bodybuilding bodybuilding bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. it is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses on physical appearance instead of strength. an individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. bodybuildingarnold schwarzenegger, one of the most notable figures in bodybuilding, 1974highest governing bodyinternational federation of bodybuilding & fitnessnicknamesbbfirst developedengland, late 19th centurycharacteristicscontactnoteam membersnomixed-sexnotypeindoorvenueauditoriumpresencecountry or regionworldwideolympicnoparalympicnoworld games1981–2009 in professional bodybuilding, competitors appear in lineups and perform specified poses (and later individual posing routines) for a panel of judges who rank them based on symmetry, muscularity, size, conditioning, posing, and stage presentation. bodybuilders prepare for competitions through the elimination of nonessential body fat, enhanced at the last stage by a combination of extracellular dehydration and carbo-loading, to achieve maximum muscular definition and vascularity; they also tan and shave to accentuate the contrast of their skin under the spotlights.a bodybuilder performs the incline dumbbell press. bodybuilding requires effort and time to reach the desired results. a bodybuilder might first be able to gain 8–20 pounds (4–9 kg) of muscle per year, if lifting for seven hours on a weekly basis. however, gains begin to slow down after the first two years to about 5–15 pounds (2–7 kg). after five years, gains can decrease to just 3–10 pounds (1–5 kg). some bodybuilders use anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to build muscles and recover from injuries more quickly, but competitions sometimes ban using them due to the health risks or considerations regarding fair competition. despite some calls for testing for steroids, the leading bodybuilding federation (national physique committee) does not require testing. the winner of the annual ifbb mr. olympia contest is recognized as the world's top male professional bodybuilder. since 1950, the nabba universe championships have been considered the top amateur bodybuilding contests, with notable winners including reg park, lee priest, steve reeves, and arnold schwarzenegger. history early history the farnese hercules, 216 ad stone-lifting traditions were practiced in ancient egypt, greece, and tamilakam. western weightlifting developed in europe from 1880 to 1953, with strongmen displaying feats of strength for the public and challenging each other. the focus was not on their physique, and they possessed relatively large bellies and fatty limbs compared to bodybuilders of today. eugen sandow eugen sandow, often referred to as the "father of modern bodybuilding" bodybuilding developed in the late 19th century, promoted in england by german eugen sandow, now considered as the "father of modern bodybuilding". he allowed audiences to enjoy viewing his physique in "muscle display performances". although audiences were thrilled to see a well-developed physique, the men simply displayed their bodies as part of strength demonstrations or wrestling matches. sandow had a stage show built around these displays through his manager, florenz ziegfeld. the oscar-winning 1936 musical film the great ziegfeld depicts the beginning of modern bodybuilding, when sandow began to display his body for carnivals. sandow was so successful at flexing and posing his physique that he later created several businesses around his fame, and was among the first to market products branded with his name. he was credited with inventing and selling the first exercise equipment for the masses: machined dumbbells, spring pulleys, and tension bands. even his image was sold by the thousands in "cabinet cards" and other prints. first large-scale bodybuilding competition sandow organized the first bodybuilding contest on september 14, 1901, called the "great competition". it was held at the royal albert hall in london. judged by sandow, sir charles lawes, and sir arthur conan doyle, the contest was a great success and many bodybuilding enthusiasts were turned away due to the overwhelming number of audience members. the trophy presented to the winner was a gold statue of sandow sculpted by frederick pomeroy. the winner was william l. murray of nottingham. the silver sandow trophy was presented to second-place winner d. cooper. the bronze sandow trophy – now the most famous of all – was presented to third-place winner a.c. smythe. in 1950, this same bronze trophy was presented to steve reeves for winning the inaugural nabba mr. universe contest. it would not resurface again until 1977 when the winner of the ifbb mr. olympia contest, frank zane, was presented with a replica of the bronze trophy. since then, mr. olympia winners have been consistently awarded a replica of the bronze sandow. the first large-scale bodybuilding competition in america took place from december 28, 1903 to january 2, 1904, at madison square garden in new york city. the competition was promoted by bernarr macfadden, the father of physical culture and publisher of original bodybuilding magazines such as health & strength. the winner was al treloar, who was declared "the most perfectly developed man in the world". treloar won a thousand dollar cash prize, a substantial sum at that time. two weeks later, thomas edison made a film of treloar's posing routine. edison had also made two films of sandow a few years before. those were the first three motion pictures featuring a bodybuilder. in the early 20th century, macfadden and charles atlas continued to promote bodybuilding across the world. notable early bodybuilders many other important bodybuilders in the early history of bodybuilding prior to 1930 include: earle liederman (writer of some of bodybuilding's earliest books), zishe breitbart, georg hackenschmidt, emy nkemena, george f. jowett, finn hateral (a pioneer in the art of posing), frank saldo, monte saldo, william bankier, launceston elliot, sig klein, sgt. alfred moss, joe nordquist, lionel strongfort ("strongfortism"), gustav frištenský, ralph parcaut (a champion wrestler who also authored an early book on "physical culture"), and alan p. mead (who became an impressive muscle champion despite the fact that he lost a leg in world war i). actor francis x. bushman, who was a disciple of sandow, started his career as a bodybuilder and sculptor's model before beginning his famous silent movie career. 