I thought today I would post something a bit different than my normal information, feedback, opinion kind of post and make this one an open discussion and by open discussion, I mean I literally want it to be an open discussion, hopefully someone cares about this topic as much as I do, if not then.. I will know I am not a priority in your life, kidding. I think this will be fun to talk about though, considering this whole “got muscle” vibe seems to be a huge hype and happy feeling for people. So I am going to do less talking and more of nothing in this post. Nah, I will share my opinion, I always do and I always will try to pick a side; some may be for and others may be against. Okay, let me first clear up this rumor that muscle is the new beautiful, do not allow people to make you feel like you need to lift 100+ pounds to be “cool” or “hot stuff”, do you, you do not need your whole body gleaming in muscle to be beautiful and you sure the fuck (excuse my adult language) do not need to be a pro athlete on our TV screens to prove any point. Life plays its course, we have genetics and not everyone is meant to have a CrossFit physique and or bodybuilder physique and not everyone needs to come out of the gym looking like Arnold to be appreciated. Doesn’t mean people cannot strive for it, by all means strive for whatever makes you feel confident and beautiful, all I am saying is you don’t have to look like someone else to get the same reactions as them. That was my opinion right there, did you catch all of that, hopefully so. I will make mention that I do believe there is a such thing as too much muscle, why? Because I think there is a such thing as being obsessed with gaining so much muscle to make a point in your looks, strength and capitalizing on your abilities. I think when people go out of there way to have all this muscle, they do it sometimes for the wrong reasons and that is when I say it is too much, when their heads are up their ass and they treat others like shit because of it, or when they lose focus on what else is important in their life to maintain their muscle. I have seen and heard of people in the bodybuilding world losing their families because of their obsession, I have heard of strongman losing a part of who they are because they were so focused on being the world’s champ, being the limelight, making fans happy; that they forgot how to maintain other aspects of their lives. I am not saying, muscle is bad, obviously that would make me a hypocrite and I love muscle and I strive for more everyday I am at the gym just like the next person in line. Hell I would even go as far to say I have my obsessions with my own body as well, it doesn’t help me; trust me. As a matter of fact it made me freak out in a store because of it, long story..
I think muscle is awesome and I commend athletes and people who have it; have it so much where they have no worries. I think it is a beautiful sight to see people do amazing things with it, and motivate others who want to get to where they are. I love everything fitness and health and I love the fitness industry, hints why that is my major and my hobby and motivation, ect. I just feel as though it can hinder you in more ways than one if you don’t know how to handle other aspects of life when you are not at the gym, if you cannot maintain a humble personality, if you cannot maintain a family, if you cannot maintain a normal day to day routine, if your mental state deteriorates because of it, if you cannot maintain happiness that has NOTHING to do with how big your muscles are, if you strive for perfection and each time you fall behind and it makes you cringe or unhappy, if you cannot maintain stable friendships, if you cannot maintain loving somebody other than yourself, if you changed because of the big muscles, if you had to take steroids because you were not gaining enough naturally (which means putting your body in bad situations/health) and if you struggle with being okay with yourself when the muscles don’t compare to somebody else’s. The list goes on and on, I could name another 20 at least. Anyways, I want to hear from all of you, do you agree with me, or do you have your own opinions, do not be afraid to disagree with me. I love hearing all sides to the story, engaging other people’s thoughts and opinions and developing an understanding. I think if you understand my reasoning, you may respect my reasoning, but if you do not understand it, then maybe you might feel like I am putting people down who have HUGE muscles (I am not) I am strictly making a point in saying that being something that you weren’t before (creating a new identity) and reaching limits that make you stand out can be good and can be bad depending on the person.
Thanks for reading, please share your opinions!!! love to hear from all of you.
“The beautiful thing about life is, beauty is what you make it” -Shay-lon
Your fitness blogger,
Shay-lon xoxo
Be the best version of you 
I think we should agree if you are not a good person than that is the problem. That instead of being obsessed with muscle that person would be obsess with something else. So I think from a male persective most of us are trying to prove our musculinaty. Which we now have big trucks, guns, and money. If you drive a big truck, have a gun collection, and can afford all that then you prove you are a man. However I think we lost sight being male warriors, like the legionary tales. Back when men hunted, and had to protect their families. There was no other way to prove that to your mate than a physical display of dominance. So to me it is suppose to be that way, men are should be out to prove physical dominance. Men should be competitive to prove it. It is how humans survived and evolved. It is why we have elite athletes, and one of the most popular sports is football. So if I had to pick I rather see males obsess over muscle or fitness dominance.
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Hmm, thank you for sharing your perspective with myself and others. This was a good outlook and side of things to think about and analyze. I wonder how women feel about too much muscle on themselves, since we are not normally masculine but it seems women like the whole big muscle stuff too and compete, I am hoping to get a female perspective * Fingers crossed it will be a female who does bodybuilding. I would like to see what she has to say about it. Good information though Russell, good information.
Shay-lon
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Okay I’m going to start this comment by saying that I am a natural athlete, just as a disclaimer. I agree with you when you say it is possible to have too much muscle because in my opinion you should only carry weight that actually helps you athletically (or aesthetically if you’re a bodybuilder). We live in an age of extremes where people land on opposite ends of the spectrum on almost everything, but I would like to think of myself moderate of sorts.
Okay now that I have my disclaimer out of the way I’m going to explain my view on muscle. Take a 6’9 monster like Brian Shaw or the Mountain, in order for these guys to compete at a high level they need a crap ton of muscle to optimize their leverages, weight to strength ratios or whatever. Therefore they have a reason to carry that much muscle, along with this the sport/federation they compete in is not tested so they would be putting themselves at a disadvantage if they did not take the drugs that allow you to reach that size.
