Bodybuilding Needs
1. MONEY
2. NEW BLOOD
3. AND A "RESET" TO 90'S
A reset to the 90s isn’t going to change a darn thing. People forget that the same complaints we hear about bodybuilding now, we heard over a decade ago.
Everything about which you’re complaining, concerning today’s competitors, guys from the 80s were saying about bodybuilders from the 90s (the very era you are praising).
Guys from the 70s were blubbering about the “drug abuse” of bodybuilders from the 80s.
And, SURPRISE, guys from the 50s and 60s were complaining about steroid abuse within Arnold’s heyday of competition in the 70s.
It’s a cyclic thing, nothing more. Steroid use isn’t the big hindrance. It’s the nature of bodybuilding itself, and the perception that bodybuilders aren’t athletic and do nothing with their muscles, besides flex and pose.
With that said, There’s plenty of new blood in bodybuilding. But when this new blood starts making an impact and winning shows (at the expense of some old favorites, namely a handful of guys, whom some think should have won this or that show, but didn’t), we hear constant complaining.
Look at Phil Heath. He wins the USA in 2005; then, he goes on to take his first two pro shows, beating a number of veterans, including men who’ve won shows in the past and placed top-10 at the Olympia.
Yet, there were cries galore as to Heath being “overhyped”, a “Weider boy”, and a plethora of excuses for his phenomenal success his rookie year. Then the screams got louder, when he placed 5th at the 2007 ASC (which is hardly chopped liver). Now it was, “Oh, he can’t compete with the big boys; he’s a fluke!”, etc.
Then in 2008, he wins the IronMan and placed second to the guy who would eventually end up being Mr. Olympia. And in the process, he bested some of the same guys that beat him the previous year. There have been theories and excuses and complaints out the behind as to why Heath has been so successful (other than the blatantly obvious fact that...HE'S JUST THAT DARN GOOD!!!).
Plus, a lot of this "new blood" are veterans who have perservered and are finally starting to taste the fruits of their labor.