Bodybuilding has come a long way in history to reach where it’s at today. From stone-lifting in ancient Egypt and Greece to the Western classical bodybuilding in Europe from the late 19th to the mid-20th century to its current standards of the 21st century. While there have been many contributors to this sports/art form, four men stand out from the rest. These four men, each in their eras, have defined and redefined the way people looked at the endeavor. They are Eugen Sandow, Steve Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronnie Coleman.

The Coleman era ended in 2007, and thus each of their massive contributions to this discipline could be put in perspective. YouTuber Action Ricker recently uploaded a video on his page to discuss each of them in detail – what they did and how they impacted the sport. Let’s find out.

The history of modern bodybuilding through the lens of these men

The Youtuber started by saying, “These are the 4 bodybuilders that defined each era of bodybuilding. Starting with the bronze era, we have the one and only Eugen Sandow”. Sandow was a German bodybuilder who organized, what is believed to be the world’s first bodybuilding competition in 1901. The Youtuber continued, “Eugen was 5’9” and around 190 lbs on stage. He had 18” arms, a 48” chest, and a 30” Waist”, features that are pretty admirable in those days.

Moving to the next in the timeline, he said, “Up next for the Silver era, we have Steve Reeves. Steve came in quite a bit bigger than Eugen. With a height of 6’1” and weighing about 220 lbs. He had 18.5” arms, a 52” chest, and a 29” waist”. The silver era in bodybuilding ran from roughly the 1940s to the 1960s. Steve Reeves was American and was also famous for playing hunky, muscular roles like Hercules and Goliath in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films.

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He moved on to the next person, introducing him in quite the appropriate way. He said, “Up next, the person that defined the golden era of bodybuilding, the crowd favorite, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold came in even taller at about 6’2” and around 230 to 235 lbs on stage. He had massive 22” arms, a 57” chest, and a 30” waist, according to greatestphysiques.com”. Although Schwarzenegger’s height has been subject to some conspiracy, the truth is he was always massive. His contribution to bodybuilding is insurmountable, having been a key figure with Joe Weider during the early days of Mr. Olympia. He won the Olympia title a total of seven times.

“And finally, we have the man who defined the mass monster era, one of the greatest of all time, Ronnie Coleman. Ronnie was only 5’11” but had only 24” inch arms, a 58” chest, and a pretty wide waist at 36”.. He is known as the GOAT of bodybuilding or the mass monster era“. Ronnie Coleman was the rightful face of that era. Maintaining a shapely and symmetrical body with that amount of muscle mass is simply staggering. He won the Olympia eight times, the most by any along with Lee Haney.

There have been many others since, such as Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, Big Ramy, etc. who continue to push the envelope in bodybuilding. However, the impact of these four men (Sandow, Reeves, Schwarzenegger, Coleman) cannot be quantified.

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