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Muscle Beach tradition reinvented by Foreven
Young warfighters returning from World War II were often rebellious when it came to conventional lifestyles. As a result, they invented a number of new subcultures. For example: surfing, outlaw bikers, beatniks and the development of a new generation of bodybuilders. The most obvious place where bodybuilders settled was Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California. Muscle Beach's popularity led to decades of Bikini Beach films starring actors like Frankie Avalon. Muscle Beach is the birthplace of the fitness boom in the United States, which began in 1934 with primarily gymnastics activities on the south side of the Santa Monica Pier. Muscle Beach Venice is the contemporary name of the outdoor weight lifting platform that...
Muscle Beach tradition reinvented by Foreven
Young warfighters returning from World War II were often rebellious when it came to conventional lifestyles. As a result, they invented a number of new subcultures. For example: surfing, outlaw bikers, beatniks and the development of a new generation of bodybuilders.
The most obvious place where bodybuilders settled was Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California. Muscle Beach's popularity led to decades of Bikini Beach films starring actors like Frankie Avalon.
Muscle Beachis the birthplace of the fitness boom in the United States, which began in 1934 with primarily gymnastics activities on the south side of the Santa Monica Pier.Muscle Beach Veniceis the contemporary name of the outdoor weightlifting platform built 18 years after the founding of Muscle Beach in Venice, California, a special neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles.
Today's Muscle Beach was founded in 1963 in Venice, California. Beginning in 2000, an event organizer named Joe Wheatley took over organizing events at Muscle Beach and currently holds three competitions per year, on Memorial Day, July 4thThand Labor Day. “My goal,” says Joe Wheatley, “has always been to continue the rich heritage of Muscle Beach and make it a community celebration of sun, surf, sand and muscle competition.”
Muscle Beach's origins date back to the 1930s, when the Works Progress Administration (WPA) installed exercise equipment just south of the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California. Popular gymnastics and acrobatics performances on city equipment regularly took place there. A beachfront platform with weight lifting equipment served as a training area for famous bodybuilders such as Vic Tanny, Jack LaLanne and Joe Gold.
In 1989, the city of Santa Monica officially rededicated the original Muscle Beach and today it serves as an extensive gymnastics training area for gymnasts, acrobats and youth. In the meantime, the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department has continued the barbell, weightlifting and bodybuilding core aspects, as well as the events of the original Muscle Beach fame at the Venice Weight Training Center. In 1987, the city of Los Angeles officially dedicated "Muscle Beach Venice" and added the word "Venice" to the title to distinguish it from the original "Muscle Beach" in Santa Monica.
Muscle Beach bodybuilding competitions include men's and women's competitions, as well as a variety of categories, giving the greatest number of individuals the opportunity to compete and show off their bodies in a fun and supportive environment.
“If you are serious about developing your body for competition,” says Joe Wheatley, “Muscle Beach competitions are perfect for first-time competitors.” Over the years, many athletes have started their careers at Muscle Beach and received their IFBB Pro card after competing in the NPC. Unlike what can be an overwhelming experience for an athlete entering an NPC competition for the first time, Muscle Beach shows are designed to give you the opportunity to show your friends your physical development, learn posing techniques, gain confidence and perform on stage in a friendly, supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere.”
But as much as Joe Wheatley is aware of and respects Muscle Beach's heritage and traditions, he is also constantly looking for a way to improve and develop the entertainment value of MB events. "Since I took over as organizer in 2000, I have worked very hard to restore the world's renowned interest in Muscle Beach as a tourist destination. After adding Men's Physique and Classic Physique and Wellness, I created several new competition categories to make the entire experience more interesting and entertaining."
With this in mind, and with the historic nature of Muscle Beach in mind, Joe Wheatley introduced the Vintage Swimsuit category in 2016. This nostalgic exercise features women wearing the kind of one-piece suits seen in the 1950s and, most commonly, a body that probably would have worn them too. "I was thinking about Muscle Beach of yesteryear and the swimsuit competitions that were held back then. So I reached out to Sarah Clark, Miss Muscle Beach of 1948, and asked her to help present the Vintage Swimsuit Jumpsuit Award - further connecting to Muscle Beach's historical heritage."
“The young women in the vintage class are very creative and have a lot of fun designing their swimsuits and presenting them to the audience,” says Wheatley. It was very well received and we received a lot of television coverage in the category.”
Due to the success of the vintage swimsuit category, Wheatley decided to take it a step further and create a category he calls “Angel Bikini.” “This category is bikini fitness with the addition of shoulder strap wings.” One of the main reasons he added this course was the lack of interest in the Women’s Physique category. In the last three years there have never been more than two participants in Women's Physique. The first Memorial Day 2023 contest with Angel Bikini was a huge success. This has great entertainment value and we can look forward to continuing the Vintage Swimsuit and Angel Bikini classes as an integral part of the competitions.