C’mon man, are you for real? Bodybuilding was way more popular & socially acceptable back then…nowadays its a freakshow that disgusts the mainstream public. With homunculi like Branch Warren winning shows, can’t say I blame them either.[/quote]
Nah - not in the 60’s and 70’s - BB was looked upon as a pure freak show and sexually suspect (gay) to boot.
Now, for sure Arnold and those guys laid the groundwork for the fitness boom in the 80’s, when BB became more mainstream and acceptable, but they were still looked at as total freaks and BB was underground at that time.
I do think that era was definitely the turning point for it to eventually become more “normal”, but I don’t think it was more accepted in 1975…[/quote]
Well, none of us were there so this is all speculation of course. But the impression I got from reading & watching movies like Pumping Iron is that the golden age bodybuilders were viewed as the pinnacle of the human form. Something to strive for, something that people wanted to look like. Maybe I am just romanticizing the era though.
I agree that the 80’s & early 90’s were the pinnacle of bodybuilding’s popularity though. But I do not think that the talent pool nowadays is better than that of any era prior.
If you ask me Dorian ruined the sport in that regard, with his training alone in a dungeon and only doing one show, and especially considering how freaky he set the benchmark as. There is no way the average joe could relate to his physique, it was just otherworldly.
I disagree with about half of these measurements…Ronnie had 36" thighs in contest condition?? C’mon…[/quote]
Yeah i am sure some of those numbers are debatable…I always thought Arnie was heavier than that on stage, and did’t have that much of a swing between off season and contest weight.
[quote]SkyNett wrote:
I do think that era was definitely the turning point for it to eventually become more “normal”, but I don’t think it was more accepted in 1975…[/quote]
I honestly think that now we are watching the biggest iron boom in ages thanks to the internet
The big ranks with the big boys might not be soaking up a major crowd, but look at the rest of the pie
the fitness, bikini, physique, etc divisions are bringing in major crowds. each day a new forum, website or youtube channel seems to pop up, you go on facebook and shit is spreading like wildfire
the big boys might not be becoming more desirable to the general public, but muscular aesthetic competition overall (including all ranks, shapes and sizes) and even strength sports as a whole are gradually amassing an audience imo
[/quote]
Good point. I think the desire for both men and women to have a lean, muscular physique is plenty mainstream. I don’t think there’s an average person out there who wouldn’t want to be lean and muscular, but aren’t interested in being 250+ at average height and single digit bodyfat.
But BB was what initially fueled the “fitness boom” starting in the late 70’s/early 80’s…
[quote]Proud_Virgin wrote:
Well, none of us were there so this is all speculation of course. But the impression I got from reading & watching movies like Pumping Iron is that the golden age bodybuilders were viewed as the pinnacle of the human form. Something to strive for, something that people wanted to look like. Maybe I am just romanticizing the era though.
I agree that the 80’s & early 90’s were the pinnacle of bodybuilding’s popularity though. But I do not think that the talent pool nowadays is better than that of any era prior.
If you ask me Dorian ruined the sport in that regard, with his training alone in a dungeon and only doing one show, and especially considering how freaky he set the benchmark as. There is no way the average joe could relate to his physique, it was just otherworldly.[/quote]
Yea - those black and white pics in 1993 or 94 in Flex of Dorian were insane at the time. I remember getting that issue and being flat out astonished at his size and condition. Not much Internet at that point, so seeing those pics was shocking.
Someone at PM posted a vid of the 84 Olympia - amazing to see how much smaller the guys were back then - even Haney! In pics they look immense, but in the video you can really see that the delts, arms and chest just don’t have the massive size the guys today have.
[quote]Proud_Virgin wrote:
But the impression I got from reading & watching movies like Pumping Iron is that the golden age bodybuilders were viewed as the pinnacle of the human form. Something to strive for, something that people wanted to look like. Maybe I am just romanticizing the era though.
[/quote]
Dude you’re not wrong on that at all. I just think that they were looked upon that way by a certain contingent of people - people that wanted to emulate them, but that was a very small portion of the population.
The thing they did at the Whitney museum was amazing as far as it being the pinnacle of the human form. They wanted to show the body as art.
I just think it takes a pretty hardcore mind-set these days to do what’s necessary to look like the top mass monsters in the IFBB today. I mean, they geared and trained and ate like lunatics too during the golden era, but it just seems to be a lot more dangerous to be a top pro these days then it was back then.
