The Golden Era of Bodybuilding: Why Did They Look Better?

The Golden Era of bodybuilding is widely believed to have been from the 1950s to the 1970s. During these years, the greatest physiques to ever grace the sport were sculpted and are still widely coveted today.

During this time, bodybuilders had huge muscles, tiny waists, and perfect symmetry, unlike some bodybuilders today who look 8 months pregnant with twins.

Almost everyone in bodybuilding can agree that physiques from these eras were timeless.

During the Golden Era, bodybuilders would pop desiccated liver tablets like they were candy while chugging quarts of milk on Muscle Beach.

Why Golden Era Bodybuilders Looked Better

Despite knowledge supposedly evolving in regards to nutrition, supplements, and workouts, many people don’t want to look like modern-day bodybuilders. In comparison, they are significantly bigger than those of the Golden Era, while still looking more bloated and unhealthy than their predecessors.

The reason for this is thought to be different steroids and different dosages used.

Back then, steroids such as Dianabol, Deca Durabolin, and Primobolan were popular. These compounds would produce huge muscle gains without excessive androgenic effects. Thus, bodybuilders could remain looking relatively natural (with smooth muscles) while also keeping their hair intact.

Different “Supplements”

Today, compounds such as trenbolone, Anadrol, and HGH are more commonly used in combination with the older steroids.

Increased androgenic steroids like trenbolone accelerate hair loss on the scalp, hence why bodybuilders today are often bald. Modern bodybuilders’ traps and deltoids also blow up more today, creating a more freakish look.

This is due to these muscles having a higher number of androgen receptors (1), thus making them more susceptible to muscle hypertrophy via the use of androgenic steroids.

No HGH, No Gut

The inclusion of HGH and insulin in cycles during the 1980s had a negative effect on aesthetics. These two compounds helped produce the first “mass monsters”, with Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman coming onto the scene.

However, the downside to this extra mass from HGH and insulin was the enlargement of the intestines and increased visceral fat, resulting in distended stomachs (known as HGH guts).

In comparison, a typical IFBB bodybuilder today would be embarrassed to stand against people like Frank Zane, who would often highlight their tiny midsections by performing stomach vacuums when posing.

Lower Dosages

The dosages bodybuilders would take back then were also thought to be much less, with Arnold saying that some bodybuilders took 3 Dianabol pills each day (2).

With Dianabol tablets originally being in 5 mg doses, this translates to 15 mg per day. This is also the maximum dose recommended by doctors at the time, who would prescribe Dianabol to bodybuilders.

However, bodybuilders today often take doses as high as 50–100 mg a day. Thus, they are thought to be taking up to 7 times the dose as classic bodybuilders.

Inevitably, taking more of any steroid will lead to more health complications, hence why bodybuilders such as Arnold are still alive now at 72 years of age and in relatively good health. In contrast, it’s common for modern IFBB bodybuilders to die more prematurely (3).

Studies have also shown that when mice were exposed to steroids, their lifespan decreased (4). They also found that higher doses resulted in a lower life expectancy.

Different Training Philosophies

Back in the Golden Era, bodybuilders would train more instinctively. For example, some bodybuilders’ workouts would last for several hours. Today, this would be labeled as overtraining and is largely avoided; however, they proved it worked.

This was a method used by Arnold to help bring up lagging body parts, such as his calves.

Tom Platz was also known to squat for up to 4 hours, consequently developing the greatest legs in bodybuilding.

Back then, there were fewer studies done on the human body, so they would be the guinea pigs themselves, experimenting with what worked and what didn’t. This training mentality is almost extinct today, where people will only try a routine if it’s been validated by a study or has some scientific explanation behind it from a guru.

Old School Workouts

Back then, the gyms were a lot smaller, so they had a lot of dumbbells, barbells, and fewer machines. This unknowingly worked to their advantage, forcing them to stick to free-weight movements, proven to be more effective for building strength and mass than machine-assisted exercises (5).

Compound exercises such as deadlifts, bench presses, barbell rows, squats, and overhead presses were commonly performed.

Isolation exercises were also used for additional growth and sculpting. They utilized similar rep ranges as the pros today; however, their intensity was thought to be higher. Arnold stated that he’d been sick in a gym before on the documentary Pumping Iron, giving some insight as to how hard they trained.

More Golden Era Photos

Despite their rivalry, Franco Columbu and Arnold remained the closest of friends. Columbu perhaps had better conditioning; however, he lost out to Arnold on the overall Sandow trophy due to the Austrian Oak having more mass.

Mike Mentzer is one of the few bodybuilders to get a perfect 300 score during the Mr. Olympia (6). Dorian Yates later adopted Mike Mentzer’s heavy-duty training system, which involved intensely lifting heavy weights for short periods of time.

This was the biggest version of Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 1974 Mr. Olympia, where he combined huge mass with sharp conditioning.

Sergio Oliva, aka the myth, showed off some of the greatest arms that ever belonged to bodybuilding. He is the only individual to have defeated Arnold in the Mr. Olympia competition.

Lou Ferrigno is making Arnold look small (above).

Francis Benfatto is one of the most aesthetic bodybuilders of all time. He appeared a little later in the 80s; however, he kept the classic physique in an era where steroid guts were starting to appear left, right, and center.

Franco Columbu was known to rub chalk on his hands to improve grip strength prior to deadlifting. Franco, although only 5 feet 5 and only 185 pounds, was one of the strongest bodybuilders around.

Serge Nubret, nicknamed the Black Panther, was one of the most ripped and aesthetic-looking bodybuilders in the 1970s.

Conclusion

Bodybuilders from the Golden Era subjectively looked better to many spectators due to a prioritization of aesthetics over mass.

Today, higher dosages of the same anabolic steroids are administered, combined with additional (and more potent) AAS. Thus, modern bodybuilders possess a bigger, yet more synthetic look, which today’s judges reward. Bodybuilders today consequently experience increased side effects from non-therapeutic dosages, causing various health complications and earlier deaths.

Who was your favorite Golden Era bodybuilder? 

(1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10664066/

(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiHu6Y6UOdI

(3) https://physicalculturestudy.com/2018/10/27/bodybuilders-who-passed-away-too-young/

(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9140897

(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260589/

(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mentzer#:~:text=In%20late%201979%2C%20Mentzer%20won,a%20third%20time%20that%20year.

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