what do you guys think of female body builders

just want to know what the male perspective is on these woman ? not the overly defined steroid freaks but the natural body builders turn on or off?

Blitzkrieger

Off.

The brothers prefer the more traditional wimmens or "lovely girl" if you will. While a brother's bulk is not usually in his muscle, the idea of a wimmens bulking larger is just wrong.

[serious hat] While nobody likes the anorexic look and the "atlethic look is in", over-doing it is just 'orrible.... [/serious hat]

Auvers

Perfect






Just not right

seanmacc

This girl I know from when I lived in America. She looks absolutely fabulous when she's done up not for body building. The actual competition makes them look like freaks with sticks up their asses.

krudler

Athletic= great
Arnie look= not so great.

krudler

Auvers wrote: »

Perfect

Yes, yes a million times yes. curves ftw.

amacachi

catthinkin wrote: »

just want to know what the male perspective is on these woman ? not the overly defined steroid freaks but the natural body builders turn on or off?

On, and I doubt there's a fella here who wouldn't find bodybuilding women who don't use steroids unattractive.

CptMackey

Athletic women yes, but I would't go for a body builder.

Curves or a women who runs etc

amacachi

CptMackey wrote: »

Athletic women yes, but I would't go for a body builder.

Curves or a women who runs etc

By bodybuilder I assume you mean the square-jawed ones? Because they're on steroids.

Maguined

Really depends on the levels the woman has taken the bodybuilding to, healthy athletics with functional muscle definition is a turn on, non efficient muscle mass just there for aesthetic purposes is a turn off.

It's the same view i have with men, I don't understand how women could find a big muscle man attractive at all and I get very jealous of well defined blokes, badly cooper in the ateam is the perfect example of functional fitness I wish I had.

krudler

Nyom.

amacachi

krudler wrote: »

Nyom.

I really shouldn't use my laptop in the sitting room.

BopNiblets

I'd pole vau.... ah dammit seanmacc!

Bodybuilders: nope not really attractive to me.

Otis Driftwood

There are loads of well defined/muscular women that are gorgeous but then there are ones that take it to extremes ie steroids and what not.

I admire the sheer determination and hard work (of the former) that it takes to get to and maintain that level of definition but when its taken to levels that it causes jawbones to protrude and stubble to develop (the latter) I think it just looks horrendous.

TommyKnocker

catthinkin wrote: »

just want to know what the male perspective is on these woman ? not the overly defined steroid freaks but the natural body builders turn on or off?

Hi All

First post on TGC and apologies in advance for the length.

IMHO this type of question promotes the fear a lot of women have regarding lifting weights.

When the term Body Builder is applied to women, visions of a female version of Arnie are conjured up in the minds of the majority of both women and men.

The majority of men make statements about how gross they find this and I think this leads to women reading this type of comment, and when they go to the gym, they shy away from the free weights area and piddle around on weight machines, endless cardio or tiny little dumbells, which are probably lighter then their handbag, see little or no effect in their body composition, so give up and move on to some fad diet/piece of equipment/ solution advertised on TV on in some magazine and all they end up losing is money.

Womens bodybuilding is divided into two categories, Figure and Physique. The physique ladies are the female Arnies, and to get that level of musculature, they must comsume vast amounts of steroids (testosterone) as the female body simply does not produce enough on its own to support this kind of muscle growth. This must be coupled with a really hardcore diet and training routine to achieve the competition physique. Something to remember isthat these ladies will not be this "ripped" all the time. Just like the men they have to get their body fat to rediculously low levels to get the level of definition required for competition.

Example



IMHO most guys will not find this physique attractive

The Figure ladies do not have the "Bulked up" look, though they will still have defined muscles and sixpacks. This is IMHO a more natural, athletic looking form. Again these ladies will have a strict diet and tough training routine. Again these ladies will not be in "competition" state all the time. But IMHO this type of physique is more easily maintained.

Example



IMHO Most guys will find this physique attractive


Then you have the female athletes, who though not body builders will use weights in their training to achieve functional power and strength suited to their given event. Again these athletes while in season will have a ridgid diet and training routine. And again IMHO their physique is quite easily maintained off season with good diet and consistant training.

Example



Again IMHO most guys will find this physique attractive

Finally you have the women who are into fitness and eating right. These women will work with free weights and cardio in the gym on a regular (daily) basis and will eat a nutritionally well balanced diet, consisting of lean protein sources, healthy fats and not over doing it on carbs (especially the starchy kind)

Example



And yet again IMHO mosy guys would find this physique attractive.

The point of this post is to get across the point that not all Female bodybuilders or ladies who work out with heavy weights fall into the stereotypical "Female Arnie" vision that is usually conjured up when Female body builders are mentioned.

