Are muscles & roids going out of style?

You sound vapid.

[R1] You sound envious.

Since bodybuilding became a distinct activity the number of men doing it has only increased. There has been a dramatic increase in the last 10 years. Men's physique shows were just forming around 2000-2002. For decades it's been a right of passage for many males to buy gym equipment in their teens. With that said there hasn't been an openly gay pro bodybuilder younger than 40 like Bob Paris or Chris Dickerson compete since Bob retired in the early 90s.

I agree with you OP. I am from your generation and Muscle was the ulimate. I think it still is but it is not the only game in town anymore. I think younger generations like fem guys and skinny guys and different types. Lucky for me there are still guys with daddy issues so a stocky hairy masc guy with a dom attitude does alright. I always thought part of our obsession with muscle had to do with our fear of AIDS.

Leaner longer muscles are more 'in'. However to be a shirtless bartender steroids are still required.

Hemorrhoids NEVER go out of style!

I came out in NYC in the early 90s. You are right, OP. The 'roid look is now still mainly prized by only the over 40 crowd.

"The 'roid look is now still mainly prized by only the over 40 crowd."

And apparently the hipster douchebag look (see Adam Levine) is mainly prized by the under 30 crowd.

[quote] A fug musclehead had a thousand times greater chance to land a decent lay than a very, very, very cute twink....and the ones that still are are generally the now aging, then mid-thirty-somethings

These statements suggests your post is just trolling at older men.

I think OP could be built however he likes and would still be spectacularly unattractive.

Uhmmm... Suuuure, [R9]... Like six people have agreed with my argument, and I'm trying to describe a change in attitudes and interests in the gay community... One which I find refreshing, because I - for one - support the end of Body Fascism even if I partook in it for years...

But somehow you took this as my trying to diss you over YOUR age... !!!??? Projecting insecurities, much?

IMO big muscle went out of style when gays started to equate it with being hiv + and being rx'd steroids to combat wasting, which gay men promptly abused by heading 2 the gym after dosing.

This was around 2000, so I think Op was living in a bit of a bubble.

I know that me and my friends simply assumed gay + ripped = aids.

This is why "toned" became a thing.

[quote]And apparently the hipster douchebag look (see Adam Levine) is mainly prized by the under 30 crowd.

You think there's something wrong with Adam Levine's [italic]body[/italic]? I'm just talking neck to waist, and ignoring his unfortunate tattoos.

Adam Levine:

Nothing trumps a 10" cock

Muscles have been going out of style since 2001 when Hedi Slimane became designer for Dior Homme and changed the male fashion silhouette worldwide to anorexic boy. That's why you can't find a pair of pants in a mainsteam retailer now that don't chafe your legs unless they're pipecleaner width. And with flat front pants that depress any bulge the area of interest has moved from the crutch to the ankle. All the hipster boys now flash their ankles at brunch. Given the cycles of fashion, sanity will return and pant pleats and crutches will return to their proper prominence, but it can't be too soon.

Then of course there's tats and beards. The former are vile and have become bourgeois "like living permanently in a Pucci dress" as Lagerfeld perfectly says. As for beards: boys have got accustomed to the bliss of being kissed with the brush of whiskers, and you can immediately tell someone is either a frau or a non-bear old fart on DL if they resent facial hair.

[R12] You very well may be right... Around that time I was in London, and London responds with a lag to the change in trends in NYC, LA and MIA... London's 2000 look was probably an NYC 1997 look... Just like Madrid (which for some odd reason became a gay megacenter) always responds with a lag to London... It's as if each copies the more fab city, but when they get their hands on the fad, it's expiring wherever they copied it from...

The lag is such that you could probably still find a muscle cronie fad in Israel or a similar lesser gay megacenter... But the lag is diminishing due to Facebook and how international gay friendships are now formed, when back in the day those were pretty restricted to flight attendants and the like.

Tans have also being dying a slow death. As for the awful 70s US-only gay fad for disfiguring tan lines: they're as dead as a dodo.

[quote] disfiguring tan lines

You realize a tan line can't disfigure someone, don't you?

Most of the roid queens must have had their heart attacks by now, that's why one doesn't see so many. Or they've moved on to meth which has replaced them as the supplement d'jour.

OP/R11:

[quote]Like six people have agreed with my argument, [bold]and I'm trying to describe a change in attitudes and interests[/bold] in the gay community...

This posts suggests you are a narcissist. You are not qualified to speak for anyone but yourself.

[italic]But somehow you took this as my trying to diss you over YOUR age... !!!???[bold] Projecting insecurities, much?[/bold][/italic]

Precisely what you are doing here today. Mentally healthy people don't start discussions my making assumptions for an entire group, nor do they need to build their own false self-worth by criticizing those who are not present to defend themselves - particularly when the topic is a person's physical appearance. I personally am rarely attracted to slim, Asian men - but I wouldn't degrade those who are (or myself) by trying to build a discussion about I decided for the majority of gay men that it is 'unfashionable' to date men of different 'races' nowadays.

[R21] Tell us your age already...

The huge roided-out exaggerated bodybuilder look: yes, that has faded.

The buff, muscular underwear model with a six-pack look appears to still be very much with us.

I am 34.

I don't know. Male movie and TV actors and music stars have NEVER been buffer than they are now. The shirtless scene/photoshoot is pretty much compulsory these days. I'd like to see more diversity in male beauty standards, but I don't think we're heading in that direction -at least not yet.

Oh, please. This thread is the height of ridiculousness.

A hot muscular man will ALWAYS be 'in style'.

And the roid, gumby look was NEVER in.

I agree with you OP. Back in the 80s and even the 90s, it's all about BULK, with relatively little attention to definition. For proof, just check out gay porn vids from that era. BIGGER was decidedly Better.

Then starting from around the late 90s/early 00s, the paradigm shifted. The 'in' muscle groups changed from bulging pecs to abs abs and more abs. Apollo belt/cum-gutters also became the hot new muscles. Gay boys hardly pump up their pecs anymore, as everything become streamlined/refined. Toned is the new preferred look.

The "pumped up lightbulb" roided-up Big Muscles look is definitely out. Erik Rhodes is dead and he died at only age 30.

However I do think the young/ultra-fit/hardbody look (combined with flawless face and perfect skin) is still very real, in terms of cultural pressures on gay men. It still sucks getting older for that reason.

R28, that's always going to be true.

I'm just glad that the mid-90s trend of bulked up musclemen is over. I was never a big fan of that look, personally, so the trend shift is good news for me.

And before anyone asks (as if anyone cares), yes, I am An Old, at 43.

R27: my [bold]opinion[/bold] is just the opposite.

When I think '80s porn' I think of Falcon - and the models were, for the most part, lean, toned and fit. They were athletic but I don't recall any real 'bodybuilders' - perhaps with the exception of Nick Harmon.

When I think of '90s porn', I think of C1R - and the biggest names seemed to be bigger, brawnier and more muscular than those of the former decade.

Even COLT shifted this way - their earlier 70s and 80s porn focused on very fit, muscular men - but no actual bodybuilders until around 1994.

What R25 said.

And I'm old: I've been looking at six-packs since that word meant a quantity of beer or soda.

There will always be gay men who are attracted to muscles, just as there will always be gay men who are attracted to slim, youthful physiques. There were plenty of 'twinks' in 1970's gay porn - they just weren't called 'twinks' back then.

[quote]There were plenty of 'twinks' in 1970's gay porn - [bold]they just weren't called 'twinks' back then[/bold].

If you believe that, you must be a twink today.

You have to know by now that you are your circuit friends were just a subset. The things you say you HAD to have to get laid in the original post was only true in the circle you travelled in.

