Changes in the Bodybuilding Culture since the 80s

[Wynn]

**broken link removed**

 

[Wynn]

 

[Muay Thai]

Danny Trejo on Muscle Beach 1986

big Craig is OG i follow him on IG hes active still and keeps in touch with CT . All those mfers were crips and bloods in south central LA etc area . Lifting has been a salvation and solace for many gangsters in my time. I did a show there and got hit up just walking to get pizza on board walk but i also look fresh out. Venice is ghetto. gReat video though vintage thank you

 

[Bio]

Amazing that Mauro Sarni won that show! Not a lot of size and not conditioned either!! I haven't heard Henderson Thorne's name in a long time. The introduction of 20 year old Lee Priest too! I love watching those older videos. I always watched American Muscle!!

 

[FK86]

I made a mistake. It's an offseason diet, not pre-contest. Lee Haney may not have physically written it, but I don't think it's a stretch to think he recited it to one of the writers at FLEX. It's in line with the low-fat types of the era.

 

[Sides]

I made a mistake. It's an offseason diet, not pre-contest. Lee Haney may not have physically written it, but I don't think it's a stretch to think he recited it to one of the writers at FLEX. It's in line with the low-fat types of the era.

Ah, the high-carb low-fat days of the 1980's and early 1990's, back before Barry Sears and Mauro Di Pasquale and Dan Duchaine started changing people's minds about the importance of healthy fats in the diet. That was truly thought of as unspeakable heresy back then. You had to throw out perfectly good egg yolks in favor of egg whites, eat skinless chicken breasts, oatmeal, nonfat cottage cheese, trim the fat from beef, etc. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. And protein, of course. But fats were considered evil.

I remember reading Lee Haney's Mr Olympia preparation diet back then in the mags, and if the article was true he was eating egg whites, waffles, and fruit in the morning, maybe chicken breasts and rice for lunch, and fish and rice for dinner. Even back then, I was thinking "How is this guy getting that ripped eating waffles and fruit in the morning?" But you have to give him and the other guys back then credit; they looked phenomenal, and on much less drugs than guys are using today.

And I was into the high-carb low-fat thing as much as anybody. I used to sit in the back of college lecture halls, eating out of my huge tupperware containers of tuna and rice, and people three or four rows down from me kept craning their necks around, trying to figure out where the hell that fishy smell was coming from LOL. But by that point I weighed over 250 lbs and nobody dared to say anything to me. I didn't care what people thought or what it smelled like, as long as it made me grow. I actually brought cans of tuna to college parties with me, and would sneak off to a corner to eat tuna while everyone else was funneling beer.

In my breaks from college, I worked as an office temp for Digital Equipment Corporation, typing and answering phone calls and making copies, etc. I once lost a job because of excessive flatulence. I would bring these huge containers of oats mixed with raisins and cottage cheese to work with me, and eat all day in my little cubicle. But my co-workers in the next-door cubicles complained because I was farting up a storm all the time, really horrible stinky gas, and my boss actually had a sit-down with me in her office and explained that she had to fire me "because of the gas that you pass." Again, I had such tunnel vision with bodybuilding in those days that I didn't care. I would eat anything and everything, and train like an absolute maniac, to grow and get where I wanted to go.

By 1995, things had changed a bit regarding low fats, at least among those in the know. I remember Dan Duchaine writing a lot about omega-3 fatty acids as growth fats. I was training for the Mass State Championships, and I was drinking tons of whey protein powder, but also taking fish oils and eating salmon every day. Guys at the gym were asking me what I ate to get so big, and when I told them salmon, they asked me "Why, because of the quality of the protein?" I said "No, because of the quality of the fat" and that blew their minds. To average guys at the gym, that was complete heresy back then, fats were evil and had to be avoided at all costs.

We know so much more about nutrition these days; or at least we think we do. But you look at those phenomenal physiques of those guys from the 1980's, Haney and Labrada and Ray and De Mey and Strydom etc, how ripped they got and how muscular they were, and you have to wonder how much we have actually learned.

 

[FK86]

Ah, the high-carb low-fat days of the 1980's and early 1990's, back before Barry Sears and Mauro Di Pasquale and Dan Duchaine started changing people's minds about the importance of healthy fats in the diet. That was truly thought of as unspeakable heresy back then. You had to throw out perfectly good egg yolks in favor of egg whites, eat skinless chicken breasts, oatmeal, nonfat cottage cheese, trim the fat from beef, etc. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs. And protein, of course. But fats were considered evil.

