I was really shocked at first when I saw a photo of Madonna’s weird muscular arms last July 26 from PopEater. She wouldn’t pass on in Las Vegas Shows. I asked myself if this was even remotely possible or was Madonna just taking her workouts WAY too seriously! The photo even had eyebrows raised in the fitness community.

A follow-up post today by PopEater made me wonder if the initial shot was genuine. According to Madonna’s Rep, the initial photo that was taken was obviously altered by Photoshop or some other means. Furthermore, her rep stated that Madonna’s arms don’t look like that in real life.

Perhaps to shed some light to this confusion, PopEater asked their resident photo expert to speculate whether the photo had been tampered with. Photo expert, Ben Trivett, claims that the photo was not tweaked and that Madonna’s striking image was caused by “harsh lighting.” Furthermore, he speculates that the light cast horrible shadows and gave her the appearance of being so thin and muscular.