Lots of false information out there about Joe Weider and the IFBB. Lots of guys wronged by Joe over the years. Wonder if anyone will ever write a tell all book.
"Joe Weider, Trainer of Champions since 1936", but he was born in 1922 (plus or minus a year), so trainer of champions since he was 14.
The Weider Principles did change bodybuilding. The Weider Principles is what everyone does today at the gym: do specific exercises for specific muscles. At every gym in America, before the Weider Principles, they did the three Olympic lifts. That's it. Lifting weights was doing the three Olympic lifts.
And prior to the Weiders, bodybuilding contests were looking for the best representation of the American male. Your facial features mattered. There was alway an interview process and your ability to carry on a conversation contributed to your score. Weider changed that by promoting contests where the only thing that mattered was muscle size. The fans responded and IFBB contests took off and AAU contests withered.
Here is a brief history of the IFBB,
http://www.musclememory.com/wiki/index.php?title=History_of_the_IFBB1946 - The year the IFBB claims it was formed.
May 1947 - Dan Lurie registers the name International Federation of Body Builders with the city of New York. A recent search of the records finds nothing, however most records at that Brooklyn office had been lost in a fire.
October 10 1947 - Ben Weider hosts the Mr Canada contest, but nowhere on the flier does the name IFBB appear. It is unclear when the contests he promoted started using the name.
December 1947 - Joe Weider proposes the formation of the International Federation of Bodybuilders in the December 1947 issue of Your Physique
January 15 1948 - Dan Lurie holds IFBB Mr New York State at the Brooklyn Acadamy of Music. The Weider's disavow their relationship with Lurie.
June 1948 - The June 1948 Your Physique announces the first IFBB Contest will be the Mr Eastern North America contest.
January 1950 - In the January issue of Your Physique, the IFBB recognizes the AAU as the sole governing body of amateur bodybuilding, and that all IFBB contests are professional events only.
1948-1952 - It is unclear when the Mr Canada contest started using the IFBB name. Excluding that contest, during the five years 1948-1952, the Weider's IFBB holds the following events:
1948 - Mr Eastern North America
1949 -
Mr America
Mr California
Canada's Most Perfect Physique
Mr New York City
North American Championships
1950 - Best Developed Athlete in America, Mr Eastern America
1952 - Mr California
1953-1958 - Other than perhaps the Mr Canada conest, there are no IFBB events
January 25 1959 - The IFBB holds a Mr Universe, Mr America, and Mr Canada contest in Montreal.
1964 - The first IFBB International Congress is held
December 30, 1969
The IFBB is registered as a corporation in Canada.
Executives are Ben Weider, Raymond Crepault and Jacqueline Roy
NOM: FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DES CULTURISTES INCORPOREE
MATRICULE: 1143385228
FORMATION: 1969-12-30 CONSTITUTION
LOCALITE: CANADA
September 4, 1970 - The first International Conference of the IFBB was held in Belgrade Yugoslavia. (Muscle Builder/Power, June 1971). How this is different than the one held in 1964 is not quite clear.
The IFBB claims this year's World Amateur Championships will be the 67th. This would make it one year older than the NABBA Universe. The IFBB Worlds use to be called the IFBB Universe, but due to copyright infringement they changed the name to World Amateur Championships in 1978. The first IFBB Universe was in 1959. There was no contest in 1961. However, the first four IFBB Universe contests were pro events. There have been 18 IFBB Universe contests, and 35 World Amateur Championships. So at most this year would be the 54th Worlds. but if you only count the amateur events, this year would be the 50th World Amateur Championships. You'd think they'd want to celebrate that.
