The guy who wrote the book was actually in competitive body building which is really the wierdest of the weird. They work out regularly 6 hours a day, barely make the money to support the habit (amino acid fuel, vitamins, and yes, steroids). He grew alienated from his family in NY, quit his job, moved into a bunker apartment where he got a huge fridge for all his nutritional supplements and shakes, and just worked out all the time. Eventually he moved to Southern LA and started doing the 'roids. It described how they starve themselves just before competition to achieve a near transparent thin skin so the muscles and blood vessels look more obvious. Eventually, he came to his senses and gave it all up. But the book takes you on the trip.
With a woman, things get even stranger because hormonally and muscularly, a woman's body adapts to weight lifting differently. Its very difficult for a woman to get bulky musculature, hence the finger-pointing on testosterone injections for professional female body-builders. Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 is an example of a woman that did a lot of weight lifting but no steroids, so in the movie she looks strong, cut, but not bulky.
No idea who determines ideals .. it varies even within a culture. You look at Ancient Roman art and their ideals were for larger woman than the current thin-is-better craze. |
