A brief history of muscle-making culture and sports

 A brief history of muscle-making culture and sports

BODYBUILDING IS DEEPLY layered in a rich history and tradition that begins in
antiquity. Chinese texts dating back to 2600 BC and Greek texts from 2500 to 200 BC
reference the importance of strength training for military preparedness. In ancient
Egyptian and Greek societies the sport of weight lifting had developed from stone
lifting, where men would heft stones of various sizes and weights. It began as a form
of entertainment for the masses and grew from displaying feats of great strength to
showcasing aesthetically carved physiques. It became a celebration of the perfection
of the human body.
In the 13th century, muscle building became wildly popular in India, with gyms sprouting up
throughout the country where men would exercise with weights to enhance health and stamina. In
Italy, in 1569, the physician Hieronymus Mercurialis published an illustrated medical book called De
Arte Gymnastica, showing muscular men lifting dumbbells.
In the American colonies, in the 18th century, even Ben Franklin attributed his longevity to “daily
exercise of the dumbbell.” The modern evolution of muscle building began in earnest toward the end
of the 19th century in Europe and the United States when professional strongmen emerged as a form of
entertainment. This new style of weight lifting for entertainment was all about strength. The physique
didn’t matter. What did matter was how much iron a man could press above his head. Many of these
competitors had thick, protruding stomachs and fatty limbs. Their physiques didn’t need to appeal to
their audiences because pure power was what the crowds came to see. The strongmen entertainers
would pull heavy carts loaded with boulders, lift cows and other animals on their backs, and heft a
variety of odd but heavy objects aloft with their arms and sometimes only one arm.
From the 1890 through the 1920s strongman competitions thrived in the United States and sparked
an intense interest in weight training. Then, in 1894, a German man named Louis Durlacher opened
Professor Attila’s Studio of Physical Culture in New York City. Professor Attila was a pioneer of
strength training and bodybuilding. He preached the gospel of repetitive lifting of light weights to
build muscle. He even invented fitness equipment, such as the globe barbell and the Roman chair.
Two of Attila’s students were Warren Lincoln Travis, the “Coney Island Strongman” who once
lifted 667 pounds with one finger and did a verified backlift of 4,140 pounds, and Eugen Sandow, the
father of modern bodybuilding.


 A Different-Looking Strongman
To the turn-of-the-century bodybuilder the terms symmetry and aesthetics were foreign. Enter
Sandow, who bridged the gap between the unsightly strongman and the bodybuilder of today. Sandow
had made a reputation in Europe as a vaudeville strongman who would outdo other strongmen at their
own stunts. But because his chiseled physique was so well proportioned, he was able to begin
transforming a raw and rogue sport into a healthy lifestyle that celebrated the aesthetic of the human
form. Sandow was a beauty among beasts; he was as much an exhibitionist as he was a strongman. He
enjoyed having people marvel (and the women ooh and aah) at his muscular development. Sandow’s
muscular symmetry set him apart from all other strongman and made him an instant hit. He would
ultimately position himself as the first real bodybuilder and become a promoter of bodybuilding.
Sandow’s influence led to increased sales of barbells and dumbbells. His magazine and books were
wildly popular, and he even developed some of the first weight-lifting machines.
From 1891 to 1901, Sandow toured the United States and Europe performing his muscle poses and
promoting strength and bodybuilding shows, including in 1901, the first major bodybuilding contest
called “The Great Show.” To compete in the contest, all competitors would need to place in smaller
regional shows that were held throughout England. The culminating event took place on Saturday,


September 14, 1901, at Royal Albert Hall. Spectators were entertained by displays of wrestling,
gymnastics, and fencing and, finally, the bodybuilding competition. Sixty men wearing black tights,
some in jockey belts and others in leopard skins were judged on muscle size, balance of muscular
development, muscle tone, general health, and condition of the skin. The total prize money that day
equaled 1,000 guineas, or more than $5,000. The first-place finisher, William L. Murray of
Nottingham, Great Britain, received $2,500 and a gold statue designed to resemble Sandow’s
physique.
Sandow promoted weight lifting and bodybuilding up until his death from a fatal brain hemorrhage
in 1925 when, it is said, he tried to show off by pulling his car from a ditch. Today, Sandow’s legacy
lives on—his likeness has been immortalized in the Mr. Olympia award statue.

