The Crazy True Story of Bodybuilding’s First Show

[@NattyLifeYT]

It's such an honour to share this magnificent documentary with you all. The collaboration was made possible by Robert Baraban's chest expanders, the perfect first sponsor for this channel. Robert builds this stuff to a standard which would even make Sandow blush and I have been using my expander daily for several years now. If you buy one, it will last you a lifetime. You can pick up your own expander here: shop.handgripper.net/chest-expander.html

[@LatimusChadimus]

Because I have watched other channels that are enthusiasts of physical culture, I know you could buy simple attachment grips for cable machines and then connect them to a bunch of garage door springs, making your own chest expanders, but I have not taken the time to do that and you're telling me there is a company out there producing ones that aren't cheap like you would have found over the years? People have ripped off that idea for decades and it has been dangerous for people to actually use them which is why a lot of people suggest making them yourself. You should do a video displaying the durability, which can include hanging a hook from a bar and then hooking it to the expander as well as hanging another way to the other handle

[@harvey_weenstain8857]

Thanks for all the videos lately. I really despise the modern day fitness industry and the encouraging of young children to use PEDs. I wish there were more people like you; and less people who praise kids and help skyrocket them to fame simply because they got huge on gear. It disgusts me

[@Dionysos_____Alters]

Word.

[@DevilDemonDogThing]

absolutely floored by the production value in this vid

[@NattyLifeYT]

Marcus is such a pro 💪

[@socloseagain4298]

That was such a well-made documentary well done guys!! 🙂

[@JivecattheMagnificent]

The quality of some of these photos is absolutely wild, dude. Props to you.

[@steinstemmer8963]

Very well done! Great documentary!

[@fitg6251]

i have been meaning to comment since you've been back to posting videos again. All I can say is that you do a phenomenal job with your research and presentation of information. I love your channel for that reason! However, to share such an amazingly, well-researched, well put-together video from another channel shows your willingness to share other's phenomenal work and your own love for such topics. This documentary deserves an award, no joke! Thank you!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Many thanks for your kind words! It is an absolute honour to be able to share such content on the channel, Marcus is a magnificent filmmaker and researcher. Definitely more collaborations to come between us, the next one I will be involved throughout the whole process so it's super exciting.

[@fitg6251]

@@NattyLifeYT OH Wow! I'll definitely be looking forward to that. Good to know! Keep doing great things! We definitely appreciate you all!!

[@ceciliasegura8199]

¡Gracias!

[@Gr33n0ni]

Thank you for publishing this. Great work on everyone's part

[@jamescanjuggle]

Sandow sounds like the first Fitness influencer xD, marketing master, debatable morals though still having a clear burning passion for fitness

[@lorocator]

Thanks mate, I'm a 40 year old who only cares about getting strong and healthy naturally, progressively and with no extra pressure to fit any influencer standard in any sense, no fancy clothes, no extras more than good nutrition. This videos help keeping motivation to achieve the stronger, healthier version of myself and if it makes me look good then I take that as a bonus.

[@ni2says]

You are not alone brother. I am also 40 and trying to be naturally lean, strong and muscular. Wishing you all the best.

[@user-us4mc7ej3c]

Amazing video, thank you for the hard work you put into these

[@poncysalazar2454]

It like a watch a high quality documentary i like it and it good your posting often now 👌👌👌

[@rob-boticscalisthenicshome6355]

This was a brilliant watch. Thank you

[@antoniostrina82]

This is a wonderful historical video, very detailed. For a bodybuilding lover like me, this is gold. Compliments to all, young lads.

[@BarbellFilms]

Really glad you enjoyed!

[@robertburatt5981]

Jack the ripper was likely still in London at the time.

[@caalm9637]

You mean Jack the ripped

[@justwannabehappy6735]

Coincidence? I think not !

[@BarbellFilms]

Maybe he even competed at the show!

[@Muonium1]

Scrupulously researched and interesting. A bit of unrelated minutiae - the device on the floor to Sandow's left at 12:09 is a Dowsing 4 bulb "electric fire" manufactured by the Dowsing Radiant Heat Company and produced by inventor Herbert John Dowsing, who performed one of the first public displays of cooking using electricity at the Crystal Palace in 1892. The "sausage" bulbs themselves in the assembly were vacuum carbon filament lamps drawing around 250-330 watts each, and thus blackened rapidly, owing to the composition of the filament, and necessitating frequent replacement. A fact which we can see exemplified by the new, lighter colored bulb in the third position from the left. It was arguably the first practical electric heater in existence.

[@BarbellFilms]

Love this tid bit of knowledge!

[@trislifting47]

I have no words. Astonishing from you guys

[@jsdeangelis]

This is insanely well done and so damn interesting. Congratulations on such an awesome production.

[@Blondeguylifts]

Hey @Natty Life, just wanted to say this was a fantastic video! I really appreciate the effort you put into both the editing and the research behind it. A+ work, brother!

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you brother! Though I must point out it was all Marcus from Barbell Films, I'm just giving him a platform.

