Natural Bodybuilding (Silver Age to 1980s-90s Golden Age)

[WilliamSmith]

Time for a natural bodybuilding thread!

We've been having some good discussion in the "Home workouts for men" thread (viewtopic.php?p=371644#p371644), but I want to do one on natural bodybuilding and its awesome history here, because there's a lot of great practical knowledge and inspiration from the older periods that's arguably been overshadowed by the extravaganza of biological perversion and drug abuse since the sport of bodybuilding went down the tubes in the mid-1990s.

I personally don't care about watching competitions even from the old periods (though Vince McMahon's short-lived early 90's WBF being a big exception LOL), but have been inspired by the silver age through 1980s bodybuilders.
So I'm focusing on it more as a muscle building practice than as a competitive sport.


What I personally love about natural bodybuilding:
Eating good nutritious food with plenty of protein and healthy carbs and healthy fats + ideally nice veggies, doing a mixture of compound lifts to hit heavy muscle groups, but also some isolation lifts, going at it in bed with good looking heterosexual women as much as possible (both to live a good life and max your natural testosterone for more muscle growth), all that good stuff.
And also there's lots of cool stuff from the history if you like "cheezy" macho retro stuff, from Reg Park's Hercules through Conan the Barbarian or the 80s-90s action films where the stars like Arnold, Van Damme, and Stallone were all beefed up using (as far as I know) healthy methods.

On that note I had better repost the video of Arnold carrying the log from Commando, LOL

https://www.bitchute.com/video/XeZgTEcmeoWY/

Taking a quick look at how they used to look when bodybuilding was in its "Silver Age":
I actually like a lot of the look here the best, because they put a lot of emphasis on building mass and sculpting their physique, but it looks like they didn't do abnormal things to get "shredded" for competition as much, and they hadn't started the supplementation mess yet. (Some stuff like vitamins is fine, but I think the supplements industry got out of control, but am not even going to address that much since all-natural is what this topic is all about.)

Lucas88 told some funny stories from his mixed martial arts gym about modern bodybuilders who built up abnormal mass getting winded and tapping out fast, LOL. I have heard some guys say they actually try to minimize cardio in order to max their mass, so a good takeaway from that is to always do some martial arts to make sure you're actually combat-ready as well as beefed up.

But I think in almost all cases the amount of mass they have in the Silver Age (and much of the Golden Age through the end of the 80s) would only help them be stronger and more energetic.

(That doesn't count where they do abnormal stuff to get "ripped"/"shredded" for competition, but otherwise the amount of mass we see here on these guys of different body types would just help you feel like $1,000,000 as the saying goes, and also makes a lot (I'd say most) women go bananas over you and get horny, which is good.

Here's one of my favorites: Chet Yorton, the guy I pictured up top, and who beat Arnold in a competition once, but also look at him here later in "Middle Age," and also much later when he was 77 years old: Wouldn't that be great to stay built into your "golden years?" LOL. I'm going to give it a shot.






A bit earlier, here is Jim Haislop from the 1950s who looks like a built version of my Granddad on my mom's side of the family, LOL:



On the brawnier side, here is Reg Park, who played Hercules in a bunch of sword-and-sandal flicks, and who Arnold idolized as his role model:




There they are together after Park was nice to a young Arnold and invited him to his house to train with him if he won a certain championship: Arnold won it, so then they trained together, and later Arnold competed against Park and a whole bunch of other silver age guys, and won.


Yorton and obviously Arnold and Reg Park were all gifted with metamorphic genes, but see below for some guys who are less so who still used natural bodybuilding:

Here's Frank Zane who both Joe Weider and Arnold said they thought lacked competitive bodybuilding potential anywhere except possibly his legs, yet then Zane went on to become a champion who beat Arnold at least once (and one of the later wins Arnold swiped was really close and controversial):

Here he is as a youth when you can see his genes are way more inclined toward ectomorphism:


Yet here he is later:



It is actually the action stars of the 80s who got me started (ever heard that one before from "Millennials," LOL?), especially Van Damme and Dolph because their levels of muscularity looked attainable even though Arnold was "larger than life"





I think that level of mass is probably about ideal for helping out with natural practical strength and martial arts, and also making women get the hots for you on sight, since it's enough muscle to impress the girls, but not an abnormal amount of mass straining against the natural impulses of your own genetics.

By the way: Both Van Damme and Dolph were real martial arts competitors too, Dolph even fighting Oleg Taktarov when he was fairly old, proving his mettle.

I agree that martial arts is a great thing and I'm no longer going to be lazy about practicing (especially in this period where I'm going expat, and so can't bring any guns to protect my females, LOL).

