Sports

In 1946, Joe and Ben began promoting bodybuilding competitions, starting with the Mr. Canada contest.

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
Joe Weider's "Most Muscular Man" pose was often used as his picture byline in magazines.

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
1973: Ken Waller (Mr. World), Lou Ferrigno (Mr. America), Joe Weider and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mr. Olympia).

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
2002: Ben and Joe Weider with Ronnie Coleman.

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
Joe Weider and Ben Weider and athletes at the 1962 America/Universe Contest

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
Joe Weider with Arnold Schwarzenegger on the set of "Predator".

Photo Credit : joeweider.com
Joe Weider with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 1968 Mr. Universe.

Photo Credit : joeweider.com

Ben and Joe Weider

Ben and Joe “The Master Blaster” Weider were bodybuilding promoters who helped turn the sport into a mainstream, competitive activity by founding the International Federation of Body Builders (IFBB), the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition and the first ever sports nutrition company, Weider Nutrition.

Born in Montreal to Polish parents, the boys grew up in a tough neighborhood, where Ben was frequently attacked by bullies. Inspired by a Charles Atlas magazine, they began weightlifting at home with improvised equipment to bulk up. At 18, Joe won the Quebec Weightlifting Competition, the top weightlifting competition at the time.

In 1940, the brothers began publishing a bodybuilding magazine called Your Physique, because they felt that the current fitness magazines were not scientifically-based. By 1943, the magazine had a large circulation and was being distributed all across Canada. A bodybuilding empire soon followed, expanding to include fitness equipment and supplements. In 1969, the brothers found their perfect spokesmodel in Arnold Schwarzengger, an Austrian bodybuilder, who had been following the Weider method. Bringing him to California, where Joe was then living, Schwarzenegger was trained and primed to be the public face of Weider products. In return, Schwarzenegger fronted for the Weider supplements and equipment on talk shows and in magazines, his charm and wit endearing him to audiences and resulting in increased sales for the Weiders.

The Weiders broke down barriers in bodybuilding for women and minorities, opening doors for black, Hispanic and female athletes to compete in competitions and be featured in health and fitness magazines. Longtime supporters of Montreal’s Jewish community, the brothers were honoured by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Montreal, now called the Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre. They were also both prolific authors (Joe mostly wrote about bodybuilding, and Ben on Napoleonic history, an area of expertise for which he was internationally known).

Joe has won the 2014 International Sports Hall of Fame Award, Pioneer Fitness Award and the Venice Muscle Beach Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Ben’s awards include the Order of Canada and the Order of Quebec, along with the French Legion of Honour; in 1984, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Learn more:

http://www.joeweider.com/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/joe-weider-1919-2013-remembering-the-father-of-bodybuilding.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDC630358ks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ymY-ahWa_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Roi1MmGf9Ps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi6HR2eVAMo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14o76Ws9JOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCVB-GnK18