|  I can’t help it. Whenever Dave and I
go to the Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or any large department store, the first place I head off to
is the toy department. It’s no secret – I’ve collected Hot Wheels and
Matchbox cars for as long as I can remember. I’ve got boxes, drawers, bags, and
display cases full of cars and trucks, some up to 30 years old.
So, you say, where is he going with this in a fitness
column? Well, I strolled over to the new action figures one day to check out the new WCW
(World Championship Wrestling) and WWF (World Wrestling Federation) offerings. OK, I admit
it. I watch wrestling when I get a chance. I happen to like Goldberg, and Dave likes Scott
Steiner - Big Poppa Pump.
Guess what – these action figures are unbelievable!
They’ve got 25" biceps, 60" chests, and 28" waists. If only I looked
like that! (But then again, don’t you think it’s kind of exaggerated?) While
those wrestlers are big in person, they’re nowhere near as big as the action figures
make them out to be.
I started to do a little reading and research on this. I
found out that good ol’ G. I. Joe is now so buff that he must be sold with little
plastic steroid pills. If you worked out the proportions from the plastic doll to a human
size figure, the new "G. I. Joe Extreme" has measurements that would come in at
an eye-popping 27" biceps, 55" massive chest, and a rippled 30" waist. Not
bad for a guy who started out in the 1960s with just 12" biceps. This guy must have
been busy at the gym – and I mean bizz-eee!
If you look around, you’ll find that Batman is just as
ripped as Joe. And, by chance, did you notice that the latest Han Solo and Luke Skywalker
Star Wars figures are a lot more buff? They’re massive compared to when they were
first introduced as toys in 1978 with normal-looking (i.e., human-proportioned) bodies.
Now I know how some girls feel when they see
super-breast-implant Barbie. Those things must reach into the next county! It’s just
like with the massive biceps – you want them, but you’ll never get them, no
matter what you do. And if you try for them, you’ll just wreck your health.
Don’t you think these images, when they’re held
up as ideals, negatively affect the general population? I do. The public is exposed daily
– in magazines, motion pictures, and on TV – to increasingly and often
unnaturally muscular images. It seems men and women alike are trying to transform their
own bodies based on these new "ideals," because they’re no longer happy
with the way they look. We all seem to have a problem with the way we view our bodies.
Every decade or so, popular culture seems to change, and
with it, the ideal body type changes, too. Women were once prized for their delicate
features and cherubic bodies. Now they’ve got to be rock hard with zero body fat.
Masculine men were once big barrel-chested guys. Now they’ve got to have 26"
biceps. I don’t mind the change. Those guys do look hot. The trouble is that the new
ideal is virtually unattainable.
What’s really surprising is how the male population is
affected. Studies show boys as young as 9 or 10 years old are looking for some way to make
their muscles bigger. I’m sure that after watching Saturday morning cartoons with
those gigantic overly-built super-heroes, a small percentage of them will turn to
steroids, compulsive weightlifting, or unhealthy eating habits in hopes of making their
bodies "perfect."
As a kid, I remember reading comic books with nicely built
super heroes, but now, these guys must be stacking ‘roids and taking human growth
hormone. Strange, though, you never see any of these action figures working out in a gym.
Hmmmmm.
The number of men exercising has increased more than 30
percent since the start of the 1990s. And there’s no telling how big of an increase
we will see in the next millennium. It’s great if people are exercising to improve
their health and appearance – in fact, even more people should be doing so. But
I’m a little concerned when a young guy walks in the gym, shows me a picture in a
body building magazine and says, "Make me look like this!"
Researchers have documented a body-image distortion
disorder known as "reverse anorexia." Actually called muscle dysmorphia, this
syndrome appears in athletes, both male and female. Despite a great build and superbly
muscled body, some people are convinced that they’re too small. One guy who weighs
250 pounds with 20" biceps and 6% body fat is afraid to take off his shirt in public
because he feels out-of-shape. People with this problem sometimes wear bulky sweatshirts
and sweatpants to "hide their smallness." Sounds ridiculous? Maybe, but
it’s really a serious affliction.
And for you ladies, it seems you’ve got your problems,
too. All these gorgeous bodies in magazines and on TV have you feeling inadequate because
you haven’t reached perfection yourself.
Though guys are affected by body image problems, females
lead the way by far. Here’s an example. Back in 1995, before television arrived in
the small island nation of Fiji, just 3% of the teenage girls had any kind of eating
disorder. But just three years later (1998), 15% of Fijian girls had eating disorders.
It’s the "Baywatch phenomenon." Now
that’s a show that could ruin any girl’s self esteem and body image. Unless
you’re plastic, how could you look that good all the time?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we all felt comfortable with
the way we looked, and tried to improve ourselves in a reasonable manner? Hey, just look
at Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken. His shape hasn’t changed since he was introduced.
His designers haven’t taken him to the extreme, yet. But no doubt he’ll soon be
out-flexing even G. I. Joe.
See you at the beach!
 Rick Moore is a personal trainer certified by the
American Fitness Professionals & Associates. He believes in common-sense, drug-free
training. Visit him at Rick’s Fitness & Health, Inc., in beautiful downtown
Milton. Check out his website at http://www.enrapt.com/ricksfitness,
or give him a call at (302) 684-3669.
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