My whole life I've been a bearish guy. I get laid all the time because there are plenty of guys of all shapes and sizes (many of whom I also find attractive) who like my type. I learned 30 years ago not to try to win the affection of people who weren't into me, but to focus on those who were. And let me tell you, it's been a sexy and fulfilling life and I still have my big juicy balls that roid users lose.

[R27] and [R28] Yep, you guys got it...

I think [R26] is a bit confused... He thinks the guys who did steroids were ALL like Lee Priest...

True, the Erik Rhodes look requires tons of steroids, but also do the Anton Antipov and Rob Eco look (though a lot less)... Not only roids, but HGH which is what makes you look ridiculously ripped... Unless you want to workout for 15 years until you reach your goals...

Take it from me... I've spent thousands of dollars in my early 20s to get my hand on those products...

There's a fairly new queeny fixture in the NYC go-go dancer set... A Serbian kid by the name of Vasa Nestorovic... Annoyingly flaming, but the look [R26] is probably thinking of... A guy who knows him well told me: lots of HGH... Don't know about steroids though...

Israel is a gay mega-center???

[quote][[R1]] You sound envious.

Of you, OP? You're far too shallow to be worth any envy--only pity.

So, [R37]... I suggest you meet [R21] for coffee and devise an outline as to what is too shallow to post on Datalounge... Neither of you jump the shallow card when people start threads of "My Feet Smell" or "Your whoriest moment"... which leads me to think you attack my thread cuz you have issues with your age, or your body, or both... [R21] somehow managed to turn me into an ageist and I was like WTF...

Sorry I'm not following the guidelines of the American Journal of Sociology when I put up a topic...

Some of us are having an interesting discussion here... Whatever you guys say from now on, I just won't respond to...

And, oh, yeah [R21]... I sure am an ANONYMOUS narcissist, where no one knows what I look like or who I am... Crack, much?

Hipster nerds, think Portland and Seattle, are the look now.

OP sounds like Betty Broderick, 2 hours before the shooting.

[quote]I got me some roids STAT and did alright for myself... (Haven't done them for years though).

Are you sure about that? You sound like have some residual roid-rage issues.

And nobody under 30 uses the word STAT.

[quote]Take it from me... I've spent thousands of dollars in my early 20s to get my hand on those products...

You DO sound like a catch!

Hell no, muscles aren't going out of style-there are plenty of hot guys still around thankfully. I do hope roids are going away though. Natural muscle-building is sexy, not using drugs.

It depends on what group you're in/like-there are plenty of non-hot twinks, fatasses aka bears, ugly-average bodies etc...

but no, muscles aren't going away.

How about we just completely ignore anything that contains bold type?

R44: All of the bold text in this thread was quoting the OP, so you actually are suggesting we completely ignore you - which is probably the most intelligent thing you have ever posted on this board.

Oh, if only we were all as wise, deep and philosophical as the lardass at R1.

Honey, you don't need to be wise, deep or philosophical to know it's incredibly idiotic to be spending thousands of dollars on HGH when you're in your [italic]20s.[/italic] You just need a little common sense.

[quote]Hell no, muscles aren't going out of style-there are plenty of hot guys still around thankfully. I do hope roids are going away though. Natural muscle-building is sexy, not using drugs.

I love when people say that. Most of those "natural muscle-building" guys you think are so sexy likely had some chemical help. Just reality. The human body isn't really intended to bulk up to how we fetishize the modern gym body.

OP I like you. You really know how to get these old girls panties in a bunch and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Keep up the good work.

R49 = the OP

I don't think that super 'roided look was ever "the style". Was it? I remember always laughing at the guys in the gym.

Big muscles are really gross, they always have been.

I like a nice V-shape to the upper body but when the guy is so muscular the way he moves changes, it is unattractive.

Does anyone else know what I mean - when their upper bodies move differently because they are so muscular?

r51 should read "those" guys at the gym.

I don't think muscles have ever or will go out of style. The Arnold Shwartzenegger (or however you spell it) died out but muscles are here to stay.

You guys should trek over to the "Muscle Slut Shirts" thread and take a look see.

There shall be no love for him?

Another...

Unfortunately, the pendulum seems to be swinging from one extreme to another. While the overly-muscled look is indeed over, I've seen a lot of gay guys lately who are disgustingly thin. I'm 5'10" and 157 lbs and I sometimes feel downright obese.

The pro-fattie threads are really getting out of hand.

No takers for him?

No love for either?

You will kick him to the curb because he is too muscular?

Should he stop going to the gym and lifting weights to get your attention?

Yet another DL thread originated by a fat slob covered in Cheetoh's dust posting from his mom's basement trying to make obesity happen and to rationalize his sedentary ways.

OP probably coined the term "fit/fat" as well.

R64 Your post could use a few more tired cliches from 2004.

A pic of John Payne from the mid-40s. He was considered exceptionally fit in his time, but his body would not pass muster today - his arms are too thin.

His swimsuit rocks.

By today's standards, John needed to work his chest more as well.

But he had that amazing 'V' torso that killed in form-fitting '40s dress suits.

I'm not at all attracted to R63, R62, R61 (he's frightening, really), R60, or R56. And the first pic in R55 is of someone who's so ugly, I'm surprised anyone posted him, especially as a threadstarter (OTOH, the threadstarter for the current "White Guys with Big Dicks" thread is astonishingly ugly, too).

These men may have muscles, but they aren't goodlooking at all. Not one of them makes my dick hard.

Thanks, [R49]... Evidently [R50] doesn't know how to use trolldar to tell us apart.

So glad I never feel for body nazism. This thread vonied that.

R70, "vonied"?

See, [R55], OP here... I'm the first muscle addict in the world... I've done steroids & HGH at points in my life, and whenever I see a guy like the ones you've put up, I just lose my shit... BUT... On the other hand... I find it liberating that Body Fascism is ending because, for years, I felt it was prescriptive of HOW YOU NEEDED TO LOOK... Fifteen years ago you HAD TO LOOK like the guys in the pics you've put up so you could have any illusion of feeling attractive... As a very young gay, I only felt attractive after a couple cycles, and others began to validate me so only then... I am glad 19 and 20-year-olds now don't HAVE TO go through that (but can if they want to)... There is a twink scene that is not marginalized and just as thriving, as [R58] points out.

[R47] Please understand that people in their 20s don't use Growth Hormone to "look young" like Dolly Parton would... It's used for hyperplasia and to achieve a level of definition similar to the pic [R55] posted...

And, no [R64]... I am not a fat slob... If you happen to know how to read, you must have picked up that I have myself built my body, even using steroids... I worked at Splash in my mid 20s while in between serious jobs... Not only fat slobs resort to online gossip sites...

Similar to this link, [R47]... I realize now [R55] posted so many different guys, my reference was rendered confusing...

{R70] What does vonied mean?

OH! R72!!! Who are you??? Front bar? Back bar? Or, downstairs?

Talk about how Brian or Harry (the one that's not dead) made you get on scales or called you fat! How you guys had to wear the briefs and hated it!

SPILL! SPILL! SPILL!!!!

[R75] I'd love to, but I can't... People in the know would say "Ok, this is XYZ"... Besides, it's totally off topic: Start a Splash nostalgia thread and I might put in my two cents...

I will say this...

I never did meet Harry (he was dead before my time), and never saw a picture even... Older folk said he was a knock-out musclebound hottie, and that he died of an OD in a fisting escapade while Brian was out on Fire Island... Veteran bartenders witnessed Brian's reaction at being told his man was dead...

There was a blond, gorgeous, straight, married security guard by the name of Adam, who in a split second changed his sexual preference, fell in love with Brian the owner, and moved in with him... Later, he was looking not so good anymore, and evil sharp tongues accused Brian of having given him the gift.