@Lucas88 with a lot more martial arts experience talked about abnormally pumped up guys getting winded and tapping out to skinner guys fast, LOL, so I'll quote him as a contribution to this thread:

Many bodybuilders on the other hand aren't naturally big guys. Some of them are quite average in terms of their natural physique but then blow up way beyond their natural range through abnormally high levels of anabolic substance intake and as a result of this their bodies tire very quickly under intense physical activity. These guys are just way too swole for their own good.

However, embracing positivity here: Zane and some of the action stars prove that you can do amazing positive things with natural bodybuilding even if you're not a natural muscle monster like Arnold, Reg Park, Gary Strydom, etc, and it can be done without turning yourself into a roid-gobbling meat monster "too swole for their own good" LOL.

[WilliamSmith]

I had better add a second post here about my otaku library of retro bodybuilding books and magazines.

I can't list 'em all or get the titles from my library exactly right because I'm somewhere else right now, but here are some good ones I have off the top of my head:

I think I have around 30 or so issues of 1980s Muscle & Fitness Magazines, loaded with awesome cheezy 80s pics and ads as well as legitimately valuable advice in their columns.
Here's just one of a zillion covers on those that make it worth the price of the mags :


Books:

Arnold's Education of a Bodybuilder (great entertaining read)

Franco Columbu's nutrition book (forget the exact title)

Arnold has a bodybuilding for beginners' book that's a hardcover with entertaining 80s pics but also a complete set of routines for beginners

Bill Reynolds was responsible for co-authoring lots of the best vintage 80s bodybuilding books, and also wrote some originals, and his book on beginner bodybuilding is good

Ralf Moeller "Weight Training" ( , lots of awesome glossy pics of Ralf Moeller when he had blond dyed hair)

Boyer and Valerie Coe's Weight Training book

I think I have two by Frank Zane: One specifically on nutrition, and one on lifting

I believe I have not just one but three by Bob Paris: "Beyond Built" (LOL), another one that slipped my mind, and one specifically about staying in top shape in your "Prime"

Ironman's Guide to Natural Bodybuilding

Oh yeah, I also have

"Sly Moves" by Stallone

"Train Like an Action Hero" by Dolph

I also have one of those big Weider bodybuilding encyclopedias that was published something like 1995 when there was still awesome content, but you could see them starting to slide toward roid-pumping and abnormal mass levels in order to push the competition to extremes (not to mention the conflict of interest with supplement industry).

I'm sure I'll be back to this thread in awhile, but if there's anything in any of those titles you just have to know about you can let me know and I'll go consult my library once I'm back where it's located.

[Cornfed]

I suppose everyone knows that top bodybuilders have not been natural since the early 50s. It doesn't even make much sense to apply the term "natural" until later since they didn't distinguish between natural and unnatural. No doubt some people who competed at a highish level back then were natural, but they sucked. I'm pretty sure I could have beaten them. Obviously people like Arnold and Frank "The Chemist" Zane were the very antithesis of being natural and the only reason they had smaller muscles than later competitors is that they flat out weren't as good.

I'd agree with what seems to be the mainstream opinion that the high point was in the 90s with Dorian being the pivot point. Dorian was huge and well shaped while avoiding problems such as the distended belly and Palumboism, but other competitors who tried to match him weren't so lucky, and judging standards overlooked these problems in favour of muscle size for a long time. Then you got things like insulin and synthol and perhaps particular combinations of steroids and sarms that produced really ugly physiques. I talk about the subject in this video, where I conclude that there probably isn't a good solution to the problem, although to be fair things seem to be starting to improve a little.

https://rumble.com/vwcz2s-can-bodybuild ... saved.html

[WilliamSmith]

Lots of silver age guys in particular were all natural and only used good real food + some protein shakes and stuff like vitamins, not pumping roids or other weird stuff. But like I said, for me it's not about what they did in competitive bodybuilding that interests me.
Prancing around on a stage posing to try to be "judged" by a bunch of strange men in brown suits with your body covered in tanning oil is too weird and faggy for me anyway, but I admire what many of those same competitors did largely through natural weightlifting, good nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle. To me, the irony is they look the best outside of the competition.

I don't have anything against Yates, but personally think he looks deformed and weird, and I'd rather be so modest as to only be as pumped up as Van Damme or Dolph or one of the Silver Age guys like Jim Haislop.

[WilliamSmith]

Heheh, I believe I mentioned Vince McMahon's WBF earlier. I'm admittedly getting a little bit off the purist "natural bodybuilding" track by bringing WBF into the thread here, but 90% of their competitors were still looking good back then in the early 1990s aesthetically. Actually, come to think of it, I remember Vince, Tom Platz, and Bobby the Brain Heenan all commenting on WBF being drug-free, at least when it came to anabolic steroids...

Anyway, look what I just picked up off Ebay :

[Cornfed]

Actually, come to think of it, I remember Vince, Tom Platz, and Bobby the Brain Heenan all commenting on WBF being drug-free, at least when it came to anabolic steroids...

