Is Arnold Schwarzenegger a fortune teller? It would explain quite a lot. Who else can boast a career in bodybuilding, Hollywood, politics, investing and hosting mega events? I am, of course, being somewhat tongue-in-cheek here. I do not believe Arnold could tell the future, although I am surprised this was not the premise of any of his 90s action films.
Arnold was, and is, however, astute when it comes to navigating trends in American life. This is especially true in his home turf of fitness wherein his eye for opportunity was always strongest. Today’s post begins with Arnold’s critically important 1980s book, The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. First published in 1985, the Encyclopedia was a reference guide for trainees seeking to emulate their elite bodybuilding heroes. It covered everything from training and posing to drug use and mind games.
Now admittedly a lot of the book is problematic. The passages on drug usage are written in a breezy and vague tone, the workout programs themselves are made for enhanced lifters and the stories contained within it often aggrandize Arnold above all others. Still with all its faults, it was a popular book, published just as bodybuilding, and gym cultures, were punching into the American mainstream.
What interests me today is a short passage on the future of fitness. Today we’re going to read Arnold’s thoughts from the 1980s and evaluate the success, or not of his predictions.
Enjoy!
The Future of Bodybuilding
As I travel across the country and around the world, seeing more and more good bodybuilders develop in the United States and an increasing number of competitors from Europe winning interna- tional contests, I have great hope for the future of the sport. Body- building is so specialized and so difficult that only a small percentage of people will ever want to do what it takes to become an international champion, but athletes who once would have been drawn to other sports are now beginning to consider a career in bodybuilding. This is one of the things that will ensure that the sport will continue to grow, that the level of competition will remain high, and that the public’s interest will continue to increase.
Bodybuilding means so much more today than it did when I first fell in love with it. Then, there was only competition, but now it has developed a recreational side-bodybuilding for physical fitness, health, and developing confidence and a better self- image. Orthopedists are beginning to use it as a means of rehabilitation for patients with certain types of physical problems. It is being used by the elderly as a means of combating many of the debilitating effects of aging. It is also becoming more important in sports training as many athletes find that bodybuilding can greatly enhance their performance. Women, children, and even whole families are becoming involved in bodybuilding programs. This is not a fad; it is obviously here to stay.
But as the ranks of professional bodybuilders increase, and bigger cash prizes become available, it should not be forgotten that the primary reason for bodybuilding is a fundamental love for the sport. Without this love, the camaraderie between bodybuilders is lost and the athletes compete without joy or satisfaction. If you consider only the financial side, then when another bodybuilder beats you, he has not just bested you in a contest, he has taken away part of your living, and it is difficult for anyone in this position to have anything but negative feelings for other competitors, and eventually for bodybuilding itself.
But I would like to see bodybuilding introduced to many more people than just those who are considering competition. Bodybuilding training is one of the best methods of achieving physical fitness, and the more people who understand this and benefit from it the better. Organizations like the IFBB often forget there is a world out there beyond organized bodybuilding, and put restrictions on bodybuilders as to where, when, and for whom they can give bodybuilding seminars. My view is that bodybuilding should be energetically encouraged on any occasion and for any audience. Enhancing all aspects of life through better physical fitness is a need that takes priority over any jurisdictional considerations.
He’s a Witch! Burn Him!
Before discussing Arnold’s predictions I do want to include one of my favorite Monty Python sketches about witches.
We’ve found a witch, shall we burn her?”
“Burn her! Burn her!”
“How do you know she’s a witch?”
“Cuz she looks like one!”
Moving swiftly on and absolving Arnold from all links to the occult…
The Encyclopedia‘s predictions were less about telling the future and about noticing existing trends. The expansion of bodybuilding globally had already begun as evidenced by the entire premise of Pumping Iron the book and the backdrop of South Africa in Pumping Iron the documentary (both released in the 1970s).
Likewise, people relying on bodybuilding techniques and fitness as a lifestyle, even for athletes was underway. I’ve previously written about Jan Todd, Terry Todd and Jason Shurley’s wonderful book on strength and conditioning in American sports. The inclusion of weight training activities for athletes truly took off in the 1960s and 1970s while the rehabilitative use of weight training likewise existed during this time.
New groups coming to bodybuilding, including women and children, was a prescient observation. Obviously, by that point, women’s bodybuilding had already begun (the first Ms. Olympia was held in 1980, and there were numerous precursors in the late 1970s). It took much longer for medical buy in that children engaged in weight training were safe but again, the tide did change.
