At the end of the nineteenth century a new interest in muscle-building arose, not muscle just as a means of survival or of defending oneself, but a return to the Greek ideal – muscular development as a celebration of the human body.
The ancient tradition of stone-lifting evolved into the modern sport of weightlifting. As the sport developed, it took on different aspects in different cultures. In Europe weightlifting was a form of entertainment from which the professional strongman emerged – men who made their living by how much weight they could lift or support. How their physiques looked didn’t matter in the least, so they tended to develop beefy, ponderous bodies.
In America at this time, there developed a considerable interest in strength in relation to its effect on health. The adherents of “physical culture” stressed the need for eating natural, unprocessed foods - an idea that took in response to the increasing use of new food-processing techniques. Americans were beginning to move from farms and small towns to the cities, the automobile provided a new mobility. But at the same time, life was becoming increasingly sedentary, and the health problems that arise when a population eats too much of the wrong food, doesn’t get enough exercise, and exists in constant conditions of stress were just becoming apparent.
The physical culturists were battling this trend with a brief in overall health and physical conditioning, advocating moderation and balance in all aspects of life. The beer-drinking, pot-bellied strongmen were certainly not their ideal. What they needed was a model whose physique embodied the ideas they were trying to disseminate, someone who related more to the image of the ancient Greek athlete than the Bavarian beer hall. They found such a man in the person of Eugene Sandow - a turn-of-the-century physical culture superstar.
Sandow made his reputation in Europe as a professional strongman, successfully challenging other strongmen and outdoing them at their own stunts. He came to America in the 1890s and was promoted by Florenz Ziegfeld, who billed him as “The world’s strongest man” and put him on tour. But what really set Sandow apart was the aesthetic quality of his physique.
Sandow was beautiful, no doubt about it. He was an exhibitionist, and enjoyed having people look at his body as well as admire his strongman stunts. He would sleep into a glass case and pose wearing nothing but a fig leaf, while the audience stared and the women “oohed” and “aahed” at the beauty and symmetry of his muscular development. This celebration of the aesthetic qualities of the male physique was something very new. During the Victorian age, man had covered themselves in confining clothing, and very few artists used the male nude as a subject for their paintings. This is what made Sandow’s appeal so amazing.
The ancient tradition of stone-lifting evolved into the modern sport of weightlifting. As the sport developed, it took on different aspects in different cultures. In Europe weightlifting was a form of entertainment from which the professional strongman emerged – men who made their living by how much weight they could lift or support. How their physiques looked didn’t matter in the least, so they tended to develop beefy, ponderous bodies.
In America at this time, there developed a considerable interest in strength in relation to its effect on health. The adherents of “physical culture” stressed the need for eating natural, unprocessed foods - an idea that took in response to the increasing use of new food-processing techniques. Americans were beginning to move from farms and small towns to the cities, the automobile provided a new mobility. But at the same time, life was becoming increasingly sedentary, and the health problems that arise when a population eats too much of the wrong food, doesn’t get enough exercise, and exists in constant conditions of stress were just becoming apparent.
The physical culturists were battling this trend with a brief in overall health and physical conditioning, advocating moderation and balance in all aspects of life. The beer-drinking, pot-bellied strongmen were certainly not their ideal. What they needed was a model whose physique embodied the ideas they were trying to disseminate, someone who related more to the image of the ancient Greek athlete than the Bavarian beer hall. They found such a man in the person of Eugene Sandow - a turn-of-the-century physical culture superstar.
Sandow made his reputation in Europe as a professional strongman, successfully challenging other strongmen and outdoing them at their own stunts. He came to America in the 1890s and was promoted by Florenz Ziegfeld, who billed him as “The world’s strongest man” and put him on tour. But what really set Sandow apart was the aesthetic quality of his physique.
Sandow was beautiful, no doubt about it. He was an exhibitionist, and enjoyed having people look at his body as well as admire his strongman stunts. He would sleep into a glass case and pose wearing nothing but a fig leaf, while the audience stared and the women “oohed” and “aahed” at the beauty and symmetry of his muscular development. This celebration of the aesthetic qualities of the male physique was something very new. During the Victorian age, man had covered themselves in confining clothing, and very few artists used the male nude as a subject for their paintings. This is what made Sandow’s appeal so amazing.
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