The Great Mr. Olympians of Bodybuilding 1965-2013

Chapter 6: The Master of Symmetry Frank Zane

Chapter 7: Chris Dickerson, The Master Poser

Chapter 8: Samir Bannout The Lion of Lebanon

Chapter 9: Lee Haney The Era of Size

Chapter 10: Dorian Yates The English Mass Monster

Chapter 11: Ronnie Coleman The Millennium Mass Monster

Chapter 12: Jay Cutler

Chapter 13: Dexter The Blade Jackson

Chapter 14: Phil The Gift Heath

Chapter 15: Training Frequency & Muscle Growth: Old School vs New School Bodybuilding

Chapter 16: Old School Workout Routines Of The Greatest Legends From 1940's-60's

3 A Day Hardcore Workout Routine of Old School Bodybuilders 1970's-80s

Old School Bulking Routine

Chapter 17: Powerlifting For Muscle Mass: Old School Training For Strength & Muscle-Mass

Chapter 18: Old School Bodybuilding Diets for Quality For Quality Muscle: Early 1900's-2013

Chapter 19: How Dietary Trends Ermerged in Bodybuilding:

The Famous Steak & Egg Diet

The Golden Era of Bodybuilding Meals

Dietary Trends in Bodybuilding

Typical Carbohydrate Diets 1970's

Chapter 20: Nutrition The Key To Optimal Muscle Growth: The Over-Looked 85% in Muscle Growth

Chapter 21: The Alternative Way To Anabolic Steroids: Vegetarian Muscle Building

Chapter 22: The Evolution of Protein Powders

Types of protein Powders

Understanding Protein labels and Sub-Types of Protein Sources

Best Time To Take Your Protein Shake

Chapter 23: How Bodybuilding Has Changed Through The Years

Chapter 24: Final Thoughts: The Making of Mr. Olympia

Recommended Books of Reading

References & Resources

Preface

The Past, Present & Future of Muscle

Today there are millions of people all over the world enjoying the art of bodybuilding and a fitness lifestyle, and for a good reason. Studies show that the mental and physical benefits are tremendous. Gym's throughout the country have flourished with business opportunities because of the mainstream media and the great legends of bodybuilding past have paved the way with their wealth of knowledge that they have left behind for us to follow.

Technology and scientific research have also changed the face of bodybuilding. Today's bodybuilders defy what was not possible years ago. I often wonder how far will these men go in reaching limits of muscle that are of gigantic proportion. Most people today would call them freaks of humanity with an endless desire to become better than the next bodybuilder they are facing in competition.

The physiques may have changed compared to yesterday, but their attitudes are no different than those of past years champions. Ask any bodybuilder and they will tell you that there is nothing like the feeling of taking your body from its ordinary state and transforming it into a work of art. They will also tell you that they never felt better, physically or mentally.

When the sport of bodybuilding began over a hundred years ago, it was a sport hinged on the premise of developing muscle, shape, and symmetry. As times passed by, notice that the bodies became bigger and bigger. In fact, having the physique of bodybuilders 20, 30, or 40 years ago, would not come close to winning a competition in the pro circuit today. Even though there were steroids used by some of the bodybuilders in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, still, their bodies did not take on the monstrous proportions seen in today's pro circuit.

As the bodies changed and grew to the proportion they currently are, so did the draw of fans appeal to these bodies. If monstrous proportions are what excites bodybuilding fans, that is the fuel that alters wining in the pro circuit. However, bodybuilding today as a pro, appears to have come to full circle. The monstrous bodies that these men display on stages of competitions for the world to see have gotten as big as they can possibly build.

Even with steroids, there's not much further a bodybuilder can take the body than its current state. But, I'm sure that modern science will find a way to further exploit the human anatomy even a bit larger than it already is among these mass monsters of muscle. Just look at some of the past Olympia's such as Frank Zane with his impressive classic and aesthetic physique compared to a mass monster like Markus Rhul. A difference of 37 years of a bodybuilding era, that's how much things have changed.

Was it the difference in the food quality or was it to superior steroid use and quantity of? Where does it end? How big is big going to get?