What I do want to zone in on is Arnold’s reminder that the primary reason for engaging in these practices is a fundamental love for the sport. Bodybuilding stood at an interesting crossroads in the 1980s. The sport itself was soon to become counter-cultural and defined by mass monsters while the practices (going to the gym, taking supplements etc.) was becoming mainstream.
Maybe I’m becoming cold and cynical but I find both worlds have forgotten the importance of joy and wonderment when it comes to training the body and making achievements. Yes this is soap-box time but if the sport’s biggest star was warning people to remember to enjoy these things, I feel I’m in good company.
Was Arnold a fortune teller? Nope.
Was he aware of a growing trend in the sport which focused on winning and commercialism? Absolutely.
So while I won’t be relying on Arnold for next week’s lottery numbers, I will remember to enjoy my next session.
As always… Happy Lifting!
I came of age in the seventies. I did not learn weight training from athletics, my sports were endurance based and no one was teaching us to lift for strength or power. So my intro to iron was magazines and the books written by bodybuilders. I found that bodybuilding, ie training for hypertrophy became the defacto definition of what lifting was in the mind of the general public. Years working in health clubs cemented that observation. As I got older I discovered other training methodologies, but as I hit my 60’s, hypertrophy training to conserver muscle mass has again become an important part of my training.
As a 68-year-old who’s still bodybuilding since beginning at age fifteen in 1971 (which was before Schwarzenegger became known to the public through first the 1974 documentary book “Pumping Iron” and then the 1977 documentary film “Pumping Iron”), one confusion I’ve later wished had been avoided is current use of “bodybuilder” and “physique competitor” as synonyms.
“Bodybuilding” became the equivalent in popular perception of “building massive muscle mass, usually with enhancement from anabolic steroids, in order to compete in physique contests”.
However, technically, bodybuilding, while certainly encompassing that segment described by the popular perception, applies to “building muscle”, period. Anyone utilizing resistance training of any kind, whether barbell programs, calisthenics, isometrics, even systematic hoisting of sacks of cement or large rocks to build their muscle and strength, is bodybuilding. In my 68 years, I neither used anabolic steroids nor competed in physqiye contests, yet have been bodybuilding with barbells, dumbbells, and related resistance machines for over fifty-two years.
For the benefit of the general population, for whom resistance training, can provide fitness and health, I’ve wished exercise terminology had evolved differently; so that just like someone stating, “I’m a runner” isn’t automatically equated with “I compete in running competitions”, so, “I’m a bodybuilder” wasn’t automatically interpreted as “I compete in physique competitions.”
I wish the term “physical culture” hadn’t vanished after the term “bodybuilding” was introduced as its synonym then supplanted it pre-1950.
If it hadn’t, perhaps “physical culture” might serve today to distinguish “building strength and muscle, and maintaining sound nutrition, for attractiveness, fitness, and health” from “building maximum muscle mass in order to compete in physique competition”?
What Schwarzenegger foresaw during the early 1980s wasn’t a public embrace of building muscle for physique competition; frankly, the percentage of US and UK populations who are fans and followers of physique contests and contestants remains tiny, possibly tinier now in 2024 than the percentage was at end of 1999.
However, what has indeed exploded since the 1980s is the inclusion of resistance training – – of “bodybuilding” in the general sense — as exercise for fitness, health, and attractiveness. “Physical Culture” did indeed popularize through UK and US populations, just as he hoped and predicted the basic resistance training and nutritional methods employed but in extremes by physique competitors, would.
Hey Joe,
As always, it’s truly inspiring to hear about your dedication to bodybuilding for over five decades, especially considering your journey began in an era when the sport was on the cusp of global recognition. Your perspective on the evolution of the terms “bodybuilding” and “physique competitor” highlights a significant shift in how people perceive physical training and its purposes. I completely agree with your sentiment regarding the term “physical culture” and its potential to more accurately encompass the broad spectrum of activities aimed at improving strength, health, and overall well-being.
The distinction you’ve drawn between building muscle for personal fitness versus for competitive aesthetics is a crucial one. It speaks volumes about the importance of recognizing and valuing the personal journey and achievements in physical fitness, irrespective of whether one chooses to compete. Your experience underscores the idea that bodybuilding, in its truest sense, is about more than just the pursuit of muscle mass for competition; it’s about a lifelong commitment to health, strength, and discipline.
The term “physical culture” offers a much richer, more inclusive way to describe this commitment. It harks back to a time when physical training was appreciated not just for its aesthetic outcomes but for its role in promoting overall health and longevity. Your wish for a different evolution of exercise terminology reflects a deep understanding of the multifaceted benefits of resistance training. It’s a reminder that, at its core, the practice of building one’s body is about enhancing one’s quality of life!.