Around that time Brian gave up control to the four managers, only to claim it back due to their incompetence... Out of them all, Ray was the nastiest... Aging old African-American muscle queen who was a c*nt pretty much to anyone... Was fucking a part-time bartender called Brian (I think), who'd just moved from LA, and then fired his ass when they were done...

Well, Ray's time was done when John Blair was brought over after the closure of the Roxy... Johnny snapped his fingers to Brian and said "Can't work with this bitch, sorry" and Brian promptly disposed of Ray... who then went on to work in real estate (I think).

"There was a blond, gorgeous, straight, married security guard by the name of Adam..."

I'm so into your gossip I started this one... "well, he ain't straight anymore" but you went on to finish!

MORE MORE! MORE!!!!

[R77] Seriously, that would need a separate thread... You've cajoled out of me much more than I should have said... I said "Put up a Splash nostalgia thread" and that I would then give my 2 cents... But I now realize I gave you like five bucks already... and totally off-topic. LOL.

Wait until the day tats are out of style for gays and straights, gonna be a lot of people spending a lot of money to get that stuff laser'd off.

Delicious gossip!!! There is so much surrounding Splash that one doesn't know who to believe. You probably can only believe the drug and steroid pushers! (JOKE!)

Anyway, I know Ray. In fact he is on Big Muscle. I won't give his handle but click long enough and he'll come up. Now, THAT'S an interesting character indeed!

Alas, (since I'm of the same age as he), I took note how you referred to him as an "aging old African-American muscle queen." It was the "aging" which pinged me a bit. What is it about us gays and aging? Ray looks (rather looked) great!!! HOWEVER, in his quest to remain young he has gone off the charts with the steroids. It's quite evident. The question is "Why?" This leads back to the topic...

Yes, whether you are straight or gay it's all about this youth obsession and "the look." I disagree with you. I don't think body fascism is going away. In fact, I think it is becoming more pervasive. You don't know how many young kids I have seen (and know) who are injecting themselves with whatever. Taking "who knows what" in order to get leaner and bigger. Once again, it's not the Arnold Shwartzegger (however you spell it) "look" that they are going for. I would say it is the "Splash Boy" body that they seek. In the mean time they are totally messing up their systems and their bodies because a lot of them are not under doctor supervision. This will seem like left base but I see the same thing with porn stars.

There is absolutely no money in porn and yet new boys and men are getting into it every day! Soon upon entering they are in the gym and taking the roids. Why? My guess is the potential to meet that "somebody." The "somebody" who will make life easier? Let's take this Splash doorman for example (I never thought he was straight--we're all just sexual people and... well, that's another discussion) Here he is with a wife and baby and yet, he dumps them to get with the rich guy Brian. I'm sure there is a bit more to it than that but you get my gist. Anyway, I think a lot of it has to do with insecurity and a lot has to do with financially advancing one's self. Therefore, instead of truly finding one's self you tend to spend a lot of time working on the package to make it all shiny and pretty so that "someone" will pick you!

[R80] Good point...

About Body Fascism... I agree with you that - if there is now a Body Fascist look - it definitely is the smaller, much much more ripped look of, say, Anton Antipov (straight kid who used to bartend at the Ritz and XL)... But don't you see that a lot FEWER guys are walking around today with EVEN that look?... The Fascist Republic is shrinking LOL.

And, I have evidence that the reigning court of the scene are no longer those guys... The guys perceived to be at the pinnacle today give "some" body, but also give a vavavoom and a je-ne-sais-quoi that was just not necessary back 15 years ago... I don't know if it's fashion, or fabulousness, or lip, or the glam job, but it's more nuanced and sophisticated than 15 years ago... Before it was JUST the body (not even the face, or - arguably - the cock) and boom, you had it made...

Take for example an acquaintance of mine: Kris Haigh (SEE INSTAGRAM LINK), English kid who is an NYC social butterfly and who is friends with everyone and everyone is friends with... He has a "nice" body, but 15 yrs ago it just wouldn't have cut it and he would have been relegated to a second or third tier of hotties until he purchased his cycle of roids...

As for Ray, his quest to look any particular way is probably not only driven by wanting to look young, but also healthy... I think his very high cheekbones are the product of facial wasting, as I'd bet this month's salary that he has the gift... Plus (and this is going to sound sooooo cliche), black dudes are in a different genetic ballgame when it comes to getting big and ripped...

Once, on a lonely cold night, I'm embarrassed to say I went to the West Side Club (which I fortunately haven't done too many times)... Well, I had sex with Ray's boyfriend (though not sure if they were together then, or if they were later)... Big buff Lebanese guy by the name of Sam... He was very sweet other than kinky... We were safe BUT the thing that convinced me that he had the gift is that he gobbled up my cum so gleefully and to the very last drop... Who does that at the West Side Club???!!! LOL... So if his boyfriend so openly has it, Ray also probably has it...

Wow, I posted this ages ago and it had been censored... Then the post reappeared out of nowhere... I thought they had gotten their panties all in a bunch cuz I named names.

"Kris Haigh"

???

I followed the link to see what you were talking about, r81.

He looks like any other attractive white gay-ghetto musclehead clone from almost any era, as do all his friends. The clothes and accessories have changed a bit as have a few of the decorative details and styles, but that's it.

That's nothing against him: he may be perfectly nice, but he is certainly not the sign of some new freer, different, aesthetic among gay people that you're trying to paste onto him. I think your perceptions have been warped by your time in the scene.

[R83] That's exactly it...

In my younger days, Kris is what one would have called "toned" or "defined"... The fact that you so freely chose the word "musclehead" to describe someone like Kris, who probably weighs 165 lbs on a very very good day, shows that shift in paradigm... Your own words show how perceptions have changed: you just don't notice it...

Did you know what the late Erik Rhodes looked like? Now repeat after me: MUS-CLE-HEAD.

I was just now giving my two cents on a posting about Davey Wavey... A lot of people praise him for his body (although consensus is he is annoying as fuck)... This is a guy who admittedly weighs like 155 lbs at 5'10'... I know tall anorexic girls who weigh more than that... Yesteryear, the reaction would have been: "Ok, defined pecs, but needs some more size"... This is why there was a pervasive use of steroids...

Did anyone watch that stupid web gay soap Hunting Season...? The gym hottie of the show was a guy with what in 1999 would have been an average trim defined body... Yet someone on the show threw the word HUNK without smoking anything...

That guy in R81's link has apparently spent A LOT of time at the gym.

R12 is exactly right. Ripped and steroids = a mo with the AIDS to be avoided.

OP would be funny if he wasn't so sad. Sweetheart: it's time to pop the bubble of delusion you've been living in and transition to a mature adult rather than the aged adolescent that you are. The scene isn't more nuanced. It's exactly as it ever was. The majority of gay men never pumped and there were always plenty of sweet hot normally proportioned guys in huge demand. It's just that you were living in a narcissistic bubble with the rest of the clique of overmuscled airheads and too busy back-slapping to look beyond it! Now that you're being ignored you're suddenly looking around and asking why. It's nothing to do with any massive change out there: you simply got old. And unlike a smart mature fit man, there ain't nothing attractive about an old stupid muscle BOI.

Haven't you heard? There's a "new" aesthetic, Marys!

I don't know about the decline on the gay scene or not, but I think overall, more men are trying to get bigger and more muscular than ever before. Maybe not steroid big, but I know plenty of dudes who knock back protein shakes and know their way around a gym. It's definitely more in the culture than it used to be.

[R87] I think my original post departed from the premise that - within a particular circle - the paradigm is changing... I never meant to say that every homosexual to ever breathe looked like that or aspired to look like that... Using your logic, yes, I am wrong: There were fat people in 1999; yes, they were having sex; yes, then what I am saying sounds odd... But, honey, that wasn't MY argument...

