Early years
The "Early Years" of Western Bodybuilding are considered to be the period between 1880 and 1953.
Eugen Sandow
Bodybuilding did not really exist prior to the late 19th century, when it was promoted by German born Eugen Sandow, later of England
who is now generally referred to as "The Father of Modern
Bodybuilding". He is credited as being a pioneer of the activity because
he allowed audiences to enjoy viewing his physique in "muscle display
performances". Although audiences were thrilled to see a well-developed
physique, those men simply displayed their bodies as part of strength
demonstrations or wrestling matches. Sandow had a stage show built
around these displays through his manager, Florenz Ziegfeld. The Oscar winning 1936 musical film The Great Ziegfeld,
depicts this beginning of modern bodybuilding, when Sandow began to
display his body for carnivals. The role of Sandow was played by actor Nat Pendleton.
Sandow became so successful at flexing and posing his physique, he
later created several businesses around his fame and was among the first
to market products branded with his name alone. He was credited with
inventing and selling the first exercise equipment for the masses
(machined dumbbells, spring pulleys and tension bands) and even his image was sold by the thousands in "cabinet cards" and other prints.
Sandow was a perfect "gracilian" (this was a standard where a
mathematical "ideal" was set up and the "perfect physique" was close to
the proportions of Greek and Roman statues from ancient times – see Golden Mean).
This is how Sandow built his own physique and in the early years, men
were judged by how closely they matched these "ideal" proportions.
First large-scale bodybuilding competition
Sandow organised the first bodybuilding contest on September 14, 1901 called the "Great Competition" and held in the Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. Judged by himself, Sir Charles Lawes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
the contest was a huge success and was sold out and hundreds of
physical culture enthusiasts were turned away. The trophy presented to
the winner was a bronze statue of Sandow himself sculpted by Frederick
Pomeroy. The winner was William L. Murray of Nottingham, England. The most prestigious bodybuilding contest today is the Mr. Olympia,
and since 1968, the winner has been presented with the same bronze
statue of Sandow that he himself presented to the winner at the first
contest.
On 16 January 1904, the first large-scale bodybuilding competition in America took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The winner was Al Treloar and he was declared "The Most Perfectly Developed Man in the World".[2] Treloar won a $1,000 cash prize, a substantial sum at that time. Two weeks later, Thomas Edison
made a film of Al Treloar's posing routine. Edison also made two films
of Sandow a few years before, making him the man who made the first
three motion pictures featuring a bodybuilder. In the early 20th
century, Bernarr Macfadden and Charles Atlas, continued to promote bodybuilding across the world. Alois P. Swoboda was an early pioneer in America.
Notable early bodybuilders
Many other important bodybuilders in the early history of
bodybuilding prior to 1930 include: Earle Liederman (writer of some of
the earliest bodybuilding instruction books), Zishe Breitbart, Georg Hackenschmidt, Emy Nkemena, George F. Jowett, Finn Hateral (a pioneer in the art of posing), Frank Saldo, Monte Saldo, William Bankier,
Launceston Elliot, Sig Klein, Sgt. Alfred Moss, Joe Nordquist, Lionel
Strongfort (Strongfortism), Gustav Fristensky (the Czech champion), Ralph Parcaut,
a champion wrestler who also authored an early book on "physical
culture," and Alan P. Mead, who became an impressive muscle champion
despite the fact that he lost a leg in World War I. Actor Francis X. Bushman
started his career as a bodybuilder and sculptor's model before
beginning his famous silent movie career. Bushman was a disciple of
Eugen Sandow.
1950s and 1960s
Bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the
emergence of strength and gymnastics
champions joining the culture, and
the simultaneous popularization of muscle training, most of all by Joe Weider,
whose advertising in comic books and other publications encouraged many
young men to undertake weight training to improve their physiques to
resemble the comic books' muscular superheroes. Of notable athletes, US
national and gymnastics champion and US Olympic weightlifting team
competitor John Grimek and British strength athlete Reg Park as winners of newly created bodybuilding titles such as the Mr. Universe and Mr. America competitions paved the way for others. Magazines such as Strength & Health and Muscular Development were accompanied by the fame of Muscle Beach,
in Santa Monica, California. The casting of some bodybuilders in movies
was another major vehicle for the activity's popularization. Of
bodybuilder-actors perhaps the most famous were Steve Reeves and Reg Park, who were featured in roles portraying Hercules, Samson and other legendary heroes. Dave Draper gained public fame through a role in Don't Make Waves, and in appearances in television series such as the Beverly Hillbillies and The Monkees. Other rising stars in this period were Larry Scott, Serge Nubret, and Sergio Oliva. The gym equipment and training supplement industries founded by Joe Weider were complemented by the growth of the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (IFBB), which was co-founded by Joe and his brother Ben. The IFBB eventually displaced the Amateur Athletic Union's Mr. Universe titles and also that of NABBA, the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association as the most important and notable contests.
1970s onwards
New organizations
In the 1970s, bodybuilding had major publicity thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger and others in the 1977 film Pumping Iron. By this time the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness (IFBB) dominated the competitive bodybuilding landscape and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) took a back seat.
The National Physique Committee (NPC) was formed in 1981 by Jim Manion,[3]
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 in the
United States. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the decline of AAU
sponsored bodybuilding contests. In 1999, the AAU voted to discontinue
its bodybuilding events.
Rise of anabolic steroids
Ronnie Coleman 8 x Mr. Olympia – 2009
This period also saw the rise of anabolic steroids
used both in bodybuilding and many other sports. In bodybuilding lore,
this is partly attributed to the rise of "mass monsters", beginning with
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva and Lou Ferrigno in the late 1960s and early 1970s and continuing in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s with Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman and Markus Ruhl. Also the emergence of bodybuilders such as Greg Kovacs, Paul DeMayo
and Victor Richards who, while not being particularly successful at the
pro level, attained mass and size at levels that were not seen
previously.
Arnold Schwarzenegger at the time of shooting the movie that brought
body building to life, "Pumping Iron" he never said that he did steroids
to increase his winning chance but said you have to do anything you can
to get the advantage in competition. But in later interviews he
admitted to it and even said he does not regret using anything. This was
a huge impact at the time because Arnold was the face of body building
at the time and is still considered by some to be the best to ever do
the sport. [4]
To combat this, and in the hopes of becoming a member of the IOC, 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.[5] 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). Similarly in Canada, steroids were added to the Criminal Code of Canada as a Class IV controlled substance (that class was created expressly for steroids).
World Bodybuilding Federation
WBF Logo
Main article: World Bodybuilding Federation
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. A
number of IFBB stars were recruited but the roster was never very large,
with the same athletes competing; the most notable winner and first WBF
champion was Gary Strydom.
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.
Olympic sport discussion
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 many
argue that bodybuilding is not a sport.[6]
Recent developments
In 2003, Joe Weider sold Weider Publications to AMI, which owns The National Enquirer. The position of president of the IFBB was filled by Rafael Santonja following the death of Ben Weider
in October 2008. In 2004, contest promoter Wayne DeMilia broke ranks
with the IFBB and AMI took over the promotion of the Mr. Olympia
contest. Other professional contests emerged in this period, most
notably the Arnold Classic and Night of Champions, as well as the European Grand Prix of Bodybuilding.
In the 1990s and the early 21st century, patterns of consumption and recreation similar to those of the United States became more widespread in Europe and especially in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This resulted in the emergence of whole new populations of bodybuilders emerged from former Eastern bloc states.
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