A global revolution in the representation of the whole world about the beauty of the body, sports and fitness occurred in the distant 1939. This happened thanks to the publication of a brochure called Your Physique, authored by Joe Vader. This moment can be considered the birth of bodybuilding, because before that such a concept did not even exist. We will talk about the biography of the great man in this article.
Way to dream
The founder of bodybuilding in Montreal was born on November 29, 1919 and grew up as an ordinary feeble boy. At the age of 13, Joe Vader realized that if he remained the same frail teenager, he would never be able to win in the domestic brawls and repulse the bully who oppressed him. Then he decided to go in for sports and created his first barbell, and for this Joe got a locomotive axle in the dump and attached a couple of wheels from the car to it. The results from the training were so amazing that after a fairly short time, Vader began to win local competitions among weightlifters.
The amazing success did not leave anyone indifferent: the bodybuilder was literally bombarded with questions from friends and strangers. Then Joe Vader decided not to bother with constant answers and released the brochure Your Physique, which sold 50,000 copies literally in the first few weeks. It is this bodybuilding guide that can be considered the ancestor of such publications as Muscle Builder, Flex, Muscle & Fitness, Shape. This was the starting point in the popularization of bodybuilding. In the postwar years, love for this sport only increased, largely thanks to the efforts of Joe Vader. Cinema also contributed to this process, and the muscular body thoroughly became fashionable.
Gospel for Athletes
Joe Vader, whose photo is presented in the article, having been engaged in bodybuilding for many years, realized that impressive results can be achieved only with a competent training system. The bodybuilder described the principles of such a system in his book, entitled "The system of building a body according to Joe Vader." This edition has become a true Bible for bodybuilders around the world. Bodybuilding stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rick Wayne, Frank Zane, Franco Columbo and Lee Haney trained on this system .
Despite the fact that even now this book causes controversial reactions and gives rise to a lot of controversy, it is impossible to deny the success of the system, which is confirmed by the flowering view that Joe Vader is famous for. A photo at age 60 shows that the athlete still has not lost shape thanks to his training system.
Mr. Olympia
Everything that Vader did in his life was connected only with this sport. In 1946, with his brother Ben Joe becomes the founder of the International Federation of Bodybuilders in Montreal. In 1965, the Vaders organized the competition “Mr. Olympia”, which soon became the most prestigious among these. Indeed, unlike the “Mr. of the Universe” and “Mr. of the World”, athletes can compete in this competition even after winning the main title. The popularity of bodybuilding is increasing every year, and already in 1980 the first competition among women - "Miss Olympia". And in 1995, the Olympia Fitness contest appeared.
The increasing popularity of such competitions significantly increases their prize pool. If the first Mr. Olympia, the well-known
Larry King, was awarded only a symbolic crown, then already in the next 1966, a significant cash prize of $ 1000 was added to it. And every year the prize pool is increasing more and more.
Empire Weider
In addition to coaching and organizational activities, the Vader brothers also engaged in the creation of their own empire, which includes sports nutrition factories, magazines, patented sports equipment, clothes for athletes, and much more. Today, Weider remains the leader in the bodybuilding industry and is not going to give up its competitors. And this success can easily be called the achievement of the "American Dream", because Joe had a starting capital of $ 7.
The founder of bodybuilding died March 23, 2013 at the age of 92 years, but his name will forever remain in the hearts of athletes.