Changes in the Bodybuilding Culture since the 80s

[Wynn]

TRAININGS 20 YEARS AGO

 

[Cdn]

Who remembers the movie Pumping Iron?

 

[USMuscle9403]

Who remembers the movie Pumping Iron?

It's actually free to watch on YouTube right now, watched it just the other night. It's worth it for the intro song alone lol

 

[finephysique]

Who remembers the movie Pumping Iron?

It is what introduced me to bodybuilding and motivated me more than anything I hav3 seen.

 

[hawkmoon]

1990 Olympia mini-doc:

 

[alfresco]

From Ian Harrison's facebook:


Well what a year 2020 has been for many of us, myself included.
With a global pandemic and so many other things affecting 2020 worldwide.

Approximately 6 weeks ago I began having bad acid reflux pains and attacks approximately every other day which caused me to lose my voice and cause me a lot of pain and vomiting.
I researched the symptoms but no changes in diet seemed to work.
I therefore made an appointment to see a gastroenterologist to find out what was going on.

So fast forward to Dec 7th.
Once the gastroenterologist saw me he immediately sent me to the ER to get my heart checked out. They did an EKG and within 5 mins I was in a room surrounded by Doctors and nurses X-ray machines and having multiple tests all confirming my heart was running to 50% of its capacity. Apparently I had been having multiple heart attacks for the past 3 weeks not acid reflux!!!

No it couldn’t be , I was this super fit ex bodybuilder who ran the PCA , they must be mistaken right ?
No !
I have trained all my life and always eaten a bodbuilding based healthy low fat diet, retired from competitive bodybuilding at 28, so obviously this came as an extreme shock and embarrassment to me.

On December 7th I had emergency open heart surgery , I had two heart attacks on the operating table and 6 bypasses were performed.
I spent two weeks in ICU due to some complications (pneumonia) in which time due to confusion I ripped out my own intubation tubes twice which caused many problems and caused me to be in the ICU having a machine breathe for me for two weeks and a week recovering in the cardiology ward.
I can honestly say this was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me.

Btw there is NO history of this in my family .
I came home December 28th. I have a few weeks of hard recovery in front of me but this has really just opened my eyes to many things, one being just how precious and fragile life is, even when we think it could never happen to us the other, enjoy life and never think you are invincible.

As bodybuilders we think we are strong and tough (many are).
We pride ourselves on our dedication to health and fitness many have perished and some are quick to point the finger saying or yeah he abused this or that , when they really don’t know the facts.

Over the last few years stories such as mine seem more and more common.
After speaking with all the surgeons it seems the biggest killer in the world bar none is any type of heart disease/ blockage .
As the man the behind the PCA USA promoting shows across the country I feel obliged to tell my story.

Bodybuilding did not do this to me but these things are ignored by many.
This should be a healthy sport and life is too short already so I say let’s promote HEALTH AND the great sport of BODYBUILDING.

Not one over the other , enjoy the process of competing and achieving stepping stones as you compete but never forget what’s truly important .

Family, friends, Health and making great memories.

**broken link removed**

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Most rabbits, like many bodybuilders, have within their skill set, the ability to pretend that they’re healthy even
when they are quite sick. It’s kinda like the inverse of playing possum, but done for the purpose to deflect
attention from predators who would consider a sick rabbit easy pickings.

As a result of this play-acting, rabbits, like many bodybuilders, often die suddenly, or what appears suddenly,
when in the latter case it could be prevented as they have been sick for a while.

We could say we know them with really knowing very much about them.

Everything looks so logical looking backward. Yes . . . of course that’s what we did . . . but going forward it
is entirely something else, the lights may as well be off.

I wish him all the best with his recovery and that his health returns to normal.

 

[Wynn]

**broken link removed**

 

[FK86]

Gaspari should have won in '87 and '88.

 

[Massive G]

This is a great thread, I read all 28 pages thanks for posting this and all the replies.
I have been offline for awhile now, since almost a year of working from home, my appetite for being on the internet has really waned. I started in the late eighties seriously, played around with weights for a few years prior to that. My first cycle was after they made anabolic steroids controlled substances. Ironically, a few cops that trained at my gym told me of a old doctor who ran his practice out of an old house in a poor area and prescribed steroids, and also a pharmacist that would give endless refills on scripts. I honestly had no idea what I was doing so it took a long time to figure it out. The steroid books and an old muscle and fitness were my bibles.

 

[Bio]

This is a great thread, I read all 28 pages thanks for posting this and all the replies.
I have been offline for awhile now, since almost a year of working from home, my appetite for being on the internet has really waned. I started in the late eighties seriously, played around with weights for a few years prior to that. My first cycle was after they made anabolic steroids controlled substances. Ironically, a few cops that trained at my gym told me of a old doctor who ran his practice out of an old house in a poor area and prescribed steroids, and also a pharmacist that would give endless refills on scripts. I honestly had no idea what I was doing so it took a long time to figure it out. The steroid books and an old muscle and fitness were my bibles.

Good to see you posting again Massive G! You've been around the bodybuilding block. Please add some stories to the thread!!

 

[USMuscle9403]

Massive G, great to see you!

 

[DarrenG29]

This was a outstanding read thanks

 

[Reno911]

I miss the T Michael big tops!!!

Workout Shirts | T Micheal T Shirts | Body Building T Shirts

T. Micheal Work Out Shirts

www.tmicheal.com

 

[Wynn]

**broken link removed**

 

[maldorf]

All they need is a fanny pack! I used to make my own shirts like that by taking an old sweat shirt and cutting it up. When you cut it that way it becomes 3x more comfortable and fits a lot better.

 

[maldorf]

Larry Pacifico was an amazing strongman and powerlifter. I think his heyday was more in the late 70s, but he was in the 80s too. His son is powerlifting now too.

 

[maldorf]

Berry Demey, one of the guys I liked a lot in the 80s.

 

[Sides]

Larry Pacifico was an amazing strongman and powerlifter. I think his heyday was more in the late 70s, but he was in the 80s too. His son is powerlifting now too.

Larry Pacifico: great powerlifter, but a rat who set up and sold out a lot of his brothers as a government informant when he got busted selling steroids in the 1980's. He was persona non grata in powerlifting circles for a long time after that. A lot of people got busted and had to do time, because Pacifico didn't want to do his own time. Sometimes the strongest men are weak in other ways.

"Eventually an agent infiltrated through Toivol Mansen, a Florida body-builder who in December, 1986, allegedly called Dillon to make a purchase. In the 1970s, Mansen, who has pleaded guilty to interstate commerce violations, lived in Dayton, Ohio, and worked for Larry Pacifico, perhaps the greatest power-lifter of all time. Pacifico was undefeated for 10 years and won world championships in three different weight classes, ranging from 198 to 242 pounds. Mansen worked in one of Pacifico’s spas. Pacifico taught him about lifting and, according to Dillon, about steroids. Mansen’s attorney, Paul Sack, says his client revered and trusted Pacifico. What Mansen didn’t know was that Pacifico, a reformed steroid user, was fingering steroid dealers for the government. In fact, the first person Pacifico set up was his former employee, Toivol Mansen.

According to an affidavit given by Gary Neal, a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service, and confirmed by Sack, the sting worked like this: Pacifico called Mansen and told him he was sending down his bodyguard, who was interested in buying steroids. On March 15, U.S. Customs Agent John Bosley, posing as Pacifico’s bodyguard, met Mansen in his Miami apartment."

Confessions of a Steroid Smuggler : When the Quest for Big Muscles Turns Into a Passion for Big Money - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

 

[lookslikesausage]

Berry Demey, one of the guys I liked a lot in the 80s.

I think, for me, doing Flyes like that would immediately lead to torn rotator cuffs. Berry was awesome though. Very balanced with no real weak areas.

 

[maldorf]

Larry Pacifico: great powerlifter, but a rat who set up and sold out a lot of his brothers as a government informant when he got busted selling steroids in the 1980's. He was persona non grata in powerlifting circles for a long time after that. A lot of people got busted and had to do time, because Pacifico didn't want to do his own time. Sometimes the strongest men are weak in other ways.

"Eventually an agent infiltrated through Toivol Mansen, a Florida body-builder who in December, 1986, allegedly called Dillon to make a purchase. In the 1970s, Mansen, who has pleaded guilty to interstate commerce violations, lived in Dayton, Ohio, and worked for Larry Pacifico, perhaps the greatest power-lifter of all time. Pacifico was undefeated for 10 years and won world championships in three different weight classes, ranging from 198 to 242 pounds. Mansen worked in one of Pacifico’s spas. Pacifico taught him about lifting and, according to Dillon, about steroids. Mansen’s attorney, Paul Sack, says his client revered and trusted Pacifico. What Mansen didn’t know was that Pacifico, a reformed steroid user, was fingering steroid dealers for the government. In fact, the first person Pacifico set up was his former employee, Toivol Mansen.

According to an affidavit given by Gary Neal, a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service, and confirmed by Sack, the sting worked like this: Pacifico called Mansen and told him he was sending down his bodyguard, who was interested in buying steroids. On March 15, U.S. Customs Agent John Bosley, posing as Pacifico’s bodyguard, met Mansen in his Miami apartment."

Confessions of a Steroid Smuggler : When the Quest for Big Muscles Turns Into a Passion for Big Money - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

Article about Larry's 2 heart attacks in his 30s.

POWERLIFTING CHAMP TO TALK ABOUT DANGER OF STEROIDS THE DRUG SCENE

Larry Pacifico stands just 5-feet-6, but he has won world powerlifting championships nine times at weights ranging from 198 to 242 pounds. Larry Pacifico suffered heart attacks in 1981 and 1985 bec…

www.mcall.com