Top bodybuilders of all time – Who are your top bodybuilders of all time? We’re sure Arnold Schwarzenegger falls somewhere in the top five.
Bodybuilding is the process of using progressive resistance training to develop, control, and build muscles through hypertrophy. Bodybuilder is the term used to describe someone who partakes in this activity.
However, there’s a difference between Recreational lifters and Professional bodybuilders. These are two very different things in the world of bodybuilding.
A good example is how anyone can play basketball, but not everyone is eligible to play in the NBA. Bodybuilders that compete on a higher level than everyone else are given their categories on the main stage!
With that cleared, here are the ten best bodybuilders of all time.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is known majorly for his bodybuilding career. However, he is also an American actor, director, businessman, investor, author, philanthropist, activist, and former politician. He is of Austrian descent.
Schwarzenegger started weight training at the age of 15, became Mr. Universe at age 20, and won Mr. Olympia seven times after that. He has authored numerous books and articles about it and is widely regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.
Many people know him from movies such as Conan the Barbarian, The Terminator, Commando, Total Recall, The Running Man, Kindergarten Cop, and True Lies.
The 1965 Junior Mr. Europe pageant was one of his first victories. The next year, at the age of 19, he won Mr. Europe. Later on, he entered and won the majority of events for bodybuilding. His triumphs in the sport of bodybuilding included five Mr. Universe championships (4 from the NABBA (England) and one from the IFBB (USA)) as well as seven Mr. Olympia victories, a record that stood until Lee Haney earned his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991.
Ronnie Coleman
American bodybuilder Ronald Dean Coleman is now retired. He has won the Mr. Olympia title for eight straight years and is largely recognized as the best bodybuilder of all time, right next to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Coleman received the “Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2021 in recognition of his achievements and legacy in the bodybuilding field, which earned him induction into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
He is known for his mix of size and conditioning, dominant body parts, and exceptionally hard exercises, making him the strongest bodybuilder of all time. He is also known for winning 26 IFBB professional titles.
Lee Haney
Former IFBB professional bodybuilder Lee Haney represents the United States. He is one of the greatest bodybuilders to have ever competed.
Haney was raised in South Carolina’s Spartanburg. He graduated with a degree in juvenile counseling from Spartanburg Methodist College. Haney was appointed head of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports by President Bill Clinton.
As far as bodybuilding titles are concerned, the list is endless for Haney but, here are a few of the ones he holds. He won (1979)Teen Mr. America, 1979 Teen Mr. America Tall, 1st, (1982) Junior Nationals Heavyweight & Overall, 1st, (1982) Nationals Heavyweight & Overall, 1st, and (1982) World Amateur Championships Heavyweight, 1st.
Flex Wheeler
American professional bodybuilder Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler is currently retired. He achieved a then-record four victories in the Arnold Classic, and Arnold Schwarzenegger once referred to him as one of the best bodybuilders he ever encountered.
California’s Fresno is where Wheeler was born and raised. He had a hard upbringing. Wheeler had suicidal thoughts and was abused as a child. Dyslexia caused him to suffer in school, yet he was an outstanding athlete. As if that wasn’t enough, in 1994, he was involved in a near-fatal car accident that could have caused him lifelong paralysis. In 1999, he discovered that he has something related to kidney disease. He however continued bodybuilding until he retired in 2003
Throughout his career, he has won the Arnold Classic four times, the South Beach Pro Invitational five times, the Night of Champions once, and the Hungarian Grand Prix once. As if that’s enough, he has also championed the Ironman Pro five times.
Phil Heath
Another well-known bodybuilder is American professional bodybuilder Phillip Jerrod “Phil” Heath. He has won the Mr. Olympia competition six times, taking first place every year from 2011 to 2016. Following Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, his victory at the 2016 Mr. Olympia ties him with Dorian Yates for the fourth-most victories of all time.
The early years of Phil’s childhood, however, weren’t simple; he frequently had to care for himself and was able to gain the knowledge and abilities he needed to work hard and continue on his path to success. He became one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time thanks to his drive. This established him as a powerful figure in the bodybuilding world.
In 2002, Heath began competing in bodybuilding. He was allowed to compete as an IFBB Pro after winning the overall prize at the 2005 NPC (National Physique Committee) USA Championships. The Colorado Pro Championships and The New York Pro Championship, his first two IFBB professional competitions, were won the following year. At the Arnold Classic in 2007, Heath finished fifth.
