Bodybuilding Legends Show

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the 1974 Mr. Olympia contest by reading two articles from Sports Illustrated Magazine about bodybuilding and the Mr. Olympia contest that year. John reads the article "The Men and the Myth" by Richard W. Johnston from the October 14, 1974 issue of Sports Illustrated and then he reads the follow...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads some articles from the Golden Age of Bodybuilding when Steve Reeves, John Grimek, Larry Scott and Sergio Oliva were winning the top championships. Included in the articles shared on this episode are "Steve Reeves Wins 1947 Mr. America" written by Mark Wolfe from the January, 1978 issue of Muscle Builder magazine, "Mr. Amer...

Roger Schwab, head judge for the IFBB Professional League during the late 1970's and early 1980's, passed away on March 25, 2024 at the age of 79.  Roger was a guest on the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast several times since the podcast began in 2017, sharing his stories of watching some of the most historical bodybuilding competitions from the Golden Era, training with Mike Mentzer and judging top c...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads the contest reports of the first Night of the Champions contest in 1978 as well as the 1978 World Cup promoted by Golds Gym owner Ken Sprague. Included in the articles read are "The Night of the Champions Turns Into the Night of Controversy" from the October 1978 issue of Muscle Digest magazine, "The Night of the Champions...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen goes back to the years 1976-1977 when the movies discovered the sport of bodybuilding with the release of "Stay Hungry" (1976) and "Pumping Iron" (1977). John reads a series of articles from both Muscle Builder magazine and Muscle Mag International about these two ground breaking movies when they were being made and then finally...

In this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, as a tribute to the Arnold Classic, host John Hansen reads three articles about some old Arnold Classic competitions from the 1990's. John also reads an interview with Arnold from 1993 about his views on the future of the Bodybuilding and Fitness industry. At the beginning of the podcast, John talks about the 2024 Arnold Classic which took place...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads three articles about the 1983 Pro World Bodybuiliding Championships from three different magazines - Muscle & Fitness, Flex Magazine and Muscle Mag International. John also talks about John Balik's Bodybuilding News magazines which ran during the year 1983 and he reads two articles from that magazine about the 1983 NPC Nat...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, guests Shawn Ray and Jerry Brainum discuss the 1993 Mr. Olympia contest where Dorian Yates won his second Mr. Olympia title and Shawn Ray placed a very close third place behind runner-up Flex Wheeler. Shawn talks about training with Flex Wheeler earlier in the year to prep him for his Arnold Classic win, his own preparation for the Mr. Olympia t...

Jerry Brainum, former writer for Flex, Muscle & Fitness and IronMan Magazine, is the guest on this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast to review the year 1993 in Bodybuilding. In Part Two of their interview, Jerry and host John Hansen talk about some of the major professional bodybuilding competitions in 1993 including the IronMan Pro Invitational, the Arnold Classic won by Flex Wheeler, t...

Jerry Brainum, former writer for Muscle & Fitness, Flex and IronMan Magazine, is the guest on this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast to review the year 1993 in Bodybuilding. In Part One of his interview, Jerry and host John Hansen talk about the top amateur competitions from the year 1993. Included in their discusssion is the 1993 NPC USA Championships won by Chris Cormier, the 1993 NPC...

Jerry Brainum, former writer for Muscle & Fitness and IronMan Magazine, is the guest on this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast to review the year 1983 in Bodybuilding. In Part Two of his interview, Jerry and host John Hansen talk about the professional bodybuilding competitions from that year including the 1983 Professional World Championships won by Mohamed Makkawy, the 1983 Night of th...

Jerry Brainum, former writer for Muscle & Fitness and IronMan Magazine, is the guest on this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast to review the year 1983 in Bodybuilding. In Part One of this episode, Jerry and host John Hansen talk about the major amateur competitions in 1983 including the 1983 AAU Mr. America won by Jeff King, the 1983 NABBA Mr. Universe won by Jeff King (amateur) and Edwa...

Jerry Brainum, former writer at Muscle & Fitness and IronMan Magazine, is the guest on this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast to review the year 1973 in Bodybuilding. Jerry and host John Hansen talk about the major bodybuilding competitions in 1973 including the 1973 AAU Mr. America won by Jim Morris, the 1973 NABBA Mr. Universe won by Chris Dickerson and Boyer Coe, the 1973 IFBB Mr. Ame...

