Modern Bodybuilding, Natural Bodybuilding, or Classic Physique Building: Which Would You Choose?

(Top Photo: Natural Bodybuilder Dave Goodin; Middle Photo: Roid-based Bodybuilder Kai Greene; Bottom Photo: CPB Champ Steve Reeves)

Here is a letter from a CPB Subscriber who describes a recent conversation he had with his friends. How many of you have had similar encounters and experiences? If so, let us know!

"Hello...I had a conversation with a couple of friends that I felt you may find interesting.

A bodybuilding buddy of mine brought over a bunch of photos from the Arnold Classic to my house yesterday. He loves modern day bodybuilding and loves to defend it whenever I bring up issues like gh gut, no proportions, etc... Anyways, my girlfriend had some friends over so I showed them pictures of Kai Greene, a random natural BB'er, and Steve Reeves. I asked them which physique they found the most attractive (not necessarily from a sexual perspective!). They all went with Reeves. They all agreed that Kai looked absolutely disgusting (and for gags, I played his posing routine. We had a great laugh!). They also said that the natural guy looked way too shredded - "it looks awkward." They kinda melted at the Reeves photo saying that he had the perfect combination of mass and definition. This started a bit of a debate between my friend and I.

My friend refuses to believe that the classic physique will ever make its way back to mainstream bodybuilding. The idea does not seem far fetched at all to me. In fact, I think the more "freak show" modern bodybuilding becomes, the more essential a return to proportions and aesthetics will become. It's like how female bodybuilding got so out of hand that they developed the figure division to bring back proportions and an overall feminine physique. I think the same will happen in men's bb'ing. They will have to develop a "fitness" division to try and attract new followers. I can only hope that they use the Classic Ideals as their judging criteria!

Just a thought I would share." - Mark, from Canada

Well.....What do you think? Have you had encounters/conversations like this with your friends? If so, then share your experience with us! I somehow think that this kind of reaction (to modern bodybuilding and even natural bodybuilding) is not uncommon and when faced with the clear choice of Reeves versus a roid-based modern bodybuilder, regular people will choose a classic physique like Reeves every time! And if this is the case, then who really reflects the MAINSTREAM OF THE PUBLIC, a Reeves or a Green, Cutler, or Coleman? Perhaps we (CPB'ers) should not concede the term "mainstream bodybuilding" to the roid-users!

- CPB

P.S. For a free 1 year subscription to Classic Physique Builder Zine (CPBzine) - a pdf "zine" (do-it-yourself magazine) patterned after the muscle mags of the pre-roid Golden Age of Bodybuilding (the 1940s and 50s) - just email your name, the name of your city (not your actual address), state/province, and country to cpbzine@gmail.com. That's it! Any info you send us is strictly confidential. We don't share info/data with anyone. So you won't get on any unwanted lists or receive any unwanted, automated email or spam (even from us!).

Classic Physique Building: Finding that "Sweet Spot" of Muscular Growth!

(Photo Above: Classic Physique Building Champ - Steve Reeves in France, 1948)

We've all heard about and recognize the importance of the mind-body connection in building muscular mass, but learning how to utilize it and trigger it for muscular growth is perhaps not so easy! Nor is it easy to talk about or describe - but here we go!

You can do everything seemingly right - get the right amount of rest, eat properly, and have a good routine with the right amount of exercises, sets, reps, and poundages. So, on the surface, it looks like you are doing everything right, but you still don't seem to grow! So what's wrong? It could well be your "mind-body connection." In other words, your body is going through the correct motions - but because the mind is not engaged, your muscles still aren't getting the right amount of stimulation to trigger muscular growth!

The key here is to find that "sweet spot" of mind-body connection where your mind is focused on the muscles being exercised, you are putting in the correct amount of intensity, and your mind and body are "sensing" and "remembering" this level of intensity as you are going through your reps. This "sensing" and "remembering" is critical - because without this, you cannot adjust your intensity level up or down to find that "sweet spot" where the muscles are being stimulated "just right" for muscular growth.

Developing this "sense" and "memory" requires conscious practice, some "trial and error," and tape measuring yourself before each workout so you can check the muscular growth you are getting or not getting against your "sense and memory" of your intensity during your reps of your last workout. Getting this right means having your mind centered and focused on your body and, in particular, on the muscles you are working - "your mind needs to be in your muscles."

Steve Reeves talked about this mind-body connection in his book "Building the Classic Physique - The Natural Way." This connection was so important to him that he wouldn't speak to anyone during a workout! He was a nice guy, by all accounts, but simply told anyone who tried to interrupt him to please speak to him after his workout. He would not let his mind-body connection be broken! Other Golden Agers practiced and talked about it. And this is why Vince Gironda was so dead set against playing music in his gym! He thought that there was no way a person would be able to get this "connection" if their mind was focused on music instead of their muscles!

So think about this and how you approach your workouts. Do you allow yourself to get distracted? Is your mind really "in your muscles"? Do you have a "sense and memory" of your intensity and what level triggers muscle growth for you?

Again, this is a tough subject to talk about, but it's very important and so was worth a try. Hopefully, you now have some insight (or perhaps a reminder) about this. Given that everything else is in place, the mind-body connection is really the "trigger" of muscular growth. So get to work finding that "sweet spot!"

- CPB

P.S. For a free 1 year subscription to Classic Physique Builder Zine (CPBzine) - a pdf "zine" (do-it-yourself magazine) patterned after the muscle mags of the pre-roid, Golden Age of Bodybuilding (the 1940s and 50s), just email your name, the name of your city (not your actual address), state/province, and country to cpbzine@gmail.com. That's it! Any info you send us is strictly confidential. We don't share info with anyone. So you won't get on any unwanted lists or receive annoying automated email (even from us)!