Joe Weider, legendary bodybuilding and fitness icon, dies at 93

Weider 93, passed away Saturday of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles.

The multi million-dollar publishing empire he built included Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Shape and Men's Fitness magazines.

Joe Weider was the man that made such athletes as Sergio Oliva, Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger house hold names.

Many of the younger generation associate Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger to TV, film and politics, but it was bodybuilding under the guidance of Joe Weider that sculptured and propelled these maen and thousands more to success.

Born November 20, 1920, in Montreal Joe Weider grew up in a tough neighborhood in Montreal, Canada during the hard times of the Great Depression. When young Joe left public school at age 12 to pull a small wagon 10 hours a day delivering fruit and groceries for a market, it was an act of survival for both him and his family.  Standing 5’5” and weighing a mere 115 pounds, Joe became easy prey for teenagers looking to score some quick change, which prompted him to head off to the Montreal YMHA and request a tryout with the wresting team.  The coach turned him down, for fear he would be hurt.

Undaunted, he made his way to a local newsstand and purchased two used magazines for a penny, including a 1930 edition of the Milo Barbell Co.’s Strength magazine.  Those publications inspired him to lift weights, and later to begin his own magazine.  Joe scavenged a local train yard for an old axle and two flywheels, which he cobbled into a makeshift barbell.  He lifted, pumped and pressed this scrap metal endlessly, and his scrawny physique was rewarded with sprouting sinews of muscle.  By the time he turned 15, neighborhood bullies no longer bothered Joe.  A scout from the Verdun Barbell Club in Montreal invited to Joe to join.  Two years later, Joe competed in his first amateur contest, the Montreal District Senior Meet, where he lifted 70 pounds more than competitors in his weight class.  His total surpassed even those of the light-heavyweights and heavyweights and earned him a national ranking.

Joe’s competitive success and his ongoing physical transformation inspired him to enlighten others.  That would be a challenge, because the late 1930’s were indeed a dark age for the iron sport, with gyms deliberately hidden from mainstream society.  Weightlifters communicated primarily through correspondence and magazines, which young Joe felt published incomplete and often erroneous information.  By 1939, Joe had been working full time for five years.  He had traded in his wagon to bus tables and wash dishes at a local restaurant, which had quickly promoted him to sandwich maker and then to short-order cook.

His dream, however, was to publish a magazine committed to sharing accurate, complete training advise with routines with its readers.  So, with $7 in his pocket, he began to work on what would become the first issue of Your Physique, to be published in August 1940.  Orders poured in, and within 18 months Joe had made a $10,000 profit—a small fortune at a time when a loaf of bread cost 4 cents and a gallon of gas 11 cents.  Remembering his own difficulties in tacking down equipment, Joe started the mail-order Weider Barbell Co. in 1942; his magazine now offered weight sets and other equipment as well as some rudimentary vitamin and mineral supplements.

In 1946, Joe and his brother Ben rented Montreal’s Monument National Theater to host the first Mr. Canada contest, and former the International Federation of Bodybuilders that night.  In 1965 he created the Mr. Olympia contest, which is the premier contest in all of bodybuilding.  Among the most famous Mr. Olympia winners is Arnold Schwarzenegger, a seven-time titleholder. In recognition of women’s dedication to the sport, Joe went on to create the Ms. Olympia contest in 1978, and added the Fitness Olympia contest in 1995.  There are presently 170 countries affiliated with the IFBB and it now ranks as one of the top seven international sport federations in the world.

Perhaps Joe’s most indelible addition to the science and sport of bodybuilding is the Weider Principles.  For his magazine, Joe would spend countless hours in various gyms studying and cataloging the movements and techniques that were effective for bodybuilders, weightlifters and power-lifters alike.  By 1950, he had compiled 12 years’ worth of such observations, and he christened them The Weider Training Principles—over 30 theories and techniques that forever changed the means by which someone could build a strong, muscular body.

From those beginnings, the IFBB and the business grew tremendously.  Located in Woodland Hills, California, Weider Health and Fitness is a leader in the sports nutrition industry.

Arnold Schwarzenegger mourns the death of mentor Joe Weider   

Today, I lost a dear friend and mentor, and the world lost one its strongest advocates of living a healthy lifestyle. Joe Weider was a titan in the fitness industry and one of the kindest men I have ever met.

I knew about Joe Weider long before I met him - he was the godfather of fitness who told all of us to "Be Somebody with a Body." He taught us that through hard work and training we could all be champions. When I was a young boy in Austria, his muscle magazines provided me with the inspiration and the blueprint to push myself beyond my limits and imagine a much bigger future. I know that countless others around the world found motivation in the pages of his publications just as I did, but as I read his articles in Austria, I felt that he was speaking directly to me and I committed to move to America to make my vision of becoming the best bodybuilder, to live the American dream, and to become an actor a reality.

Joe didn’t just inspire my earliest dreams; he made them come true the day he invited me to move to America to pursue my bodybuilding career. I will never forget his generosity. One of Joe’s greatest qualities is that he wasn’t just generous with his money; he freely gave of his time and expertise and became a father figure for me. He advised me on my training, on my business ventures, and once, bizarrely, claimed I was a German Shakespearean actor to get me my first acting role in "Hercules in New York", even though I barely spoke English. As my career took off, he was always nearby, giving advice, promoting my movies or my crusade as the Chairman of the President's Council on Fitness in the pages of his magazines, and appearing at my fundraisers and events when I decided to run for Governor. He was there for me constantly throughout my life, and I will miss him dearly.

He leaves behind a fantastic legacy of a fitter world. Very few people can claim to have influenced as many lives as Joe did through his magazines, his supplements, his training equipment, and his big-hearted personality. Joe was known for urging everyone, “Exceed yourself,” and there is no question that throughout his life, he did just that.

My thoughts and prayers are with his extraordinary wife, the love of his life, Betty, and all of his family and friends.