So to any ladies reading this, you will not end up with the physique of the lady in the first picture if you lift challangingly heavy weights in the gym. You would need to dedicate some serious time in the gym, ingest a serious amount of testosterone and have a spot on diet to achieve this physique. So please don't be afraid of the weights when you are in the gym.


Best Regards,

M

Maguined

I agree with everything you posted below except when you say this question does a disservice to women who workout with weights.

When I hear the word bodybuilder I do not associate with any person who goes to the gym and works with weights, I view it as a specific definition for people who are doing intensive weightlifting for competition and so associate it with "physique" types you posted below. Any of the other types of of women that work with weights but are doing it for fitness or any other reason besides body building competitions I would not class as a bodybuilder.

This is the same with men, plenty of men use weights as part of their training, even large rugby players I still would not class them as bodybuilders so when I hear the specific term bodybuilder I always associate with an Arnie type.

I reckon this is how most people react and visualise when they hear the term bodybuilder.

I think women who want to get fit and healthy should definitely do more weights training, they are afraid they will turn into big bodybuilders just from the slightest weights but some weightlifitng would definitely be more beneficial to their health and fitness than many of these fade spinning or pilates or other such courses I hear many women getting into so they can get fit.

L

Maguined wrote: »

I think women who want to get fit and healthy should definitely do more weights training, they are afraid they will turn into big bodybuilders just from the slightest weights but some weightlifitng would definitely be more beneficial to their health and fitness than many of these fade spinning or pilates or other such courses I hear many women getting into so they can get fit.

Well, I wouldn't really call either of those fads. Spinning is good cardio and my physio has been recommending pilates to me for my neck.

That said, neither one really does what weight training does. Since your bone density is dependent on weight bearing activity up to about 25, we're likely going to have a huge unnecessary increase in serious Osteoporosis cases in about 30 years time.

On topic: healthy definition is grand but the extreme steroidal cut muscle look is unattractive.

the_syco

Pro weight lifiting = no.

Has muscle, meh. Would prefer muscle over fat.

TommyKnocker

Maguined wrote: »

I agree with everything you posted below except when you say this question does a disservice to women who workout with weights.

Yep, I would tend to agree that I worded that badly. I have now changed that statement in my original post.

My point was that Women's bodybuilding has 2 sides, Physique and Figure. Women who compete in either category are considered "Body Builders" even though the Figure competitors will look much different to the Physique competirors.

The reason I posted was that one of the mods on Fitness "g'em" is a competitive Olympic lifter. She has run a couple of workshops to teach weightlifting to ladies via both tLL and the fitness forum which have been well recived. g'em herself is in amazing shape, totally feminine looking. She asked a similar question in tLL and some of the respondants thought that they would end up like Arnie by lifting heavy weights.

I also see it in my gym. New ladies come in and at their induction they are set up by their trainers on the treadmill, cross trainer, some crunches and 10-15 minutes with really light dumbells and maybe a couple of the weight machines. I have actually heard a trainer advising ladies to avoid heavy weights if they don't want to "bulk" :eek::eek: This just bugs me.

Ladies should train exactly like men. They should lift challenging, heavy weight and should progressively add weight as they get used to the exercise. They should squat, deadlift, press, do push-ups, chin-ups, dips etc, and they have no need to worry about "bulking" as this simply won't happen without pharmaceutical aids.


Best Regards,

M

Maguined

L wrote: »

Well, I wouldn't really call either of those fads. Spinning is good cardio and my physio has been recommending pilates to me for my neck.

That said, neither one really does what weight training does. Since your bone density is dependent on weight bearing activity up to about 25, we're likely going to have a huge unnecessary increase in serious Osteoporosis cases in about 30 years time.

On topic: healthy definition is grand but the extreme steroidal cut muscle look is unattractive.

It's just my opinion but I would call both spinning and pilates fads as far as getting "fit" is concerned, they both are good for you, they both can really help you but I am talking about women in my life, mostly in my workplace that are not living particularly healthy lives, are a bit overweight, some smoke, none have a good diet so doing a 30 mins spin class once a week I would classify as not as beneficial to their health as doing some weights would be.

The problem is the image that weights are not for women so they feel more comfortable with a spin class or pilates/yoga but in my opinion cardio and flexibility are good but stronger denser muscles are better at getting healthy especially at the beginning stages of someone starting to look after their health. Cardio and flexibility become more important later when you are have already achieved a certain level of fitness.

Maguined

B-Builder wrote: »

My point was that Women's bodybuilding has 2 sides, Physique and Figure. Women who compete in either category are considered "Body Builders" even though the Figure competitors will look much different to the Physique competirors.

