You have to look at the bodybuilding scene in the 50s, 60s, and 70s to realise how much we’ve lost. Look at Arnie…

See that? Perfection. No saggy growth hormone gut. No stretch marks. No “mapping out China, one village at a time” veins all over his body. Just 100% quality buffness. He also knew that some muscles grow quicker than others, and was able to keep it all in proportion (as opposed to the huge traps, huge thighs, huge lats, etc we see today). Some say his waist was too small, but I think it adds a dramatic effect to his physique (plus it allowed him to compete above his weight, he was about 240 but looked as big as some 260-280 guys.)

Now look at a relatively uncontroversial choice for the world’s top bodybuilder today, Ronnie Coleman…

…who looks like randomly-sized rocks packed into a burlap sack. Good God, how do these people contrive to look so damn hideous? They’re not powerlifters. Everyone expects a powerlifter to have ugly-looking muscles. The goal of bodybuilding is to look good. I don’t understand it. He’s a walking “say no to drugs” PSA.

I can’t even blame the roids. That’s only a symptom of the problem (Arnold took small amounts of gear in his early years, although only a small percentage of what a pro bodybuilder would use today). The main issue is that bodybuilding has become a statistic driven sport.

People don’t want muscles that look good. They want arms that measure TWENTY THREE INCHES AROUND! Mass is the alter these people worship at. More mass, dammit, and get those whiners below deck. If that mass causes you to go out of proportion (look at Arnold’s square roofbeam shoulders, and then look at how Ronnie’s traps make him look like he’s wearing a life preserver vest), or, hell, causes health problems for you later in life, that’s tough. They’re not going to put you in the record books for having “nice-looking pecs.” They’re only going to put down the raw numbers.

That’s a shame, guys. We’re making bodybuilders do dangerous things with their health, and at the same time losing the original spirit of the sport.