History Main / FlexingThoseNonBiceps

* Heels typically do this to get heat (an IntendedAudienceReaction of hated) from the fans. Wrestling/JohnTenta is a notable example of this.

* Goofy in the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} ''Goofy Gymnastics''. At one point the only way he can get a bulge on his arm is to transfer it from a CranialEruption.

** During that ''Meet the Scout'' video, after "flexing" he proceeds to beat the crap out of a guy twice his size. Guess MusclesAreMeaningless.
*** [[SubvertedTrope Eh, he did so with a metal baseball-bat, not his strength...]]

[[Folder:Fan Works]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoons (before the point OncePerEpisode where he eats his spinach).

Otherwise, the bicep pose is used as a symbol of strength, achievement, and victory, just without the direct connection to muscular strength. The more symbolic use goes back as far as [[WrenchWench Rosie the Riveter]], if not further, and is often found in advertisements aimed at [[http://i55.tinypic.com/11hqg4w.jpg women]] and [[http://i55.tinypic.com/1e5h53.jpg children.]]

Otherwise, it's still a symbol of strength, achievement, and victory, just without the direct connection to muscular strength.

This trend goes back as far as [[WrenchWench Rosie the Riveter]], if not further, and is often found in advertisements aimed at [[http://i55.tinypic.com/11hqg4w.jpg women]] and [[http://i55.tinypic.com/1e5h53.jpg children.]]

* ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' - Shortly after she meets Hercules, Meg flexes her twig arms and nothing bulges. They remain little twigs.

* In one host segment in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' after the movie ''Film/SpaceMutiny'', Crow is inspired to start working out by the movie's handsome bodybuilding hero, but has a barely noticeable and kind of pathetic bicep bump by the end of his set. Then comes Servo, who has become incredibly large and muscular after one leg press. Despite not having legs. And come to think of it they're both robo-[[MST3KMantra oh nevermind.]]

* In one host segment in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' after the movie ''Film/SpaceMutiny'', Crow is inspired to start working out by the movie's handsome bodybuilding hero, but has a barely noticeable and kind of pathetic bicep bump by the end of his set. Then comes Servo, who has become incredibly large and muscular after one leg press (despite not having legs. And being a robot besides.)

* [[This https://imgur.com/a/j3heNSV This]] Nexplanon brochure.

* In one host segment in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' after the movie ''Film/SpaceMutiny'', Crow is inspired to start working out by the movie's handsome bodybuilding hero, but has a barely noticeable and kind of pathetic bicep bump by the end of his set. Then comes Servo, who has become incredibly large and muscular after one squat thrust.

* ''Film/JoeDirt'' - Where both Jaime Pressly and Brittany Daniel are more toned than David Spade, but that doesn't stop his titular character from saying stuff like [[http://i53.tinypic.com/hwx09g.jpg/ "Watch the guns, baby"]] or [[http://i54.tinypic.com/szv6og.jpg/ "Say it in the microphone."]]

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' ten year-old Bran does this when the king asks him to "show us your muscles".
* Sponge does this in ''Series/SaluteYourShorts'' when he and Donkey Lips are being weighed-in when they're signing up for the wrestling team. For added humor, Z.Z. attempts to squeeze it, and Sponge exclaims, "Ow! I got a bruise!"

* Harold from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'' starts flexing his [[GeekPhysiques scrawny arms]] while talking to his crush [[SassyBlackWoman LeShawna]]; fortunately for him, she finds it more amusing than pathetic.

* Creator/AlexRoss did an oddball variant of this with ComicBook/PlasticMan, as seen [[http://www.poster.net/ross-alex/ross-alex-plastic-man-9907194.jpg here.]]

* In ''{{Agnes}}'', [[http://www.gocomics.com/agnes/2012/10/02 Agnes ignores Trout's legitimate description]] of her arms as "like angel hair pasta."

* in ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', the weedy Jason draws battleships on his biceps, so they can bob up and down when he flexes. When Paige points out they aren't moving, he wonders if he should have started with a lighter ship.

See also BicepPolishingGesture.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' - Shortly after she meets Hercules, Meg flexes her twig arms and nothing bulges. They remain little twigs.
** Herc himself back when he was a scrawny teenager. During the early parts of the "One Last Hope" training montage, Phil has him flex while he measures Hercs bicep with a tape measure, and poor awkward Herc can barely muster a tiny bump despite his SuperStrength. Cut to some 5 years or so later of TrainingFromHell, and Herc repeats the scene, except now he's a hulking adonis who ''snaps'' the tape measure when he flexes.
[[/folder]]

* An episode of ''TheSimpsons'' has the family visiting a boardwalk circus selling off its assetts. Homer contemplates buying a weight from a strongman, noting that he could use a bit of toning. He flexes an arm, with no result, then pokes the arm, causing his ''whole body'' to jiggle. Homer ends up buying the weight, but only works out one arm, leaving him with one massive arm and one arm just as out of shape.

* [[Wrestling/WilliamRegal Steven Regal]] used to do a routine where he'd flex, nothing would happen, and then he'd use his finger to push a "bicep" up. The funny part being that Regal was only non-muscular as compared to the other wrestlers (who commonly stuffed themselves with steroids), and that he was legitimately tougher than almost all of them.