Not sure what Vince was thinking of with that ploy. It was probably a big reason why the WBF failed. Obviously the competitors couldn't actually stop using steroids, so they just had to work around the tests, which led to them generally missing their peak.

[Lucas88]

Heheh, I believe I mentioned Vince McMahon's WBF earlier. I'm admittedly getting a little bit off the purist "natural bodybuilding" track by bringing WBF into the thread here, but 90% of their competitors were still looking good back then in the early 1990s aesthetically. Actually, come to think of it, I remember Vince, Tom Platz, and Bobby the Brain Heenan all commenting on WBF being drug-free, at least when it came to anabolic steroids..

The WWF Steroid Scandal began in 1992. Vince McMahon, who has always been a massive juicer himself, was allegedly urging some of his main event wrestlers to juice since the freakish bodybuilder physique of the Hulk Hogans, the Ultimate Warriors and the Randy Savages always brought good ratings for wrestling. I've not watched any documentaries on the WWF Steroid Scandal in a long time and so I don't remember many of the details but maybe the "drug-free" direction of the WBF was just a PR stunt to portray Vince and his company in a more positive light. Vince naturally didn't want to be seen as that unscrupulous asshole who urged his employees and competitors to take anabolic drugs.

[WilliamSmith]

I decided to post this from our sly little jewish friend Mercer's "self improvement is a scam" thread because @MarcosZeitola made a great post on Stallone, and I can heartily recommend his book "Sly Moves" talking about his workouts and muscle building and diet theories and so on + lots of fun pics.

(See below the quoted post for my new pics showing Stallone both on the cover of "Sly Moves" and also a pic from inside the book showing him as a small boy when he was very cool but obviously didn't have any massive advantage via genetics.)

If you are ugly and neurodivergent you will be treated like absolute shit. Everyone will automatically hate you and no one will want to associate with you. No amount of self improvement will ever fix this. You will always be considered the weird, creepy person. Self improvement only works for privileged people who were already born with the right genetics.

How is self improvement a scam? A fat guy can always get into shape, that's self improvement. Does self improvement only have relevance dependant on what others are thinking? I thought self improvement was just exactly what it says on the tin. The improvement of one's self.

Yeah, people with better genetics will always have an advantage in life. But surely it is better to strive towards self improvement regardless of your genetics or social standing.

Sylvester Stallone was an odd looking Italian guy with wonky eyes, he was kinda short and slender. But he worked his butt off, got fit, eventually managed to become a movie star and a millionaire banging the hottest of ladies, rising the the top of Hollywood. If he had @Mercers outlook in life he'd say: "I'm 5'9" and my face is odd, my genes are shit, better give up now."

Sly Moves:


Young Sly Stallone:


Ahhh, he also mentioned Steeve Reeves in that caption, LOL!!!

Well I think Stallone is badass, but at risk of pissing off Stallone since he long hated Schwarzenegger (even though Arnold unfortunately ended up crawling to jews and the NWO/ZOG damn near as much as Don Zion aka Trump), I agree with what Arnold said that Reeves was too much of a glamour boy, vs Reg Park who was a f***ing primal masculine animal and a beast, and that's what I wanted to look like too (except I like my so-called "Aryan" features, but wish I was a big mass of brutal looking all-natural muscle like Reg Park and Gary Strydom).

Problem for me: I have tall but more "ectomorphic" genes vs the "classical" mesomorph Arnold and the mesomorphic beast Reg Park, so I look more like a well-built but more muscular Bruce Payne in his prime rather than these muscle monsters like Park and Strydom. I'm not whining about it, just sayin', as our southern European cousins say.

If I could choose my fantasy genes to have, I'd go with that Gary Strydom look of those big somewhat rectangular-block looking pectorals and all the rest.
I like twitching my pecs, LOL, but it was funny because when I was in my early 20's and first built larger pecs for the first time in my life with my very 1st Weider Machine (which I now realize isn't as good as a bench and free weights, but hey, live and learn), I was living in one of Left Coast America's many crappy 2-story cities when I built them up for the first time after learning about compound lifts like the deadlift and bench pressing, but then I went back to my rural home country to visit family, and I decided to go one of my "black metal" binges and run through the forest during a storm listening to "The Dark Castle in the Mighty Forest" by Satyricon (yeah go ahead and make fun of me) on a cheapo MP3 player, and while I was running down this big dark evergreen forested slope listening to it, my pecs were bouncing around it felt weird and rather "uncomfortable." I knew you can wiggle around your muscles but never run on hard pavement so I didn't realize my pecs would bounce around until then. Then I remembered that scene in the Running Man with Arnold where he's running away from security guards in slow motion, so I realized when you put on some muscle it actually bounces around and feels kinda weird, even if it's well worth it.