[quote] The majority of gay men never pumped and there were always plenty of sweet hot normally proportioned guys in huge demand.

Now, I have trouble believing that over 50% of sexually active gay men, who are not over retirement age, do not own ANY KIND of gym or health spa membership in NEW YORK CITY... Be it as cheap as Parks & Recreation to as pricey as Equinox... Not that everyone wants to be huge or even defined, but working out is just part of what many, many gay people do.

[quote] It's nothing to do with any massive change out there: you simply got old.

I was 17 in 1999... You're not the first one on this thread who has tried to get a jump out of me by pulling some ageist crap without reading through the entire thread and pulling out a calculator first... My educated guess is, if you look at your Drivers License, you are going to see a year before 1982, so stop projecting your ageist insecurities onto me, as I have none...

I have noticed this thread triggers people's insecurities about their own body issues and ages to the max... Insecurities they then try to project onto me (the OP) by calling me fat, or ugly or old, or all, without having any idea as to who I am... Whatever... Let it all be welcome under the banner of good polemics... But the ad hominem attacks to an anonymous poster look like just that: lashing out due to your OWN insecurities...

"...but working out is just part of what many, many gay people do."

What's the gay mantra, honey?

"Gym, Shopping, Shopping, Gym!"

It's nice to hear from you again, 2005. Where have you been?

I agree with you OP. By the way, I enjoy this thread! Also, I probably have seen you at Splash since you know of Ray and Adam. I was hanging out at Splash quite heavily at that time. Now, back to topic!

I think some of these posters are being disingenuous in not acknowledging your points. You're probably onto something about it's their own insecurities that are manifesting here. There have been, and always will be different type bodies of gay men. But, read some of the requirements for many of these sex parties; "Height/weight proportionate required"; "No one admitted under 40"; and the other nonsense. It tells you that body fascism is indeed alive and well!

Yup! I'd say that the "Colt model" type look has shrunk significantly, but the muscled, defined, toned, look is only increasing. As someone noted about the protein shakes... do you know how much the supplement industry has increased, and the money it's making? It's absolutely staggering! "Somebody's" buying the stuff! This, clearly is not just a "gay" phenomenon. So-called "straight" boys are just as much into this as gays. Cosmetic surgery, body sculpting, etc., are all significantly on the rise! It's as if it's like a mandate to belong to some gym in NYC. I honestly don't think that I know of anyone who is not involved into some type of exercise regiment... and that includes yoga, which is not as easy as some might think.

On one hand, I think this is a good thing. People are now more concerned about their health, and image. On the other hand, it leads to so many going overboard and not taking care of, or developing other aspects of their lives.

I'm probably a little older than you OP, (53, proud of it, and look damned good!) and I do testosterone shots, (take a look at the boost in that industry), and where I go, the line is out the door! Interestingly enough it's not men of my age (which they say is age appropriate), but more men in their 30's and early 40's. So...

Finally, in my gym,(Equinox), I see most of the younger guys are working for the look like those images that have been posted within this thread. Thanks, to whoever did that! Most of those images I posted in the the "muscle slut" thread.

If there's anything more interesting than this conversation you could fool me, said no one ever.

No one ever told R10 about the kindergarten psychology that is "projection."

OP it depends on the type of gay you are.

There are plenty of gays like me who are very fit and like very fit bodies but we're not into steroids. I'm into natural gainers. I like athletic to muscular body types.

On the other hand, skinny, average and fat bodies are turn offs but they have their own admirers. Lazy people have to stay together right?

[R96] Refreshing view, dear... If I had the balls to say what you just said, I would have been crucified as old, ugly, shallow, fat, bald and anything else 4 or 5 insecure fags on this thread are keen on pinning on me at every turn... which is remarkable, since none of them has ever (or will ever) see me in person...

well I don't advocate using steroids. I don't care if someone is super huge but I do like muscle. I view steroid users in the same way I view those who do party/hard drugs-yuck and turn offs.

I like healthy people who take pride in their appearance but don't try to be perfect.

and for fuck's sake people-get your mother fuckin' teeth fixed! I don't want someone with fucked up, discolored and/or missing teeth.

[R98] I see your point... But please note that not all steroid/HGH users look like Erik Rhodes... I made this point in [R35]... The only way you could/would know that a fitbod is on roids is if he actually tells you, and it's more likely he'd confess to doing blow, being on Grindr or - at the rate things are moving in the world - going bare "on occasion" than to juicing up...

So, you could begin dating a "natural" hotbod, only to find he does roids by week six or sev... WAIT! Gay relationships don't last that long, so that means you would never find out... :D

(...And... dear detractors, yes: that was tongue-in-cheek... If you are going to jump the shallow card again on me over a clear joke, go eat shit and die, you're pathetic...)

My guesstimate is that prolly 75% of the "fit" guys you see at the Chris Street Pier during the summer, on the Pines, at Alegria, etc have done a cycle of steroids at least ONCE in their lifetime (not that they may be currently doing them...) Out of this 75%, only 10% could be sensibly described as "big", and maybe 2% as "huge"...

[R93] As a fellow gear user (although I'm 'former' in actuality), would you say my guesstimates are fairly correct?

The link below is what is pretty much gone.

Another goodbye.

An example of what's definitely in! Although this guy is somewhat overboard

Another "in" example

EXACTLY [R93]/[R100]/[R101]... Now, am I crazy, was I on ludes, or you could actually see openly gay dudes looking like that walking down Eight Ave in the City, and by the sand on SoBe around 1999? And lots and lots of tented up shorts lining the route of wherever they walked?

The look of today has no age boundary.

(NSFW)

I'm sure the queens have found something else to tsk and disapprove of.

@R104; Nope. You're not crazy! Golds Gym came about because of Ahnold and the look of R100/R101. That look... with enhancements. However, don't dismiss that... "enhancements" have gone away. If anything, they're increasing! The link below is just an example of such facilities that are opening rapidly.

OP did roids so he could be like everybody else. He combs the fag rags to make sure he is being like everyone else. Can't wait to hear when he dies of roid related organ failure. He will be like all of the rest of them then too.

[quote]I'm sure the queens have found something else to tsk and disapprove of.

I disapprove of tattoos, it's starting to look monotonous and ugly. It's like everyone is starting to look like a graffiti billboard.

and R106, that just speaks to the insecurities they have of which the OP noted. David Pevsner R105, is 55 years of age. That's a great looking 55 year old! More, and more men are dieting, exercising, and doing whatever else to try and achieve this look. Whereas the roided out look is passe, this new lean, muscled toned, look is the latest body fascism.

[R93] The change has crept in so silently that it even has fooled and caught a top porn producer by surprise, who was hoping to still make bank on Colt-type people and got a flop instead...

See, I like my porn more au-naturel than staged... A few months ago, I announced on DL that I had discovered an xtube profile for former porn "star" Skye Woods, who exemplified the I-am-huge-start-drooling-now look of yesteryear... He had never really been my type, and he always was the consummate butterface... But I pondered why someone who had been marketed as a "porn star" would stoop low enough to do free porn for all and sundry, with unattractive people...

An insightful correspondent offered:

[quote] Skye Woods has had a hard time in porn. John Rutherford gave him a HUGELY hyped build-up before he premiered as if he was going to be the major star for Colt, and it was one of the few times Rutherford was really wrong about that sort of thing--fans did not like Woods's over'roided short body, and were pretty mean about it... I think Woods is an exhibitionist and likes doing porn, but I would think he would have to have a hide as tough as nails to undergo the kinds of criticisms he has been subjected to (sometimes directly).

@R108: Honey, have you been looking at all the latest mens fitness, health,fashion, magazines? Have you seen the commercials marketed towards men?

The big push is on two things. Viagra (and/or other similar products), AND testosterone! Testosterone IS a steroid.

