Many think that bodybuilding is a modern day activity but it really has its roots in the ancient 12th century. India was where the first methods of bodybuilding training and related eating programs developed. Over the next 300 years, the people in India were having phenomenal success. The prototypes of dumbbells and free weights happened during this period. Weight lifting and body building found it element at the time.



It was not until the 1800's when bodybuilders came into the western world like Eugene Sandow. It was not soon after that bodybuilding contests sprang up in the early 1900's validating hard work showing their bodybuilding expertise. Bodybuilding competitions became a whole regime during this time. The first father of the modern bodybuilding movements was Sandow. He had frequent public appearances in organized exhibitions to guarantee his voice and ideas were heard. He also started a pioneering magazine on fitness called "Physical Culture".

The authorities of the Olympic Games were pushed by Sandow to include weightlifting and bodybuilding as one of the many events. His tireless efforts in weightlifting awarded him one of the major attractions in the Olympic Games starting in 1896. It still this day is one of the most viewed events in the modern games.

When bodybuilders such as Charles Atlas arrived in the bodybuilding circuit around the 1900's, the sport became even more widespread and lucrative. His legendary ads quickly engulfed much of the press and spread over the world, penetrating deeply in the psyche of all American men. Who wouldn't want to look like Atlas with a great body?

Exercise equipments began gaining popularity quickly in the marketplace. People became more conscious of their bodies and the way the training should be performed. They learned how to eat properly, the exercise equipment to use in order to sculpt their bodies into a perfect shape. This was the beginning of the fitness industry forming as we know it today.

Of course, once the Tarzan and Hercules movies became a rage in the 1950's and the 1970's bodybuilding and weightlifting took off. The quest for the beautiful body and attention like Steve Reeves increased drastically.

Gold's Gym and the World Gym, founded by Joe Gold took on a cult status in bodybuilding as many entrepreneurs scrambled to dominate the industry.

Weightlifting and bodybuilding were at odds to segregate themselves to become a sport by each group. The 1970's created a new phenomenon in the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger as he took the world by storm with his incredible carved body of muscle. He also entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's best developed man and became a cult idol in his own sport.