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Once started as a circus act of strong men, bodybuilding is now a worldwide phenomenon with millions of practitioners. Read here about the history of bodybuilding.
Strength Training in History
Strength training has been present for centuries in various cultures. Examples include the Greeks and Romans who did this for health. Hippocrates wrote: “That which is used develops, that which is not used wastes away.” Other Greek texts report that Hercules did resistance training under the supervision of his mentor and coach, Chiron.
Moreover, it was the Greeks who developed the Olympic Games, where weightlifting was an important part. Chinese texts state that many Emperors made their followers do strength training. During the Chou dynasty (1122-249BC), soldiers were required to undergo a strength test to serve in the army.
In India, competitions involving strength exercises with weighted objects existed until about 200 years ago, and there were various gyms for training. As part of this strength training, blood sacrifices were made to the gods during the Vedic Soma festival. A hallucinogenic drink called “the drink of strength” was also consumed.
Eugene Sandow
However, the name inexorably linked to the origin of modern bodybuilding is that of Eugene Sandow from Prussia (now Germany). At the end of the 19th century, he was one of the popular ‘strong men’ who were attractions at fairs and similar traveling companies. Unlike the other strong men, Sandow emphasized his own physique as an attraction rather than the feats of strength he could perform. Eventually, these demonstrations of strength disappeared entirely, and the entire attraction revolved around his physique. This physique was mainly modeled after the ancient Greek ideal of man.
First Bodybuilding Competition: “The Great Competition”
Sandow built various enterprises around his figure. He was also the first to have strength equipment manufactured for the masses.
On September 14, 1901, he organized in England the first competition in exhibiting the human physique called “The Great Competition.” In the jury of this first bodybuilding competition sat, among others, Sandow himself and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of ‘Tarzan’). The winner received a bronze statue for which Sandow had modeled. Nowadays, this is awarded to the winners of the Mr. Olympia competition (see detailed article on the origin of the Olympia), currently the most prestigious competition worldwide in bodybuilding.
After this competition and a later one in 1904 in New York, bodybuilding gained more attention. This led, among other things, to the films made by Thomas Edison about Sandow and Al Treloar, the winner of the competition in New York. In the 1920s, men like Bernarr Macfadden and Charles Atlas kept bodybuilding in the spotlight.
“Muscle Beach”
In the 1930s, bodybuilding became popular mainly on the west coast of the United States. The famous ‘Muscle Beach’ of Santa Monica attracted many practitioners of the sport and was featured in several films.
Bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s, partly due to Charles Atlas. His advertisements in various publications were widely seen and appealing. Many still remember the comic strips of the skinny man being bullied by bullies in front of his girlfriend only to return ‘pumped up’ for payback.
In addition, several strength athletes and gymnasts joined the sport, such as John Grimek, Steve Reeves, and Reg Park. The latter won the new titles Mr. Universe and Mr. America and starred in films like Hercules and Samson. Contributing to and capitalizing on the popularity were magazines like
Strength & Health and
Muscular Development. During this period, the famous Weider brothers, Joe and Ben, started producing strength equipment and nutritional supplements. The International Federation of Bodybuilding, founded in part by them, also grew steadily and became the premier competition. Other big names from that time were Serge Nubret and Sergio Oliva.
“Pumping Iron”
From the 1970s onwards, bodybuilding received a lot of attention thanks to, among others, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno (who played the ‘Hulk’ in the TV series of the same name) in the now classic film ‘Pumping Iron’. During this period, the use of anabolic steroids also entered significantly, which is largely responsible for the much larger muscle mass we see in today’s professionals and bodybuilders in the period after 1970. Examples include, besides Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, men like Dorian Yates and Lee Haney, often called the first mass monsters.
From this period onwards, the ideal image of the bodybuilder moved further away from the original ideal of the Greeks and Romans. Instead of one ideal standard, more emphasis was placed on mass (while definition remained equally important). While Lee Haney “only” beat Arnold Schwarzenegger by appearing on stage with a dry muscle mass of 109 kg, it was Ronnie Coleman who, as an 8-time Mr. Olympia, raised the bar with a dry muscle mass of 131 kg.
In the early 21st century, attempts were made to have bodybuilding recognized as an Olympic sport. However, this has not (yet?) been successful due to the debate about whether bodybuilding is a sport or not, but also because of the extensive use of anabolic steroids.
