A recent social media post is reminding fans what made bodybuilding's 'Golden Era' so special. Legends like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu treated their posing routines as an art form. This approach, highlighted by Arnold Sports, set a standard many feel is missing today.

Posing in bodybuilding is as important as the physique itself. However, over the years, the criteria have changed, and judges now focus more on the mandatory poses.

If one watches Pumping Iron, they can see the Austrian Oak and late Columbu taking posing or ballet lessons from a professional to master their poses.

That video was recently shared on the official Instagram account of Arnold Sports on April 8, describing how Schwarzenegger and Columbus made posing an art.

The caption of the post reads:

“Before stepping on stage, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu treated posing like an art form. In preparation for the 1975 Olympia, Arnold even worked with a ballet instructor to refine his movement, balance, and control, bringing a new level of precision and flow to bodybuilding.”

And that routine did help them both. At the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, held in Pretoria, South Africa, Schwarzenegger made history by winning his 6th title, defeating Serge Nubret and Lou Ferrigno. It was Schwarzenegger’s 6th consecutive Mr. Olympia title.

Apart from his intense definition of surgical precision, 57-inch chest, and 22-inch arms, another thing that caught the attention of the fans and the judges was his famous “vacuum pose,” which proved how hard he was training for a perfect pose.

Late Columbu also won the Mr. Olympia title in the under-200lbs division.

The Arnold Sports post also added, “That attention to detail helped define the Golden Era look. Not just size and conditioning, but presentation. As captured in Pumping Iron, their approach showed that winning wasn’t just about building the physique; it was about how you display it. 💪.”

In the video, it can be seen how the massive bodybuilder is obeying every single word of the trainer.

In the meantime, Lee Haney commented on the post, “Arnold also introduced me to his posing coach. The rest is history👌🏿🫵🏿.”

We know the history very well. From 1984 to 1991, Haney ruled the Mr. Olympia stage, creating history by winning 8 consecutive titles.

But times have changed. Although Arnold Classic events have made some rule changes and are now focusing more on posing for higher scores, sadly, things are not the same as they used to be. And Schwarzenegger himself has opened up about it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about the lack of posing in bodybuilding

During an interview with Muscular Development magazine on September 28, 2021, the 7-time Mr. Olympia opened up about the shortcomings he sees in modern bodybuilding related to posing.

He said, “Without being able to show (your physique), and without being able to pose, and without being able to hold the pose for long enough time so that everyone in the audience can see you pose…

Bodybuilders, which so many times they make the mistake of moving to another pose so fast, and not really showing to the audience what they’ve got.”

He continued, “When they hold the pose long enough, they start shaking. Like, what the h*** is going on? Why are you shaking? Are you afraid onstage or something like that? Or maybe you didn’t practice enough, well then that’s terrible. Because you can’t be champion if you don’t practice enough, the posing. It should be easy.

That’s why some of the guys, that I understand, that I don’t like, so many of the guys are grinding their teeth when they pose. Why do they have to do the most muscular pose and (grind their teeth)? Why are you trying to be threatening with your teeth? What is that about?”

So, the bigger question is whether you want to see the art of the pose.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil