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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Competitive Bodybuilding: Historical Landmarks

By Courtney Hayes

"Strong Man Acts" moved to North America in the 1800's and are credited with inspiring what is known today as bodybuilding. In that day, a strongman meant someone who displayed his physical prowess, ordinarily as a circus stunt man. If you wanted to see a strongman performance, including bench pressing, steel bending and breaking iron chains, you would have to go to the circus. In the 19th century you could purchase pictures of many of the well known strongmen of the time, bodybuilding did not exist yet, however it did not stop them from flexing and posing for pictures. Today, the word "strongman" is associated with contestants in various contest of strength. (rock lifting, pulling or towing large trucks etc).

Using a combination of different exercises to develop physique and muscle fiber is what is referred to as bodybuilding. (mainly weight training) as well as diet plan. However, not every bodybuilder is in it for the competition. Points are assigned based on muscle tone, muscle mass and muscle definition as well as appearance by the judges of the spot.

The relatively new sport of competitive bodybuilding are presented below,the principal landmarks in the development of it.

* Even though there were a couple of weightlifting competitions in the very first Olympiad of the modern era in 1896, modern bodybuilding truly started with Eugene Sandow, a Prussian who came up with many of the current bodybuilding techniques in addition to many of the original bodybuilding machines for the public. (tension bands, machined dumbbells etc).

* On September 14, 1901, Sandow organized the first ever bodybuilding competition, the Great Competition, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Sandow's manager was Florenz Ziegfeld, and the 1936 Oscar winning film, The Great Ziegfeld, tells some of the story of the beginning of modern bodybuilding.

* During Sandow's time, the Grecian Ideal was a term used to describe the perfect physique as represented in the classical proportions of ancient Greek and Roman statues. During the early years of competitive bodybuilding, the participants were judged against these proportions to see how closely would they match them, and Sandow worked on his own physique accordingly.

* Sandow's counterpart in North America was a man named Bernarr Macfadden. Macfadden put forth a great deal of effort to increase his strength (he was not healthy during childhood), and began by offering fitness apparatus for sale. He also advocated women's physical fitness (this was considered a great new idea at the time). The first publication of his "Women's Physical Development" magazine arrived in 1900. It was renamed Beauty and Health shortly thereafter. Macfadden set up several healthatoriums (institutes that offered courses in physical fitness) throughout the eastern as well as midwestern parts of America.

* The first bodybuilding competition of this kind was put on by Macfadden on January 16, 1904 in the U.S at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Two of the terms used to describe it were Physique Contest and Physique competition (other than weight competitions, strength exhibitions or athletic feats) this was the main focus point of the show. Al Treloar, who was announced The Most Perfectly Developed Man in the World, won. The notable Charles Adams in 1921 and 1922 acquired fame as did other several participants in later Macfadden bodybuilding competitions.

* The initial significant worldwide bodybuilding contest was the Mr. Universe competition, established in 1947, then the Mr. Olympian contest that was in 1965.

Muscle mass was added to the ideal bodybuilder aesthetic, between the years of 1940 and 1970, as well as the criteria of symmetry and definition of the muscles, this lead to this time period being called the Golden Age of Bodybuilding. The Second World War is credited with having influenced the trend toward bigger, stronger and more aggressive attitudes. Arnold Schwarzenegger played a bodybuilder in the 1977 film, Pumping Iron, this helped to bring bodybuilding into the public eye even more.

* Bodybuilding competitions for women began in the 1970s (however a small number of ladies had been participants in previous competitions put together by Macfadden in America)

* The International Olympic Committee granted provisional status to the sport of competitive bodybuilding in 1998 but has not yet approved it.

* With advancements in technology, bodybuilders are more massive today than they have ever been. Many competitors in today's bodybuilding competitions weigh over 250 pounds and have less than 5% body fat. - 17274

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