These men forsake their body's health for the mere applause that drives their ambition to further excite the fan base they have. The new millennium has brought on a new breed of bodybuilders with a new set of steroids as their arsenal of ingredients that they employ to bring their physiques to a whole another level.

So, what does the future and fate of muscle building hold? Well, now science is looking at myostatin inhibitors that some bodybuilding experts say will produce mass muscle freaks of new proportion for the world to see. Those bodybuilders with superior genetics who are born with less myostatin genes, are partly the reason why some of the Mr. Olympia bodybuilders like Sergio Olivia, Flex Wheeler, Phil Heath, Paul Dillet all have in common that has allowed them to reach their status of huge muscle proportion. Myostatin is the gene that determines your genetic muscle building limit, how much muscle you can naturally put on. Sergio Olivia and Phil Heath, both whom may have some of the best genetic genes in the history of bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding, just as anything else in life, grows and changes. It starts out small, underdeveloped, then gets stronger, develops, and prospers. When something has come full circle, it either redefines itself, or begins something new altogether. Just as with a goal, you set it, nurture it, and then persist to achieve it. However, once the goal is achieved, you must either redefine it or begin a new goal.

We must commend those legends of past years that started it all. They were the true pioneers that paved the way for bodybuilding and made fitness buffs out of the American people. These men achieved incredible physiques without the use of most of the anabolic steroids that are around today. And sure, they may have used some to get where they needed to be and compete for the best bodybuilding title in the world, the Olympia. But they mostly did it with hard work, extreme discipline, less training equipment than what we have today, and with good foods and nutrition.

It also makes me wonder, had some of these great legends been around in today's era, with all the advances we have in the sport today, what they would have accomplished, and I'm sure that some of them would have dominated bodybuilding for years to come.

In the 1960's we saw a legendary great bodybuilder in Larry Scott, to this day the named an exercise after him called the Scott curl. Bodybuilders today still admire and try to achieve the fullness of development of his impressive arms that back then measure an impressive 21''.

There was also the great legend himself The Myth, the only man to ever beat the invincible Arnold Schwarzenegger, who many say was ahead of his time, and to this day many bodybuilders still can not emulate his famous over the head double arm wing pose. Then in the 1970's the great Austrian Oak himself Arnold Schwarzenegger who basically catapulted bodybuilding into the mainstream media and made it into the sport it is today.

The 90's we saw the big size monsters such as Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, and Jay Cutler. Then in the new millennium Phil Heath, the genetic Gift and reigning Mr. Olympia who basically came out of no where in such a short time to develop an unbelievable body. Champions come and go in bodybuilding, and every now and then a new Mr. Olympia emerges etching their name in bodybuilding history. Paying tribute to the father of modern bodybuilding Eugene Sandow that started it all today!

Today, there are 13 bodybuilders that have had the honor and glory to raise the Sandow Trophy. Such a short list of great bodybuilding champions that spans 48 years Mr. Olympia title holders!

End

INTRODUCTION

The Evolution of Bodybuilding

Muscles have always been a big inspiration to young aspiring teenagers. This physical culture of muscle building has been an attraction ever since the days of Eugene Sandow, of whom the Mr. Olympia trophy is modeled on. But the celebration of the human body through which muscular development was measured by, was in fact one of the Greek ideals. Their statues of human perfection in physical form which can be seen throughout museums around the world all display Greek men in the Hellinistic ages. For example, the statue of Doryphoros by Polykleitos displays the perfect proportions of a Greek God. Now, who wouldn't want to have a body like this, with ideal proportions and a great set of abs. Or having the great body of the immortal Hercules that set the stage for many Hercules movies played by legendary bodybuilders, Reg Park and Steve Reeves.

Bodybuilding is basically an individual who engages in a progressive resistance type of an exercise to control and develop one's muscularity. In fact, the athletes of ancient Greece who used to train in the gymnasiums (Greek for naked place) did not use resistance training as a form of body modification but a rather a means to improve at the sport they loved and participated in. An interesting athlete was an Olympic wrestling champion by the name of Milo of Croton who was reported to carry a young calf on his back every day until the calf became a bull. Demonstrating a progressive form of resistance training for developing strength.