Happy New Year! In this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, guest Jerry Brainum again joins John Hansen for their annual End of the Year review in which they look back 30, 40 and 50 years in Bodybuilding History. For this episode, Jerry and John actually go back 60 years to 1963 to discuss the AAU Mr. America in which Harold Poole lost to Vern Weaver and the IFBB Mr. America and Mr. Unive...

In this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads the contest reports of the controversial 1980 and 1981 Mr. Olympia contests from Muscle Mag International and Muscle Digest magazines. The articles included in this episode include "Arnold's 7th Olympia Win Tarnished by Controversy" written by Jon Meade from the December, 1980 issue of Muscle Digest magazine, "The Olympia...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads a series of articles about the 1980 IFBB Grand Prix circuit as reported in Muscle & Fitness magazine. This was the first year in which the IFBB held a series of professional contests from February to May, 1980 featuring some of the best professional bodybuilders in the world. Included in these competitions were bodybuilder...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads a series of articles about the Mr. Olympia winners from 1977-1983. The articles that are included in this episode include "How the Kid with the Football Exploded Robby's Dream" about Frank Zane's first Mr. Olympia win in 1977, "A Bodybuilders Notebook: How I won the Mr. Olympia" by Franco Columbu in 1981, "Chris Dickerson:...

Author Paul Becker joins the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast for this episode to talk about his new book Mike Mentzer and Me . Paul explains what it was like to train with Mike Mentzer about a year before he passed away and what he learned about Mike's training philosophy. Paul also talks about how he was able to apply these training principles to his own workouts in order to compete in natural bodyb...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads excerpts from the book Arnold Schwarzenegger - A Portrait by George Butler. In his 1990 book, the director of the movie "Pumping Iron" displays his many rare photographs of Arnold Schwarzenegger from their relationship between 1972-1980 as well as sharing his thoughts and reflections on the impact Arnold made in bodybuildi...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads a series of articles from some old MuscleMag International magazines from the late 1970's and early 1980's. MuscleMag International magazine was published by Robert Kennedy. The magazine started in 1974 and it became one of the most popular magazines in the bodybuilding industry thanks in part to its unbiased coverage of a...

In this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen revisits the classic book Pumping Iron. John reads all the quotes included in the book as well as reading some of the relevant excerpts from the original book published in 1974 and written by Charles Gaines. At the beginning of the podcast, John talks about the career of bodybuilder Franklyn Greene who recently passed away this...

On this episode of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen reads a series of articles from the bodybuilding magazines in 1977. The articles that are included in this episode include "AFAB Star Wars" written by Denie for the MuscleMag Annual 3, "Tom Minichiello Stages Successful Mr. Western Hemisphere/Mr. USA Contests" by Rick Wayne for the February, 1978 issue of Muscle Builder, "The Go...

For the final installment of the 6th Anniversary of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast, host John Hansen selects some clips of his favorite interviews of the last six years. Included in Part Three of the 6th Anniversary show are interviews with Jerry Brainum about the 1971 NABBA Mr. Universe and the 1971 Mr. Olympia, Australian photographer Robert Nailon talks about meeting Arnold for the first time...

The Bodybuilding Legends Podcast continues the celebration of our 6th Anniversary with some excerpts from some of our favorite interviews over the last six years. Included in Part Two of teh 6th Anniversary Special are interviews with Rich Gaspari, Rick Wayne, Jerry Brainum, Roger Schwab, John Little and Jack Neary. (Time Stamps below) Time Stamps: 5:00 - Andrew Jacked wins the Texas Pro 7:30 - 19...

The Bodybuilding Legends Podcast is celebrating the 6th Anniversary of the podcast by featuring clips of some of our favorite episodes. Included in Part One of the 6th Anniversary special are interviews with Rick Wayne, Charles Gaines, Lee Labrada, Tony Pearson, Tom Terwilliger, Phil Williams, Danny Padilla, Boyer Coe and Roy Callender. (Time Stamps below) Time Stamps: 9:45 - Rick Wayne talks abou...