The roots of bodybuilding go all the
way back to ancient Greece. It was
the athletes of ancient Greece who
used to train in the gymnasiums
(Greek for "naked place"); however,
they did not use resistance training as
a form of body modification but
rather a means to improve at the
sport they participated in.
The most notable of such athletes was
Olympic wrestling champion Milo of
Croton who reportedly would carry a
calf on his back every day until it
became a bull, thus demonstrating
progressive resistance as a means of
developing strength.
The "Grecian Ideal" would also go on
to influence modern day bodybuilding
as the aesthetic standard that modern
bodybuilders would aim to achieve.
By the mid-19th century weight
training as a means of improving
health and increasing strength was
becoming increasingly popular.
People began to be exposed, to what
was to become known as, the physical
culture: through the travelling
strongmen of the time. The strongmen
would entertain crowds with feats of
strength, such as lifting and pulling
massive weights. However, it was
purely the feats of strength that the
audiences were interested in; the
actual aesthetics of the strongmen was
not important -- this would all change
with the arrival of Eugene Sandow.
Born 1867 in Prussia by the name
Friedrich Muller, Eugene Sandow later
became referred to as "The Father of
Modern Bodybuilding."
Not only was Sandow incredibly
strong, he also had a muscle quality
and an aesthetic comparable to that of
a modern day bodybuilder. He first
traveled Europe and later in the
1890's America -- where he was billed
as the "world's strongest man".
It soon became apparent that as well
as his feats of strength the audiences
were just as interested in the physical
appearance of Sandow. This led to the
development of what is now referred
to by modern day bodybuilders as a
posing routine. Previously being
called "muscle display performances."
Sandow was the muscle superstar of
his age; he developed some of the first
bodybuilding equipment as well as
also being responsible for the first
ever bodybuilding magazine.
Originally called Physical Culture but
later the name changed to Sandow's
Magazine of Physical Culture.
Through Sandow's promotion of
bodybuilding, weightlifting
competitions began to officially take
place for the first time. 1) the World
Championships in 1891 in England
and 2) two weightlifting events in the
1896 inaugural modern Olympic
Games.
In 1901 the first major bodybuilding
competition was held in the Royal
Albert Hall, London. It was to be
known as "The Great Competition".
And Sandow was one of the judges
alongside Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as
well as athlete and Sculptor sir
Charles Lawes.
In 1925 Eugene Sandow suffered a
stroke and died at the age of fifty-
eight. His legacy still lives on as a
statuette known as a 'Sandow'. It's
given to the winner of the most
prestigious bodybuilding competition
in the world: Mr Olympia.
Early 1900s
Another massively influential figure
in bodybuilding during the early days
was Bernarr Macfadden, he zealously
promoted the 'physical culture'. It was
Bernarr Macfadden's firm belief that
weakness was a crime! He would even
change the spelling of his name from
Bernard Mcfadden to Bernarr
Macfadden because he believed it to
sound stronger.
Macfadden wrote many books and
was also responsible for the creation
of what was to be the forerunner of
today's bodybuilding magazines --
Physical Culture Magazine -- a
magazine that would stay in
publication for fifty years.
It was in 1904 that Macfadden began
to organize and promote
bodybuilding competitions for both
men and women. These competitions
would go on for many years and
would be responsible for the
emergence of Charles Atlas - the
winner of 1921's "Most Perfectly
Developed Man" contest.
Charles Atlas would later go on to
develop his physical fitness course
Dynamic Tension; the advert became
one of the longest running in history.
The basic premise of the advertising
campaign was that a scrawny kid
would be with his girlfriend and be
humiliated by a bigger teenager. As a
result of this humiliation the scrawny
kid went home frustrated, discovered
the Dynamic Tension program,
became muscle-bound, went back to
beat up the bully, and became a hero.
People everywhere saw this advert
and it led to bodybuilding being
accepted by wider audiences.
1930s
By the late '30's it was not uncommon
to see physique competitions,
however, these competitions did not
comprise of just weightlifters but also
other athletes at the time such as
boxers, gymnasts and swimmers.
Weightlifting by the '30's was still not
considered a sport and as such
athletes and competitors were
expected to achieve their physiques
through a variety of other sports.
In 1939 the Mr America competition
was created. The competitors were not
all fully fledged bodybuilders, and it
became apparent that lifting weights
gave a distinct advantage.
1940
John Grimek would begin to dominate
the Mr America competition. Because
Grimek was predominantly a weight
lifter it sent a message to anyone who
wished to compete against him that a
training program similar to Grimek's
was needed.
1945 would see the emergence of, who
many would consider the first modern
body builder, Clarence (Clancy) Ross.
Clancy Ross would not only train with
weights but would use them to shape
and proportion his body similar to the
"Grecian ideal".
During this time bodybuilding started
to come into its own. Previously, the
bodybuilding scene was controlled by
the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU);
however, there were concerns that the
AAU was not so concerned with
bodybuilding but rather the Olympic
sport of weightlifting. Because of this
the Weider brothers decided to form
the International Federation of
Bodybuilders (IFBB) which would
cater for the needs of bodybuilders
and ensure they had a stable platform
to promote from. The first IFBB
contest was the 1949 IFBB Mr
America.
1950
During this decade Steve Reeves put
bodybuilding on the map. Before the
arrival of Reeves many people had
little knowledge of bodybuilding, or
bodybuilding champions. The movies
helped catapult Steve Reeves and
bodybuilding to fame.
