Comment by koolhaas | Hacker News Reader

Comment by koolhaas | Hacker News Reader

Was really glad to see 9/11 mentioned in the article in relation to the American male body entering its militaristic phase. It validates an armchair theory I've had related to the correlation between media coverage / dramatization of Special Forces operations in the early to mid 00's and the general trend of American dudes getting very ripped and growing beards.

At some point around 2005-2008, I just started noticing every guy around me was lifting weights like they were going to raid a tunnel system in Afghanistan, and if you could grow a decent beard, you did. And then the ripped look was kinda table stakes. Everyone had to mirror that alpha male SEAL physique and eventually people forgot why, and it became a self reinforcing cycle for the next 10-15 years.

The article makes a great point about the softer bodies of sex symbols in the 80s and 90s. That's rare to see now.

It is definitely still a thing of course, just look at start up people. Everyone in a leadership position is bulging out of their clothes.

> And then the ripped look was kinda table stakes. Everyone had to mirror that alpha male SEAL physique and eventually people forgot why, and it became a self reinforcing cycle for the next 10-15 years.

You might be in a bubble. Outside of a few US cities and outdoorsy areas, when I look around, almost nobody looks like they are going to raid a tunnel system in Afghanistan.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/cdc-american-obesity-rate...

And physical fitness shows you have the time, money, and discipline to take care of yourself, and it can't easily be faked, so it serves as a pretty good signal of those traits. I'm not surprised leaders would want to differentiate themselves using it, especially when you're trying to stand out in a crowd of people who have time and money, since discipline is the rare trait.

It's also objectively healthy to lift weights for bone density and strength, among numerous other advantages, especially in our sedentary lifestyles. And the standard abdominal fat/beer belly is incredibly damaging to one's health, so if your goal is to stay healthy through your 60s to 80s, I welcome being "fit" as a fad.

>You might be in a bubble.

You’re right. It’s mostly a city thing, places with major business centers (but bleeds out into the suburbs).

> https://www.businessinsider.com.au/cdc-american-obesity-rate...

It says right there in the original post that the BMI definition shifted downwards, and discusses exactly these articles like you linked.

Have you ever looked at the BMI? 100 kg at ~183 cm is classified as ‘obese’, whereas if you have barely any muscle 100 kg won't even be enough for a proper beer belly—in my experience. But search the web for ‘obesity’ and lo, landwhales galore.

Not disputing that US people might all be walking barrels of fat—I have no idea. But if you're ripped, I don't see how you wouldn't automatically fall under the ‘obese’ BMI in the stats. Moreso if you have a ‘dad bod’ with both muscle and fat.

Edit: funny how BMI is illustrated with abstract silhouettes on most sites, but I found some photos of certifiedly obese people: https://height-weight-chart.com/600-220.html

These two dudes close to ‘obese’ are especially illustrative, I think: BMI 29 https://height-weight-chart.com/l/601-230_Mike_L2.jpg

and BMI 28 https://height-weight-chart.com/l/511-200_Alex_L1.jpg

The person I was responding to was saying over the past 15 years, being fit and muscular became the norm, and my link was intended to show data where 9 years ago, a third of US 20 to 39 aged people were obese.

And if you’ve traveled around the US, you can simply see there is practically zero risk of classifying a material number of people as obese when they are actually just muscular and healthy. Or you can look at accompanying data for heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

The vast majority of Americans don't have anything near a body in peak physical shape. This can be cross-checked with stats of Type 2 diabetics, BMI, etc. The media vs reality, well, there's an entire sub-reddit dedicated to that: /r/instagramreality. Who knows the long-term psychological consequences of being able to effortlessly morph ourselves digitally into physically impossible states.

At least it's healthy and linked with great health outcomes, so maybe it's a good thing :)

We’ll know if it’s more than a fad if we ever elect someone to President with facial hair again. Hasn’t been a thing since Teddy Roosevelt, right? Hitler and Stalin absolutely murdered the mustache brand (along with millions of people).

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