Picture this: Your significant other decides to switch from hockey pucks to dumbbells, turning their passion for fitness into a full-fledged bodybuilding career. Sounds like a dream for some, right? Wrong. Well, at least for one perplexed beau on Reddit who’s finding himself in the middle of a rather *muscular* conundrum. You’ve got to hear this story—it’s like something straight out of a modern love vs. muscle mass saga. And yes, dear reader, this is a real slice of life from a real person navigating the beefy waves of change. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Our pal’s tale begins with a harmonious love story. Picture a man and his girlfriend, bonding over squats and protein shakes, leading a healthful life of Olympic lifts and lunges. Ah, the romance. But as tales of transformation often go, things took a turn for the *brawny* when his girlfriend swapped hockey for heavy lifting and dove headfirst into the world of professional bodybuilding. Our man, however, seemed to have missed the memo on the extreme makeover his other half was about to undergo.
Fast forward through pumps, pecks, and protein overload, and he’s finding himself staring across the dinner table at a partner who’s seemingly more ‘G.I. Jane’ than ‘Jane Eyre’—and he’s not too thrilled about it. It’s not just the physical changes, which, mind you, include a deeper voice and rougher hands (talk about couple’s goals, am I right?), but the emotional toll it’s taking on our hero. His once traditionally feminine sweetheart now bears a strong resemblance to a character Arnold Schwarzenegger would play in a 1980s action flick.
But wait, there’s a plot twist! Enter stage left: a new, ‘traditionally feminine’ female colleague who’s tickling our protagonist’s fancy at work. She’s everything his bulked-up beau is not—or so he thinks. And here we find our man, torn between loyalty to his original love and the allure of a fresh prospect with softer hands and a higher-pitched voice.
So, dear reader, here’s the million-dollar question: Is our confused friend justified in wanting to bench-press his relationship into oblivion? Or is he just another casualty in the war against changing body norms and evolving love?
Now, for Roger’s Hot Take: Relationships, my friends, are much like a gym membership. They require commitment, passion, and the understanding that sometimes, things change—be it your body goals or your heart. If love were like deadlifting, then communication and mutual respect would be your spotter. Sure, our buddy could drop the weight now and go for the new, shiny dumbbell. But let’s not forget, the sheen on even the most traditionally appealing kettlebell can fade.
The real issue at hand isn’t about muscle mass or femininity; it’s about values, visions for the future, and whether love is truly skin deep or muscle thick. My advice? Before making any rash decisions, try sitting down with your bodybuilding beau to really weigh in on what you both want out of this relationship. And remember, the grass might seem greener on the other barbell, but every gym has its share of broken equipment.
In the end, it’s not about right or wrong; it’s about what’s right for you. So to our muscle-torn Romeo, tread carefully. Muscles grow and change, but so do hearts. And who knows? Maybe a heart-to-heart is all it takes to bring back the romance, minus the steroids.
Until next time, keep those takes hot and your relationships hotter. This is Roger, signing off with a reminder: Love may lift us up where we belong, but it’s the squat rack where we truly find ourselves.
Original story
Here is some context. We’ve been dating for 5 years. My girlfriend played hockey back in university. As a result she is a bit more muscular than most other women, but nothing crazy. She was still very feminine and attractive to me as a straight man. However, when she turned 22 and stopped playing hockey she took up a different hobby; weight lifting. I don’t have any issue with that as I am also an avid gym goer and want both of us to be healthy.
However it went from being normal gym sessions where she’d do a typical PPL split with me, to full on bodybuilding. She expressed interest in bodybuilding shows and my initial thought was that she’d stay natural. But somehow, she started taking steroids without my knowledge until a few weeks into it. And a couple months in, she was starting to look a little different. Her voice sounded off, her skin got rougher, the muscle definition on her arms was starting to look sort of similar to mine, which doesn’t sound bad at first but I’ve been lifting for almost a decade. Fast forward almost 2 years, she has competed in womens’ bodybuilding shows and looks absolutely nothing like she had in the past. Her hands and skin are rougher than mine, her voice is deeper, her chest got smaller, her face no longer looks feminine to me. I have zero physical interest in her.
At work, there is a new girl (22F) who just graduated university. She is much more traditionally feminine. She’s very kind, quiet, caring, and more attractive. We’ve been hitting it off pretty well and subtly flirts with me (she calls me her work husband lol). I want to pursue a relationship with her. Would I be wrong to break up with my girlfriend who no longer seems like the person she was when we first met?