Thats probably my ignorance there, when i hear bodybuilder i don't even consider a "figure" type just assume the "physique" Arnie type, i did not even realise there was such a thing as "figure" bodybuilding.

B-Builder wrote: »

The reason I posted was that one of the mods on Fitness "g'em" is a competitive Olympic lifter. She has run a couple of workshops to teach weightlifting to ladies via both tLL and the fitness forum which have been well recived. g'em herself is in amazing shape, totally feminine looking. She asked a similar question in tLL and some of the respondants thought that they would end up like Arnie by lifting heavy weights.

I also see it in my gym. New ladies come in and at their induction they are set up by their trainers on the treadmill, cross trainer, some crunches and 10-15 minutes with really light dumbells and maybe a couple of the weight machines. I have actually heard a trainer advising ladies to avoid heavy weights if they don't want to "bulk" :eek::eek: This just bugs me.

Ladies should train exactly like men. They should lift challenging, heavy weight and should progressively add weight as they get used to the exercise. They should squat, deadlift, press, do push-ups, chin-ups, dips etc, and they have no need to worry about "bulking" as this simply won't happen without pharmaceutical aids.


Best Regards,

M

I agree completely G'em is a great example to women how weights are great for getting fit and healthy and you don't end up looking big and bulky like a man, I definitely agree women joining a gym and wanting to get healthy should definitely be shown how to use weights rather than just running on a treadmill all day.

Bottle_of_Smoke

B-Builder wrote: »

Hi All



The Figure ladies do not have the "Bulked up" look, though they will still have defined muscles and sixpacks. This is IMHO a more natural, athletic looking form. Again these ladies will have a strict diet and tough training routine. Again these ladies will not be in "competition" state all the time. But IMHO this type of physique is more easily maintained.

Example



IMHO Most guys will find this physique attractive

I honestly don't find that pic attractive. However I would be interested to see what she looks like when not posing/fake tanned/show day.

I know they will diet clinically for that level of bodyfat and will probably only have it for the day of the show. Think she could well look nice on normal days.

Raedwald

Athletes, like Jess Ennis, who train so they have sufficient strength for their events, no problem.

Body-builders would be a big no-no, i know they have specific diets in the lead up to events and need to look a certain way to win competitions, but they just don't do it for me.

Nision

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I honestly don't find that pic attractive. However I would be interested to see what she looks like when not posing/fake tanned/show day.

I know they will diet clinically for that level of bodyfat and will probably only have it for the day of the show. Think she could well look nice on normal days.

Here you go.

TommyKnocker

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

I honestly don't find that pic attractive. However I would be interested to see what she looks like when not posing/fake tanned/show day.

I know they will diet clinically for that level of bodyfat and will probably only have it for the day of the show. Think she could well look nice on normal days.

My opinion was not to do with the lady's posing or fake tan or how attractive I think she is. It was purely her physique, muscle tone and body fat.

IMHO most guys would have no complaints with that ladies physique, which I believe is similar to that of Jess Ennis (3rd Pic) or Zuzana (Last Pic) in BF level and muscle definition.


M

jugger0

Female arnolds defo not... jessica biel YES, she has an amazing body, she doesnt look weak and skinny either. Ive been watching womens athletics recently and their bodys are class, however the long distance events not so much... no meat on them atall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzL57oCxXAk&feature=related

a girl who lifts weights is defo a plus!

Wibbs

The best womens bodies Ive ever been around all did weights and not the little pink ones either. Way better than the cardio crowd(dancers being an exception to that, they all pretty much had fantastic figures). As a weird one and its just my experience they also had little or no cellulite. I even had an ex who was very cardio fit and took up weights after an injury and she actually got slightly smaller overall and very toned, but her cellulite literally dissappeared and she was 31 when she took it up and had a fair bit going on beforehand. She also grew a bum you didnt know whether to pinch or photograph. She had none to speak of beforehand.

amacachi

Wibbs wrote: »

The best womens bodies Ive ever been around all did weights and not the little pink ones either. Way better than the cardio crowd(dancers being an exception to that, they all pretty much had fantastic figures). As a weird one and its just my experience they also had little or no cellulite. I even had an ex who was very cardio fit and took up weights after an injury and she actually got slightly smaller overall and very toned, but her cellulite literally dissappeared and she was 31 when she took it up and had a fair bit going on beforehand. She also grew a bum you didnt know whether to pinch or photograph. She had none to speak of beforehand.

Have to admit that's odd, I was sure high intensity wasn't great for cellulite. Again though, the female "bodybuilder" look is ridiculous, but from above if you look at this pic:


Ignoring the fake tan that body is pretty nice in my opinion, and outside of the couple of weeks before a competition it'll be lightly covered with fat and look even better. Hell people even seem to think that the male bodybuilder look is possibly without steroids, even the top natural bodybuilders aren't particularly big and rely on definition over mass.

