Top 10 bodybuilders who took bodybuilding to the extreme năm 2024

Bodybuilding broke into the mainstream during the sport’s so-called “Golden Era”—a time when icons like Frank Zane, Lee Haney, and Arnold Schwarzenegger competed on the Olympia stage with aesthetically minded physiques that put a premium on size, symmetry, and a certain grace and fluidity. That was all well and good for the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, but the 90’s belonged to the mass monsters.

This was a time when all athletes—ranging from professional wrestlers to baseball players—began to grow to Olympia proportions. So it only made sense for the bodybuilders themselves to get—well—even bigger than that. Broader shoulders, barrel chests, pants-splitting quads, and scales tipping well over 270-300 (sometimes even more!) pounds became a necessity for anyone with dreams of a Sandow.

Thus began the era of the “Mass Monsters”, and while there’s no clear starting point to the trend, you can begin with the rise of Dorian Yates, whose hulking frame led to an Olympia dynasty in the early ’90s, coming right after that of Lee Haney, one of the most aesthetic of all the classic “Golden Age” competitors. It was a changing of the guard for the entire world of bodybuilding, where pleasing aesthetics gave way to jaw-dropping size—and if you wanted to win, you needed plenty of mass to go around.

While the art of bodybuilding is always at the forefront of the sport, there’s nothing wrong with gazing in awe at some of the freakish physiques that came from the mass monsters era—an era that still influences bodybuilders and bodybuilding stages today.

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Courtesy of Weider Health & Fitness & Shanna Ferrigno / M+F Magazine

Lou Ferrigno (Best showing: 1993 Olympia, 10th)

Born: November 9, 1951

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 275 lbs *Lou Ferrigno was 325 lbs at the 1992 Mr. Olympia, where he placed 12th!

Though he never hoisted a Sandow, Lou Ferrigno got perhaps the ultimate bodybuilding ego boost when he was cast as the Incredible Hulk in 1977, allowing him to portray a far more literal mass monster on network television. Unbelievably, Lou retained his mountain of muscle for decades, leading to an impressive comeback at the 1992 Olympia at the age of 41.

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Chris Lund/FLEX

Jean-Pierre Fux (Best showing: 1997 Olympia, 7th)

Born: November 5, 1968

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 270 lbs

You needed eye-popping size just to get a whiff of the Olympia stage during the “mass monster” era, and Switzerland’s Jean-Pierre Fux had plenty of it to spare. He placed in the top eight at the ’96 and ’97 Mr. O against an absolutely stacked stage of competitors and continued to be a consistent force through the early 2000s, until a freak accident during a FLEX photo shoot cut his career short.

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Per Bernal

Paul Dillett (Best showing: 1993 Arnold, 4th)

Born: April 12, 1965

Height: 6’1”

Weight: 285 lbs

Hailing from north of the border, Paul Dillett made his mark on the scene during the early ‘90s with a mammoth frame that was emblematic of a bodybuilding generation that seemingly grew wider every year. In addition to his size, which was almost incomparable, his stage presence was further punctuated by his freakish vascularity, which added a frightening intensity to his physique.

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Chris Lund / M+F Magazine

Markus Ruhl (Best showing: 2004 Olympia, 5th)

Born: February 22, 1972

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 285 lbs

Markus Rühl was never the judges’ favorite, but he was nothing if not victorious in his quest to put on as much mass as possible. The German bodybuilder was a crowd pleaser over the course of his career, and rightfully so. His 280-pound frame was a sight to behold, and considering he weighed around 120 pounds when he first started lifting in his early 20s, his sheer mass and fifth-place finish at the 2004 Olympia are unbelievable feats.

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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine

Big Ramy (Best showing: 2017 Olympia, 2nd)

Born: September 16, 1984

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 300 lbs

Big Ramy, the 2017 Olympia runner-up, hits the stage at more than 300 pounds and is a crowd favorite thanks to his unbelievable size. He competed in his first Olympia in 2013 and consistently improved until his fall to sixth place in 2018. He showed up at his biggest yet—too big, it seemed, for the judges. Despite the disappointing finish, we doubt that will be the last time we’ll see him on the Olympia stage.

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Kevin Horton / M+F Magazine

Nasser El Sonbaty (Best showing: 1997 Olympia, 2nd)

Born: October 15, 1965

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 280 lbs

He may never have won an Olympia, but Nasser El Sonbaty took to bodybuilding’s most prestigious stage nine times between 1994 and 2002. He gave Dorian Yates a run for his money at the 1997 Olympia, where he placed second—an outcome that the majority of spectators disagreed with. Had they gone head to head today, Sonbaty surely would have been crowned the People’s Champion.