1950s–1960s bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the emergence of strength and gymnastics champions, and the simultaneous popularization of bodybuilding magazines, training principles, nutrition for bulking up and cutting down, the use of protein and other food supplements, and the opportunity to enter physique contests. the number of bodybuilding organizations grew, and most notably the international federation of bodybuilders (ifbb) was founded in 1946 by canadian brothers joe and ben weider. other bodybuilding organizations included the amateur athletic union (aau), national amateur bodybuilding association (nabba), and the world bodybuilding guild (wbbg). consequently, the contests grew both in number and in size. besides the many "mr. xxx" (insert town, city, state, or region) championships, the most prestigious titles were mr. america, mr. world, mr. universe, mr. galaxy, and ultimately mr. olympia, which was started in 1965 by the ifbb and is now considered the most important bodybuilding competition in the world. during the 1950s, the most successful and most famous competing bodybuilders were bill pearl, reg park, leroy colbert, and clarence ross. certain bodybuilders rose to fame thanks to the relatively new medium of television, as well as cinema. the most notable were jack lalanne, steve reeves, reg park, and mickey hargitay. while there were well-known gyms throughout the country during the 1950s (such as vince's gym in north hollywood, california and vic tanny's chain gyms), there were still segments of the united states that had no "hardcore" bodybuilding gyms until the advent of gold's gym in the mid-1960s. finally, the famed muscle beach in santa monica continued its popularity as the place to be for witnessing acrobatic acts, feats of strength, and the like. the movement grew more in the 1960s with increased tv and movie exposure, as bodybuilders were typecast in popular shows and movies. new organizations ed fury posing with model jackie coey in 1953 in the 1970s, bodybuilding had major publicity thanks to the appearance of arnold schwarzenegger, franco columbu, lou ferrigno, mike mentzer and others in the 1977 docudrama pumping iron. by this time, the ifbb dominated the competitive bodybuilding landscape and the amateur athletic union (aau) took a back seat. the national physique committee (npc) was formed in 1981 by jim manion, who had just stepped down as chairman of the aau physique committee. the npc has gone on to become the most successful bodybuilding organization in the united states and is the amateur division of the ifbb. the late 1980s and early 1990s saw the decline of aau-sponsored bodybuilding contests. in 1999, the aau voted to discontinue its bodybuilding events. anabolic/androgenic steroid use this period also saw the rise of anabolic steroids in bodybuilding and many other sports. more significant use began with arnold schwarzenegger, sergio oliva, and lou ferrigno in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and continuing through the 1980s with lee haney, the 1990s with dorian yates, ronnie coleman, and markus rühl, and up to the present day. bodybuilders such as greg kovacs attained mass and size never seen previously but were not successful at the pro level. others were renowned for their spectacular development of a particular body part, like tom platz or paul demayo for their leg muscles. at the time of shooting pumping iron, schwarzenegger, while never admitting to steroid use until long after his retirement, said, "you have to do anything you can to get the advantage in competition". he would later say that he did not regret using steroids. to combat anabolic steroid use and in the hopes of becoming a member of the ioc, the ifbb introduced doping tests for both steroids and other banned substances. although doping tests occurred, the majority of professional bodybuilders still used anabolic steroids for competition. during the 1970s, the use of anabolic steroids was openly discussed, partly due to the fact they were legal. in the anabolic steroid control act of 1990, u.s. congress placed anabolic steroids into schedule iii of the controlled substances act (csa). in canada, steroids are listed under schedule iv of the controlled drugs and substances act, enacted by the federal parliament in 1996. world bodybuilding federation in 1990, professional wrestling promoter vince mcmahon attempted to form his own bodybuilding organization known as the world bodybuilding federation (wbf). it operated as a sister to the world wrestling federation (wwf, now wwe), which provided cross-promotion via its performers and personalities. tom platz served as the wbf's director of talent development, and announced the new organization during an ambush of that year's mr. olympia (which, unbeknownst to organizers, mcmahon and platz had attended as representatives of an accompanying magazine, bodybuilding lifestyles). it touted efforts to bring bigger prize money and more "dramatic" events to the sport of bodybuilding—which resulted in its championships being held as pay-per-view events with wwf-inspired sports entertainment features and showmanship. the organization signed high-valued contracts with a number of ifbb regulars. the ifbb's inaugural championship in june 1991 (won by gary strydom) received mixed reviews. the wbf would be indirectly impacted by a steroid scandal involving the wwf, prompting the organization to impose a drug testing policy prior to the 1992 championship. the drug testing policy hampered the quality of the 1992 championship, while attempts to increase interest by hiring wcw wrestler lex luger as a figurehead (hosting a wbf television program on usa network, and planning to make a guest pose during the 1992 championship before being injured in a motorcycle accident) and attempting to sign lou ferrigno (who left the organization shortly after the drug testing policy was announced) did not come to fruition. the second ppv received a minuscule audience, and the wbf dissolved only one month later in july 1992. 2000s eight-time mr. olympia ronnie coleman in october 2009 in 2003, joe weider sold weider publications to american media, inc. (ami). the position of president of the ifbb was filled by rafael santonja following the death of ben weider in october 2008. in 2004, contest promoter wayne demilia broke ranks with the ifbb and ami took over the promotion of the mr. olympia contest: in 2017 ami took the contest outright. in the early 21st century, patterns of consumption and recreation similar to those of the united states became more widespread in europe and especially in eastern europe following the collapse of the soviet union. this resulted in the emergence of whole new