This is like asking if Paul Anderson or Doug Young would win a powerlifting meet today against a bunch of guys that are using bench suits and squat suits and so on (not to mention, also more drugs).
Would Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the same drive and intensity for bodybuilding perfection that he had in the 60s and 70s, while also being given access to all the modern drugs and information, win a Mr. Olympia? I think so.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
This is like asking if Paul Anderson or Doug Young would win a powerlifting meet today against a bunch of guys that are using bench suits and squat suits and so on (not to mention, also more drugs).
Would Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the same drive and intensity for bodybuilding perfection that he had in the 60s and 70s, while also being given access to all the modern drugs and information, win a Mr. Olympia? I think so.[/quote]
Would Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the same drive and intensity for bodybuilding perfection that he had in the 60s and 70s, while also being given access to all the modern drugs and information, win a Mr. Olympia? I think so.[/quote]
“I was just wondering how a body like the old-school bodybuilders like Arnold, Franco or Zane would do against the modern behemoths that currently rule the Mr. Olympia? Would a body like that stand a fighting chance and why?”
I agree, but that isn’t the OP’s question. It’s how they would stack up looking exactly as they did then, against a modern BB. And of course under that criteria, the answer is no, he couldn’t come close to winning a show in 2012.
gh15’s post are really suspicious. I checked his blog for 30 min and he has been defintely training, but I dont think that he is IFBB Pro like he claims. May be he wanted to be, but couldnt and you know on internet you can be whoever you want. And also he says that you cant achieve absolutely nothing naturally… he sure dot know about KingBeed… lol
[quote]ToTheTop_TTT wrote:
gh15’s post are really suspicious. I checked his blog for 30 min and he has been defintely training, but I dont think that he is IFBB Pro like he claims. May be he wanted to be, but couldnt and you know on internet you can be whoever you want. And also he says that you cant achieve absolutely nothing naturally… he sure dot know about KingBeed… lol[/quote]
To be fair, his natural limits are in dry, contest condition. Not walking around at 8-10%.
And whether or not he is an IFBB pro, he mentions details and things that one could only know from experience. That much is true. Remember Cephalic_Carnage? Our own pictureless “guru”? Nobody had a problem believing him, and his identity is much more suspicious IMO.
[quote]ToTheTop_TTT wrote:
And also he says that you cant achieve absolutely nothing naturally… he sure dot know about KingBeed… lol[/quote]
I have no idea who ‘KingBeed’ is, but that’s not what gh says at all. He says that you can’t go anywhere relevant in Bodybuilding without drugs, not that you can’t grow without them.
I don’t think anyone will ever argue against that.
Edit: And before anyone jumps on me for it, ‘somewhere relevant’ in this case refers to the Pro scene, not your own personal journey or some small truly natural feds.
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
300lb bodybuilding natural who could close grip 500lb+
[/quote]
I don’t know how you don’t burst out laughing as soon as you read or write this
Why someone would ever believe this without any proof is beyond me.[/quote]
It is strange as I don’t think anyone believed those stats but he was never really questioned on them either.
He was claiming 300lb natural at 5’10. Whereas no one believes Rogue Vampire’s claim of 280lbs assisted 5’8 (or if they do, that his BF is likely 25%+).
Only difference seems to be that the former had a somewhat ‘professional’ manner in comparison to the latter who is seen as just a fat troll.
[quote]yolo84 wrote:
Does make you wonder though what this 300lb bodybuilding natural who could close grip 500lb+ or whatever it was looks like.
[/quote]
Wow I must have missed this one.
Remember when he promised to write an all-inclusive natural bodybuilding guide for the masses? And would periodically check in to promise us that he’s “still workign on it” just to keep the hype alive?
[quote]ToTheTop_TTT wrote:
And also he says that you cant achieve absolutely nothing naturally… he sure dot know about KingBeed… lol[/quote]
I have no idea who ‘KingBeed’ is, but that’s not what gh says at all. He says that you can’t go anywhere relevant in Bodybuilding without drugs, not that you can’t grow without them.
I don’t think anyone will ever argue against that.
Edit: And before anyone jumps on me for it, ‘somewhere relevant’ in this case refers to the Pro scene, not your own personal journey or some small truly natural feds.[/quote]
I dont think that im gonna be naturall for all my life. But how to believe somebody that has really miss-spelled texts and is saying that all pros are actually drug addicts… I dont know man, may be there is some truth behind his words but definetly not everything.