However, the average 5’9 guy who just wants to workout to be in shape has no need to carry this size as it is very very unhealthy. Like seriously weighing 430 pounds cannot be good for you even if it is a lot of muscle, but that’s a talk for a different time haha. In my opinion if you don’t plan on competing at a reasonably high level then you don’t need to take steroids or carry around a ton of muscle. However, if you are a national level competitor and are trying to make it to the next level there is a chance that you need to put on the extra muscle, and it may have to be done through the use of anabolics.
A good example of how unhealthy training for a sport can be is how I had to train for my strongman competition. When I signed up I weighed 195 pounds and was expecting there to be a 200 pound weight class, but they set the weight class at 231 and below. I knew that the guys I would be competing against would be right at the edge of this weight class, so in order to be competitive I literally ate everything I laid my eyes on. I got to 215 pounds in 4 months, or a little over a pound a week, and if we’re being honest some of it was definitely fat from all those pizzas haha. However, I performed pretty well at the competition because of this added weight and even won the truck pull event, and I deadlifted 505 pounds like it was nothing. Training and eating like this got me brutally strong, but I felt like absolute shit for a week after the competition. Did prepping for that competition suck? Yes. Would I do it again? Yes. Would I recommend it to the average person? Hell no. It was the most miserable couple months of my life and I did it for a freaking medal and a t-shirt, granted its a cool shirt.
I think something that a lot of people don’t understand is the mentality of an athlete with a goal. Many of them are willing to kill themselves to compete at a high level, and they pay the price like you mentioned. Is it worth it to them when all is said and done? Maybe, maybe not, but to be the best at something requires doing things that you and I are not willing to do. I guess this is my very long winded way to say that I think too much muscle only exists when you don’t need it for a very specific purpose!
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Thank you for sharing your perspective! this was good information and I agree with you fully about how the average person should not be carrying that around for shits and giggles.. just to say they have it. Although those people would maybe disagree with me. Oh well. I think there are different kinds of athletes (obviously), each sport requires a skill and a natural born ability that some may or may not have. I, too was an athlete in many sports and each one required something different from me, I am still considered an athlete, but I am no longer an elite athlete due to some choices I decided to make in life (not bad ones) but ones that caused me to lose what I had to have to do the sport. I will not go into detail, this isn’t about me. I think sometimes we want to be like the next big thing and not knowing how the next big thing got there, we take risks and dive into it thinking we can look like and be like someone else. Maybe this is human instinct, I am not sure. I even feel compelled to this day to look like some of those ladies who are CrossFit champs, but I also have issues that I am dealing with that make me harder on my body than what is considered “normal”; my obsession has always been there but indeed as I got older and started comparing myself to others, it got worse, anyways what I am trying to say is I agree with you and your idea of when it is a good time to have an abundance of muscle. I am hoping that a female competitor will leave a comment , I seem to be getting a lot of feedback from men! LOL .
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Also, sorry for spamming you with comments, I just found this article really interesting!
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Haha, it is fine. I understand. I figured it would be right up your alley.
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I think the word you are looking for is bigorexia.
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Yes! what is your thoughts on this topic Chape 😉 also, you might want to read some of the comments people left for it, I think you may find them interesting.
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I think bigorexic deserve and need as much respect and support as anorexic, or whatever psychological problem. Bigorexic don´t forget about other aspects of their life, their workouts, diets, and daily routine are more important.
Maybe I´d ask, will be enough muscle some day? if the answer is no, we have a problem 🙂
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Hmm, that makes sense. I mean it is a psychological problem when one becomes too obsessed with something. I can understand with treating them the same way we would any other disorder. I suppose this is another way to look at it, that their whole routine revolves around training, diet and workout choices; which in turn becomes a huge cycle. The same way it is a cycle for me to go to the gym when I wake up in the morning, it is a hard thing to cut from your life when you make it a routine.
I think the fact most people aim to be this big for no other reason outside of “good looks” makes me wary of their health conditions because if you are not doing anything with this big muscle, it is simply just drastic.
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Doing anything? Like what? With all due respect, Arnold didn´t do anything with his muscles but show off, Stallone, Van Dame, the rock… Sorry, I always say names, but they are idols for the good and the less good 😀
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I love Stallone and the Rock 🙂 Arnold was an actor who had to use his muscles to produce good muscles (along with acting) to create a character. I do agree that he did most of his work showing them off, but Stallone and the Rock are actors as well as used them for athletics. I think Arnold used his muscles as way to get movie deals too 😛 I am thinking they came in handy
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I didn´t pretend to argue about their talent, or lack of it, lol I mean, action movies are not Shakespeare. They run, jump, punch and kick, and it´s cool. They don´t have other physical job, so they don´t need their massive muscles for anything but show off 🙂
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Well sure, I mean they don’t need a physical job! Lmao. when they are putting themselves at risk doing stunts (assuming these people we named off have done their stunts) But again, so are females who don’t have the big muscles, so in that regard.. you are correct it is used for sex appeal 🙂
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my personal opinion on how much s too much… is there is no limit. why should we set any limits? of course if it take a toll on health then a better look should be taken on what do we actually want.. it is a personal growth not only physically but mentally.. it comes down to not settling for average, not settling for what is acceptable and what is normal.. i am bodybuilding without a specific goal of weight.. as big as possible and as much as possible. no one is going to set a limit on me.. so how much is too much? I guess as long as it doesnt kill you…. there is no such thing as too much…
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Hey!!
Thank you for sharing your insight, and feedback on this post, this is awesome! especially since you are a bodybuilder, I am happy you found my post! 🙂
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