I remember reading Lee Haney's Mr Olympia preparation diet back then in the mags, and if the article was true he was eating egg whites, waffles, and fruit in the morning, maybe chicken breasts and rice for lunch, and fish and rice for dinner. Even back then, I was thinking "How is this guy getting that ripped eating waffles and fruit in the morning?" But you have to give him and the other guys back then credit; they looked phenomenal, and on much less drugs than guys are using today.

And I was into the high-carb low-fat thing as much as anybody. I used to sit in the back of college lecture halls, eating out of my huge tupperware containers of tuna and rice, and people three or four rows down from me kept craning their necks around, trying to figure out where the hell that fishy smell was coming from LOL. But by that point I weighed over 250 lbs and nobody dared to say anything to me. I didn't care what people thought or what it smelled like, as long as it made me grow. I actually brought cans of tuna to college parties with me, and would sneak off to a corner to eat tuna while everyone else was funneling beer.

In my breaks from college, I worked as an office temp for Digital Equipment Corporation, typing and answering phone calls and making copies, etc. I once lost a job because of excessive flatulence. I would bring these huge containers of oats mixed with raisins and cottage cheese to work with me, and eat all day in my little cubicle. But my co-workers in the next-door cubicles complained because I was farting up a storm all the time, really horrible stinky gas, and my boss actually had a sit-down with me in her office and explained that she had to fire me "because of the gas that you pass." Again, I had such tunnel vision with bodybuilding in those days that I didn't care. I would eat anything and everything, and train like an absolute maniac, to grow and get where I wanted to go.

By 1995, things had changed a bit regarding low fats, at least among those in the know. I remember Dan Duchaine writing a lot about omega-3 fatty acids as growth fats. I was training for the Mass State Championships, and I was drinking tons of whey protein powder, but also taking fish oils and eating salmon every day. Guys at the gym were asking me what I ate to get so big, and when I told them salmon, they asked me "Why, because of the quality of the protein?" I said "No, because of the quality of the fat" and that blew their minds. To average guys at the gym, that was complete heresy back then, fats were evil and had to be avoided at all costs.

We know so much more about nutrition these days; or at least we think we do. But you look at those phenomenal physiques of those guys from the 1980's, Haney and Labrada and Ray and De Mey and Strydom etc, how ripped they got and how muscular they were, and you have to wonder how much we have actually learned.

Man, I love your posts. You have an uncanny ability to snapshot a time and place

Regarding that last point about nutrition; how did you find a keto type approach for leaning out? Because you are correct; high carb, low fat and all those guys from the '80s were peeled. Although with only one division only the true genetic elite made it to the top. Then everyone in the WBF did DiPasquale's Anabolic Diet and looked terrible. I always felt his CKD was too high in fat and the sources could have been better. I'd rather consume olive and coconut oil than sausage and cheese if it's going to be a staple in the diet if nothing else than for health purposes. I think Palumbo had a step in the right direction with upping the protein for his variation of keto, but his is a little high. Some people swear by it, others say gluconeogenesis will occur and the fats should be a bit higher. I'm toying with the idea of trying 45/50/5, P/F/C.

 

[Sides]

Man, I love your posts. You have an uncanny ability to snapshot a time and place

Regarding that last point about nutrition; how did you find a keto type approach for leaning out? Because you are correct; high carb, low fat and all those guys from the '80s were peeled. Although with only one division only the true genetic elite made it to the top. Then everyone in the WBF did DiPasquale's Anabolic Diet and looked terrible. I always felt his CKD was too high in fat and the sources could have been better. I'd rather consume olive and coconut oil than sausage and cheese if it's going to be a staple in the diet if nothing else than for health purposes. I think Palumbo had a step in the right direction with upping the protein for his variation of keto, but his is a little high. Some people swear by it, others say gluconeogenesis will occur and the fats should be a bit higher. I'm toying with the idea of trying 45/50/5, P/F/C.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind thoughts.

Personally, I loved the cyclic ketogenic diets like Dan Duchaine's BodyOpus, which I used for contests in 1996-97. No hunger when you were dieting in ketosis five days a week, and then you could carb up and hit the gym heavy on the weekends. I could gain size very well on a high carb low fat approach, but it was hard for me to get ripped because I just got too hungry eating only tuna and rice, with the up-and-down blood sugar swings. A CKD like BodyOpus made it easier for me to diet hard all week, eating only protein and fat, and not be hungry (although I couldn't sleep well in ketosis), and then carb up to train heavy and hard on the weekends, then on Sunday night back into ketosis again.

