Sweat and Iron: People in the Bodybuilding Subculture

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Most bodybuilders walk around the gym in stringers, tank tops, or shorts. Most of them are more muscular than the regular guys that go to the gym. They are the ones that are always at the gym improving their body, lifting large amounts of weight and doing heavy cardio. They make an intense workout look easy. They are the ones many people look up to and get inspired by. They are people in the bodybuilding subculture.
The people in subculture are very hard working, live a very healthy lifestyle and are proud of what they do. Some do this professionally and make a living out of it. While there is no age limit to this subculture it can go anywhere from 17 year olds to 70 year olds in the subculture who live this lifestyle. Others just enjoy it as a hobby or a way of staying in shape and being fit.
Bodybuilding subculture is a very interesting subculture to me. It originated somewhere around the 1890’s. At first “bodybuilding” was just a way to show strength and power to the people almost as if it was like a show that people would attend to watch these people lift heavy things. Unlike now most of them can lift heavy weight but it doesn’t come with a crowd watching every time they do, although many people, like in the Venice beach gym in California, come to watch famous bodybuilders to work out, and because it is an outdoor gym, a lot of people recognize these faces and stop to watch.
When people see a barbell most of them think of this subculture because it is one of the main items bodybuilders use like in bench press or squats and also deadlifts and shoulder press and other workouts. Being the most commonly used weight among bodybuilding I think that the barbell is the perfect icon for this subculture because anyone would think of th...

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...do. Like any other sports it takes a lot of time and consistency. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Bodybuilders live an active and healthy life style and encourage others to do the same and to gain muscle or “gains” as some of them use to describe gaining muscle. You can always find most of them at them gym lifting weights and improving their body, either for a bodybuilding competition or just to simply look good. At the end of the day they all still work hard for the one thing they love and that’s to work out and be healthy.

Works Cited

"What Is Everyday Life Like for a Bodybuilder?" Slate Magazine. Ed. Dylan Hafertepen. Quora Contributor, 4 July 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Robsin, David. "A history lesson in bodybuilding" www.bodybuilding.com. 21 march. 2005. Bodybuilding.com. 15 Feb. 2014 .

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