[pumpingiron]

Just found this on bodybuilding.com forum and wanted to discuss this issue on here. I have the same opinion as the guy who posted this:

It's 2005. Pumping Iron was 1975. Bodybuilding has moved on. Every day I open a thread and it has two things:

1)Ronnie has a distended stomach, so how could he be good? (morons)
2)Arnie was the greatest ever - most symmetrical, smallest waist, biggest chest, great blowers and smelt like flowers

Look, Arnold was a great bodybuilder IN HIS DAY. He is a legend in the sport, mainly because of what he did to publicise and normalise the sport more than anything he accomplished with his physique. There were better bodybuilders back then - Oliva, Columbo, Nubret. ALL Pros nowadays are better bodybuilders. True, you may like his physique, but here are several flaws with it, which most, with rose tinted glasses, fail to see.

1. Arnold had a wide mid section, hence he is twisting in most poses and you NEVER see him doing rear lat spreads (maybe a couple of pics but 100s more of his chest and arms)
2. His arms were not over 20" in competition shape. He had them measured alongside the 5'8" Oliva who taped at 21" to Arnold's 19.5". He had great biceps but no tris and innumerable pros have better arms.
3. Arnold was not even the best poser. Corney was in his day, then Taylor etc....
4. He had crap thighs and crap lats.
5. Arnold did not invent Christmas, Easter, your Birthday (well maybe if he's your father) etc etc. The sun does not shine out of his ass so stop thinking it does.

I hate to vent on the threads, I prefer to start threads like I have showing pros in top condition. But our sport isn't going to go anywhere if we're brainwashed into thinking that Arnold is the greatest bodybuilder ever and would be able to win today. He still has covers in Flex just as propaganda to brainwash impressionable noobs. STOP - this is getting in the way of new pros getting recognition, and instead further lining his already bloated pockets.

My gripe isn't with Arnold. I think he was great. But stop with the endless he had the best so and so (normally proportions...wtf?).

Rant over!

[Flex]

Bodybuilding.com is an awful site, but that was a decent post. I agree for the most part.

[Johnny Bravo]

I agree with what he says. almost.. I don't think his lats sucked.
I have never been a big fan of Arnold as I think he was an incomplete bodybuilder.

[therealgame]

arnold is the god of the gym back then and his book is the bible!!!
back then bodybuilding was diffrent...guys these days have machines and stuff arnold never had..if arnold was young now and starting out he'd beat ronnie because he had the drive and the destiny to be greatness...i think if you ask the bodybuilders of today why they started bodybuilding they'd say because of arnold...with the help of weidler and joe gold bodybuilding has come a long way...jay and ronnie are great but to me arnold will always be on top!!

[Brades_86]

Just because arnold spent half the day at the gym doesn't make him dedicated, the guys that compete these days are FAR more dedicated to their sport. Arnold rode his good genetics all the way to stardom, bodybuilding was his ticket to the top. I am not hating on Arnold I am just saying it as I see it, I too once thought he was the god of bodybuilding.

[pumpingiron]

Originally Posted by therealgame

arnold is the god of the gym back then and his book is the bible!!!
back then bodybuilding was diffrent...guys these days have machines and stuff arnold never had..if arnold was young now and starting out he'd beat ronnie because he had the drive and the destiny to be greatness...i think if you ask the bodybuilders of today why they started bodybuilding they'd say because of arnold...with the help of weidler and joe gold bodybuilding has come a long way...jay and ronnie are great but to me arnold will always be on top!!

First of all, I own his book and it is concidered the bible of bodybuilding 'cause there is no other detailed book. The book is outdated and his book is for beginners, especially the nutrition part of it (Example: 3 meals/day). Plus his description of exercises (Example: this exercise gives peak of biceps etc.) OUTDATED!

The argument that if Arnold was young now, had the technology and so on doesn't have anything to do with reality. There's no way anybody can know if he'd be better than Ronnie. IMO Arnold wouldn't even make 15th place at the Olympia today.

Yes, many people started bodybuilding 'cause of Arnold (including me) but that doesn't make him nr 1 at the sport.

[slyizlegend]

Originally Posted by pumpingiron

Just found this on bodybuilding.com forum and wanted to discuss this issue on here. I have the same opinion as the guy who posted this:

you know what your problem is, you ain't very smart. You irritate me with your stupid ass post. You want to compare 70ties bodybuilders with today's bodybuilders? That's absolutely ridiculous. And talking about flaws, EVERY pro has his flaws. Most top 5 pro's today had more flaws than Arnold has ever had. But with the help of ridiculous quantities of drugs these flaws ain't visible anymore.

If I open up flex magazine and show today's pro's to my girlfriend she just turns her head in disgust. And millions of people around the world do the same thing. So stop bullshitting about the respect these pro's should get. This whole thing has gotten out of hand and nobody does a damn thing about it. I love this sport, but if someone asks me what sport I do, I tell them "fitness". That's how ashamed I am for the people that represent this sport. It has just become totally fake. Female bodybuilders who almost got the same size arms as Lee Priest That's how fake it has become. If the sport still had a positive effect on people by motivating them to live healthy and be strong, then I would be proud. But it just ain't the case anymore. The only thing it does is frustrate confused teenagers to the point where they can't say no to anabolics and drugs anymore. That's why the sport isn't getting any respect. And NOT because everybody has a weak on Arnold.

[pumpingiron]

Hmm, that isn't the issue bro! We are discussing how many think of Arnold's physique as the best ever.
U got issues man! :lol:

[marko]

Comparing arnold to ronnie cant be done. It was ALOT different back then than it is now. Times have advanced and so has "bodybuilding" (in its own way). You just cant compare a legend to some one in todays world.

[marko]

By the way ...what are todays standards???

[Pain]

[Pain]

[pumpingiron]