It wasn't until actually the 11th century in India that bodybuilding as we know it first arrived on the scene. It was back then when dumbbells in their primitive form were carved from stone for the sole purpose of getting bigger and stronger. And by the 16th century weightlifting had become a national past time in India. By the 19th century, weight training took on a more meaningful form of improving health and increasing strength in popular fair and circus events.

This became the era of the great Eugene Sandow The Father of Modern Bodybuilding who was credited for being a pioneer of the activity of bodybuilding. Because he allowed audiences to enjoy his viewing of his physique in muscle display performances during his era.

The Great Eugene Sandow

People now were exposed to the physical culture of musclemen who were entertaining crowds with displays of strength and a physical stature of bulging muscle quality. Eugene Sandow, who displayed the physique of a Greek statue was also very strong and wanted to display that muscles were not only meant for show, but also displayed incredible feats of strength at that time and era. Sandow was the original muscle super star of his age, and it became apparent that many of his audiences became interested in his physical appearance which evidently led to the development of what is now referred to by modern day bodybuilders as a posing routine. Sandow also developed some of the first bodybuilding equipment as well as being responsible for the first ever bodybuilding magazine.

Bodybuilding interest rapidly grew with a strong following of people to which later on Sandow's promotion of bodybuilding and weightlifting competitions began to officially take place for the first time. The World Championships in 1891 in England, and two weightlifting events in the 1896 inaugural modern day Olympic Games took place.

The first major bodybuilding contest staged in 1891, was held in the Royal Albert Hall, London, named The Great Competition, that was developed and promoted by Eugene Sandow. The judging was done by Sandow himself along with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and athlete and sculptor Sir Charles Lawes. The contest turned out to be a sell-out crowd of about 2000 enthusiastic individuals anxious to see this display of muscular men. The total prize money to be had was $5,000 at the time. First place would receive $2,500 with a gold statue of Sandow, while second and third place would take home a silver and bronze statuettes respectively.

The judging criteria was stringent, and was based on symmetrical development and not by sheer size alone which was made clear by Sandow. The qualities that were measured were: General development, balance of development, condition and tone of the skin, and health appearance.

The winner that had the right combination of qualities was William L Murray of Nottingham Great Britain who received the gold statuette of Sandow and the title: "Winner of the World's First Big Bodybuilding Contest.

Following this contest, bodybuilding continued to become increasingly widespread. The early 1900's produced an influential figure by the name of Bernarr MacFadden, referred to as the father of physical culture, who wrote many books and was responsible for the creation of bodybuilding's first magazine called Physical Culture Magazine that would stay in publication for fifty years. Bernarr MacFadden went on to become one of the greatest physical identities on the early 20th century.

Sadly, in 1925 Eugene Sandow suffered a stroke and died at the age of 58. His legacy and statuette still lives on and is known as a Sandow, given to the winner of the most prestigious bodybuilding competition in the world: Mr. Olympia.

Early 1900's

Charles Atlas 1921

The organization and promotion of bodybuilding competitions for both men and women would be responsible for the emergence of no other than,take that you big bully, Charles Atlas. Winner of 1921's Most Perfectly Developed Man contest.

I can also recall so many times opening up a muscle magazine back in my day and finding Charles Atlas advertisements in the back pages advertising his breakthrough Dynamic Muscle Tension courses. Which may actually still be found in some magazine publications like Popular Science Magazine and Popular Mechanics.

Charles Atlas would later go on to develop his physical fitness courses, which became one of the longest running in history. His selling point was the famous scrawny skinny kid who would be with his girlfriend and be humiliated by a bigger teenager kicking sand in his face. As a result of this humiliation the scrawny kid went home frustrated, and discovered the Dynamic Tension muscle building program, in which he later went on and became muscle bound, went back to the beach to beat up the bully, and became a hero! People everywhere saw the add and it led to bodybuilding being accepted by wider audiences.

It was MacFadden who helped propel Charles Atlas into the spotlight through his physical culture publications. Charles Atlas (Real name Angelo Siciliano) would eventually go on to become very popular, standing as an expert on physical development and would also later on acquire the rights to his popular mail order course Dynamic Tension.