Heath won the Iron Man title in 2008, becoming the first novice to finish in the top three since Flex Wheeler. He defended the title six times, finishing second to Shawn Rhoden in 2018.
Dorian Yates
Dorian is England’s former top bodybuilder, full name, Andrew Mientjez Yates. He has the fifth-highest total of Mr. Olympia victories in history, after only Ronnie Coleman, Lee Haney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Phil Heath.
His six-year streak of Mr. Olympia victories from 1992 to 1997 included victories in the competition’s first two divisions. His wide, thick back, excellent level of conditioning and intense training made him one of the greatest professional bodybuilders in history.
Some titles under his belt include; the 1988 British Championships, 1st Heavyweight and overall, 1990 Night of Champions, 2nd1991, 1994 Mr. Worldwide, 1st, 1994 Spanish Grand Prix, 1st, 1994 German Grand Prix, 1st among others.
Frank Zane
American author and former professional bodybuilder Frank Zane has won three Mr. Olympia titles. He has one of the greatest physiques in bodybuilding history.
As a youth, he began bodybuilding after reading Muscle Magazine. As a result of weightlifting, he increased his weight from 130 pounds (59 kilograms) at age 14 to 160 pounds (73 kilograms) at age 17.
Zane won three Mr. Olympia titles from 1977 to 1979. In addition, he had the second-thinnest waist of all Mr. Olympias (behind Sergio Oliva), and his broad shoulders created a recognizable V-taper.
The 1980 Mr. Olympia came after his three straight Mr. Olympia victories. Unfortunately, he had an accident by the pool at his house just before the competition and lost 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of muscular mass. His era was over after that. Zane finished third, while Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had come out of retirement, defeated him.
Jay Cutler
American former professional bodybuilder Jason Isaac Cutler is now retired. And, as an IFBB pro, he has finished second more times than any other competitor in history six times. He has won four Mr. Olympia titles, in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
He came in second position in his first competition, the 1992 Gold’s Gym Worcester Bodybuilding Championships. Jay always agreed to participate in bodybuilding-related documentaries which helped him make a name for himself in the bodybuilding community. One such documentary is Mitsuru Okabe’s pre-contest documentary Battle for the Olympia 2001.
He went on to win the Arnold Classic three times in a row in 2002, 2003, and 2004, and he finished behind Ronnie Coleman four times in the Mr. Olympia competition winning the tournament for the first time in 2006. In 2009, he became the third Mr. Olympia champion to win consecutively, followed by Phil Heath in 2010. He later suffered a biceps injury in 2012 and finished sixth at the 2013 Olympics.
He received his induction into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
Samir Bannout
Former professional bodybuilder and coach Samir Bannout is from Lebanon. He received the Mr. Olympia crown in 1983.
Many fitness and bodybuilding magazines, such as Strength and Health, MuscleMag International, Muscle Digest, Flex, Muscle Training Illustrated, Muscle and Fitness, Muscle Up, IronMan, and Muscular Development, have featured Bannout on their covers.
Bannout has held titles such as 1974 Mr. Universe, Medium Class 7th (Youngest contestant), 1976 Mr. Universe, Middleweight 12th, 1977 Mr. International, Middleweight 2nd, 1978 Mr. International, Middleweight 2nd, 1980 Grand Prix California 4th, and 1979 Best in the World, Amateur 1st.
Additionally, he is the first bodybuilder from the Middle East to win the Mr. Olympia.
Dexter Jackson (The Blade)
Dexter Jackson “The Blade” is an American bodybuilder who competed professionally for IFBB and was the 2008 Mr. Olympia bodybuilding and 2012 Masters Mr. Olympia winner. He was raised in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jackson is the professional men’s bodybuilder with the most victories (29). Five times (in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, and 2015), he holds the record for most Arnold Classic victories. He went on to finish second in the 2015 Mr. Olympia after taking first place in the 2015 Arnold Classic.
After the 2020 Mr. Olympia, he decided to end his career as a professional bodybuilder.
Conclusion
With their passion, tenacity, and discipline, these bodybuilders have made an enduring impression on the sport and have motivated many people to do bodybuilding, not just for the professional part but for fitness as well.
Top bodybuilders of all time – Years of dedication, discipline, and sacrifice led to their magnificent physiques, and their legacies are still being carried out today. We can’t wait to see new bodybuilders that will break the record as well.