I loved the CKD's for pre-contest and getting ripped. I don't think they were good for gaining size in the off-season, because you need more carbs and calories to build a lot of muscle, and you need to be in the gym training for more than two hard days per week. But short-term before a contest, CKD's are great for holding on to muscle, and dieting without much hunger.

I had previously done Di Pasquale's Anabolic Diet and gained a lot of size with it, but also gained a lot of fat, possibly because of his poor sources for protein, carbs, and fat, or because of my own ravenous appetite and ability to pig out. I remember bringing Pop Tarts and Pedialyte to the gym and eating them in the middle of workouts, because of recommendations in the Anabolic Diet. Or maybe that was my fault LOL.

You can't blame Di Pasquale's Anabolic Diet for the WBF guys looking bad in 1992, because that was the year that they did drug testing, which was a terrible idea, but a political necessity at the time. The WBF did their first show in 1991, and everyone looked great. Then Dr Zahorian was found guilty of supplying steroids to Vince McMahon and wrestlers in the WWF, and McMahon was under pressure and had to start drug testing the WWF and the WBF. McMahon brought in Dr Di Pasquale to oversee the drug testing, and he actually really tested the athletes. As bodybuilders kept failing the drug tests, Di Pasquale would recommend that they follow the Anabolic Diet. But the reason that Mike Quinn and Eddie Robinson and other guys looked so bad in 1992 wasn't because of the Anabolic Diet, it was because the WBF actually drug-tested the show, so guys couldn't use the drugs they were used to using, and were competing "natural" after being on steroids for so long. This was an incredibly stupid idea: who wants to see drug-free bodybuilding, after you've already seen all the freaks? But it was necessary given the political heat McMahon was under during that time. Strydom looked great at both shows, so I don't think they drug tested everybody LOL. But some guys had to take the bullet for the others.

 

[lookslikesausage]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind thoughts.

Personally, I loved the cyclic ketogenic diets like Dan Duchaine's BodyOpus, which I used for contests in 1996-97. No hunger when you were dieting in ketosis five days a week, and then you could carb up and hit the gym heavy on the weekends. I could gain size very well on a high carb low fat approach, but it was hard for me to get ripped because I just got too hungry eating only tuna and rice, with the up-and-down blood sugar swings. A CKD like BodyOpus made it easier for me to diet hard all week, eating only protein and fat, and not be hungry (although I couldn't sleep well in ketosis), and then carb up to train heavy and hard on the weekends, then on Sunday night back into ketosis again.

I loved the CKD's for pre-contest and getting ripped. I don't think they were good for gaining size in the off-season, because you need more carbs and calories to build a lot of muscle, and you need to be in the gym training for more than two hard days per week. But short-term before a contest, CKD's are great for holding on to muscle, and dieting without much hunger.

I had previously done Di Pasquale's Anabolic Diet and gained a lot of size with it, but also gained a lot of fat, possibly because of his poor sources for protein, carbs, and fat, or because of my own ravenous appetite and ability to pig out. I remember bringing Pop Tarts and Pedialyte to the gym and eating them in the middle of workouts, because of recommendations in the Anabolic Diet. Or maybe that was my fault LOL.

You can't blame Di Pasquale's Anabolic Diet for the WBF guys looking bad in 1992, because that was the year that they did drug testing, which was a terrible idea, but a political necessity at the time. The WBF did their first show in 1991, and everyone looked great. Then Dr Zahorian was found guilty of supplying steroids to Vince McMahon and wrestlers in the WWF, and McMahon was under pressure and had to start drug testing the WWF and the WBF. McMahon brought in Dr Di Pasquale to oversee the drug testing, and he actually really tested the athletes. As bodybuilders kept failing the drug tests, Di Pasquale would recommend that they follow the Anabolic Diet. But the reason that Mike Quinn and Eddie Robinson and other guys looked so bad in 1992 wasn't because of the Anabolic Diet, it was because the WBF actually drug-tested the show, so guys couldn't use the drugs they were used to using, and were competing "natural" after being on steroids for so long. This was an incredibly stupid idea: who wants to see drug-free bodybuilding, after you've already seen all the freaks? But it was necessary given the political heat McMahon was under during that time. Strydom looked great at both shows, so I don't think they drug tested everybody LOL. But some guys had to take the bullet for the others.

Strydom definitely wasn't tested and pretty sure he got the biggest contract of all of those guys. He was the chosen one.