The "Chelsea Boy" (a gay area in NYC)is very much alive and well! Of course, there are the twinks, bears, cubs, the father, son, and the Holy Ghost,and their admirers but don't be fooled into thinking that body image has gone away! It's very much here

"...But I pondered why someone who had been marketed as a "porn star" would stoop low enough to do free porn..."

Escorting, honey. Those bills have to get paid somehow. There are still a few who have a fantasy of mounting the giant.

This thread pertains to a tiny, tiny subset of gay men in America.

***BEEP BEEP INSECURITY ALERT AT [R108]***

See [R112]... The insecure crowd have graduated from calling me old, fat, ugly, etc to wishing for my death... I would loooove to see what's sitting at the other end of that monitor... LOL... That vitriol can only show one has struck a fat cord with his insecurities...

If he was half-literate, my friend, he would realize that he himself used the tense "did" as the second word of his posting... That he seems to have himself accepted my explanation that I NO LONGER use steroids... His death wish becomes very unlikely to be fulfilled indeed... It's more likely I will die of being run over by a cab... Yeah, go die of the side effects of what you're not doing... Good one!

Now, my friend, you are 53 and you're self-actualized: you own it... I congratulate you... Could you give self-hating trolls like that one some therapy and teach him how you love yourself? Maybe there's hope for him...

This is what is in demand now. You think he doesn't use steroids... rather enhancements? This cat, (Vinnie), makes a TON of money with that nonsense Adonis revue. There is NO MONEY in porn, and yet studios are swamped with individuals all looking like him--maybe not as big but you get my drift.

The Skye Woods are done, but the Kevin Landons (for example) are much in demand. This is the look that many are trying to achieve. So, going back to your original question--muscles are definitely NOT going out of style. It's just a different type of muscle.

Every fucking day someone posts a picture of a fugly guy with muscles, while proceeding to talk about how gorgeous the person is. The latest is that cop in Baltimore.

Anyway, it just proves that muscles are still something that gay men are generally drawn to.

"This thread pertains to a tiny, tiny subset of gay men in America."

Uhm... no! Straight boys/men are on this wagon quite heavily too. It's all about looking your best.

Yeah, [R114]... A tinier, tinier, tinier subset of gay America knows who the fuck Andrew Keenan Bolger is... So tiny, it asymptotically approaches zero... Yet some people on Datalounge go to the length of employing even more marginalizing affectations as talking about "AKB" as though it were as commonplace as dropping "CNN" into a conversation...

Do you jump the relevance card then?

Skye Woods is a fugly midget.

"Now, my friend, you are 53 and you're self-actualized: you own it... I congratulate you... Could you give self-hating trolls like that one some therapy and teach him how you love yourself? Maybe there's hope for him..."

Actually, I can offer some suggestions. I did not like the way I looked or felt. I mean I wasn't grossly out of shape, (I mean that kindly), and was always "gym fit". However, when I turned 48, and still had to compete with the younger on the streets, I decided to make some changes. I was preparing myself for 50.

I've always worked with a trainer, some good and some bad, but I had to own that I never really "worked" with a trainer. I just did what they instructed in order to get through the hour. Yet, I always had this dream of looking like the men in the magazines! Then I came upon this one guy (I'm still with him) who said two things which struck a chord;

"I know what I want to see when I look at a man"

and

"When I'm through with you, you will be able to wear a wrinkled shirt that you will not have to iron!"

I was hooked! I changed my diet, exercised harder, and when I turned 50 I had made my goal. Not to gloat or think that "I'm all that" but people are quite surprised when I reveal my age (which is all of the time)and I am "hit on" (thank you, Lord) by many men that are much younger than me!

But, it's just not about image. I'm at a stage where I'm very appreciative about life. I like the way I look. I love my job. I've let go (and letting go) those things that stress me. I love my friends and family. I've created a nice serene existence in my elderly years! But, make no mistake... being happy with my body was a MAJOR part of it! If no one else likes my body, I most certainly do! It"s given me a more positive attitude towards a great many of things.

and at R117, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While I don't think he's the cat's meow either, there is no denying how POPULAR the guy is.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

OP can you link that Skye Woods xtube profile? I'm curious.

Also, are any of you on realjock.com? Plenty of amazing bodies there of all fitness types-from the lean to the sculpted to the bulky to the bodybuilder types.

[R123] Link to post below...

He took his xtube channel down... Maybe he got some backlash...

It was creepy as fuck in that he wore girls' panties in each vid... It was however kind of hot in how he was plowed stoopid by black and Latino dudes who were megahung... Some very hot threesomes... But (1) I'd rather see a less muscular guy, and (2) the blacks and Latinos were very, very average looking bodywise... No faces...

I think this might be what OP has in mind all along - the 'new' IN body type:

Btw his name is Tarik Lakehal, a hot young French Algerian model who I believe plays for our Team:

One more of Tarik, catwalking:

[R126] Mmmmmm... Maybe a little bit bigger, but I can say that a lot of guys like that are getting plenty of attention now...

I agree with the OP 100%. The aesthetic has changed. However that doesn't mean there isn't the same, if not more pressure nowadays.

OP you and I are of the same time period, although I date you by a good eight years. I live in NYC as well. Funny you talk about Adam, that is a hoot. I had no idea that he came out. I remember him from when he was a trainer at 19th St. gym which was a hotbed of sexual confusion with their ring leader Tommy Marinelli. Then I saw him at the door at Splash.

When I first moved here and was a 20 something gay, everyone was huge and roided out with their muscle shirts that rode a good inch above their belt line. Every gay had to dress like a jock or be some faux frat boy/atheletic. This had to do a lot with AIDS and people terrified of looking sick OR actual sick people on their meds using HGH to fight waisting.

Then the paradigm shifted once the specter of AIDS lifted. Young guys were actually skinny again. Besides it's easier to starve yourself than work out. I call this the American Apparel affect. People started talking about calorie restricted diets and nutrients instead of carb loading.

Now we're something in between. But the ideal is still just as unattainable, harder in fact. You can't just be big, you have to be fit. It's not about muscle, it's about strength, flexibility and endurance from your 20s well into your 40s and 50s. If you're ever in question what this new body looks like, just pic up a Details magazine.

The one constant through the decades though is that FAT is ALWAYS the enemy.

This is the ideal body now -

[R128] I don't think one has to thank someone else for agreeing, but thanks...

I would say that - even though the new paradigm of body is not the most realistic - it definitely does not invite steroid abuse the way the prior one did... I would say steroid use is not the wisest choice in the world, but done in moderation can be less harmful to your liver and kidneys than drinking every weekend (which many, many twinks do)... Steroid ABUSE is what can kill you...

When the body model is huge, you just need to be jabbing more and more of that shit... What do you think made Erik Rhodes and Quentin Elias have a heart attack at 30 and 39 respectively...

ANGELO GARCIA, you're in danger gurl...! Erik's and Quentin's karma is chasing you like a Final Destination movie... No one is telling you to lay off the juice, but put half of it in a drawer and forget it's there...

I was so amused to hear you mention Tommy Marinelli... The first time I ever went to an Alegria, it was Pride 2006, and it was at Crobar... I was working at Splash and a bartender took me... When we got there, my friend only had a ticket for himself, and he asked this guy standing at the door if he could do us a favor and let me through... The guy was very sweet and snuck me in through the coatcheck...

I thought he was some sort of bouncer, cuz he was dressed like one... I later asked who he was... "That was Tommy Marinelli, the owner of the entire venue"

I wouldn't be surprised if Tommy Marinelli sold steroids out of 19th gym, or at least got a cut of the profits like a juiced up Peter Gatien. He had a part in everything including the Mercantile Whole Foods building. I'd still suck on his stubbled-up guido nipples if he wanted me to though.

