Joe Weider: His Fitness Legacy

Weider Publishing Industry

Joe Weider believed that there were others out there like him who wanted to feel good about their bodies and were willing to work to get there. In 1939 the age of seventeen he took his last seven dollars and started a small magazine called “Your Physique”. This twelve-page publication discussed weightlifting, bodybuilding and nutritional issues and sold for two dollars for a yearly subscription. It became a hit with fitness enthusiasts and weightlifters alike and was soon sold across Canada. The magazine, and the Weider brothers, never looked back.

In 1968 “Your Physique” was renamed “Muscle Builder” magazine. It again changed names in 1982 to the current “Muscle and Fitness”. In addition to this magazine the Weider publishing empire includes several magazines and other periodicals. These include:

• Flex
• Shape
• Men’s Fitness
• Living Fit
• Prime Health and Fitness
• Fit Pregnancy
• Cooks
• Senior Golfer

The Periodical and Book Association in 1983, as tribute to his work in the area of fitness publications, named Joe Weider Publisher of the Year.

Weider Achievements

In 1945 Ben and Joe Weider began a mail order fitness equipment business called Weider Sports Equipment Limited and Weider Health and Fitness in both Canada and the United States. They quickly found that there was genuine interest in weightlifting and bodybuilding although many people did not yet see it as a sport. Joe and Ben Weider began to establish reputable competitions for body builders and other fitness conscious people to compete. They used a panel of judges to decide not only strength but also overall muscle development and conformation. The Weiders continued on with this tradition fostering the following competitions and organizations:

• 1946 – Started the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IBFF). Currently there are 176 member countries.
• 1946 – Organized the first Mr. Canada
• 1949 – Ben Weider travels to Europe to promote bodybuilding
• 1965 – Organized the first Mr. Olympia contest
• 1980 – Facilitated the first Ms. Olympia contest

The Weider’s are some of the first fitness trainers and event promoters to work with females and minorities in competitions. They truly did and still do encourage all people to incorporate fitness and weightlifting as part of an overall approach to a healthy lifestyle.

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