[@NicosRap]

Very well made documentary!

[@JackCornwell-jv2ky]

Great to see you back. One of my favourite old school fitness youtubers.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thanks brother!

[@VisboerAnton]

Brother this is some good content

[@jggrskate94]

I'd pay money to see Sandow's reaction to Ronnie Coleman's tarining videos and physique lol

[@coronelrojo730]

Light weight....

[@JimmyJones-w3p]

Probably be like "hell yeah, but you should use better technique your body will thank you."

[@petegallows5494]

What a fantastic documentary. All I ever knew about this show, was the photograph - the competitors flexing and Sandow, Sir A. C. Doyle..and some other guy as judges. Well done!

[@warmlavender5525]

Just want to say you gained a new subscriber and I’m shocked you don’t have more. I love fitness and am a huge history nerd. I’ve had to take a very long break from fitness (almost 2 yrs now) bc of chronic illness and finally am getting a chance to do small lifts and things again. Your page reminds me why I love lifting so much & your content is great quality.

[@nomad6086]

Phenomenal documentary! Very well researched! 👍 It's incredible seeing such muscular, aesthetic physiques during a time period where limited equipment existed, and no anabolic steroids or testosterone was available. The top three guys looked fabulous! The Bronze era was such an interesting time period for the infancy of bodybuilding. Watching that documentary was like going back in a time machine.

[@mosey69]

So glad that you’re posting more content. I’m now following barbell films 👍🏿👍🏿

[@BarbellFilms]

Appreciate it! 😊

[@Andy-828.]

Excellent production!

[@paulblackwell4073]

Excellent documentary!

[@TOKYEO]

Amazing content! Fabulous documentary!

[@nookshorts1659]

This was awesome! Haven’t seen your videos in a long time But I’m so glad to see you still making videos, and furthermore increasing the quality and making them better than ever! Love this kind of content, keep it up bro!

[@One_Pun]

Great documentary. Best wishes from Bulgaria.

[@nebulasy8]

Great film! Thank you for making it. I hope it gets more views and likes. Again, great film!

[@jggrskate94]

Would you ever consider making a video about Santiago Ramón y Cajal, spanish scientist, nobel prize winner and also an early times bodybuilder? There might be an interesting story for you to investigate and make another great video! Cheers from Andalusia.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Yeah, it's on our (very long) list of video ideas for sure. Likely it will go on our Spanish channel first www.youtube.com/@NattyLifeES Un saludo amigo 💪

[@tomsharkey243]

Really enjoyed the film, great to have the story the Weiders proprogated told in such detail. I am sure there are many more stories from the era that would make good documentaries. Even though people iften see phyical culture as a bit strange they are still facinated by it

[@dominicpaul1]

Really loving your channel 😄👍

[@NattyLifeYT]

Thank you :)

[@Smittjitsu]

Incredible movie we need more! Silver era next!?

[@MikeyP102]

Amazing documentary very thorough, world class content thank you for your time and efforts! 🏆💪

[@julieharward5476]

Great documentary!

[@anthrandir6124]

Amazing documentary, bumping for the algorithm

[@ArizonaYlcat]

Thanks for the video! Commenting to help the algorithm.

[@salvadorromero9712]

I want to see more especialy about my fellow chadlet Mr. A.E. Smythe! I am actually quite surprised that this guy didn't win. He had a very developed upper body but pretty developed legs too. It's hard to tell from this photo but he seems to have the best V taper, with nice lats and abs and everything just very well developed and balanced. Good arms and very nice delts too! Also pretty facially handsome, which I'd imagine would be an important factor at the time. Third place is quite good but at least from these photos I wonder if he suffered from some penalization at the time where perhaps people thought of short stature as a sign of poor health and nourishment? I did notice critics seemed to praise the second place guy just for being tall. If so it's odd to see it at the hands of the very same handsome short dude who originated the explicit return of muscle as an aesthetic pursuit in addition to a functional. Anyway I seem to return absolutely _nothing_ in an attempt to Google Mr. Smythe so it would be nice to see as much as possible on him.

[@BarbellFilms]

So, I had the exact same thoughts about him maybe being deserving of winning. And you hit the nail on the head, he was marked down for essentially being small of build. Arthur Conan Doyle even remarked later that… “The three men were all wonderful specimens, but one was a little clumsy and another a little short, so we gave the valuable gold statue to the middle one, whose name was Murray”

[@Tacitus117]

Bros dropping Bangor after banger🔥

[@mrpink6022]

PBS OR THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHOULD AIR THIS.....BRAVO!

[@cidbeneditonavas9103]

Fantastic!!!!!

[@Ry-bo9hi]

This is well done and well researched dang

[@MrFredstt]

Awesome video

[@Jazzverso]

Finally was able to order a chest expander, the website wouldn't let me order last year for some reason.

[@NattyLifeYT]

Awesome bro!! I hope you enjoy it 💪

[@Bateluer]

The nephew using the trophy as a doorstop is hilarious.

