Among the general public, bodybuilding for the first time recognized as a popular sport for commercial purposes in the late 1800s with the introduction of strong like Eugene Sandow. National and international competitions began to take place in early 1900. Sandow was a leading figure in the early bodybuilding movement and was known as the Father of Modern Bodybuilding. He consistently pushed his ideas and theories on bodybuilding and fitness for the world through exhibitions, presentations and personal advancement magazine, Physical Culture.

It was the persistent efforts of Sandow that led to the incorporation of weightlifting at the Olympic Games in the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. In 1904, Sandow was chosen as an honest judge in a major bodybuilding event held at the Royal Albert Hall in London which attracted more than 2000 people to see.

The sport became more popular and profitable in a business in the 1920s with newcomers like Charles Atlas close to the scene. Who does not remember their ads that appeared in magazines, comic books, and newspapers from around the world? Remember, the bully kicking sand in the face? That was the first course in bodybuilding I bought back in the mid-seventies. The manufacture of dumbbells and bars began gaining momentum around the world and new innovations in training, diet, exercise and the team were coming out more each year.

Bodybuilding developed a cult of the forties to the seventies with films like Hercules with the incredible Steve Reeves, as well as the popular Tarzan series of movies that are played by many different actors gym. Some of the notables of this time period were Joe Gold, founder of Gold’s Gym and World Gym franchises, Harold Zinkin, Mr John Grimek Two-time America, Britain and Reg Park. Bodybuilding is now beginning to set itself apart from weightlifting and became even more popular. The early seventies saw the introduction of a young bodybuilder who would become a pop icon and a household name around the world, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who used his great talent and charisma, along with never before seen a physical to become the best man in the developed world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.