"That Gas You Pass" would be a good title for a book.

I seem to recall Haney being quoted that everyone should whole eggs (as he did contrary to many bodybuilders of the day) and "why waste the yolk"?

 

[Sides]

Strydom definitely wasn't tested and pretty sure he got the biggest contract of all of those guys. He was the chosen one.

"That Gas You Pass" would be a good title for a book.

I seem to recall Haney being quoted that everyone should whole eggs (as he did contrary to many bodybuilders of the day) and "why waste the yolk"?

Actually, the thing most people don't know related to the WBF and drug testing, is that not Strydom, but Lou Ferrigno had the biggest contract of all the WBF guys, a two year deal worth $900,000, signed in 1991, before all the drug testing started. This made him the highest paid bodybuilder in the world at that time, and everyone was looking forward to the showdown between Ferrigno and Strydom at the 1992 WBF Championships.

And then in 1992 the WBF had to start drug testing, because of the political pressure on Vince McMahon after the Zahorian trial. When Ferrigno heard he would have to go on stage drug tested, he broke his contract with the WBF and went back to the IFBB, where he was offered the chance to guest pose (without drug testing) at the 1992 Olympia.

So Lou Ferrigno could have been the chosen one of the WBF, and it would have been awesome to see a showdown between him and Gary Strydom. It certainly would have created more interest in bodybuilding and the WBF. But it never happened, and all because of the drug testing instituted in 1992.

Hulks, Drugs and Fat: The End of the WBF - Physical Culture Study

 

[maldorf]

Actually, the thing most people don't know related to the WBF and drug testing, is that not Strydom, but Lou Ferrigno had the biggest contract of all the WBF guys, a two year deal worth $900,000, signed in 1991, before all the drug testing started. This made him the highest paid bodybuilder in the world at that time, and everyone was looking forward to the showdown between Ferrigno and Strydom at the 1992 WBF Championships.

And then in 1992 the WBF had to start drug testing, because of the political pressure on Vince McMahon after the Zahorian trial. When Ferrigno heard he would have to go on stage drug tested, he broke his contract with the WBF and went back to the IFBB, where he was offered the chance to guest pose (without drug testing) at the 1992 Olympia.

So Lou Ferrigno could have been the chosen one of the WBF, and it would have been awesome to see a showdown between him and Gary Strydom. It certainly would have created more interest in bodybuilding and the WBF. But it never happened, and all because of the drug testing instituted in 1992.

Hulks, Drugs and Fat: The End of the WBF - Physical Culture Study

Lou was huge then!

 

[gungalunga]

In my breaks from college, I worked as an office temp for Digital Equipment Corporation, typing and answering phone calls and making copies, etc. I once lost a job because of excessive flatulence. I would bring these huge containers of oats mixed with raisins and cottage cheese to work with me, and eat all day in my little cubicle. But my co-workers in the next-door cubicles complained because I was farting up a storm all the time, really horrible stinky gas, and my boss actually had a sit-down with me in her office and explained that she had to fire me "because of the gas that you pass." Again, I had such tunnel vision with bodybuilding in those days that I didn't care. I would eat anything and everything, and train like an absolute maniac, to grow and get where I wanted to go.

Sometimes real-life comedy is soooooo much better than anything a comedy writer could come up with.

 

[nidnoy]

Many years ago, has to be almost 25 now, I was so some cheap protein powder, and using a lot of it, and one day at work my gas was so bad they thought there was an actual gas leak and had the utility company come to the office and check. I threW the rest of the container away when I got home that night.

 

[LATS]

I've told this story here before.. but I literally cleared a night club once by drinking Hot Stuff mixed with orange juice before hitting the club.. the smell was beyond comprehension..

 

[Sides]

Many years ago, has to be almost 25 now, I was so some cheap protein powder, and using a lot of it, and one day at work my gas was so bad they thought there was an actual gas leak and had the utility company come to the office and check. I threW the rest of the container away when I got home that night.

I've told this story here before.. but I literally cleared a night club once by drinking Hot Stuff mixed with orange juice before hitting the club.. the smell was beyond comprehension..

There, now I feel better. I am not alone! And I wonder how many other bodybuilders could tell similar stories, if they were willing to admit it. Let's face it, with all the strange things bodybuilders eat and drink, and all the drugs we have taken, all of it combines to have a shocking effect on the digestive tract from time to time.

Not to mention those of us who have broken wind or actually shit our pants doing a heavy squat or deadlift...

