Ray explores whether or not bodybuilding artistry has fallen by the wayside in in the present day’s panorama.
Final up to date on March nineteenth, 2025
Occasions have modified in bodybuilding. Some, like champion bodybuilder Shawn Ray, imagine the art of the sport is being overshadowed. Architects like Frank Zane and Lee Labrada crafted seamless routines to showcase their aesthetics. Ray, who competed in 13 Mr. Olympia contests, of which he podiumed 5, believes Open rivals are extra usually involved with executing their mandatory poses than anything within the trendy period.
Ray feels professional bodybuilding has misplaced contact with the artistry that after outlined it, suggesting that presentation and posing performed a extra important function in scoring contests, particularly through the Golden Age, than it does now. Iconic moments like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ¾ flip pose and Sergio Oliva’s victory pose introduced the game to life.
Although the Classic Physique division has aimed to recapture the Golden Period’s essence, Ray says the identical can’t be mentioned of Open class.
We don’t have artists. We’ve athletes taking route, and puppet masters pulling the strings.
—Shawn Ray
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The Decline of Artistry in Open Bodybuilding
Ray prompt that posing and bodybuilding tradition has modified. In his opinion, foundational rules like training and nutrition have deteriorated, blaming a speedy inflow of coaches and gurus who’ve hijacked the minds of professional bodybuilders, dictating what, when, and the way they eat and train.
With fewer “cooks within the kitchen” throughout his period, Ray and his fellow athletes displayed extra individuality, paving the best way for unique posing routines that impacted their rating. No physique was good, so mastering phantasm and stage management was thought-about a prerequisite for elite bodybuilding.
Extra bodybuilders took management of their physiques.
—Shawn Ray
Legends like Lee Haney and Kevin Levrone carved their our bodies utilizing trial and error. Though coaches performed a vital function through the 90s, Ray posits their affect on preparations wasn’t as prevalent as in the present day. Being “self-made” was a badge of honor for Ray and his contemporaries. He believes that’s not the case.
Whereas Ray worries bodybuilding artistry is disappearing, some present athletes hope to reverse the development. Derek Lunsford, the winner of the 2025 Arnold Classic, has made strides in enhancing his posing execution, which paid off with the Finest Poser Award in Columbus and a $500,000 examine.
Lunsford could also be an outlier, as Ray’s opinion of fading sports activities artistry stays unchanged and that the craftsmanship that helped elevate bodybuilding to the place it’s in the present day is slipping away.
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Featured picture: @leelabradaofficial on Instagram