Interesting thing you mention Quentin Elias OP. Quentin worked out at 19th St. gym. He was a beautiful man with a beautiful body. I never did steroids. Although I did envy all of those guys with their bodies I could never achieve. I was to scared to do them for many reasons. And now at 38, I am glad I never did them considering all these premature deaths from heart attacks now. I am glad I had a bf who kept me grounded and not completely obsessed by body image.

I do own a NutriBullet and I have stopped eating after 7 o'clock. But it's funny, I'm not doing it to impress anyone. I am doing it because I make more money and I love nice clothes and I want to wear anything I want. Trust me, Quentin Elias wasn't fitting into Ovadia & Sons.

-19th Street gym? Is that still open?

-Quentin Elias did steroids? Noooo.... say it ain't so! LOL!

-R128, totally agree with you! Fat is still the enemy! That's why some of these girls are attacking the OP. Fat, fat, fat!!!

-Adam was a trainer? Get out!!!

-Tommy Marinelli? Now, that's a name I hadn't heard mentioned in eons (queue Barbra Streisand's "Memories")

-@R124, I'm a member of RealJock, and I'm also on Big Muscle.

-"It was creepy as fuck in that he wore girls' panties in each vid..." Not only panties, but those God awful fish net stockings! The link is to a cleaner Skye Woods. YUCK...

-"Now we're something in between. But the ideal is still just as unattainable, harder in fact. You can't just be big, you have to be fit. It's not about muscle, it's about strength, flexibility and endurance from your 20s well into your 40s and 50s." 100% correct R128! It's harder! You would be shocked at what these younger kids are doing and taking to reach the "ideal".

A face from yesteryear, BUT this is HOT! ...to me anyway. I came across this via the Skye Woods link.

yeah, R131, Adam was a trainer there. There were a crop of trainers that started there that were super cute. Anderson Cooper's trainer TJ started out there when he was 24. Roman Ragazzi or Dror Barak used to train there. I just know their first names. There was another Roman who used to shave Tommy's body. There was Tracy who was a former soap opera actor who taught the abs class and was original 8 minute abs guy. But everyone was roided out pretty much from what I remember. I was there 2001-2005. Then I joined D Barton on 23rd.

[R133] I presume you must know, my friend, that Ray the ex-manager of Splash died last month at 53?

I wish I could say I was sorry, but he was a nasty piece of work to me... Sorry, but can't say I'm sorry...

What! OP!!! I had NO idea that he died! WOWEE!!! 53? Wow...

Wow! R134. It's true (not to imply that you were not telling the truth.) Here's what his "Big Muscle" profile says:

"1960 - 2014

You'll live on in our hearts..."

Shocking. Any details? Heart attack, accident, or illness?

I was going to link to his page, but thought better of it.

It says cancer but I wouldn't be surprised if that was a euphemism... I'm trying as hard as I can not to be unnecessarily nasty.

Well, I can't speak to that, OP! I have heard the stories, but since I was never directly affected, I can't speak ill of him. He was always nice to me, but then again, I was a customer, and not an employee/worker.

A friend of mine (this world is smaller than I thought) just confirmed cancer too. Just shocking... Not because I knew him so well, or anything like that, but it's like a piece of my own life is lost too, because I knew of him.

Oh well... and life goes on!

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Adam being a Personal Trainer. It's all a matter of tastes and opinions of course, but he never came across to me as someone who would be in that profession given his body (once again, opinion), or personality. The plastic surgery was definitely a mistake! But, back to topic!!!

Steroids are definitely on the rise, and are being integrated into mainstream more, and more, each day. The latest thread below from those who have an interest:

Bodybuilding has never been the representantion of heterosexuality or any other sexual orientation. From day one it has been practised by people of all sexual orientations.

I find it interesting the oobsessive need to blame gay people for the things heterosexual male bodybuilders do by their own will.

I know lots of bodybuilders, heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual. The heterosexual ones are the more sexual of all.

Adam Levine is ok he just has too much of a desperate careerist Jewy vibe to be hot...oh we'll to each their own

[quote]Big muscles are really gross, they always have been.

I didn't make him for YOU!!

I used to work out at 19th. St Gym which was loaded with steroided men. Sorry to hear of Ray's passing- he was always nice to me with a smile on his face. Another gorgeous trainer there was Mike Brown who was a bit aloof. But the God there was Marinelli-one of the most handsome men I have ever seen and I have had many fantasies with him. Billy Herrington the porn star would work out there- and Tommy and Billy going at it would be soooooo hot. And also a nice guy. Heard a lot of stories/rumors about his personal life but everyone gossips. He is a born entrepreneur and is very gay friendly. He still rpomotes gay circuit parties around town. You see less men into steroids here in NYC for sure. But still lots of toned men.

Tommy was sexy. I could never figure him out thought. I think he still lives in the Mercantile. I used to see him walking his little dog around 24th and 25th streets. FYI, the Mercantile is a building were a bunch of celebs live. I think Bobby Flay has two floors. Katie Holmes lives there with Suri, and if you go early enough, you can catch her in the morning shopping after having dropped Suri off at school. But I digress.

There was a group of people who hung out there and who were trainers. It's funny you guys mention you cannot see Adam as a personal trainer. I can only picture him as a personal trainer. I would love to see what he looks like now.

There must be a degree of insanity and/or complexes for someone to become a bodybuilder and put his/her body under the control of dangerous substances and just for a body type that helps in nothing.

The strongest are those who love themselves the way they are.

r144 If only gay life was a Seventh-Heaven as you paint it, my dear friend... Send us some dispatches from la-la land... I may be too jaded, but you most certainly are too naive...

You are right, but this is the craziness of being gay... At least I'm not a 22 year old kid who is willing to spend $1,300 a month so he can buy PrEP, all for the blissful joy of being able to have bareback sex...

Insanity, you said?

r144... And, in your words, to "...put his/her body under the control of dangerous substances..." all for the imperious necessity of having his/her gets filled with anonymous jizz...

Muscled, toned, athletic is my type. I'll even go for naturally stocky and solid. The whole cartoon balloon look, bursting out of clothing and topped by a pinhead is a turn off.

r144 ... *guts... I have never been a bad speller... Not about to start now.

I always thought the steroid huge muscle fad was a reaction to muscle wasting from AIDS.

And also having the mass to not be messed with from homophobes.

But now that medications can minimize the muscle wasting and gays are more accepted, I think gays are looking to be fit and not overly muscled.

Those steroid guys also look ridiculous and it's a pain in the ass to maintain.

IMO it's the extremes that go in & out of style. Very muscular people are an extreme.

Few people would find the classically trim, fit form unappealing. Think Paul Newman in his youth.

Another along those lines: Hugh O'Brian in 1965. Then aged 40, he obviously kept in shape.

Paul Newman looks absolutely perfect at R150. That is as hot as it gets. Why the hell would anyone need a man to be bulkier than that? That is the male body in peak form.

I don't understand the relation being made between steroids and being gay.

The only thing I know though is that some gay guys start bodybuilding to build a body intimidating enough so as to keep homophobes out of their way. Pretty much the same phenomenon that affects some guys who are skinny and have been bullied for it and start bodybuilding to keep bullies away.

[quote] I don't understand the relation being made between steroids and being gay.

You are either a newly minted gay, or a gay who has never set foot in a large metropolitan center...

I have come to think that my hypothesis was wrong, or at least correct only to a limited extent. Yes, in NEW YORK, body fascism has retreated over the past 15 years. You may go to Viva on a Saturday night and you might see only 5 to 10 clearly roided-out guys in the venue (note I am not counting the leaned-out wannabes: then you'd be in the dozens). In 1996, you could have filled a venue like Crobar or Twilo with roided-out freaks, one looking bigger and more ripped than the next. Back then, r128 and I myself felt with reason that there simply was no place for you in gay-land if you were not muscular, and obscenely so: That your body was the crux of your attractiveness - well over your face, your dick or your wallet.

