LGBT Book, Film & Video Blog

The gym in “Queer as Folk” encapsulated gay life much more accurately than did the mythical sex-Mecca Babylon. In fact, it could be said that the gym has more influence on urban gay male life than anything else in our culture except the gay rights movement and AIDS.

During the past 20 years, working out and acquiring a muscular body have become major components of many gay men’s lives. Because of the gym, the gay male physical ideal changed from slim, youthful and androgynous to hard, muscular and masculine. Gay gym culture influences the way we look, the way we dress, our aesthetic and erotic sense, our sexual activities and our social calendar. Furthermore, thanks to our role as social trendsetters, the gym has also become a major part of mainstream culture.

The gym’s influence on gay men’s lives is the theme of Erick Alvarez’s new book, “Muscle Boys: Gay Gym Culture.” Alvarez, who now lives in South Florida, brings his many years of experience as a personal trainer to the book.

“I worked with a lot of gay male clients, and I realized that even though gay gym culture was becoming more and more prevalent, it was greatly misunderstood,” Alvarez says. “My goals in writing ‘Muscle Boys’ were to demystify gym culture by presenting it up close and unbiased, and also to begin a dialogue about a topic that is becoming more and more important in modern gay life.”

See New book reveals widespread influence of gay gym culture @ MiamiHerald.com, FL or purchase Muscle Boys: Gay Gym Culture.