Is it just me or is open bodybuilding dying before our eyes?

[mrbham]

Back in the 90s there was no internet so all the schmoes would “sponsor” bodybuilders with lots of money so they would have better drugs. But all those homos died of aids so the now bodybuilders now have to work day jobs or fuck grapefruits.

[Wiggs]

By adding all of these shitbird divisions, they have made bodybuilding less important. More 'regular' people entering shows when it used to be just the elite. Coupled with all the bullshit that's involved, some folks have tapped out from the competing altogether. They can make some money being themselves on social media without swallowing any loads.

The latest category added is men's fitness - sissy looking boys jumping around doing cosplay gymnastics. Not sure if it's just overseas but the clips I did see were in Europe, I believe.

Joe to me if the open category was good enough, the "shitbird" divisions wouldn't have a chance. But we have one of the "shitbird" divisions clearly outshining the so called money maker open division and the outlook for the open division isn't looking bright either but the Classic Physique Division is churning out genetic marvels and the people have taken notice and want more of this division and less of what's in the open.

Phil (unlikeable), Rhoden (no big personality) Bonac (good), Ramy (good but not improving), Cedric (Not gonna happen) Wolf (Done), Roelly, (40 years old, and no lower back of Olympia level conditioning.) Dexter (Not much longer to compete).  DeAsha (Good prospect) Oliva (not his daddy).   

[IroNat]

You'll always have young insecure men looking to become as big as they possibly can.  Most physique competitors are mentally ill, I just don't see them saying "ok now this is big enough" .. some people are just going to look to push the envelope

You hit on it.

[IRON CROSS]

+ plastic trophy is replaced polymer trophy 

[HTexan]

You hit on it.

yup, this. and most are short like coach

[tres_taco_combo]

its still big overseas,, just in the states its classic and mens phy which are big

[oldtimer1]

Bodybuilding was subculture sport until Pumping Iron came out. Then it exploded and gyms were everywhere. There were so many pro and amateur contests. Now it's dead except for a few contests.  It's a sport for insecure men and most of them are going into jui jitsu dojo's instead of bodybuilding gyms.

Really it's just oiled up men posing in thongs to music drugged out of all comprehension for cheering men. The jig is up. Most know without the drug assist they long like crap.  I am in awe of what hard work and drugs can do but for not one minute do I forget what I am looking at. It's a temporary drug physique that will go away in months without the syringe.

[DroppingPlates]

Nick from Nick's Strength and Power made a good point that I've been saying for a while.  Bodybuilding as in the categories of this pageant is bigger and more popular than ever.  The problem is the fans have rebelled against what has been presented to us and alot of good prospects for the open class are going to Classic Physique.  NPC shows are filled with Classic Physique and Physique Competitors and the open looks pathetic.  There will be a point when the NPC Classic Overall Winner will look better than the open and they should worry when this trends. 

"They" always say people wanna see the freaks and to a degree that's true but we're talking about from 95-99 when most didn't have guts and wide waistlines. According to Luimarco (and I believe him) most of these guys are broke even some top 6 guys, parley that into the boatload of drugs they have to do, the massive amounts of food they have to force down,and then many end up ruining their physiques and health, I mean WTF?   

Classic Physique is the future. It's what the athletes want and what the fans want.

100% agree. A length and/or weight limit is prob the best strategy to maintain quality line-ups. The only thing they should get rid of, are those shiny gay ass Calvin Klein like posing thrunks.

[IroNat]

Bodybuilding was subculture sport until Pumping Iron came out. Then it exploded and gyms were everywhere. There were so many pro and amateur contests. Now it's dead except for a few contests.  It's a sport for insecure men and most of them are going into jui jitsu dojo's instead of bodybuilding gyms.

Really it's just oiled up men posing in thongs to music drugged out of all comprehension for cheering men. The jig is up. Most know without the drug assist they long like crap.  I am in awe of what hard work and drugs can do but for not one minute do I forget what I am looking at. It's a temporary drug physique that will go away in months without the syringe.

It's all illusion.

[stuntmovie]

OLDTIMER,You said someplace up above about bodybuilding that "now  it's dieing except for a few contests".

Sorry but I gotta totally disagree with you.

I don't believe that anyone on this board has any idea or knowledge regarging the number of individuals who purchase an NPC card each year for the tune of $125.00 each. (That $125 figure is an estimate.)

Nor do we have any idea how many IFBB pros renew their IFBB pro card each year for the tune of $300. (That $300 is a guesstimate.)

But nowadays the NPC/IFBB membership has grown way beyond anyone's expectations and there appears to be no end in sight  as the organization is spreading world-wide

In 2001 Lorenzo Fertitta and Frank Fertitta, the two brothers who own the Station casinos in Las Vegas invested $2,000,000 (?) in what is now named the UFC .

And in 2016 the brothers  sold the UFC to the William Morris Endeavor  agency for approximately  four to five billion  U.S. dollars!

Yes, that's billion!

Now this may be comparing apples to oranges, but the NPC/IFBB has many more thousands members than the UFC .... and although bodybuilding related events may not be as popular as UFC fighting events, the number of NPC/IFBB yearly events greatly outnumber those UFC events many times over.

We may be seeing the future here!

But then again, maybe not!

But, OLDTIMER, I certainly don't see any death signs yet.

Just continuous and constant growth!

Any arguments are appreciated.

[Fortress]

Bodybuilding isn't dying, it's dead.  The body has been cold for many years but nobody cared enough to put it in the ground.

This.

[stuntmovie]

Thanks, Fortress, but how do you account for the vast NPC and IFBB  membership increase and the growth of NPC/IFBB events throughout the world under the leadership of Jim Manion?

