Is Bodybuilding a Sport?

[Okeefenokee]

All sports require sacrifice and devotion in addition to the urge to compete.

You all can't imagine the effort it takes me to get to the right BAC to throw darts, shoot pool, or golf.

:goteam:

:gold medal

[StCapps]

Yeah, it kind of does.

When I think of a sport, I think of objective criteria to demonstrate that the performance of one athlete or team has exceeded the performance of another. Carrying the football to 1st down is an objective metric. Jumping 10 cm higher than the closest competitor is an objective metric. Beating an opponent into submission is an objective metric.

Just because you think of it that way doesn't mean that any game that deviates from 100% objective scoring criteria isn't a sport. As long as there is a referee or judge in a sport, they aren't 100% objective anyway, even the NFL scoring criteria isn't 100% objective. Quit fronting like it is, subjectivity is involved at some level in all sports and therefore it being more prevalent in some sports than others doesn't have any impact on whether a physical activity can be described as a "sport".

Bodybuilding has no such thing. It's a beauty contest. I am not saying it's easy. I think it's really amazing that they can do what they do. I am just questioning it's status as a legitimate sport. Lots of difficult things are not sports. It's not a dis against bodybuilders.

Muscle Mass is an objective scoring criteria in bodybuilding. So nice try but even bodybuilding has some percentage of objective scoring criteria, not that having less objective criteria for scoring would make it any less of a sport.

[Speaker to Animals]

Yeah, it kind of does.

When I think of a sport, I think of objective criteria to demonstrate that the performance of one athlete or team has exceeded the performance of another. Carrying the football to 1st down is an objective metric. Jumping 10 cm higher than the closest competitor is an objective metric. Beating an opponent into submission is an objective metric.

Just because you think of it that way doesn't mean that any game that deviates from 100% objective scoring criteria isn't a sport. As long as there are referee or judges in a sport they aren't 100% objective anyway, even the NFL scoring criteria isn't 100% objective. Quit fronting like it is, subjectivity is involved at some level in all sports and therefore it being more prevalent in some sports than others doesn't have any impact on sports legitimacy.

Bodybuilding has no such thing. It's a beauty contest. I am not saying it's easy. I think it's really amazing that they can do what they do. I am just questioning it's status as a legitimate sport. Lots of difficult things are not sports. It's not a dis against bodybuilders.

Mass is an objective scoring criteria. So nice try but even bodybuilding has some percentage of objective scoring criteria, not that having less objective criteria for scoring would make it any less of a sport.

Every sport requires humans to judge the objective outcomes in the game, which injects our own subjective limitations into the sport. But there exists a big difference between a referee deciding whether you committed interference in a play and a judge deciding whether your body is more aesthetically pleasing than the next guy oiled up on the stage, posing.

[Mercury]

Nevertheless, subjective judging makes some some sporting activities less legit than others.

No that has nothing to do with whether a sport is legitimate or not. Nowhere in the definition of the word sport does it say that scoring criteria must be 100% objective, you just pulled that assumption out of your ass.

It's not an assumption, it's a cultural agreement, if you will ...MMA, wrestling, and Boxing all have objective metrics, even though a combatant's final score may be subjective.

A KO is a KO after all, right?

Some subjective mitigation is frequently involved, but that should not be the deciding factor.

[StCapps]

Every sport requires humans to judge the objective outcomes in the game, which injects our own subjective limitations into the sport. But there exists a big difference between a referee deciding whether you committed interference in a play and a judge deciding whether your body is more aesthetically pleasing than the next guy oiled up on the stage, posing.

True but that big difference does not mean that bodybuilding is no longer a sport. The amount of subjectivity in scoring criteria does not effect a physical activities status as a "sport" or "not a sport".

[Mercury]

So figure skating is not a sport? Gymnastics?

It's not just 'looking big.' Mass is just one element being judged.

Figure skating is certainly not a sport. Gymnastics...kinda...but, no, not a sport.

So, there is no art in sport? It's just a numbers game? If we're just out to see the fastest, we could race cheetahs or have enhanced humans compete. There must be art in sport for it to be truly meaningful, and I believe it's what we look for when we watch any sport. Gymnastics and bodybuilding push the limits of the human body in an effort to win over the competition, and combine art with athleticism.

The art is in figuring out how to win the numbers game. Score more points than the other team.

[StCapps]

The art is in figuring out how to win the numbers game. Score more points than the other team.

Sometimes judges score the points and just because there is an art in figuring out how to win over the judges doesn't mean these kinds of competitions aren't sports.

[Speaker to Animals]

This type of sport impresses me far more than bodybuilding right now.



Here is Kali Muscle fucking around and doing some calisthenic feats:



That to me is far more impressive than a beauty contest.

[StCapps]

This type of sport impresses me far more than bodybuilding right now.



Here is Kali Muscle fucking around and doing some calisthenic feats:



That to me is far more impressive than a beauty contest.

If you are going to move the goalposts to from arguing that bodybuilding isn't a sport to arguing that bodybuilding isn't as impressive a sport as Calisthenics, that a completely different discussion. Good to see you've abandoned that argument, it was a poor one.

[Mercury]

The art is in figuring out how to win the numbers game. Score more points than the other team.

Sometimes judges score the points and just because there is an art in figuring out how to win over the judges doesn't mean these kinds of competitions aren't sports.

Are the Grammys a sport?