It's interesting to note that there were no formal bodybuilders as we know them to be prior to the late 19th century. The phrase probably did not even exist prior to that. Though it must have routinely existed for soldiers throughout the ages when you see Roman gladiators and muscled infantry men in Sparta, assuming the movie "300" has any claim to accuracy. The well-defined muscles on Greek and Roman statues of the gods and personages of Mt Olympus clearly show that bodybuilding could very well be as old as mankind itself.

But for the phrase itself, we're talking 1880s to the 1920s - this is the period considered the early pioneering years of modern bodybuilding. It was during this time that the bodybuilding craze evolved and got promoted as a sport where you get audiences to pay for appreciating a display of "muscled performance". It didn't end with just a display, you have performance and endurance sports like weightlifting, boxing and wrestling with half naked players who showcase what a well-developed body can do.

Who Started the Vogue?

A German (at that time Prussia) by the name of Eugen Sandow is credited as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding." (So there must be an ancient bodybuilding.) The man promoted the practice by flaunting a muscled male physique as a sport and even built stages where you can display a well sculpted physique to the delight of audiences. Wrestling matches, boxing and other display of strength from a well-developed body were now made the focus of these stage shows.

Sandow himself was a bodybuilder, participating with surprising success in these stages to showcase his well-endowed physique. Flexing the muscles in various poses became the means to display muscular endowments. With these shows came many businesses related to bodybuilding that soon flourished with his name on them. The very first set of exercise equipment, the dumbbells, tension bands and string pulleys were sold to eager would-be bodybuilders wanting to develop their muscles in the hope of looking like Sandow.

The first Bodybuilding Contests

Sandow developed and promoted the "ideal physique" fashioned after Greek and Roman sculpture of the human male form. He established a quasi-mathematical model to describe what the ideal body proportions are that eventually became the model for judging bodybuilding contest that he initiated.

The first recorded bodybuilding contest was organized by Sandow himself in September 14, 1901. Promoted as the "Great Competition," it had its venue in London at the Royal Albert hall. It was a smashing success with hundreds of bodybuilding enthusiasts turned away due to an oversold hall capacity. Sitting as judge together with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others, Sandow had dozens of male contestants flex and pose in front of a cheering crowd.

The winner was a certain William L. Murray who hailed from Nottingham, England. He received a trophy with a bronze statue of Sandow himself posing his muscular endowment. As they say, the rest is history. This same statue of Sandow now sits on the trophy presented to the winner of todays most prestigious and popular world bodybuilding contest, Mr. Olympia.