That kind of thing may be humiliating, but it is good for the ego, because it helps keep you humble.

 

[Nyoco]

Speaking of gas, I remember back at university some decades ago, my room mate and I bought some protein powder, the first time either of us had tried it, he came back in the afternoon that day and said "dude, that protein powder has given me some really bad gas, I must have farted 50 or 60 times already" this was around 4pm, when you´re 18-19 farting=funny so I jokingly said "WTF man!!??" "you might be onto a world record here, why don´t you keep counting"? Long story short, every single fart was counted and I awoke the following morning to Mr. Methane informing me that he had reached the 200 fart landmark but that in the end I was asleep and hadn´t heard the finale, I must have fallen asleep around midnight with 180 farts on the counter. Remember this is just one person, I contributed to the cause but was nowhere near those numbers, if anyone had entered the room they would have fainted, the paint was peeling off the walls at the end.

After that we both "upgraded" to Cybergenics in fear of being prosecuted for biological / chemical warfare.

 

[headtrainer]

I feel like my era in the late 80s was the last era where BB was still socially accepted, we even had contests on network TV.
We were particularly flamboyant and a lot of people were "all in" with the lifestyle.

I think about how much has changed and wanted to share and see if any other old-timers could reflect on the past and where we are now.

Then:

• Pink boatneck sweathshirts, T-Michael, and striped spandex - as everyday wear
• Corvettes and Porsches; the Mustang 5.0 was the entry level BB car
• Everyone was tanned all the time, salons more plentiful than gyms
• Steroids were "sauce", "beans", or "juice"...and pharma was easy to get and lot of cops were on
• Dan Duchaine was a legendary figure and source of all AAS knowledge
• Carbs were just becoming fashionable, with lots of talk about "protein sparing"
• Supplements sucked and powders all tasted awful. Metabolol II wasn't too bad, nor heavyweight gainer 900.
• We had America Muscle Magazine (who I worked for) and other bodybuilding shows on ESPN (Kiana Tom, Rick Valente..)
• No tattoos or beards, but plenty of mullets and gold chains
• We were, for the most part, fun loving and goofballs with self-deprecatory humor
• Drugs were mysterious and really were an after-thought, so long pre-Internet

Now: (?) younger guys please chime in

I’ll have to politely disagree with you! I think bodybuilding continues to become more socially accepted as time move forward. It seems just about everyone (including a lot of females) are taking hormones for enhanced muscular development. It’s the bodybuilders doing stupid things for kids to see (e.g., Bostin Loyd) is what gives the bodybuilding community a bad name.

 

[headtrainer]

Speaking of gas, I remember back at university some decades ago, my room mate and I bought some protein powder, the first time either of us had tried it, he came back in the afternoon that day and said "dude, that protein powder has given me some really bad gas, I must have farted 50 or 60 times already" this was around 4pm, when you´re 18-19 farting=funny so I jokingly said "WTF man!!??" "you might be onto a world record here, why don´t you keep counting"? Long story short, every single fart was counted and I awoke the following morning to Mr. Methane informing me that he had reached the 200 fart landmark but that in the end I was asleep and hadn´t heard the finale, I must have fallen asleep around midnight with 180 farts on the counter. Remember this is just one person, I contributed to the cause but was nowhere near those numbers, if anyone had entered the room they would have fainted, the paint was peeling off the walls at the end.

After that we both "upgraded" to Cybergenics in fear of being prosecuted for biological / chemical warfare.

That nasty tasting SOY PROTEIN they sold back in the 70’s made people’s fart stink so bad it would bring tears to a glass eye!

 

[USMuscle9403]

Many years ago, has to be almost 25 now, I was so some cheap protein powder, and using a lot of it, and one day at work my gas was so bad they thought there was an actual gas leak and had the utility company come to the office and check. I threW the rest of the container away when I got home that night.

OK, so I'm not the only one who has had others worried that there may be an actual gas leak. I didn't have the utility company called, though. That's some next level achievement right there

 

[buck]

I’ll have to politely disagree with you! I think bodybuilding continues to become more socially accepted as time move forward. It seems just about everyone (including a lot of females) are taking hormones for enhanced muscular development. It’s the bodybuilders doing stupid things for kids to see (e.g., Bostin Loyd) is what gives the bodybuilding community a bad name.

I don't remember BB being disdained as much in the 70's and before. Once AS became news worthy it was assumed everyone was juiced if they had any size. And I see very few people training for old school BB now. Usually it is classic and physique where guys don't get as big.