Arnold opens up on the current state of bodybuilding.
Mass Monsters. Bodybuilders with massive, musclebound bodies are the norm in the competition scene. Gone are the days of the classic v taper and the vaunted vacuum pose. Many of the pros in the open weight competition weigh upwards of 250 pounds and there seems to be no end in sight to the amount of muscle the competitors are willing to put on. But that viewpoint isn’t attractive in everyone’s eyes. Specifically, it appears non attractive to one of the most iconic bodybuilders of all time – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Arnold has his reservations on the path bodybuilding is taking. In a recent Evening With Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Olympia champion had his own views on the current state of bodybuilding and what it means to the sports future. In the event’s Q & A, when Schwarzenegger was asked what he thought about today’s Mr. Olympia competitors – this is what he had to say:
“Although bodybuilding is now held in 189 countries world-wide, I do think professional bodybuilding is going in the wrong direction and losing that classic “aesthetically pleasing” look to the stage that Reg Park and Steve Reeves had. I am trying to get points back into the posing stages and how they are judged but I do also think that the new era of bodybuilders need to take less medication!”
– Arnold Schwarzenegger in a recent interview
Arnold wants to see a return to the classic days of bodybuilding. But what exactly does that mean? Is he stating that supplementation and other means of muscle growth should be abandoned in favor of an all natural approach? If that’s the case there are many who would agree with him, though some would say that the past is the past and that bodybuilding has moved on from the days of Steve Reeves and Reg Park. This is a new era with a new direction and as such we have to look to explore the limits of what the human body can achieve. Perhaps it’s time to return to the past or maybe it’s time to move on to the future. It’s a question that only time will answer.
So what do you think of Arnold’s stance on bodybuilding? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Cover photo credit: Yui Mok/PA