[@ProductionsFromBeyon]

My roommate in college works in Sociology of Sport and has always talked highly of Conor. Didn’t expect to see him in this video, but when he popped up I was like “oh, I know of him!”

[@BarbellFilms]

He was really well informed and helpful in making this. Very nice dude.

[@atlaspowershrugged]

Very cool!

[@JukeHighwalker]

Welcome back...

[@mdg163]

Listening to Sandow's judging criteria, he's probably rolling in his grave over what bodybuilding has become.

[@SaxonOak]

very interesting

[@Shr3w]

The thumbnail for this video must have changed at least twice lol. That or I'm going crazy.

[@NattyLifeYT]

There was an a/b test among 3 thumbnails and then 2 more changes after that 😁 the title changed a couple times too. It's hard to find the right combo sometimes, especially when you're talking about such a long video.

[@LatimusChadimus]

It was a display of vitality, of strength and of health, nowadays it's a display of who can be the most unhealthy the most unrealistic and the most unnatural on stage all for a little chump change

[@The_weakest_influencer]

This is an incredible story

[@GoldenEraBookworm]

Very nice gentleman

[@BarbellFilms]

Thank you Carlos! ☺️

[@alfredbaeumer3643]

😮❤

[@luisvelez5695]

The leopard shorts might have been real leopard skin back in 1900

[@stefanosprokopis6974]

Instead of having ww1 they should have got all the men that enlisted for war to compete in a body-building contest. The winner would than get to determine the fate of the nation's

[@jeanalaincameau5414]

As a Canadian, from the province of Quebec, Sandow kinda irritates me. I'm bitter at the card he dealt to our beloved Louis Cyr😉

[@Alexesssp]

Whats your opinion on Andrew Richard who claims natural?

[@MrJudo2go]

👍💯

[@John-i7o]

I wonder if there are any other bodybuilding competitions that were delayed due to war.

[@hussienbasher5981]

How bronze era was training back or lower back?

[@Pulsonar]

Brilliant competition turn out, and nice to see no mention of the Weider name and relatives amongst the competition organisers for once. Saying that, I still reckon a regular mesomorph from West Africa with nothing but hard labour as background would’ve probably destroyed all 60 competitors in that physique show of the late Victorian era 😂

[@WoodenBench]

What about Sandow The Hedgehog?

[@knightveg]

I'm sure someone else has posted the same video a while back, Was it Golden Era Bookworm

[@NattyLifeYT]

It was originally posted on the Barbell Films channel late last year and I shared it on my community page, maybe Carlos did too. The video only got a couple thousand views though and I'm sure you'll agree it deserves much more recognition. So we decided to rerelease it here to get it in front of a larger audience.

[@knightveg]

@@NattyLifeYT I wasn't knocking you posting it I was just confused that I thought I saw it before, thank you again for posting great piece of History

[@whack-yl2fq]

Natty life posted. Stop what your doing and watch. Love your content man.

[@salvadorromero9712]

All this war talk had me pondering a couple things. First, from this video it seems the war was winding down enough by 1901 that the competition was not literally and directly competing with it, in the sense that absolutely anyone with a brain would have said, "Young man, if you are such a physical specimen, why on earth are you using your physique to preen with shaved armpits on a stage in London instead of fighting the Boers?" However, the odor of war was still in the air enough to at least have the danger of making the thing look a little frivolous, so that even the shamelessly venal Sandow felt compelled to forgo all his profits. And I wonder to what degree did you at the time see the perpetual genpop opinions of bodybuilding already in tension there, deciding whether it was very masculine or very unmasculine. You can imagine its proponents saying the show did much to promote and celebrate health and bodily strength among young Britons at this crucial time to cultivate the future backbone of the empire. You can also imagine detractors saying this circuslike theme did nothing to encourage productive and manly use of youthful strength, but directed it to frivolity, or whatever. I wonder what evidence there is left to us of various attitudes like this. I think there should be more done to comprehensively track the genpop attitudes toward bodybuilding and even strength training through time.

[@ultimatechakra3162]

Whats your thoughts on Mr Olympia ?

[@ginoyesano5649]

Algo comment

[@phillipchavez1321]

26:38

[@jamesryan360]

Criticising Sandow for being 'a shrewd capitalist'... Why, it's almost as if he wants a magazine he produced and a competition he put together to be successful. Not like the yt talking head who made the criticism at all. No u guys just work for the fun of it don't ya😂

[@tylermcbride9078]

I think the “feel” of this entire documentary is far too similar to Vox documentaries. It’s a very special style that was immediately recognizable. I am enjoying the video and am going to finish it, however it’s difficult to look past the stylistic similarities

[@BarbellFilms]

Totally understand what you mean here. Feedback noted, still working on getting the style for this stuff down 👍

[@carapo66]

Magazine publisher, contest owner, supplement vendor, and promoter. I see where Joe Weider got his ideas from.

[@mwk_powerlifting]

Guessing this is why you disappeared?

[@reeyees50]

Cant understand this brits

[@juanrodriguez5404]

Good doc 💪💪💪💪💪💪.