I know this is an old discussion, but I found this thread in a Google search for bodybuilder's bellybutton hernias, and I wanted to add a few things. I don't have a full answer for why the bellybuttons of bodybuilders so often stick out, but I may have some partial answers. Guys can have hard outies when, for some reason, their navel pits are shallow or their navel scars are thicker than usual. Or they can have soft outies if they have bellybutton hernias. Often these are congenital, but they can develop in adulthood, because the bellybutton scar is a weak point on the stomach wall. Roid guts can produce bellybutton hernias, from the inside-out pressure, but you often see hernias on physique competitors, who have flat, rippling stomachs and presumably use little or no steroids or growth hormone. See, for example, James Alexander-Ellis. I am pretty sure that the intra-abdominal pressure of heavy lifting can cause buttons to pop. You can have fat inside the stomach muscle wall, and this can sometimes cause the button to pop, but usually guys with extra weight also have fat under the belly skin, which does not grow over the navel. So most of us with some gut have innies, even if there is a small underlying soft or hard outie. By contrast, bodybuilders have no belly fat, and their outies show up very nicely. How do you know if you have a hard outie or a hernia? The wider the button and the more it sticks out, the more likely it is to be a hernia. Dime-sided outies may be either, but quarter-sized or bigger and it's probably a hernia. Or just do what a surgeon would do and stick your finger into the bulge. If you can get your fingertip into your guts, it's a hernia! Qustion: does a bellybutton hernia have to be " fixed? " A surgeon would say yes, but then surgeons make a living by cutting. Actually, bellybutton hernias carry small medical risk and it is essentially all about appearances. Do you want your button to stick out? Most guys would prefer having an innie, but not every guy. I have an upper navel hernia, but the scar below is holding, so I look more innie. But, if my button TOTALLY popped, I think it would look incredibly cool. What about the question of the erotic sensitivity of the bellybutton? There are a lot of nerve endings in the pit of the button, but I am not sure why that makes navel massage feel so sexy! I don't always feel tingling in my dick, but touching my gutbutton always gets me hot! Remember the 80s, when guys wore cutoff t-shirts? I think the only reason to wear a half-shirt is to show off your bellybutton! Bellybuttons, innies or outies, are so funky-sexy, that you think you're seeing an alternative sex organ! One that's allowed to be on public view. And navels are centered on a guy's stomach...which is often the sexiest part of his anatomy. Sure, I love ripped abs. But if a guy is tanned, muscular, and athletic, then I also love seeing some fat around his innie! Would love to grind my bellybutton into his! Bring back the 80's!
