Yes. Based on the explanation given above, you will agree that tanning makes muscular people look even more muscular. And that’s because tanning makes the body frame appear leaner and it accentuates the triceps, biceps, and other muscles.
Have you observed that bodybuilders love to tan? They always look tanned. Have you ever wondered why? There are two main reasons for this. A darker skin tone accentuates all the biceps, triceps, and other muscles even without flexing them. Generally, having a tan makes the body appear thinner.
Building the muscles sometimes leads to having stretch marks. You are probably aware that stretch marks are caused by stretching the collagen tissues of the skin. When you try to build your muscles, your body will expand and stretch marks may appear. And tanning helps to hide or cloak them.
These are the reasons why many muscular people love to tan as often as possible. By the time you finish reading this piece, you’ll understand the links between bodybuilding and tanning. In addition, you’ll also get the answers to some frequently asked questions about bodybuilding and tanning.
Why Do Muscular People Tan?
Muscular people love to tan for some reasons. With tanned skin, their biceps, triceps, and other muscles will be more conspicuous. In other words, tanning makes the muscles appear bigger. In addition to that, tanning helps to hide stretch marks that may have been caused by bodybuilding. If you’re a bodybuilder, you can carry out a little experiment.
Take a picture of yourself before and after tanning. Then you can compare the two pictures. You’ll notice that your muscles will appear bigger in the after-tanning picture.
Why Does Tanning Make You Look More Muscular?
Generally, tanning brings out the strongest and largest muscle groups. And it creates an illusion for the eyes that makes the body appear slimmer and the muscles appear bigger, stronger, and tougher. In addition, tanning makes you look fit.
Is Tanning Good for Bodybuilding?
Yes. Tanning is good for bodybuilding. It helps to project the image that bodybuilders are trying to achieve. When you’re working out and training your muscles, the visualized image of you is a slim, tough dude with bigger triceps and biceps. That is exactly what tanning projects.
At this juncture, it’s necessary to make it clear that tanning does not react with the muscles or the body. It only creates an optical illusion of making the muscles appear bigger and stronger.
Why Do Bodybuilders Not Tan Their Faces?
Bodybuilders do not pay much concern to their faces because the face cannot win a bodybuilding contest. Rather, they focus on their muscles. And it’s true. In a contest, the judges will focus more on the muscles.
Why Tanning is Important to Bodybuilders
These days, tanning has several benefits for bodybuilders. Find some of the benefits below.
- As explained above, tanning defines the muscles and accentuates every muscle group, making them appear bigger than they actually are. When a bodybuilder tans up, you’ll easily notice the biceps and triceps even without flexing any muscles. Imagine what the muscles will now look like when they are flexed. This is the same as when a woman tans up. Tanning will accentuate all the curves.
- Tanning makes the body appear slimmer. It gives an illusion of narrower waists and wider shoulders. And that’s exactly what the judges want to see in bodybuilding contests.
- Whether you have stretch marks or other skin blemishes, tanning will help to hide the imperfections, making your skin look smooth and immaculate. Of course, a flawless body is part of what the judges look out for in bodybuilding contests.
- Another reason why a darker body is more conspicuous is that it is in sharp contrast with stage lights. The lights are very bright and the darker you are, the more conspicuous you’ll be.
- Generally, tanned skin is perceived to be more visually appealing. That’s why women look more beautiful with a tan. Men also look dashing when they tan up. So, you can say tanning makes bodybuilders look better.
- Long before now, tanning was not part of what judges look out for in bodybuilding contests, but now, it is part of it. Judges score contestants based on their tan.
How to Tan for Bodybuilding Competition?
You must have observed that bodybuilders love to tan so much. And when they appear on the stage, they tend to set the stage on fire with a smooth, banging body and larger-than-life muscles. Here are the tanning tips for bodybuilders.
Step 1 :
About 72 hours before the day of the competition, you need to wax your body to get rid of the dead cells on it.
Step 2 :
When it is 48 hours before D-day, you should shave your body to remove every strand of hair on it. You’ll agree that you have never seen a bodybuilder appearing on the contest stage with a hairy body. Nobody does that.
Step 3 :
A day before the day of the competition, you can take a tan in a tanning bed. You’re good with a 20-minute tanning session.
Step 4 :
In the morning on the day of the contest, you can assess your entire body. If there are imperfections, you can finetune it with a fake tan.
These are the steps bodybuilders follow, and they stun their audience with their smashing muscles on the stage.
Final Words
Tanning does not add to the muscles in the body, but it makes the muscles appear bigger and stronger. It also makes the body appear slimmer with a narrow waist and broad and wide shoulders. In addition, tanning hides stretch marks and other skin blemishes. Tanning puts the body in sharp contrast with bright stage lights. These are the reasons why bodybuilders have to tan.
