1970’s Onwards

In 1977, the film Pumping Iron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous bodybuilder, was released. This gave the sport a huge publicity boost.

At about this time the IFBB, the International Federation of Bodybuilders, were the pre-eminant force in the sport. Conversely, the AAU, the sport’s alternative governing body, took a back seat. In 1981, the National Physique Committee, or NPC, was established. Since then, the NPC has established itself as the most successful bodybuilding organisation in the U.S. It is also recognised as the amateur division of the IFBB.

There was a large reduction in the AAU sponsored bodybuilding contests during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In fact, in 1999, the AAU voted to withdraw completely from bodybuilding events.

This was the era in which anabolic steroids were being widely used in bodybuilding and a variety of other sports. Certain chemicals, such as the hormone testosterone, are particularly effective for building muscles. Tests to detect doping, which refers to the use of performance enhancing drugs, were then introduced by the IFBB for both steroids and other banned substances. In this way, the IFBB retained its membership of the IOC, or International Olympic Committee. However, most professional bodybuilders still preferred to use anabolic steroids for competition work.

Since they were still legal, the use of anabolic steroids was widely discussed throughout the 1970’s. Then, in 1990 the US Congress implemented the Anabolic Steroid Control Act and placed anabolic steroids into Schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act, or CSA.

Also, in 1990, a new bodybuilding organisation, the World Bodybuilding Federation, or WBF, was established. The new owner, a former wrestling promoter, wanted to bring World Wrestling Federation, or WWF, style presentation and bigger prize money to the sport of bodybuilding.

As a start, he signed up 13 bodybuilders to receive financially attractive long-term contracts. Such an arrangement was unheard of in bodybuilding until then. The response was swift, with the majority of the WBF competitors immediately leaving the IFBB. To counter this move, the IFBB president blacklisted all the bodybuilders who had signed up with the WBF.

Since the new organisation did not test for steroids, it was decided that the IFBB would also stop testing their athletes for anabolic steroid use. It was felt that this was necessary since it was difficult to compete with the current arrangements. Since the WWF were under investigation by the federal government for alleged involvement in anabolic steroid trafficking, it was decided, in 1992, that WBF would be tested for drugs. As a result, in the 1992 WBF contest, the competitor’s appearance was noticeably below the standard expected in such competitions. It came as no surprise that, in July 1992, the WBF was officially disbanded.

There was much speculation as to the reasons behind this move, but it probably included:

A shortfall in income from the pay-per-view broadcasts of the WBF contests.

The WBF's magazine, Bodybuilding Lifestyles, which later became WBF Magazine, was experiencing a serious downturn in sales.

The payment of many 6-figure contracts as well as producing two TV shows and a monthly magazine was a huge burden on the organisation.

However, the formation of the WBF had two positive effects for the IFBB athletes: (1) it persuaded the IFBB founder to sign up many of his top stars to contracts, and (2) it ensured that the IFBB raised sufficient prize money in its sanctioned contests. The WBF bodybuilders were eventually reinstated as members of the IFBB with a token fine of 10% of their former yearly WBF salary.

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