The Modern Era of Bodybuilding

The Modern Era of Bodybuilding

Even the early bodybuilders made the connection between proper nutrition and
musculature. They knew that protein is the basis of muscle growth and that
complex carbohydrates were the fuel for their workouts. They also understood
that lifting increasingly heavy weights in multiple sets would tear down muscle
tissue that regenerated as bigger and stronger muscles, fueled by their protein
intake.
Most early bodybuilders were people of extremes; Extreme weights with extreme
frequency, extreme diets and ultimately extreme chemical supplementation. An
early workout regimen for a budding iron-pumper would often be comprised of 4
hour per day strenuous workouts with minimal rest between sets, exercises and
workouts. Their only rest was when they slept and on one day per week when
they didn’t workout. They would consume copious amounts of proteins in the
form of meat, eggs, raw milk, fish and poultry, with minimal carbohydrates.
With the discovery of artificially created anabolic steroids and growth hormones
in the forties (by East German and Russian Olympic athletic trainers) and fifties
(by the Americans athletes trying to be competitive), most of the bodybuilding
world adopted a “hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil” attitude when their
usage became widespread amongst bodybuilders.