Do Bodybuilders Owe It to Us to Post Progress Pics?
In an industry that is judged on appearance, do bodybuilders have the right to hide their physique during their prep, or do they owe it to the fans to showcase their progress pics leading up to the show?
Contractual Selfie Stick for Progress Pics?
Personally, in my opinion, I feel as if bodybuilders should be contractually required to show progress pics leading up to shows—or at least the Arnold Classics and the Mr. Olympia contests. In the IFBB contract, they should have to sign that they will post AT LEAST up to the last 4 weeks leading up to the show. This can be something as little as a post each week leading up to the show or as much as every day or multiple times a day leading up to the show. Bodybuilding isn’t a sport like basketball where no one really cares about the practices leading up to a game, they primarily only care about the game itself. Does anyone get excited seeing baseball players in the gym working out? I don’t think so. The sport of bodybuilding is different.
Fans Fill the Seats and Help Pay Your Bills
As bodybuilding fans, we look forward to seeing how our favorite competitors are progressing in the offseason as well as during their preparation for a show. There’s a transformation that happens unlike in any other sports that are televised. So while I understand that some competitors want to put their head down, go into hibernation, and put in the work necessary under the radar when getting ready for a show, but let’s not forget who puts money in their pocket when it’s all said and done—us. We fill the seats. We come out to show our support for these athletes. Sure, the supplement industry helps fund much of every contest out there, but it’s the fans who ultimately make it a reality. If the fans weren’t coming out, sponsors would keep their money and not invest in sponsoring a show, or having a booth at the expo (which is insanely over-priced with little to no return on their investment—but that’s another topic to discuss in a separate article). Bodybuilders owe it to us, the fans, to be engaging. We fill the seats. If it wasn’t for us, the sport would simply disappear.
We Aren’t Talking About Baseball Here
In traditional sports, journalists and fans can pay attention to trades, new contracts, drama in the locker rooms, etc. With bodybuilding, we don’t get any of that. The only thing we get to focus on are the physiques of the competitors and their training. If a competitor doesn’t share progress pics, we have nothing to talk about and it truly isn’t fair to the fans to be left in the dark for months at a time. The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” holds true. If you aren’t engaging, fans will find a new competitor to follow or they might just bail on the industry all together.
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