JayRoc

In this country you're not going to see what most people here seem to think of as a female "bodybuilder", ie. an actual heavyweight BB as opposed to the figure or fitness girls.

I can't see many guys (other than a shmoe) arguing that a juice-freak with a jawline as big as mine was attractive, my point is that 99.99% of girls who got up on a competitive stage, at least in Ireland, would stop you in your tracks if you saw them out and about in a club one night.


And as for a "pro-weightlifter", I'm not sure the person who used that phrase even knows what it means. I'd don't know any Irish female "pro-weightlifters" but I know a few world-class amateurs, and they're hot!

Wibbs

amacachi wrote: »

Have to admit that's odd, I was sure high intensity wasn't great for cellulite.

At the time I was puzzled, but I suppose it makes sense. High intensity weight bearing exercise is going to increase human growth hormone and testosterone in the body(the latter in small amounts in the ladies) and both would help the skin I would have thought? I seem to recall reading somewhere that some fountain of youth types in the US get both drugs in mexico and use it to retain the youthful look. Men generally dont get cellulite unless their very fat or older and maybe test has something to do with that as well?

itsallaboutheL

I'mma gonna leave this here.

http://wildgorillaman.blogspot.com/

it's a lifting blog.

Fago!

Rot-ten!

entropi

When I think "female bodybuilder" I straightaway know that I see a woman who just happens to like a combination of lifting techniques...they dont have to be those extreme types that people symbolise, but mostly women in the normal range of body size who are pretty strong and have dedication to something they love. If I hadnt studied gym instruction as part of my last 3 years in college I'd probably have had the assumption of a juice freak being the norm, which is not the case of most female bb's:)

Fair play to them, may they keep it up if it keeps them happy

speedboatchase

It seems like an incredibly tough and time-consuming practice to look increasingly unattractive and unnatural

TommyKnocker

speedboatchase wrote: »

It seems like an incredibly tough and time-consuming practice to look increasingly unattractive and unnatural

To you, and you are entitled to your opinion. But each to their own.

While I would agree that I do not find the women who compete in the Physique class attractive, I have no problem with a lot of the women who compete if the Figure/Fitness class. And again that is my opinion.


M

cc87

speedboatchase wrote: »

It seems like an incredibly tough and time-consuming practice to look increasingly unattractive and unnatural

To become more attractive and natural is not a goal for the
physique competitors. Their goal is to win.

Should the fact that something is tough and time-consuming mean anything?? Nothing worth doing isnt tough and time-consuming.

CDfm

I know a woman who does weights and she is very feminine and could probably bench press me and am friendly with a hockey player who is very pretty and when she met my OH when we started dating was very protective of me.Both are visions of female lovlieness and anyman would be proud to be dating either of them.

When I see Mariska Hargitay/ Olivia Benson daughter of Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay (the legendary bodybuilder) I think she is gorgeous.



Her weight fluctuates and she is a normal woman who does a bit of weightlifting.

So I think its daft to pick a few extreme examples.pick any woman who does kayaking , sailing ,plays GAA , does horseriding or lives on a farm or even nursing and they are going to have that muscalature.

I was in Germany last week and the art galleries were breathtaking and you could see the classic shapes of the women represented in the locals.

Distorted

Can I just say, as a woman (apologies for interupting!), I'd absolutely hate to look like the woman from Mad Men in Auvers' picture, and I'd be happy to look like any of the 3 lower photos in B-Builder's post. Physically, I'm most like Jessica Ennis (but not as defined) but I do get sick of having it drummed down my throat that women should be curvy when that actually means overweight. The woman from Mad Men has flabby arms, barely looks as if she could move out of a walk without difficulty and is dolled up with loads of make up in a structured dress - the other women have no artificial support and are in a more natural state. Basically, she looks really uncomfortable. I know I don't appeal to older men though and I wonder if older men are "conditioned" to lust after slightly larger, more maternal looking women?

B-Builder is also totally spot on with his comments on training and lifting weights. As an athlete (track runner) I do lift weights in my off season, and I regularly see women come in the gym and "work out" as he describes, playing around with really light weights and lifting them far too fast because no doubt they have been told they will bulk up unless they do otherwise. Then as mentioned, they see no discernible weight loss or improvement and give up because it doesn't work.

I don't find male body builders attractive because they don't look very active - its a means to an end. But I know many women who are attracted to that look. I guess there also men who are attracted to the female body builder type.

smergz

These women are totally scary. :eek:

saucers82

i am a massive fan. to me they are the most beautiful women in the world

different strokes for different folks

Sauve

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