[WilliamSmith]

Heheh, I believe I mentioned Vince McMahon's WBF earlier. I'm admittedly getting a little bit off the purist "natural bodybuilding" track by bringing WBF into the thread here, but 90% of their competitors were still looking good back then in the early 1990s aesthetically. Actually, come to think of it, I remember Vince, Tom Platz, and Bobby the Brain Heenan all commenting on WBF being drug-free, at least when it came to anabolic steroids..

The WWF Steroid Scandal began in 1992. Vince McMahon, who has always been a massive juicer himself, was allegedly urging some of his main event wrestlers to juice since the freakish bodybuilder physique of the Hulk Hogans, the Ultimate Warriors and the Randy Savages always brought good ratings for wrestling. I've not watched any documentaries on the WWF Steroid Scandal in a long time and so I don't remember many of the details but maybe the "drug-free" direction of the WBF was just a PR stunt to portray Vince and his company in a more positive light. Vince naturally didn't want to be seen as that unscrupulous asshole who urged his employees and competitors to take anabolic drugs.

@Lucas88 LOL, I never knew that awesome history (I read this back when you posted it but didn't have time to reply yet to express appreciation), but since I just embarrassed myself with my Gary Strydom envy in the prior post, check this out: Like Vince yells out in his immense enthusiasm:
"JERRY STRYDOM IS *PUMPED UP!!*"
Also listen to that late 80s/early 90s music production where they have all the bass and giant gated snares and everything, LOL.
+ @Winston check out those white women on Strydom's arm as he comes out on stage! That was 1991-2 or so when white men were men, but here in the 2020s now that all the white men have turned into spineless transmaxxing faggots crawling around kissing the feet of the satanic jews, you could clean up easy with these kinds of good looking white women!! Go for it man!

[WilliamSmith]

I decided to pop back in here again one more time before my hiatus, because I've made a big commitment to kick my own ass when it comes to getting beefed back up again, and making a permanent all-natural dietary regime change that focuses on optimizing testosterone without any artificial stuff (e.g. drugs or weird stuff like testoboost injections or those skin cream things I heard Mel Gibson was using).

So I've made some new plans to be landlocked again for a bit for various reasons, but I've made arrangements to try "cohabiting" a while and will have more room to store stuff, so I am going to be getting my library of vintage bodybuilding books and my big-ass stacks of awesome "cheezy 80s" Muscle & Fitness magazines out of my storage unit, now that I'll actually have enough room for both them and my modest barbell and dumbbell collection where I will be staying for awhile. Not to mention my new kettlebell set that I like, but haven't had time to get into that much yet.

I want to maximize my health now I've entered my dreaded "prime" and passed the magic # of 40 years of age, but also because my personal list of expatriation countries are awesome, but frankly rather dangerous in a lot of areas (with the exception of some of the quieter small islands that are not too bad). So when I go back to them I want to be as strong and healthy as I possibly can be, as well as getting a lot better with martial arts stuff.
That's doubly true for when I will be (in the long run) living on a small boat at anchorages for free, which is totally awesome, but definitely makes you a potential target for pirates, unless you're part of some kind of convoy...

Anyway, I'm going to re-read and annotate every vintage bodybuilding book I have (I think I have everything by Arnold, the 80s Ralph Moeller book, the one by Stallone, the newer one by Dolph, all of them by Bob Paris, LOL, one by Frank Zane, one by Boyer Coe, the Franco Columbo nutrition book, and more). So I'll let you guys know all the cool stuff I find. + I'll pull some great cheezy stuff from my vintage magazines after I figure out some efficient way to scan or photograph my favorite selections from those. It's going to be fun.
[Edit: I see I also had a post from last May or something like that above boasting about my collection of cheezy vintage weightlifting and nutrition books, so I guess this idea was in the back of my mind for awhile now, even though I did not have access to them then, and engaged in less than perfect behavior in the ensuing months, particularly with regard to sleep and alcohol use.... ]

I have been using discipline in some life areas for the past few years and my diet has actually been pretty good for years, but especially in the last year I have been trying to do too many things at once in the 2020s scramble, over-using caffeine, drinking too much too often, and messing up my sleep schedule (which is one of the #1 things a man who wants to stay healthy should not allow to happen, especially if he wants to keep a good amount of lean mass), so like I admitted in another thread, I am dissatisfied until I pack on more muscle. I'm going to treat myself like a King and deliberately laze around after workouts and try to get as much sleep as possible too, until I pack back on more muscle.

Here's a repost of the Dolph "good enough... I guess" level of lean mass, but I'd rather have the amount of beef he had in Showdown in Little Tokyo.


Suppose this is a good place to also add a random Twitter find from earlier this morning:

Kanye's also looking pretty solid here in his WLM tank top. I've still never actually heard one of his songs, but am definitely a fan of what he's been doing lately in the sphere of public influence and shifting of the "Overton Window."