Steve Reeves was a former
bodybuilder who won the 1947 Mr
America, 1948 Mr World, and 1950
Mr Universe and at his acting peak
would become the highest paid actor
in Europe. Reeves had it all,
proportion, mass, definition, as well
as being very good looking. He was
considered the "Arnold
Schwarzenegger of his era". Reeves
played many roles and would go on to
play the bodybuilding icon Hercules
in a series of Italian made films -- a
role that would later be an inspiration
to a young Arnold Schwarzenegger
himself. Alongside Charles Atlas, Steve
Reeves would be the biggest name in
bodybuilding so far.
In the wake of Reeves' departure from
bodybuilding Reg Park was the next
major champion to dominate
bodybuilding. Park became 1951's Mr
Universe, became Mr Professional
Universe in 1958, and again in 1965,
dominating bodybuilding for two
decades. Reg Park would also follow
in Reeves' footsteps by playing
Hercules in a series of Italian made
films. Bodybuilding was beginning to
carve out a small niche in the movies.
1960
The 1960's heralded the arrival of the
"mass monsters". Bodybuilders started
to look bigger, and arguably better, as
time went by. This was due to a better
understanding of the science behind
bodybuilding: conditioning and
nutrition.
In 1965, Joe Weider created Mr
Olympia so that the winners of Mr
Universe competition could continue
to compete and earn money. From its
inception the title of Mr Olympia
would now be considered the highest
accolade in the sport of professional
bodybuilding, the winner of which
would be known as the best
bodybuilder in the world. The first
winner of the Mr Olympia title was
Larry Scott who would then go on to
win a second title in 1966. Olympia
would herald a new era in
bodybuilding competition, the
standard of competition would
increase year upon year, and Larry
Scott would be a fine first champion.
Scott set the bar high with his thick
mass and freakishly large arms. Larry
Scott was the most popular
bodybuilding star of his time; also a
fitness model he appeared regularly
in magazines such as Mr America,
Muscle Builder, Demi Gods,
Muscleboy, and The Young Physique
the phenomenon saw to become
known as "Larry Fever."
1970 Onwards
1970s onwards
In the 1970s, bodybuilding had major publicity
thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger and the 1977
film Pumping Iron. By this time the IFBB
dominated the sport and the AAU took a back
seat.
The National Physique Committee (NPC) was
formed in 1981 by Jim Manion, who had just
stepped down as chairman of the AAU Physique
Committee. The NPC has gone on to become the
most successful bodybuilding organization in the
U.S., and is the amateur division of the IFBB. The
late 1980s and early 1990s saw the decline of
AAU sponsored bodybuilding contests. In 1999,
the AAU voted to discontinue its bodybuilding
events.
This period also saw the rise of anabolic steroids
used both in bodybuilding and many other sports.
To combat this, and to be allowed to be an IOC
member, the IFBB introduced doping tests for both
steroids and other banned substances. Although
doping tests occurred, the majority of professional
bodybuilders still used anabolic steroids for
competition. During the 1970s the use of anabolic
steroids was openly discussed partly due to the
fact they were legal.[3] However the U.S.
Congress in the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of
1990 placed anabolic steroids into Schedule III of
the Controlled substance act (CSA).
In 1990, wrestling promoter Vince McMahon
announced he was forming a new bodybuilding
organization, the World Bodybuilding Federation
(WBF). McMahon wanted to bring WWF-style
showmanship and bigger prize money to the sport
of bodybuilding. McMahon signed 13 competitors
to lucrative long-term contracts, something
virtually unheard of in bodybuilding up until then.
Most of the WBF competitors jumped ship from
the IFBB. In response to the WBF’s formation,
IFBB president Ben Weider blacklisted all the
bodybuilders who had signed with the WBF. The
IFBB also quietly stopped testing their athletes for
anabolic steroid use since it was difficult to
compete thus with a new organization which did
not test for steroids. In 1992, Vince McMahon
instituted drug testing for WBF athletes because
he and the WWF were under investigation by the
federal government for alleged involvement in
anabolic steroid trafficking. The result was that
the competitors in the 1992 WBF contest looked
sub-par, according to some contemporary
accounts. McMahon formally dissolved the WBF in
July, 1992. Reasons for this probably included
lack of income from the pay-per-view broadcasts
of the WBF contests, slow sales of the WBF’s
magazine Bodybuilding Lifestyles (which later
became WBF Magazine), and the expense of
paying multiple 6-figure contracts as well as
producing two TV shows and a monthly
magazine. However, the formation of the WBF had
two positive effects for the IFBB athletes: (1) it
caused IFBB founder Joe Weider to sign many of
his top stars to contracts, and (2) it caused the
IFBB to raise prize money in its sanctioned
contests. Joe Weider eventually offered to accept
the WBF bodybuilders back into the IFBB for a fine
of 10% of their former yearly WBF salary.
In the early 2000s, the IFBB was attempting to
make bodybuilding an Olympic sport. It obtained
full IOC membership in 2000 and was attempting
to get approved as a demonstration event at the
Olympics which would hopefully lead to it being
added as a full contest. This did not happen.
Olympic recognition for bodybuilding remains
controversial since some argue that bodybuilding
is not a sport because the actual contest does
not involve athletic effort. Also, some still have
the misperception that bodybuilding necessarily
involves the use of anabolic steroids, which are
prohibited in Olympic competitions. Proponents
argue that the posing routine requires skill and
preparation, and bodybuilding should therefore be
considered a sport.
In 2003, Joe Weider sold Weider Publications to
AMI, which owns The National Enquirer. Ben
Weider is still the president of the IFBB. In 2004,
contest promoter Wayne DeMilia broke ranks with
the IFBB and AMI took over the promotion of the
Mr. Olympia contest.
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