Marketing Muscle. In 1929—using advertisements declaring, “Hey Skinny!…Yer Ribs Are Showing!” and “I Can Make You a New
Man!”—Charles Atlas successfully marketed a mail-order fitness course aimed toward the “97-pound weakling.” It was called Dynamic
Tension.
The “Father of Physical Culture”
Also at the turn of the century, businessman Bernarr Macfadden published the first bodybuilding
magazine: Physical Culture. Macfadden was a great promoter, and, beginning in 1903, he presented a


The “Father of Physical Culture”
Also at the turn of the century, businessman Bernarr Macfadden published the first bodybuilding
magazine: Physical Culture. Macfadden was a great promoter, and, beginning in 1903, he presented a
series of contests at Madison Square Garden in New York City to find the “Most Perfectly
Developed Man in the World.”
Macfadden’s influence on bodybuilding lasted for decades, as did his contests and magazine. Even
though Macfadden might not have approved of the emphasis on visual development over athletic skill,
his contests helped promote a growing interest in muscle appearance versus strength.
In 1921, Angelo Siciliano won a Macfadden contest and strived to capitalize on his new fame by
changing his name to Charles Atlas and acquiring the rights to a mail-order course entitled the
Dynamic-Tension system, a workout program of muscle-against-muscle exercises developed by
Macfadden 20 years before. According to the story Siciliano liked to tell, when he was younger and
only weighed 97 pounds, a bully kicked sand in his face at the beach in front of a girl. Humiliated, he
joined a YMCA, determined to build his body and strength. Atlas used this story to market his
exercise in advertisements that arguably still influence the self-help industry today. In one magazine
ad, a hulking Atlas in leopard-print swim trunks challenges readers: “Skinny! Give Me 15 Minutes a
Day and I’ll Give You a New Body.” The advertisements for this exercise program inspired a
generation of boys and men to try bodybuilding with dynamic tension.
By the end of the 1920s and the start of the 1930s the general public’s interest had grown to
acknowledge the importance of becoming healthy, fit, and strong.
Training knowledge was very limited during this time, but bodybuilders began to learn a great deal
about the importance of weight training from the competitors of the strongman era. Even Atlas used
lifting weights over his dynamic tension moves to achieve his physique.

Did the Fitness Industry Kill Bodybuilding?
Is bodybuilding dead?
Some people in the health and wellness community feel that bodybuilding is an archaic practice
and no longer has a place in the modern fitness industry.
To many, bodybuilding is merely a muscle-flexing competition, not a valid exercise program. I
argue that it was the exercise programs developed by bodybuilders that created the foundation for
many of today’s classic strength-training programs.
As the owner of fitness-training centers, I know for a fact that 9 out of 10 of my clients exercise
because they want to look better in a bathing suit. Often the traditional fitness industry gets hung up on
treating clients like rehab patients when the ultimate goal for most people who exercise is to look
younger, leaner, and healthier.
From that time back in grade school when I first lifted weights in my basement to that day during
my junior year of high school when I made a commitment to strength training that ultimately led me to
my life’s mission, bodybuilding has always been a major part of my journey into the fitness industry.
Bodybuilding has forever helped to shape me as a man, friend, competitor, business owner, strength
coach, and fitness professional.
I encourage you to look past the tired stereotypes of bodybuilding to discover what it really is—a
way to achieve a healthy body and a physique that you can feel good about.
As human beings we each carry with us the need for self-pride and self-satisfaction. This need can
be achieved by simply changing the way you feel about your body by making it lean and fit. Deep
down, every one of us truly cares about the way he or she looks. It’s the reason you picked up this
book.

Men, do you want a six-pack? Bigger arms? A bigger back and a thicker chest?
Women, do you want a tighter butt? A toned upper back? Leaner arms and sleek shoulders? I hate
to break it to the naysayers, but all of these goals are about bodybuilding.
People want to look better, they want to feel better, and they want to build an aesthetically pleasing
physique.
The fitness industry can provide the tools to help them reach those goals. For that reason alone,
bodybuilding will always have a place in the fitness industry.

