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Bodybuilding: The Golden Age of Bodybuilding
This period of bodybuilding was typified at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California, US. Famous names in bodybuilding from this period included Steve Reeves (notable in his day for portraying Hercules and other sword-and-sandals heroes), Reg Park, John Grimek, Larry Scott, and Bill Pearl.
The rise in popularity of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) added a bodybuilding competition to their existing weightlifting contest in 1939 - and the following year this competition was named AAU Mr. America. Around the mid-1940s most bodybuilders became disgruntled with the AAU since they only allowed amateur competitors and they placed more focus on the Olympic sport of weightlifting. This caused brothers Ben and Joe Weider to form the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) - which organised their competition IFBB Mr. America, which was open to professional athletes.
In 1950, another organisation, the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA) started their NABBA Mr. Universe contest in the UK. Another major contest, Mr. Olympia was first held in 1965 - and this is currently the most prestigious title in bodybuilding.
Initially contests were for men only, but the NABBA added Miss Universe in 1965 and Ms. Olympia was started in 1980. See Female bodybuilding history for more info.
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.
This period also saw the rise of anabolic steroids abused both in bodybuilding and many other sports. To combat this, and to be allowed to be an IOC member, the IFBB introduced strict doping tests for both steroids and other banned substances.
In the early 2000's, 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, who 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.
As of 2006, there has been more interest in the field of natural bodybuilding. In natural contests bodybuilders are routinely tested for illegal substances and are banned for any violations from future contests. What qualifies as an "illegal" substance varies between natural federations, and does not necessarily include only substances that are illegal.
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