It seems nearly every pro bodybuilder I follow today plans on competing maybe once a year at most, which means an 8 month offseason and then a 3.999 month diet, in hopes of looking good one day a year. And half the time they bow out of the show early, usually with a half-hearted excuse about switching divisions or bad blood markers, and the other half of the time they claim they screwed up their "peak week" and that's why they got dead last.
They also all seem 100% committed to being the absolute top bodybuilder on planet Earth! They aren't doing shows all year, mopping up prize money at smaller contests every weekend... No, they bet the house on qualifying for the Olympia every year and every caption is about how you just need to do more of everything and whoever does the most (drugs, assumedly) will be the top competitor. It makes no sense...Imagine if pro tennis players or golfers did this.
In the 90s and before, pro bodybuilders were actually that: working professionals. They would go out and actually compete in an effort to earn money. Ronnie and Lee Priest and Dex would literally go out on tour, don their thongs and do battle week in, week out.
What changed? Did all the prize money consolidate into just one or two big shows? Did bodybuilding judging allow the sport to become dominated by people who were mentally ill enough to kill themselves with drugs to be recognized, rather than people with aesthetic physiques? What gives??
