Find out who is the founder of bodybuilding? How did Joe Vader coach great champions like Arnold? Very often, when talking about bodybuilding, the name Schwarzenegger is instantly remembered. Of course, Arnie did a lot to popularize bodybuilding, but it should be remembered that he was just a student of another person - Joe Weider. He trained many athletes who later became famous, such as Lee Haney and Frank Zane. For this reason, bodybuilding should start with the history of Joe Weider in bodybuilding.
Vader's childhood and adolescence
The history of Joe Weider in bodybuilding dates back to 1919, when a boy named Joe appeared in a Jewish family. He and his younger brother are in Montreal, Canada. Their parents emigrated from Poland and could only afford to live in a poor area of the city, which was also very criminal.
The head of the Vader family worked as a simple manager in one of the city's factories, bringing a very modest salary to the house. The boys' mother ran the entire household and dreamed only of her children becoming merchants. It was this profession that was most profitable in those difficult times.
As money was constantly lacking, the guys had to leave school and go to work. Joe got a job as a peddler at a grocery store, and his brother helped a bartender for $ 10 a month.
In the area where the Vader lived, there were many street gangs and in skirmishes with local hooligans, the guys always turned out to be losers. This is what caused them to join the sport. Ben started boxing and Joe started weightlifting.
Almost from the first lessons Joe did not use the training methods generally accepted at that time and tried to find something of his own, more effective. The guys quickly became famous, Joe became the champion of Canada in weightlifting, and his brother took second place in the national championship.
This success of Joe did not go unnoticed and he was often asked how he managed to achieve such a result in a short time. When he was 17 years old, he decided to answer this question to everyone at the same time, organizing the release of a simple brochure Your Physique, which is the founder of the magazines Muscle & Fitnes and Flex, which became extremely popular in the future. Joe's first print edition cost only 15 cents, and his budget was $ 7.
No one could have guessed that Your Physique was waiting for such a success. The first 50,000 copies were sold out in just one month.
Vader's fame
In 1942, Joe went to serve in the army and by chance coincidence got into intelligence, although he intended to go to the tank forces. After three years of service, Vader returned home. In the 1940s, the Weider brothers were the first to propose the use of vitamins and other nutritional supplements in sports. Like most endeavors, this idea was met with laughter. But the brothers did not abandon their ideas and looked at the method of training athletes from a new angle.
In those days, bodybuilding was not yet developed, although competitions were held. But in one of these competitions, Joe became the winner, and in 1946 the Weider brothers created the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB). A large number of difficulties awaited them ahead of them, which they managed to overcome.
In the same 1946, the first IFBB tournament was held in the Vader's hometown. The competition attracted about 60 athletes to participate and was held in the premises of the city theater, which could accommodate 1200 spectators. All tickets, and their cost was $ 2.5, were quickly sold out.
After the creation of the IFBB, Joe focused entirely on publishing magazines, creating sports equipment, while his brother worked to popularize the newly created federation. Ben managed to visit more than a hundred states, including the Soviet Union. It is worth noting that it took the Russians 25 years to become members of the federation. He also had a very difficult time in the Celestial Empire, but it took less effort in comparison with Russia. But Ben could not give bodybuilding Olympic status.
With the development of cinematography, directors increasingly began to involve bodybuilders in filming. As a result, Joe managed to meet his future wife on the set in 1950, and her name was Betty Brosmer. This woman was one of the most famous models and actresses of the time. The procedure for their marriage took place in 1961.
During his first participation in the "Mr. Universe" tournament, and this happened in 1951, Joe finished fifth in his height category. In 1965, the first Mr. Olympia tournament, created by Vader, took place and then became the most prestigious in bodybuilding. The other well-known competitions that existed at that time did not allow the athlete to participate again after victory. It was for them that Mr. Olympia was created, in which it was possible to perform an unlimited number of times.
Has a Joe Weider bodybuilding history and scandalous pages. So in 1972, the Vader brothers were forced to be in the dock. The reason for the litigation was the complaints of people who purchased the Weider Formula No. 7 gainer and the 5 minute body shaper. In the first case, clients complained that they could not gain five pounds a day. As promised by the label of the sports drink, and in the second - did not lose weight quickly. The case ended with a fine in favor of the plaintiffs.
In 1975, the government of Canada honored Joe with an Order for his many years of work to improve the lives of people around the world, and nine years later, Vader was a candidate for the Nobel Prize. Joe Weider passed away in 2003. This person can safely be considered the founder of the school of modern bodybuilding. Despite the fact that many of the training methods were not created by him, he did a great job of generalizing them and found a way to effectively apply them in the preparation of athletes.
Learn more about the life and work of Joe Weider in this video:
