Last update 16 June, 2020 por Alberto Llopis
When you speak the golden age of bodybuilding they talk about 70 and the 80's. A time that was known as ‘The Golden Age of bodybuilding‘. And it is that the lifting of weights has a before and an after, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Until his emergence, bodybuilding was seen otherwise, Arnold certainly, He changed the perception of the sport. Before him, men like Larry Scott known as the greatest arms of that time and Steve Reeves who rose to fame in film long before Arnold with his role as Hercules in the middle of the 20th century, They ruled the roost but the impact and public opinion was not the same.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the greatest exponent of the golden age of bodybuilding
Without a doubt, the Austrian converted to an American is an icon of this sport and the total leader of the best generations that bodybuilding gave.. It provided another sense of one of the most practiced sports today. Like it or not like it, it's a sport. For the most nostalgic, those two decades were the best moments. Steroids are used but not at the level of today. They looked very muscular but not touched the actual deformity.
Men like Franco Columbu, Franck Zane, Lou Ferrigno, Ed Courtney, Ken Waller, Danny Padilla, Mike Mentzer, Serge Nubret and later Lee Haney, Tom Platz, Chris Dickerson o Samir Bannout, part of the golden age of bodybuilding. The vast majority of experts, date the end of the golden age with the arrival of the 90s and the new century, where the bodies evolved to excess weight, to levels almost deformity. Dorian Yates ,Ronnie Coleman or newer like Kai Greene could be an example of the new times.
Pumping Iron, the documentary that gave bodybuilding an impact in the 70
The maximum splendor of the golden age of bodybuilding can be seen reflected in the tape 1977, “Pumping Iron“. The documentary, shows a young Arnold Schwarzenegger and his comrades preparing for the Mr Olympia and Mr Universe 1975. The tape also shows the evolution of the tournament as well as various personal stories of several of them, especially Arnold and Lou Ferrigno. The latter could be considered one of the unfulfilled promises of the sport, but we'll talk another day.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was the champion of that time. It was outnumbered by Lee Haney titles but perhaps in the late 80's, level tournaments and had lost splendor. While in active, Arnold was the best. He won the Mr Olympia in: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and in 1980, the latter with controversy.
Mr Olympia's 1980, the most controversial in history
Arnold as seen in “Pumping Iron”, He was removed in 1975 after winning his sixth Mr. Olympia to pursue their business and projects including film. En 1980, He returned by surprise of his own colleagues who heard the same day of the contest. His physical condition was good but it was far from that of his rivals who had been training for more than a year while he had only trained for the contest for a few weeks.
This is reflected on the tape “Schwarzenegger Total Rebuild“. What does not appear in the documentary, It is the tremendous injustice that was committed with Frank Zane or Mike Mentzer among others nor the subsequent controversy. The film career and good policy Arnold after his stage builder is well known. In the world of soccer we can see how many footballers look muscular and train with weights in the XXI century.