I can't speak to what's the norm in Miami and LA... I don't like to travel much... But yes, that has faded in New York... However, since penning the post, I have noticed that body fascism is alive and well in other gay locales of the world. The foreign circuit crowd - so avid to fete themselves in places like Ibiza or Tel Aviv – is still under the spell of bodies only achievable through chemical enhancements. Take for instance the international WE parties. Example of attendees in the link.

And it is surprising, for the prevalence of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter should lead to a homogenization of tastes, but there it is...

So, while in New York the muscle queen is likely a forty-something neurotic trying to reclaim the regal homage she feels due her by virtue of her 20 inch-biceps, yet met with disdain – even derision – by younger leaned-out guys who see her as a “creepy old guy”; the muscle queen in other places is a twenty-something boy, younger than r128 and I. So, the answer to myself is NO, muscles and steroids – in the gay world at large – are not going out of style within the foreseeable future.

[quote]So, while in New York the muscle queen is likely a forty-something neurotic trying to reclaim the regal homage she feels due her by virtue of her 20 inch-biceps, yet met with disdain – even derision – by younger leaned-out guys who see her as a “creepy old guy”

MMPH! I do quite alright, OP!!!

LOL! I tell you who the derision comes from, (in my case), it's from my peers! I do workout because I like the results, but I never try to push my lifestyle on anyone. But, you have people who make assumptions. The "muscles & roids" style is still here in NYC, it's just changed. You should pop over to the: "All the guys on Instagram who are "fitness models"

r156 Generalizations are sometimes bad, but always necessary... You may do quite alright, but you don't come across as the usual past-sell-by-date queen I'm talking about... Believe me, I've seen plenty of what I'm talking about...

Or, maybe those guys are just not attractive, muscles or not... Who knows...

I really hate big muscles, I like fat better then big muscles.

r156 Allow me to pin-point the reason I said you don't come across as the typical past-sell-by-date muscle-queen...

[quote] I do workout because I like the results, but I never try to push my lifestyle on anyone.

This is antithetical to what they stand for...

Quick example... A not-so-old 33 y-o NYC muscle queen who works as... Guess what... A personal trainer, DUH !... Recently posted something along the lines "Nick Jonas, you need to do squats" in response to Nick Jonas's recent pose in underwear...

Scott Nevins handed her her ass on Facebook for the body fascism of implying that Nick *NEEDED* to have muscular legs to pose in the ad... As if he wasn't a fucking successful singer, 1,000,000x richer than the loser, and couldn't do what he wanted.

The loser's response to Scott Nevins was to justify that "professionally" (as if being a personal trainer was a fucking profession... even I laugh at that notion...) she was entitled to give her opinion - as you say - "pushing" her normative, gay muscle-queen idea of how Nick Jonas *SHOULD* look.

Interestingly, steroids came along in the bodybuilding world in an attempt to disassociate bodybuilding with homosexuality ever since the more natural and aesthetic looks of bodybuilders in the past was highly appealing to gay men.

In order to get rid of the "sitgma" of homosexuality, bodybuilding decided to turn the bodies into distorted inflated piles of muscles.

[quote]Quick example... A not-so-old 33 y-o NYC muscle queen who works as... Guess what... A personal trainer, DUH !... Recently posted something along the lines "Nick Jonas, you need to do squats" in response to Nick Jonas's recent pose in underwear...

LOL! That IS rather juvenile coming from a 33 year old. I suppose that she forgot that Nick Jonas "got" the gig, and was paid for it, in addition to his other works. LOL!!!

When muscular man shows a high degree of narcissism in his personality his whole persona becomes a turn-off.

Muscles and roids are the trend these days.

Look at how popular Fitness Model has become.

Muscle will never go out of style. It commands respect from straight people too. And I'm not talking about the sick roided look either. Proper, worked out muscles will always turn heads.

Muscularity has at least two very well defined purposes: Intimidation and causing Sexual Attraction, so those are very powerful reasons to pursue muscularity.

no

Yes.

People have mentioned Erik Rhodes a few times on this thread, and yet, no one has shown a picture of him. Let me rectify that. Erik is on the left.

I went to Viva this past Saturday. Oh... muscles, and roids, are quite still around...

Roiders smell - a chemical smell.

Did that guy die, right?

Yes, R170. Here's the other one. But... Quentin said he never took steroids. LOL!!!

...OH! He's dead too.

Bodybuilding is so scary. It is supposed to be all about health but they die like flies.

[quote]Bodybuilding is so scary. It is supposed to be all about health but they die like flies.

But, look fabulous in the coffin!

Well, actually bodybuilding is not about health; it is about aesthetics exclusively.

That's why people areb willing to try all sorts of drugs in order to achieve a certain body type supposedly "perfect".

R168 Be descriptive... You're arguing you saw tons of people like Eric a couple Saturdays ago at VIVA?

...And he spelled his name "Erik"... I should afford the dead at least the decency of spelling their names right...

Bodybuilding Obsession Leading to Bigorexia.

I sure did OP! Maybe it was a rare night, or a full moon, but LOTS of HOT guys with their shirts off like the picture, but mostly everyone was shirtless. It was like a circuit party.

Muscles are so 2005. It's all about the 3 F's. Fat, flamboyant and fabulouuuuus.

Heterosexism tends to cause mental issues to many homosexual men. The need not to be made fun of, feel threatened, etc by heterosexual homophobes makes some homosexual guys build their bodies big enough so that no one dares mess with them.

Steroids use by some homosexual men is explained by this.

I thought the main reason for men to hyper bodybuild was to make up for a tiny penis.

R180 Although what you say makes sense, I am not sold... Then why are so many buff guys the nelliest queens. See Tarzan, hear Jane, intellect of Cheetah kind of deal...?

Do you think a roided up guy like Jack Mackenroth would scare a straight homophobe, while carrying two LV purses and another falling out of his mouth? Come on... Showing a buffed up one a lesson would make them gag for the opportunity.

Muscles in the gay world are for show, not a weapon.

(By the way, OP here... Writing from tablet, so Trolldar may look like I'm not the OP)

Oh! ...a little jealous, OP? (wink)

Muscles in the gay world is definitely mostly more about aesthetics, but they can also be used as a form of intimidation too. I recall years ago, on Christopher Street, that some would be mugger followed a muscular gay guy into the bathroom in order to mug him. I believe the place was "Kettle Of fish" Anyway, the gay guy beat the shit out of the would be mugger. Now, I don't know if it was more of an attitude/confidence of the gay guy, or what, but the mugger definitely targeted him because he was gay. You know we gays are all nellies, and can't defend ourselves... LOL!

OP sounds dreadful. And clueless.

It all will always be in style. Going all the way back to the Greeks, and probably before them.

In 1847 physical culture pioneer and strongman Hippolyte Triat established a huge gymnasium in Paris where aristocrats joined spirited youth in pursuit of fitness. In the 1870s physical education became a principal focus in French schools, where battalions of healthy young men were trained to avenge the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to the Germans.

R183 I imagine you could say I'm jealous if I were exaggerating or outright lying, but where have I done any violence to the truth?

Is this another thread about he hemorrhoids? Ugh!

R182 What I explained is just one of many reasons why a homosexual guy might use steroids. To avoid the homophobic bullying due to homophobic past experiences.

I wonder if it is common for many if not for most bodybuilders to suffer some kind of anxiety regarding ageing.

Bodybuilding is inherently shallow in nature, you care more about appearance, but as time goes by you start seeing wrinkles and muscle mass loss. I wonder if they go a but anxious when seeing they are getting older...

