30lbs of muscle but ruin your looks? Unless you REALLY fucked up your muscle symmetry.[/quote]

20

[quote]debraD wrote:
Psychology is an entire field of morons. How’s that for a generalization?[/quote]

Right. Generalize to an entire field from a few morons quoted in the article.

That’s the same error that the premise of this article is based on. Well done.