Bodybuilding continued to grow in the 1930s and began to even further separate itself from
strongman training. Now men wanted to develop balanced muscular physiques with lower body fat.
Training techniques and further advancements in exercise equipment made this transition more
apparent. This was the beginning of the “golden age” of bodybuilding, when gyms promoted the idea
of group training and posing in front of mirrors.
Thanks to men like Sandow, Macfadden, and Atlas, people began to turn their attention to training
to produce an aesthetically muscular physique. Bodybuilder Sigmund Klein was influential through
his writing about training and the nutrition aspects of bodybuilding. Klein used nutrition and special
training methods to develop a physique based on muscular shape and symmetry (having muscles on
one side of the body appear symmetrical to those on the other side), and increased definition due to
low body fat.
In 1936, Jack LaLanne opened his first fitness studio in Oakland, California. The following year, a

Canadian-born weightlifting champion named Joe Weider started publishing his first magazine, the
influential Your Physique. By 1939, bodybuilding developed into a structured sport. The Amateur
Athletic Union (AAU) created a Mr. America contest on July 4 in Chicago. The competitors were not
true-to-form bodybuilders, instead coming from all different athletic backgrounds. Some competed in
boxer shorts, others in jockstraps. The winner was a man named Roland Essmaker.
In 1940 and 1941, John Grimek was crowned Mr. America. Grimek trained solely by lifting
weights in the gym, and those who were to compete against him realized they too must do the same.
Grimek was also the man who would put to rest the belief that this new generation of bodybuilders
were muscle-bound and nonathletic—he would often perform lifts and poses simultaneously,
showcasing both his muscular strength and athleticism.

The Birth of Modern Bodybuilders
In 1945 the winner of the Mr. America title was a man by the name of Clarence “Clancy” Ross.
Ross’s physique rivaled that of today’s bodybuilders. Ross possessed round shoulders, wide lats, a
tiny waist, sharp abs, and balanced calves—all derived from lifting weights to build shapely and
symmetrical muscles. Though Ross never gained much notoriety with the general public, he was a
pioneer in his use of weight training to develop the unique physique of the bodybuilder we know
today.
Along the California coast in the late 1940s and early 1950s weight training on the beach became
ultra popular among both amateur and professional bodybuilders. The most famous beach-based gym
was centered in Santa Monica and affectionately called Muscle Beach. Bodybuilding was still a
rather obscure sport, but then Steve Reeves came along and won the Mr. America and Mr. Universe
titles. Reeves, with his amazingly balanced physique and handsome looks, became the first
bodybuilder to be embraced by the general public. Crowds would flock to Muscle Beach to admire

his exceptional physique. With the exception of Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves was the only truly
famous bodybuilder during the 1950s. He would become an international star in movies such as
Hercules, Morgan the Pirate, and The Thief of Baghdad.
Taking over where Reeves left off was Reg Park, who won the Mr. Universe titles in 1958 and
1965. Park was built with density and mass that made his physique overpowering when paired
against other bodybuilders of this era.
Bodybuilding began to expand exponentially with the continued success of the IFBB (International
Federation of Bodybuilders) and the NABBA (National Amateur Bodybuilders Association), which
was founded in 1950 in England. These organizations held the first large-scale bodybuilding
competitions, first with the Mr. Universe in 1950 by the NABBA and later the Mr. Olympia in 1965
by the IFBB.
The mid ’60s also saw the emergence of arguably the most influential bodybuilder of all time,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the Jr. Mr. Europe title that year, the first of 19 bodybuilding and
powerlifting titles he’d claim.
In 1967, Schwarzenegger won the Mr. America title. He went on to win Mr. Universe on five
occasions and Mr. Olympia seven times. In 1975, he was filmed training and competing in the Mr.
Olympia contest for the famed docudrama Pumping Iron, which helped to popularize bodybuilding
and made Schwarzenegger a household name. Lou Ferrigno, Arnold’s costar in the film, did likewise,
appearing in film and TV as Hercules and The Incredible Hulk.
From the late ’70s through the ’90s, bodybuilding was defined by names like Frank Zane, Boyer
Coe, Roy Callender, and Chris Dickerson. Bodybuilders were growing bigger. In the ’80s the sport
saw a shift from balance and aesthetics to massive muscle—like 245-pound Lee Haney, one of the
heaviest bodybuilders. Haney broke Schwarzenegger’s record with a total of eight consecutive Mr.
Olympia titles. In the 2000s Ronnie Coleman did the same, winning Mr. Olympia eight times. His top
competition weight: 297 pounds.

