The Flame-Free Confession Thread

Lucky you.

The discussion on what to name yourself has gone on for far longer than it should have.
Can you two just agree to disagree?

This is a civil discussion between adults regarding the nature of identity. It is a fascinating topic, that had ranged from Aristotle to Descartes to Machiavelli to Nietzsche and further onward.

I apologize if you do not find interesting, but I see no reason to agree to disagree at this juncture. At present, there isn’t even an argument; just dialogue.

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I completely agree.

From my experience, individuals either 1) identify themselves as they see themselves/identify themselves as they want to be identified or 2) individuals identify themselves as to be acceptable to others. There are actual names for these theories, but we don’t nee to go that deep.

For example, when identifying myself to others at the gym, I usually say something like “I’m a bodybuilder” but when I was introducing myself to the lady’s parents once upon a time, the phrase “fitness enthusiast” came up when describing my non-work hobbies.

The first example is me identifying myself as what I see myself as (even though I’m probably not) whereas the second example is me identifying myself the same way, but in an acceptable manner to those who aren’t gym-oriented.

As another example, my friends or family or college ‘friends’ identify me as a ‘philosopher’ or ‘philosophical’ because that’s what I studied, how I think, and what I love to read. When I was introducing myself to the lady’s parents, the phrase “I like reading philosophy” was used.

Again, identifying oneself as is desired versus identifying oneself to be acceptable to others. I don’t know…food for thought. If nothing else, you can go google those theories and see what comes out of it…

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Don’t forget that labeling is so limiting. Perhaps we should all consider ourselves transcendentalists and consider how great we can be if we don’t label ourselves as a strongman, or a power lifter.

From hence forward, please refer to me as a god; I wouldn’t want to set the bar too low.

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Fantastic post. Appreciate you sharing it.

Also fascinating at the impact culture has on identity. In more homogeneous locations, you may identify primarily based off your parents/ancestors (“I am so and so’s child”), whereas family becomes inconsequential in a more mixed/larger society.

And then, on the whole “bodybuilder vs other term” thing, it’s amazing how much willingness to explain plays in, haha. I know most folks use bodybuilder to mean “person who lifts weights”, so unless I want to have to explain how the way I lift weights is TOTALLY different from the way another guy lifts weights, I just go with it.

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I am finding it quite interesting but obviously Jmaier’s opinion will not be changed on what makes someone a powerlifter.
Sorry if my thoughts on this annoyed you at all, didn’t mean it.
Please continue the discussion further its intriguing to read.

It already appears to have been further refined through dialogue. The exchange has been pretty positive.

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I still stand by my initial statement and it was made in support of Benanything’s initial post.

And you and I are on the same page; I just haven’t been able to put it into words correctly. There are many other important things about a person before being a power lifter. I use that because it’s what the initial reference was about. And in reference to @Benanything’s first post I visualized a fat guy who is strong and tells everyone he’s a power lifter but he doesn’t compete and the power lifting label comes off more as an excuse to be fat than a testament of strength.

But to finish this up, the way you ordered things is similar to how I would do it. I know a part of you is a strongman competitor, but even you don’t come off as someone identifying as that.

Here we go. Couldn’t figure out how to explain this so here’s some definitions!

Identify

  1. establish or indicate who or what (someone or something) is

  2. associate (someone) closely with; regard (someone) as having strong links with.

I’ve been viewing this from the perspective of #1 and I think the rest of you have been using #2…Which is probably the better way .

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good to know! Thanks

Strongman is definitely definition 1 for me. With the amount of time, money, energy and injuries I have put into the activity, I can’t imagine it being anything else.

That said, I agree with you that it would be silly for someone that has never powerlifted to claim to be a powerlifter.

Edit: Again, it is not the only thing I identify as. I am not 1 dimensional. But it is absolutely 1 of the things I identify as.

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Not that my voice matters…Even though I have competed in BB, Strongman and PL over the years. When people ask I just shy away from saying anything about it. When someone ask me out of the blue " you lift dont you?" i just say a little bit and thats it. For me its not who I am…its something I do.

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Aren’t we defined by our actions?
Like if you consider yourself a father, isn’t that because you participate in fatherly actions?

There are a lot of philosophers that talk to this idea, but I prefer to answer with a joke.

Guy is looking depressed at a bar. Another patron approaches him and asks him what’s wrong. He sighs and goes "You know, I built bridges for 20 years, but no one calls me “Bob the bridge builder”.

"I sung in the church choir all my life, but no one calls me “Bob the Singer”.

“But man, I swear, you f**k ONE sheep…”

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I think context matters greatly when talking about your identity to other people. As others have noted it depends on who you are talking to and in what situation

On this forum people understand what Powerlifting, Bodybuilding, strongman, crossfit, etc… are and the small but important differences in them

Your grandma doesn’t give a shit, so it’s pointless to say “no Grammy, my primary focus is to increase my total in the big 3 and you got me a tank top with the word Bodybuilder on it!”

So you have the same identity but you might not feel the need to fully detail it unless you know you are in the right situation with the right people

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confession time…

I think everyone noticeably bigger than me is on steroids and stronger than me is genetically gifted for strength.

Intellectually I know its very likely often wrong, but boy it feels good.

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I think certain natty coaches should stop pushing dieting to get shredded over actually having muscles and getting shredded. I see way too many competitors on social media that take “DYEL” to a whole new level, and yet thanks to 20+ week dieting and popular online coaches constantly blowing praise up their asses, they’re now Bodybuilders.

If you’re 6’ tall and complete close to 150 lbs, IMO you’re doing it wrong.

S

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I LOVE pineapple on my pizza.

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This.

Recently a dude went through this process, and we all told him, “Bro, you don’t have the mass to compete.”

I got down to 174 at 6’1", and I just looked skinny. Even if I got to five percent, I would have been 165, and I would have just looked like shit.

So, I figured it out, started eating, live to compete another day. You have to have lbm to get shredded, otherwise, you just look hungry.

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Deadlifts are way overrated when it comes to hypertrophy.

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