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Per Bernal / M+F Magazine

Roelly Winklaar (Best showing: 2018 Olympia, 3rd)

Born: June 22, 1977

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 265 lbs

At a Mr. Olympia weight of 265 pounds, Roelly Winklaar has created more lean meat than just about any other human who has ever breathed. His arms and delts are arguably the most ginormous of all time, and the rest of him isn’t far behind. “My goal isn’t to use the heaviest weight possible. I’m not a weightlifter. I’m a bodybuilder,” Winklaar told FLEX. “I’m always trying to get bigger. I’m always trying to get better.” With a third-place finish at the 2018 Olympia, and the title of the first-ever People’s Champion, Winklaar is well on his way to achieving his goal of being one of the biggest and the best.

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Chris Lund

Jay Cutler (Best showing: 2009 Olympia, 1st)

Born: August 3, 1973

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 265 lbs

In 2006, Jay Cutler, the second-best bodybuilder at the time, finally toppled “The King” Ronnie Coleman for the Olympia crown, and the roar of the Orleans Arena crowd proved that underdogs reaching the top of the mountain still make the best stories. After a controversial title defense in 2007 to Victor Martinez, Cutler was upset by Dexter Jackson in 2008. People said he was finished, but in 2009 he stomped on stage with his best conditioning yet, with details never before seen on his 35-year-old physique. By the time the judges came to a decision, the former champ was once again the reigning champ and in the history books as the first Mr. Olympia to regain the Sandow the year after losing

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Ralph Dehaan / M+F Magazine

Dorian Yates (Best showing: 1995 Olympia, 1st)

Born: April 19, 1962

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 270 lbs

Dorian Yates didn’t have the pleasing shape and symmetry of his predecessor, Lee Haney, or the charisma of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but what he did have was size—plenty of it. Yates redefined the word “big” when he stepped onstage at the 1993 Olympia at 257 pounds, the heaviest Mr. Olympia to date, and he upped the ante even more by coming in super dry, super hard, and super separated to coin a new term in the sport: grainy.

Yates continued to grow each year, competing in the high 260s to low 270s. And that back! In each of his Olympia wins, there were competitors who could stand with him in front and side poses, but any shot at an upset was lost by the fourth and fifth mandatory poses. Yates’s rear double-biceps and rear lat spread decimated lineups, and he was truly the first bodybuilder to win contests from the back.

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Kevin Horton / M+F Magazine

Ronnie Coleman (Best showing: 2003 Olympia, 1st)

Born: May 13, 1964

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 296 lbs

Ronnie Coleman’s ferocious workouts in the gym contributed as much to his legend as the eight Sandows decorating his house. He trained heavier than any bodybuilder before or since, and his famous 800-pound deadlifts and squats, along with his mind-boggling bench presses (whether done with a bar-bending 500 pounds or comical 200-pound dumbbells) were punctuated with catchphrases like “light weight, baby,” “yeah, buddy” and “ain’t nothin’ but a peanut!” The man who started his career in anonymity finished it as an eight-time Mr. Olympia, and when, at the conclusion of his posing routine at the 2007 Olympia, he announced his retirement, the standing ovation from the crowd was a fitting sendoff for the bodybuilder who will be, for many, the biggest, baddest Mr. Olympia of all time.

Who was the most intense bodybuilder?

Canadian professional bodybuilder Greg Kovacs is regarded by many as the strongest and biggest bodybuilder of all time. He was a 6 ft 4 in tall bodybuilder hitting a jaw-dropping competition weight of 330 pounds and off-season weight of 420 pounds.

Who is the No 1 bodybuilder in world?

Determining the "number 1" bodybuilder is subjective and can vary based on personal opinions. However, Arnold Schwarzenegger is often regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He won the Mr. Olympia title seven times and played a significant role in popularizing bodybuilding worldwide.

Who is the strongest bodybuilder of all time?

Due to his enormous physical strength, regularly competing in professional powerlifting contests along his career in professional competitive bodybuilding, Efferding is often referred to as the "world's strongest bodybuilder".

Who is the most perfect bodybuilder ever?

Ronnie Coleman, arguably only second to Arnold Schwarzenegger when it comes to famous bodybuilders, winner of Mr. Olympia 8 years in a row, and the creator of "Lightweight Baby!", is considered by many to be one of the best in bodybuilding history.