During the early ’60s and ’70s bodybuilders began to experiment with performance-enhancing
drugs. As competitions became more prestigious and lucrative, competitors looked to every method
possible to gain an edge.
The use of performance enhancers wasn’t frowned upon or ever much of a discussion. It was
widely known and accepted in bodybuilding circles, especially among the top-level international
competitors. The regulatory committees that govern competitive sports today didn’t exist back then,
and drugs were easy to procure. During this time, steroids and performance enhancers were far less
advanced than those used by today’s nontested athletes.
Today the purity of the sport has been infiltrated and overshadowed, for the most part, by the kind
of high-stakes modern bodybuilding competitions that are fueled by performance-enhancing drugs, a
billion–dollar supplement industry, and unrealistic expectations that push people to do dangerous and
unhealthy things to their bodies. When you talk about bodybuilding today, most people think of juicedup,
wild-eyed Incredible Hulks packing steroid syringes. But there’s another, purer side of
bodybuilding—natural bodybuilding—that’s growing in popularity primarily because it’s all about,

well, not using performance-enhancing drugs. And this side of the sport—natural bodybuilding—has
become the vibrant competitive sport that I love.
What does it mean to be a natural bodybuilder? From a competitive standpoint, it depends.
“Natural” means you build and sculpt your muscles from nothing more than good nutrition and hard
work in the gym. Your muscles are not the result of taking steroids, prohormones or other
performance-enhancing drugs, or illegal supplements. However, you should know that some
organizations that hold competitions require competitors to be “clean” for a period of 7 years, while
others require bodybuilders to be natural for life. All natural bodybuilding competitions test for
performance-enhancing drug use. Various protocols are used: lie-detector testing, urine analysis, or a
combination of the two. The goal of natural bodybuilding testing is to create a level playing field for
competitors.
There continues to be much debate in the bodybuilding world about what exactly equals “truly
natural.” For example, some people feel that a bodybuilder is not natural if he takes vitamin
supplements versus consuming only whole foods.
For the fan of bodybuilding, like myself, steroid-assisted bodybuilding and natural bodybuilding
are two entirely different sports. The physiques being judged are entirely different and that alone
keeps these two sides of bodybuilding separate. In the bodybuilding world you will never find the
world’s best natural bodybuilders competing against the world’s best steroid-enhanced physiques.
Natural bodybuilding has grown so rapidly in recent years because there is a new generation of
lifter who is just as concerned with health and wellness as he or she is with sculpting an aesthetic
physique. This new school of bodybuilders treats the body like a temple. Nothing goes inside that
isn’t pure and natural. This new breed is always looking for new ways to train and to consume highquality
food. When natural bodybuilders seek to increase performance, they turn to natural
supplementation rather than performance enhancers. And now more than ever before there are terrific,
safe supplements like whey protein, creatine, and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) that are
available to those who want to avoid the aid of steroidal substances. (We’ll discuss these
supplements in Chapter 6.)
Natural bodybuilding itself is divided—separated into numerous organizations such as the World
Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) and the International Federation of Physique Athletes
(IFPA) that thrive on amateur and professional membership dues. For an amateur, these organizations
provide numerous opportunities to compete. But the lack of one unifying body governing professional
competitions makes it impossible to crown a single best natural bodybuilder. For example, although
WNBF pros cannot participate in competitions held by any other organizations, IFPA, National Gym
Association (NGA), and others allow their competitors to compete in other organizations’ pro
competitions. For this reason, top-level natural bodybuilders like WNBF world title holders Martin
Daniels, Brian Whitacre, Richard Godzecki, and Jim Cordova will never have the opportunity to
compete against the likes of top IFPA world title pros like Phillip Ricardo, Cleveland Thomas, and
Doug Miller.
Contributing to the splintering of natural bodybuilding are smaller organizations that are being
formed. The Drug Free Athletes Coalition (DFAC) has been formed with the hope of providing an
environment built solely around the athlete. Alliances like the Natural Bodybuilders Association
(NBA) have been formed in order to bring the leaders of each individual organization together to
form a mega competition. So far preliminary meetings and talks have made only small strides toward
this goal.
For natural bodybuilding to make a bigger splash in mainstream culture, it would be ideal for the
two largest organizations for natural bodybuilders, the WNBF and IFPA, to come to an agreement that
allows professional natural bodybuilders, like myself, to compete against the very best from both
organizations by creating a truly unified natural bodybuilding championship. It’s what the athletes and
the fans want. Until that day comes, natural bodybuilders will continue to wonder when our sport will
be recognized for its true growth potential.

Mass Appeal. Dexter “The Blade” Jackson, a #3 ranked IFBB professional bodybuilder, won his fourth Arnold Classic Title in 2013. In
2008, he defeated Jay Cutler to become Mr. Olympia.