# Has modern bodybuilding been ruined by steroids? Can it be salvaged? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 19, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997 "2009-03-19T05:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stevo405398674](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Stevo405398674](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stevo405398674)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/21 "2010-05-21T08:21:30Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > I blame Dorian Yates to some extent. Look at [this](http://www.freakestphysique.blogger.com.br/Yates_020%5B1%5D.jpg); in 1985 he had a clean, well-proportioned “classical” look like the bodybuilders of yore…by the time he was winning Mr. Olympias he was entirely about being as huge as possible. Hey don’t leave out the [real monsters](http://www.bigmusclegallery.com) like Levrone, Gaspari and Nasser. They were the ones that started the real mess ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/22 "2010-05-21T13:47:44Z")
Steroids were bad enough, but when they let zombies start competing, things really went to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/23 "2010-05-21T13:52:52Z")
Zombies on _steroids_! ETA: Damn you! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/24 "2010-05-21T15:24:31Z")
> [@Tours d'Argent](#): > > I see these guys now and I’m genuinely bothered by the way they look. Top level bodybuilding is a business. They wont win money or get sponsorship striving for “ideals” that make you happy. There were plenty of people who thought Arnold was too big in his days. It’s all a matter of perspective… and business. Heck even [Dave Draper](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2162/2272694245_267e12e3ab.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/23875034%40N07/2272694245/&usg=__daWAUZ3QY1qEm3w-9R6sfvcaFsk=&h=400&w=500&sz=109&hl=en&start=19&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=IJKMrBAEq_8WxM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddave%2Bdraper%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1) was pushing it and that was before Arnold. To address the OP directly yes, it’s over regarding the golden age ideals. The sport has moved on to a new ideal. As mentioned above folks like Dorian Yates started the beginning of the end. For me personally [Zane '77](http://www.bodyresource.nl/forum/attachments/fotos-en-filmpjes/20661d1271273116-back-basic-classic-bodybuilding-steve-reeves-.jpg) was the high point. It was never the same after that. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/25 "2010-05-28T20:06:34Z")
> [@Tours d'Argent](#): > > Ha! Look at [Ronnie Coleman,](http://graysmatter.codivation.com/content/binary/Ronniecoleman.jpg) [Markus Ruhl,](http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/big/2006/2006olympia_pre_men172.jpg) [Jay Cutler,](http://www.mesomorphosis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/2007-mr-olympia-382-jay-cutler.jpg) or [Nasser El Sonbaty.](http://www.joe0.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/Nasser-El-Sonbaty-4.jpg) These guys are FREAKS. That’s not intended as a derisive term, that is what today’s bodybuilding fans call them, as a COMPLIMENT. They’re “Mass Monsters.” That’s what people want nowadays. (They also all have atrocious fake tans.) > > Compare that to [Arnold,](http://www.pchristensen.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/arnold.jpg) [Frank Zane,](http://www.ironmagazine.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/318987994.jpg) [Serge Nubret,](http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/2009/09-008-interviews/image004.jpg) and my personal favorite, the underrated [Ken Waller.](http://www.classicbodybuilders.com/bodybuilder/kenwaller3.jpg) > > The first group of guys are MASS MONSTERS where size takes priority over any sense of proportion. The second group look merely like strong, healthy, well-built men with scaled-up, proportional physiques. Ken Waller, in particular, looked like a Greek statue. These guys had small waists, the perfect V-taper in their torsos, and thighs that were proportional to their calves. The guys now have very defined abdominals, but their stomachs are so HUGE that they stick out like a beer gut. > > The guys now are so veiny, it’s ridiculous, and they slather on the fake-tan to an absurd degree. The 70s bodybuilders looked much healthier. Got to this discussion late.. I too love what I would consider the golden age of bodybuilding (Arnold.. Franco.. Zane.. Mentzer) and I would point to the reign of Dorian Yates into Ronnie Coleman as to when sheer mass wins out. I respect Kai Greene and Branch Warren.. but I wouldn’t want to look or aspire to either of them. Dexter Jackson is the only person competing today that I can stand to really look at and study. While the use of chemicals still require a great deal of work and planning.. I think when Joe Weider passes on perhaps the art will come back to something more proportional. I remember when everyone was clamoring about Tom Platz.. and I thought he looked ridiculous.. Good note on Ken Waller.. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/26 "2010-05-28T20:22:13Z")
I think Greg Valentino said in an interview once that his motivation for pumping his arms to ridiculous size was similar to the motivations of those who get tattooed from head to toe or get a couple hundred piercings in their face. I suppose the circus freak aspect is somewhat interesting, but aesthetics are just as important to bodybuilding as growing your muscles to their absolute limit. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/27 "2010-05-29T20:58:48Z")
There were mass monsters in the early days, although they didn’t have the ‘muscle bound’ look of Ruhl, Coleman or Cutler. The second Mr. Olympia,[Sergio](http://www.bodybuildingdungeon.com/forums/attachments/old-school/3947d1152410240-sergio-oliva-mythic_01.jpg) [“The Myth”](http://martialartsandfitness.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/05/sergio_oliva_el_mito.jpg) [Oliva](http://www.planetagalerias.com/data/536/sergio11.jpg) was enormous for his time, as was [Bill](http://www.ifbb.com/halloffame/1999/BillPearl2.jpg) [Pearl](http://images.tmuscle.com/forum_images/8/6/867821.1136052340856.bill-pearl-big.jpg). Although Pearl claimed that he only once tried anabolic steroids and didn’t like the way they made him feel, and his last year of competition he was a vegetarian. There’s no doubt that professional bodybuilders of the _Pumping Iron_ era used steroids, and back then people complained that they didn’t like the look of modern bodybuilders, preferring the earlier look of Steve Reeves, Mickey Hargitay, Clancy Ross, John Grimek. Just as Arnold, Zane, Nubret, Columbo and Draper were one-upping the heroes they grew up with, today’s professional bodybuilders are trying to outdo yesterday’s genetic freaks (Pearl, Oliva, Arnold, Mentzer, etc.) and end up with career-ending injuries, like Dorian Yates tearing his biceps. I don’t think that pro BB will ever come back from the mass monsters. Even with mandatory pre-competition steroid testing they’ll still juice during training and only stop long enough to pee clean for a show. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-modern-bodybuilding-been-ruined-by-steroids-can-it-be-salvaged/489997/28 "2010-06-12T23:46:36Z")
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