Hello World Post
When
one person observes the evolution of the male figure from the early 20th
century until up until the present, two facts are certain: acceptable fashion
has changed, but moreover, and arguably more important (for the purposes of
this blog), is the change of masculinity. In the early half of the 20th
century, going to the gym, proper nutrition, and lifting weights were not
primary concerns to men who were not athletes, let alone activities that were
deemed acceptable for a profession to pursue. Men with large muscles were
relegated to circus “freak show” acts, and were considered a phenomenon, a
curiosity, and something for normal people to gawk at. However, in this day and
age, gyms are now more prevalent in society, the supplement/vitamin industry is
roughly a 60 billion dollar industry, and people can actually make a profession
out of working out and lifting weights. Bodybuilding has evolved as a culture
throughout the years, and millions of men around the world, both young and old have
begun to embrace it as a way of life. Bodybuilding may seem as a trivial and
inconsequential topic to discuss, but bodybuilding has become a cultural
phenomenon. From the days of Eugen Sandow, the “father of modern bodybuilding”,
to Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the most famous body builder of all time, to
today’s current Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath, the world of bodybuilding has evolved
through time. The culture of bodybuilding goes much deeper than the superficial
layer of simply going to the gym, selecting a weight, and lifting it.
Bodybuilding
in itself is a science, a controversy, a social medium, and moreover, a way of
life for many people. Within bodybuilding, there is a plethoric amount of
subtopics that can be discussed and questioned. One such topic that was
mentioned in the beginning was the way masculinity has evolved throughout the
years. The physique that Arnold had when he won Mr. Olympia was considered the
best in the world at his time in the 1970’s. However, by today’s standards, he
would have been deemed “too small”, when being compared to his modern day
counterpart, Phil Heath. Exploring this trend in an increased expectation of
masculinity translates socially to how young men are developing,
psychologically and physically. This blog can also explore bodybuilding from a
cultural standpoint, and its impact in different cultures. For example, in some
modern day Asian cultures, the image of an ideal man is one who is slim, sleek,
and slender. It would be interesting to see how bodybuilders in these cultures
deal with the fact that they are going against the accepted norm. Yet another
topic that can be discussed is the obvious topic regarding steroids, and even
broader, the seedy underbelly of bodybuilding. Steroids are a huge problem in
any modern day sport, and in a sport that involves being the biggest, most
ripped that you can be, bodybuilding is definitely not an exception.
Personally, I am also in a pursuit of
aesthetically bettering myself. As a university student studying neuroscience, I
am already conditioning my mind with this mentally taxing subject; I feel that
I should condition my body in the same intensity. With this blog, there is a
vast world to explore: socially, culturally, scientifically, etc. Whilst there
are much more pressing matters that I could be writing about, I feel that this
blog is a good break from my constant academic ventures, and delve into a
subject matter that is not discussed often, but is still very prominent today.
Come join me in this venture, and hopefully we can uncover some insightful
details about bodybuilding together!
Blog Profile Post
The blog that I have chosen to profile is my friend’s blog. His name is
Christopher Kim, a senior accounting student at the Leventhal School of
Accounting at the University of Southern California. The name of his blog is Fat to Fit! ~Day by day thoughts and feelings during my cut for the
Bodybuilding.comChallenge. This blog relates to bodybuilding from an amateur
standpoint. While the subject matter is about bodybuilding itself, this blog
takes a very different viewpoint. Chris is a senior at USC for accounting, and
his relation to the field of bodybuilding is limited beyond an amateur aspiring
bodybuilder. Which is not to say he does not have knowledge on the material.
He is not
a prominent name in the industry, has no sponsorships, and has no competitive
show wins under his belt. However, he is just starting out, and he does
extensive research on the field of bodybuilding. He maintains this blog while
working out twice a day, going to school full time, balancing
internships/projects, and studying for his CPA (Certified personal accountant)
examination. Because of his hectic lifestyle, the frequency of posts is not set
in stone, as posts may appear daily to reflect each passing day, or other times
posts pop up and reflect on a couple days in a single post. This is to be
expected, as a college student has significantly less time to blog about their
daily routine as compared to a professional bodybuilder or even professional
blogger. There are days when exams, homework, or studying come into play, and
the daily blogging style is not ideal for these extraneous circumstances. The
blog’s popularity is difficult to gauge, as the view count is disabled.
However, Chris’ blog posts are linked to his Facebook account, and he gets a
rather large amount of traffic because of this. The amount of likes and
comments that he receives on his posts indicates that his blog is popular
enough, at least in the realm of his Facebook friends. Two interesting blog
posts that I would like to point out are his first post and his most recent
post. His first post is interesting because it chronicles the beginning of his journey to lose
weight, where he where he weighed in at 235 pounds. He mentions that he is
fatigued, and exhausted from the caloric deficit that he is experiencing. His most recent post chronicles his 61st and 62nd day in the cut,
and with his weight down to an astonishing 208 pounds. His blogging style has
changed, and you can see the shift in emotion that he has. His posts are longer
and more detailed, and he includes his daily workout routine and diet so that
others can draw inspiration.
