Body Building Today

Body Building Today

Body building has always been about lifting weights progressively with increasing strength and size, but what has body building evolved into over the years. When did body building start becoming more about size instead of the persons ability to gain muscle in a way that was for the person’s own well being in being able to carry out the functions in every day life.

The ancient Greeks did not look at body building the way it is viewed today  They saw body building as a means to get bigger and stronger to be able to complete tasks that the body was faced with day to day.

Body building today isn’t about how effectively one can perform difficult tasks on the body but how big a person can become and be able to maintain good and symmetrical body proportion.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the first body builders to make a name for himself and the sport. No matter how big Arnold was back in the days, it  doesn't even compare to the size of the athletes competing in the sport today.

The sport, like any other sport is evolving with the size of each new athlete becoming bigger and bigger than the star from before.

Look at Arnold next to the current Mr. Olympia holder, the sport has evolved into something completely different than what the populator of the sport had intended.

“On March 8, 2015, less than 24 hours after joyfully congratulating the winner of the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped a bombshell on the fans and reporters who had assembled for his annual sunday morning seminar. He forcefully blasted the state of elite competitive bodybuilding, casting blame on IFBB head judge Jim Manion and other officials for "choosing the guy with the biggest neck and the biggest muscles" and other "bottle-shaped" bodies instead of a more aesthetically pleasing physique epitomized by the legendary Steve Reeves. It was a stinging rebuke that echoed through chat rooms, web boards, and gyms for weeks afterward.”

This statement that Arnold made just proves that body building has evolved into something that the originators had not intended for it to be. The first body builders were big in size of course but could move, and continue to pursue athletic needs placed on the body. The old winners were flexible and had a more athletic capable body than the winners of today. Yes, new winners are proportionate in size, but lack the physical capability that some movements of the body require.

The road body building is headed down does not fulfill the legacy that was left behind from the early greats and populators. While yes body building as a sport is growing more and more every year the true meaning behind that sport has lost its way.

“Not a year goes by that the contoured body of vintage Frank Zane isn't hoisted up on a pedestal and declared the ideal masculine aesthetic, the structure that all bodybuilders should strive toward. Images of a '70s-era Schwarzenegger on magazine covers still sell better than contemporary stars. This was the look that made the sport, that created an entire industry.”

Pro Bodybuilding Has Lost Its Way. (2015). Retrieved February 01, 2016, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pro-bodybuilding-has-lost-its-way.html

Thumbs Arnold 2005 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Biography, Pictures And - Natural Bodybuilding Tips. (2013). Retrieved February 07, 2016, from http://naturalbodybuildingtips.info/thumbs-arnold-2005-arnold-schwarzenegger-biography-pictures-and/