earliest muscle-aware memory

built4superspd · #1 December 25th, 2006, 10:31 PM

what's your earliest recollection of noticing muscles or imagining getting bigger or stronger?

i recall a time when i was 4 or 5 and the boy across the street and i (he was about the same age) used to imagine we were hugely muscled and superstrong. he moved away to arizona, i think, when we were still little kids. occasionally i wonder if he grew up to be big/built or even to just wish he were huge... (i myself grew up to be "medium big" and to -- well i am posting this on this website!).

arpeejay · #2 December 26th, 2006, 02:36 AM

Jack LaLanne when I was 3 or 4. I was watching his show and doing his exercises, then my younger brother said, "Mommy, Mommy, Ricky is EXercising!" She replied, "Good! He should!" Naturally, I was completely horrified and promptly stuffed my desire for muscle right into the closet I didn't know I was building. I came out of that one earlier than the other but it took a very long time (until I was about 20, I think.)

xoxo

Richard

PS:

Builtforsuperspeed: Post some pix, dammit! :-)

CelticMuscle · #3 December 26th, 2006, 03:41 AM

He-Man from 1982

although I dare say that some people may even suggest the following cartoons

Space Sentinels
Space Ghost

1bigwoof · #4 December 27th, 2006, 08:18 PM

I knew that I liked muscles early on in my life but I KNEW that I liked muscle when I saw an article in Sports Illustrated called "Some Babes in the Woods." It was about a champion shot putter (Al Feuerbach, 6'1, 242lbs) and a champion discus thrower (Mac Wilkins, 6'4" 253lbs) who lived and trained together in the mountains of California.

There was a picture of the two shirtless on the second page of the article. The two were 30 and 27 respectively at the time and both were incredibly muscular. Many of the weight throwers at that time were just big & fat. These guys were part of a new breed. Anyhow, I was hooked. Pumping Iron came soon thereafter!

UrGaath · #5 December 28th, 2006, 12:53 AM

probably watching the Hulk on TV. A little too young to know why I was enjoying it. At the same time I was also enjoying Wonder Breasts (ahem, I mean) Woman.

In real life.- in 8th grade one of my peers had been spending some time in the gym and bulked up a bit, and one day in the gym locker room was jumping back and forth across the concrete benches in the aisle and his pecs bounces very very nicely.

-UrGaath

CelticMuscle · #6 December 28th, 2006, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1bigwoof

I knew that I liked muscles early on in my life but I KNEW that I liked muscle when I saw an article in Sports Illustrated called "Some Babes in the Woods." It was about a champion shot putter (Al Feuerbach, 6'1, 242lbs) and a champion discus thrower (Mac Wilkins, 6'4" 253lbs) who lived and trained together in the mountains of California.

There was a picture of the two shirtless on the second page of the article. The two were 30 and 27 respectively at the time and both were incredibly muscular. Many of the weight throwers at that time were just big & fat. These guys were part of a new breed. Anyhow, I was hooked. Pumping Iron came soon thereafter!

And here are the fellows in question:

http://www.kshof.org/kiosk/hof/hof_i...uerbachAl1.jpg

http://www.bluechipsportsvideo.com/../indexes/images/photo_Mac

nypup2train · #7 December 31st, 2006, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CelticMuscle

He-Man from 1982

LOL. Ah, the joys of being a Child of the Eighties. (According to his profile, CelticMuscle's birthday was just 5 or 6 weeks before mine.) I can definitely "me too" the He-Man cartoon.

(In fact, from an email I wrote to one of my less-narrow str8 fraternity brothers a year or two ago...)

Speaking of the Power of Grayskull, thank god for VH-1's "I Love The Eighties". Without it, I never would have seen what a queer trailblazer Prince Adam really was. Forget the smart tunic and the bottle-blond pageboy haircut. (Man-at-Arms' Freddie Mercury moustache also gets honorable mention for subliminal gay propaganda in kids' cartoons.) Turns out (from some quick Internet research I did after seeing the [VH-1] show touch on the Masters of the Universe cartoon), Adam's opening-credits exposition really does read, "...Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword..." To quote Patrick Stewart's character in "Jeffrey", "Oh, me too."

...The fact that Prince Adam was also "heroically" living a second life as a beefy muscleboy wearing a leather harness and some sort of "chastity-loincloth-looking-thing" was, of course, an added bonus.

DaBigGuy1 · #8 February 22nd, 2007, 03:48 AM

My gym teacher in Junior High School, Mr Wahall. He was an ex-boxer, built like there was no tomorrow, and after gym class he would go into his office off of the gym floor and change his gym shirt in full view of everyone, showing off the biggest set of pecs and upper body that I can remember.....tall , thick and huge, quite the combination!

Wish I could meet him again today......

cigarmuscleman · #9 February 22nd, 2007, 04:15 AM

For me, it was the same time that I became interested in cigars. I was 8, our neighbor was a barrel-chest, bear of a man cop who used to chew on cigars non-stop. i knew right then that I had and WILL to become him.

wonder whatever happened to him, been wanting to show him the progress i've made.