Chris’
blog definitely relates to my blog, in the way that it chronicles a man who is
on the bodybuilding journey as well. He is the epitome of a person who has
ventured into the deeper layers of bodybuilding. He’s not an amateur, not a
professional, but someone in between those two statuses that normal people can
relate to. The blog itself is not intended to be scholarly or academic, rather
more on the leisure side. It is a casual blog that is meant for the casual
reader. The posts vary in detail, ranging from extremely broad to meticulously
detailed, depending on Chris’ mood that particular day. He is always sure to include
some type of meal plan or workout regiment so that the people who are following
his blog can follow along. While some may think that his audience is other
people whom dabble in bodybuilding, Chris wants to inspire people in general to
take the pledge to physically better their bodies. This blog helps my blog
personally because it helps me get a sense of what bodybuilding means to
another person and it allows me to gather different opinions. My site differs
because it is not about logging my progress; it’s more of a hodgepodge of
advice, reviews, and ideas. Overall, Chris’ blog is a great read for people who
want to find inspiration in all fitness, not just bodybuilding.
Voice Post
Examining
voice is an intricate process, and the blog that I have chosen to use to
examine is a blog by Ross Enamait, titled rosstraining.com. This blog is a more
serious blog than the previous blogs that I have examined, since Ross is a more
experienced strength coach with a background in boxing, with a more advanced
physique than most amateurs. His blog posts are more detailed, and are very
well put together; therefore his voice is one of a more serious tone.
The
first blog post that I will examine is titled “Enough is Enough”. The post is
essentially about how people assume that strength and aesthetic gains can come
quickly as if shortcuts can be taken to achieve these feats. He starts off the
blog post with the sentences, “As discussed within, legitimate strength is not
developed in weeks or months. A few weeks are literally a blink of the eye when
considering what is necessary to develop truly impressive strength”. He begins
the blog post immediately with a serious, and almost stern statement, and uses
the metaphor “a few weeks are literally a blink of the eye” to demonstrate to
the reader than gaining strength is not something that can be done in a few
weeks; it takes consistent and constant hard work. He is serious from the start
so that the reader understands that this is an important topic that needs to be
addressed. In the next paragraph, he talks about how his readers consistently
send in photos from marketers in the industry that claim results in an
unfathomable amount of time. He calls them “fitness hucksters” who talked the
talk without getting their hands dirty. The term huckster in itself is a
pejorative term, and the usage of this adjective shows the user that Ross is in
fact very educated, which garners the reader’s trust in what he has to say,
while also showing his discontent towards people in the industry who promise
skinny men a Ronnie Coleman like transformation in a mere 12 months. He talks
about how if the pictures are true, that he is genuinely happy for the person,
but he is also not naïve. He mentions that he is not here to bash anyone’s
choice in using performance-enhancing drugs. “What another person does with his body has no bearing on my life. It is
not my decision to make, nor is it my decision to get upset about. I honestly
don’t care”. He is more casual in this statement, but the intensity of his
statement is very apparent, because he is making it known that while he chooses
a certain lifestyle, he does not judge what someone else does. He goes on to
mention the only vice he has is if there is deception involved with drug usage;
i.e. claiming that a person can achieve the impossible in a short amount of
time when in reality the person in pictures is using performance enhancing
drugs. He shows a genuine concern for his readers, and does not want people to
be misled by false information. He ends the post with “I’d rather be brutally
honest about what it takes, rather than misleading you to believe that
significant strength lies right around the corner. It is a long and difficult
road to travel”. His voice remains consistently serious and tells the reader
that being blatantly honest is much better than any deception on what it truly
takes to make these difficult gains.
The
second post I want to examine is titled “Less can be more”. The seriousness in
his voice remains, and he is consistent with that fact. In this post, he
addresses the fact that some people believe that adding more workouts to a
regiment will garner more gains. He states that, “To stack pieces on top of a
puzzle that is already full does not add value. Successful additions often require
subtractions. If it is not feasible to subtract from your current workload,
additions must be made in very small doses. Anything more will likely hinder,
not enhance, the existing routine”. He uses the metaphor of stacking more
puzzle pieces to illustrate to the reader that just because you continue to add
more pieces on top of a complete puzzle does not make the puzzle any better.
This metaphor is serious in tone, but adds a casual message to the readers so
that even the most novice of readers can understand his sentiment. He
immediately dispels the rumor of adding workouts as a good idea by stating that
most cases require a subtraction of workouts if anything, and we are
immediately given his opinion, which sets a tone for the rest of the blog post.
He uses another excellent metaphor to further drive his point across. “To drive
home this point, I often relate exercise selection to clothes. Just because you
own several nice shirts does not mean it makes sense to wear them all at once.
And certain clothes may not match each other. Your favorite pair of pants may
not match your favorite shirt. As much as you like both items, it doesn’t make
sense to wear them together”. While still trying to maintain a serious tone,
this metaphor is a bit more playful that expected from Ross. He explains the
idea of workout routines in a way that a person who is confused by the topic
can read this metaphor and understand Ross’ standpoint in a crystal clear
fashion. It’s a casual metaphor that carries a very strong message. He goes on
to finish the post with his own experiences, which helps the reader relate to
Ross, a man who’s in obvious good shape and lets the reader identify with him.
It helps the reader not feel so hopeless with their journey when they see that
Ross has had the same issues as well.
Overall,
Ross uses a serious, and almost wise tone to write his blog posts. Nothing more
can be expected from a man who is serious about his fitness and helping others
reach their goals.
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