Greek Influence:
Long ago, the ancient Greeks showed off their muscles to look beautiful, thinking it made them similar to gods. They made statues that were perfectly shaped to represent the gods' beauty. This idea of looking good physically stayed in art even during the Renaissance when artists made sculptures and paintings in a style similar to the Greeks.
Eugen Sandow:
In the past, a man named Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) started a kind of competition where people would show off their strong bodies. He got famous for being really strong and even won a competition called "World's Strongest Man." He traveled around the world doing strong things like bending steel rods and lifting heavy weights. He also did something unique where he posed his muscles inside a glass booth, moving in a certain way with music. This caught the attention of a famous promoter named Florenz Ziegfeld, who helped Sandow become even more famous by having him perform in different places.
Sandow even started a magazine called "Physical Culture" and wrote books about how to build strong bodies. He made a lot of changes that helped create modern bodybuilding and made it a popular thing.
Great Competition of 1901:
In 1901, after a few years of planning, Sandow organized a big contest to find the person with the best-looking and strongest body. He called it "The Great Competition." People from all over the UK could join. The prize was a lot of money and a golden statue of Sandow himself. Sandow organized smaller competitions before this big one, and the winners of those could join the big event.
Since it's hard to judge who looks the best, Sandow made a system to decide. They looked at how well muscles were developed, how balanced the body looked, the health of the person, and even the condition of their skin. The competition happened in a big building, and even though it could hold 15,000 people, many had to be turned away because there were so many who wanted to watch.
During the show, Sandow showed his strength and skills, and then many well-built men joined the stage. Judges, including the famous Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, chose the best ones. They had to do certain poses to show off their muscles. After some time, they picked the top three, and the winner got a golden Sandow statue. The event's earnings went to a charity fund, and this is how the sport of bodybuilding started.