Are you seeing something or are you aware of something that I ain't?

[falco]

There will always be a place for the freaks.

[Natural_O]

If you look at the number of teenagers competing in bodybuilding, it's almost non existent today. I was competing in teenage bodybuilding contests from 1979-1982 and the teen divisions were always packed with teenage bodybuilders. The 1980 and 1981 AAU Teenage Mr. Illinois, which was held in age divisions instead of height classes, had over 100 teenage competitors. Many of those competitors went on to compete in open bodybuilding contests later in the '80's and '90's. If the teenage competitors are practically gone (most teen divisions today have 1-2 competitors), where are the future competitors going to come from? It looks like Men's Bodybuilding is going in the same direction as Women's Bodybuilding. There are less and less competitors who want to look like the bodybuilders so the numbers are going to go down. The other divisions (men's physique, bikini, figure and especially classic physique) are going strong and getting bigger. I think the future will be in classic physique as well. It's growing tremendously in the last few years and the physiques competing in this division are getting better and better. The common idea is that "people will always want to see the freaks" but I don't think this is correct. The audience for the current state of professional bodybuilding physiques (extreme size, big waistlines, synthol injected bodyparts, no posing talent) is dropping off. Even most bodybuilding fans are not excited about the current state of bodybuilding and most people talk nostalgically about how great the physiques were in the 1970's and '80's.

[DroppingPlates]

It's all illusion.

Many parts of society are an illusion

[oldschoolfan]

bodybuilding peeked at pumping iron up until 1980. that is when cbs quit airing the mr Olympia because they were convinced the show was fixed that year, and it has been downhill ever since, bodybuilding will always be a subculture sport at best, most people find the top pros disgusting, you have 5-2 dwarfs competing at 260.

fitness in general has gotten bigger but the sport itself has declined quite a bit.

[Disgusted]

It's been dead for years.

[Disgusted]

If you look at the number of teenagers competing in bodybuilding, it's almost non existent today. I was competing in teenage bodybuilding contests from 1979-1982 and the teen divisions were always packed with teenage bodybuilders. The 1980 and 1981 AAU Teenage Mr. Illinois, which was held in age divisions instead of height classes, had over 100 teenage competitors. Many of those competitors went on to compete in open bodybuilding contests later in the '80's and '90's. If the teenage competitors are practically gone (most teen divisions today have 1-2 competitors), where are the future competitors going to come from? It looks like Men's Bodybuilding is going in the same direction as Women's Bodybuilding. There are less and less competitors who want to look like the bodybuilders so the numbers are going to go down. The other divisions (men's physique, bikini, figure and especially classic physique) are going strong and getting bigger. I think the future will be in classic physique as well. It's growing tremendously in the last few years and the physiques competing in this division are getting better and better. The common idea is that "people will always want to see the freaks" but I don't think this is correct. The audience for the current state of professional bodybuilding physiques (extreme size, big waistlines, synthol injected bodyparts, no posing talent) is dropping off. Even most bodybuilding fans are not excited about the current state of bodybuilding and most people talk nostalgically about how great the physiques were in the 1970's and '80's.

I don't recall even seeing a teenage class anymore?

[IroNat]

Many parts of society are an illusion

We are both philosophers.

[Disco187]

its still big overseas,, just in the states its classic and mens phy which are big

Yes I have been getting that vibe aswell, supplements seams to be pushed heavy over seas also

[Earl1972]

the contest money is higher than ever

heath made like 400 k for winning the olympia, i remember when ronnie won back in like 2002 i think his prize money was 100 k or so

anybody that knows me knows i much prefer the 90's bodies, but where is that money coming from if the sport is dying?

E

[Disgusted]

the contest money is higher than ever

heath made like 400 k for winning the olympia, i remember when ronnie won back in like 2002 i think his prize money was 100 k or so

anybody that knows me knows i much prefer the 90's bodies, but where is that money coming from if the sport is dying?

E

From the umpteen added classes which sells a ton more tickets to family and friends.

[Fortress]

Thanks, Fortress, but how do you account for the vast NPC and IFBB  membership increase and the growth of NPC/IFBB events throughout the world under the leadership of Jim Manion?

Are you seeing something or are you aware of something that I ain't?

See the following several posts.

[stuntmovie]

FORTRESS, It seems that the "following posts" are saying that the bodybuilding contest parts of the NPC sponsored events and the bodybuilding contest parts of the IFBB sponsored events are ether dieing or have already passed away .... but the other competitive contests that are held within NPC and/or IFBB sanctioned  events, such as each of the women's contests plus men's physique and men's classic, are alive and doing well enough to produce  the monetary income to financially support and carry the bodybuilding portions of the event.

If that is what  the "following posts" insinuate, I MIGHT agree but any possible competitive bodybuilding funeral will not occur while Jim Manion or his successor remain in office.

They will fight to keep it alive if necessary!

Death means "It exists no more", but competitive bodybuilding has a long life ahead of it.

At present and in line with some of the comments on this GetBig Board it appears that  ...  It just needs a "second opinion".

[dearth]

the contest money is higher than ever

heath made like 400 k for winning the olympia, i remember when ronnie won back in like 2002 i think his prize money was 100 k or so

anybody that knows me knows i much prefer the 90's bodies, but where is that money coming from if the sport is dying?

E

that is incorrect.
the winners gets more money, but collectively there is less $ given out. They used to award money to all that placed at the olympia.
The arnold has dried up funds as well, winner used to get a hummer + 100k

The NY pro is now a joke. zero prize money. I have stated before, that even natural pro shows give out $3k to the winner. DeAsha got a brass ring and a cheap plaque.