Pros today don't want to pay their dues. They overdo it with the drugs and insulin and off season eating and inactive lifestyle.
Are you sure they're more inactive? Seems to me cardio, often daily, is seen as essential nowadays across the board. I don't think it was as important in the 90s but maybe I'm wrong. Agree that they eat more probably, as they have to considering the BW, but the diets seem blander, 'cleaner' (a bit of a silly notion but you know what I mean) and just stricter wrt to daily meal schedule. Bodyfat percentages are kept lower off season as well. Back then you had Priest and his full fat milk and cookies and ice cream to grow. One pro said him and the rest of the top guys all agreed food like hamburgers grew you best and you can't eat all clean and grow (i.e. low fat). Today they go out of their way to buy 98% beef and then rinse it lol. Back then you had Chad telling many of the top guys to drink oil to increase calories. If you go by stage BF% they are lower across the board, if you'd caliper them they have lower fat over the whole body. The increased muscle blurs the 90s type definition somehow. Levrone said he did no GH for his first O and was never as crisp again but it's not like GH makes you fatter, more watery perhaps, mostly in the muscle though. Another thing, back then going to the hospital after shows due to diuretic abuse was seen as almost normal. So what I'm saying is that todays look is not due to the laziness of the bbers, at least that's my perspective, then it was more common to completely relax and sometimes not even train off season, instead partying. These fuckers today are adjusting their diets daily or weekly and sending pics and video to their coaches to monitor minute changes to their appearance year round lol. So I don't know about dues paid, even the constant year round drug taking is plain work. Just some thoughts. But yes, they did look a bit different 'quality' wise.