1930'S TO 1970'S THE EMERGENCE OF BODYBUILDING

By now it was not uncommon to see physique competitions as the bodybuilding movement progressed well into the late 1930's. New exercise equipment were being developed and advanced compared to the early 1900's. This era was soon to be known as the Golden Age of Bodybuilding. Soon the emergence of gyms were common place and the associated practices of training and posing in front of mirrors became common place among the devoted followers. On the California coast, weightlifting on the beach front became very popular among both amateur and professional bodybuilders displaying their developed tan and bronze muscles showcasing their development to the local crowd.

The most famous beach front of weightlifting guru's in California was Santa Monica called Muscle Beach. Santa Monica, California soon became a popular hangout for many enthusiastic crowds of people looking to get a glimpse of these overly developed musclemen. Among the leading figures at Muscle Beach were Jack Lalane, later a TV fitness expert; Joe Gold, founder of Gold's Gym; Harold

Universal Gym, the most widely used exercise machine; and John Grimek, AAU Mr. America in 1940 and 1941.

Muscle Beach closed in the 1950's, But still the west coast remained the destination of aspiring bodybuilders and took hold of a new popular site in Venice Beach, California. The site of the first Gold's Gym, which is still to this day the facility of choice for many of the currant professional bodybuilders.

!940, was when the first modern bodybuilding event had arrived, Mr. America, which was won by John Grimek, who would also dominate the Mr. America competition by winning it the following year as well.

John Grimek was predominantly a weightlifter who was unparalleled in muscular development, and became the catalyst for a new direction in physical development. It was also soon to become apparent that those who wished to compete against him would have to adopt a training program similar to his.

John Grimek

In 1945, saw the arrival of a new class of bodybuilder that many would consider the first modern bodybuilder, Clarence (Clancy) Ross. Ross would train and sculpt his body with weights to proportion his physique similar to that of a Grecian ideal.

Clancy Ross

The great Steve Reeves also made his mark during this era on the bodybuilding scene and would further popularize his status in bodybuilding due to his handsome movie star looks and a perfectly proportioned physique that was way ahead of his time.

Steve Reeves eventually became revered as the greatest bodybuilder of all time after winning the Mr. America and the Mr. Universe (which is the other big contest that has joined the ranks of success of the America), and put bodybuilding on the map. His movies with his extraordinary physique and good looks helped catapult Steve Reeves and bodybuilding to stardom. Because of his wins in the 1947 Mr. America, 1948 Mr. World, and 1950 Mr. Universe and his acting in the many Hercules movies, he would become the highest paid actor in Europe.

Steve Reeves

Steve Reeves had it all when it came to bodybuilding, his proportion, mass, definition, and being very good looking, would be the Arnold Schwarzenegger of his era. With that, he would also become an inspiration to the young and aspiring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

During the 1950's and in the departure of Reeves' from bodybuilding, Reg Park, the British strength athlete, was the next major champion that saw a massive hulk of muscle to dominate bodybuilding. Reg Park would become the 1951's Mr. Universe, and Mr. Professional Universe in 1958, and again in 1965, dominating bodybuilding for two decades. This would eventually lead him in the footsteps of Reeves by playing Hercules in a series of Italian made films that soon caught fire amongst the bodybuilding crowds.

Bodybuilding now was soon beginning to carve out a small niche in the movies and creating a stir among its followers. The 1960's became the era of the mass monsters that were bigger and better than the previous era of bodybuilders. The 60's produced massive size of bodybuilders that would shadow the prior competition in the 50's. Sergio Olivia, the Myth as he was called, for good reason, because of his unbelievable size and stature that defied normal physique standards.

Obviously as time went by, the science behind bodybuilding improved, nutrition and conditioning techniques emerged from the so called gurus of bodybuilding like the Great Vince Gironda and Rheo Blair both whom have helped the likes of Larry Scott, Sergio Olivia, Dave Draper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, and many other pro's that have won their share of bodybuilding contests.

Vince Gironda (picture1) & Rheo Blair (picture 2)

In 1965, Joe Weider created the prestigious and coveted title, Mr. Olympia so that the winners of the Mr. Universe competition could continue to compete and earn money. Qualifications for the Olympia contest were at that time:

1. The top 6 finalists from the previous year's Mr. Olympia.

2. The top 5 finalists from the same year's Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic and Night of the Champions.

3. The top 3 finalists from the Grand prix of contests held sun sequent