[quote]I wonder if it is common for many if not for most bodybuilders to suffer some kind of anxiety regarding ageing.

I'd say it depends upon the person. You simply have those people who just love exercise, being healthy, and living for as long as they can.

Roids are more widespread now than ever. Sometimes it seems everyone is on them. At the gym, on TV, on Instagram...

I would say the muscularity and steroids are goingout of control now.

People are giving too much importance too physical appearance these days.

[quote]People are giving too much importance too physical appearance these days.

Honey, please...

"Pros and Cons of Taking Steroids"

Gay men will always like muscles because it represents masculinity. Especially the bottoms and that's what %? It's like saying big dicks go out of fashion.

I don't necessarily see the link between being a bottom andliking muscles.

All I see is that if you are homosexual you are attracted to the masculine look. It has nothing to do with roles in bed.

Looks good to me...

Even better...

OP, You're not seeing examples like this all over NYC?

I am a versatile top R196 but before I put on muscles, everyone I met wanted to fuck me. After I packed on 30 lbs I got bottoms coming at me like flies.

"This" is just not dedication to the gym.

Here he is naked. He's a porn star, or escort?

I don't know why they ever were "in style".

My prediction: now that all the heteros are shaving their pubes, big hairy 70s style bushes are going to be the next in thing in the gay community. Starting already.

[quote]I don't know why they ever were "in style".

Muscles goes all the way back to the caveman.

R201 Austin Wolf, the sexiest porn actor in gay porn.

He has the body of a Greek god.

[quote]He has the body of a Greek god.

He's cute. I've met him once live at some event. His body is the way it is because he works at it. ...and probably does a cycle every now, and again.

r207 "Every now and again"... LOL... That bitch is roided out to the point her liver is begging for mercy...

Austin lives on the next boardwalk over from us on Fire Island. His muscles may be big but his brain isn't.

[quote]Austin lives on the next boardwalk over from us on Fire Island. His muscles may be big but his brain isn't.

I would say he has some type of brains. He has a place on Fire Island and I don't...

I think the muscles and 'roids are going out of style for a few reasons:

(1) Aesthetics over time. There's a pod of aging gays who have been roiding up for decades now. They are in their 50s now and, oh honey, they do NOT look good. Think of a sun-wrinkled lizard attempting to smuggle volleyballs beneath its skin.

(2) Actual sex performance. After you've had sex with a lot of different kinds of men, in terms of body type, you realize that a big thick overmuscled slab of meat cannot really move that much, sensually and sexually speaking. I agree Mr. Austin Wolf up there (previous links) has an impressively muscular physique, thanks to diligent workouts and the wonders of legal and illicit pharmacology. But I've seen a couple of his porn scenes... he cannot move like a leaner, more flexible top could. For example: watch Peto Coast or Chase Coxxx, then watch Austin Wolf, and you'll see the difference. Bulked up bodies cannot do what limber ones can.

(3) Image and what it conveys about the man's priorities in life. I think this is fairly self-explanatory.

Give me a lean/fit male with limber hips and actual stamina any day of the week. Somebody else can have the muscle-slabbed human light bulbs.

Are muscles going out of style?

Bitch, please. In a word: no. In the gay community muscles are currency. Many guys whose faces are not that attractive have learned this over the years. A hot body can compensate for a lot, and "hot body" generally means aesthetically muscled.

"There is only one thing that keeps gay men in shape: fear. Yes, every gay—at least those of the stereotypical abdominal-obsessed physique that populates Fire Island and Palm Springs—is brought about because gay men are afraid that they will be alone for the rest of their lives."

"What also makes this unique for gay men is one of the other strange quirks of homosexuality. Gay men are attracted to, essentially, themselves. No straight man wants to look like a woman (and certainly not the reverse) but gay men find what they are physically attracted to and often remake their bodies in the image of their ideal mate. Since society tells us to want muscle-bound athletes, that's what gays want, and that's what they make themselves look like in the pursuit of their ideal. If you want to bed muscles you have to have muscles"

R213, that passage explains why a lot of men gave up and joined the food-friendly, fat-friendly "Bears".

The perfect man...

[quote]In the gay community muscles are currency.

R212 is right on target with that statement.

The majority if homosexual guys don't work out just like the majority of heterosexual guys don't work out though.

It is not about "communities" (whatever that means); it is about personal preferences and inclinations, regardles of being heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.

I am confused with the term "community". We don't all live in a specific region, we don't think the exact same thing, we don't have the same preferences, etc. There's no such thing as a "gay community".

[quote]we don't think the exact same thing,

Tell that to the morons who post things like "Why does everyone at DL hate (celeb name)?"

Nope!

(NSFW)

Another nope!

(NSFW)

[quote] I am glad 19 and 20-year-olds now don't HAVE TO go through that ...

They NEVER DID! Believe it or not, lots of guys have a reasonably strong sense of self that comes from within, and do not rely on perceived herd mentality to form their identity!

Would you really say "no" to this guy if he was gay and wanted to spend the night with you?

Attrcativeness is subjective.

Not really

No..

Eek. No way, r222.

Will taking steroids for a few cycles and lifting build much muscle?

Stronger than ever

Hot to death bro

Muscles are very popular today like they have never been in modern times. Only in Grecian times muscles were as popular as they are now to the point that art was fully dedicated to depict male bodies.

Unfortunately, gay men have, in a way, been robbed the muscle culture by heterosexual men who claim the activity for themselves excluding its own creators which were gay men of BC era Greece. So, yeah, muscle culture is actually gay. By muscle culture I mean the healthy was as gay men of the era conceived it; not the super giant guts you see today.

Is skinny and frail twinks going out of style too?

I told you all what I didn't like, and no one listened to me.

Clearly I was the wave of the future.

Who bump this garbage?

all that muscle liquifies into fat. look up porn star billy brandt now.

There's a bear at the gym that not only injects himself with roids, he also injects his skin daily with peptides to keep his tan all year round. And as if that is not bad enough, he constantly injects his junk with saline. His saline engulfed cock is the length and girth as a full, jumbo roll of Brawney paper towels. His balls are the size of two soccer balls. I have never seen him wear "real" clothes, just gym shorts. I don't know how he could fit all that massiveness into a regular pair of pants. The sad part is, his package is not attractive, and he really can't do much with it, with another human being. Although, sometimes wonder if he does solo-porn for guys into "that" fetish. I believe all these injections are going to have long-term harmful effects on him.

I'm 5'8 of pure fat and flab. I can barely find my dick most of the time. But the right mouth can drag it out me! Believe me guys, muscle heads are not all that. I'm a beached whale and I get laid plenty!

R235 REALLY? Are you kidding me?

Muscles, just like big boobs belong in the real of sexual fantasies and evrybody has the right to lust after muscular bodies. Very different from romantic needs. Muscles definitely make you more appealing sexually and you may have more sex than the average, but muscles don't make you the perfect boyfriend.

[quote]all that muscle liquifies into fat. look up porn star billy brandt now.

Of course that is NOT how the human body or ANY body works, and fat and muscle cells cannot "liquify" into each other. Are you doing The Master Cleanse again? You really should, you sound full of "toxins".

You know, some people from forums such as GetBig actually visit this site. I unexpectedly found out a few weeks ago.

[quote] muscle liquefies into fat

No, it doesn't. That's not how this works. Billy Brandt is fat because he eats too much and his caloric intake exceeds what his body needs; the excess is then stored as fat. It is not because his muscles have turned into fat. Your muscles can shrink from not being used, but they are not converted to something else. And remember, you can't out-train a bad diet. If you eat like a pig you are going to look like one -- even if you work out. There's a guy at my gym who is there religiously three times a week lifting heavy weights -- and he still weighs about 290, which he has since he started working out there.

Bump...