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Your fat has a brain, and it's trying to kill you. And the best line of defense is muscle. Muscle is now known to be one of the most dynamic systems in the body; when it contracts, it undergoes huge changes at the cellular level. And its mortal enemy is fat. (Also, why liposuction may not be so good for you health wise).
posted by tatiana131 on Mar 5, 2013 - 98 comments

80s Muscle!
posted by shakespeherian on Sep 13, 2012 - 56 comments

"Nature is not always the best designer, at least when it comes to things that humans must build and maintain. So the newest artificial heart doesn’t imitate the cardiac muscle at all. Instead, it whirs like a little propeller, pushing blood through the body at a steady rate. After 500 million years of evolution accustoming the human body to blood moving through us in spurts, a pulse may not be necessary. That, in any case, is the point of view of the 50-odd calves, and no fewer than three human beings, who have gotten along just fine with their blood coursing through them as evenly as Freon through an air conditioner."
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Mar 11, 2012 - 104 comments

[all links nsfw] Although [Lisa] Lyon briefly served as unofficial chairperson for women’s bodybuilding in its infancy, her fondest desire was to explore bodybuilding as an artistic medium. Elevating bodybuilding to the level of fine art, Lyon was photographed by the likes of Helmut Newton and Robert Mapplethorpe, and was the first female bodybuilder to appear in Playboy.* [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Jan 25, 2012 - 27 comments

"As a child, there was nothing to me more fantastic than than the M.U.S.C.L.E. toys. I don't know if it's just my love for the weird, or the fact that I like pro-wrestling that makes it so special to me, but there's something about a guy from outer space with a fin on his head who would fight against a walking, talking urinal. That's right, a urinal." In the US, they were known as Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere, or M.U.S.C.L.E., but they were basically bendable plastic duplicates of Kinkeshi, a line of collectable erasers from Japan. More than peachy-salmon colored minifigs, they were based on the world of Kinnikuman, which started as manga in 1979, then an anime series, and more, and more, and more... [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 8, 2010 - 45 comments

(all links possibly nsfw) This weekend, Jay Cutler tries to win back from Dexter Jackson the greatest prize in professional bodybuilding - the title of Mr. Olympia. [You may have heard of one of them.] [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Sep 25, 2009 - 42 comments

Urlesque curates the Top 10 WTF Bodybuilding Routines. Because nobody does the robot like a guy coated head to toe in glistening lubricant.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur on Jul 29, 2008 - 20 comments

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section was comprised of four session musicians operating out of the tiny northern Alabama town of town Muscle Shoals. Just four unassuming crackers who happened to have provided the funky underpinning for a huge number of hit songs by, among others, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Paul Simon, Joe Cocker, The Staple Singers , Jimmy Cliff and many, many others. Hey, they were the house band to the greats. Big respect to the men from 3614 Jackson Highway! [note: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Feb 24, 2008 - 27 comments

Myostatin is a genetic protein that affects muscle growth in humans and animals. Scientists have learned a lot about this protein from a noticeable myostatin mutation common in the Whippet dog breed. Whippets with one mutant copy of the gene are faster, so these are desirable for racing dog breeders. But selective breeding has caused increased instances of both copies of the myostatin genes mutating, which results in "double muscle" Incredible Hulk dogs!?
posted by p3t3 on Jul 13, 2007 - 27 comments

The Golden Age of Iron Men - Online Physical Culture Musem

Complete scans of an odd and very large collection of muscle/fitness publications and profiles of the authors, all from the early part of the century.
posted by dobbs on Oct 9, 2004 - 6 comments

Superman born in Germany? It appears that "the boy's mutant DNA segment was found to block production of a protein called myostatin that limits muscle growth."

"Now we can say that myostatin acts the same way in humans as in animals," said the boy's physician, Dr. Markus Schuelke, a professor in the child neurology department at Charite/University Medical Center Berlin. "We can apply that knowledge to humans, including trial therapies for muscular dystrophy."

Or other things...
posted by andreaazure on Jun 24, 2004 - 17 comments

M.U.S.C.L.E. Revisited. I used to collect all of these pink plastic wrestling figures and now i-mockery has finished the big task of giving names and profiles to all of the original figures. 233 to be exact. Great retro memories for me on this one. Some really bizarre (ie: "Klondular the Barnacle Muncher "), yet extremely funny descriptions for some of these figures. There's also a Mr. Blocky tribute in there. I always hated him though since he made one of the prongs in my ring snap off. He was just too fat.
posted by kingmissile on May 4, 2002 - 9 comments