Top 20 Great Physiques of All Time

By Bodybuilding Store

A few thousand years before the public were ever exposed to the perfect proportions of men like Steve Reeves, making girls in their poodle skirts swoon after seeing this modern day Adonis at drive-in theaters. The first Adonis was a legendary Greek figure, borne from a myrrh tree, is said to have had such unearthly physical perfection and beauty that Aphrodite herself, the goddess of love, couldn't help falling head over heels in love with him.

Unfortunately, the IFBB made a decision to make a few serious adjustments to the Adonis worthy appearance. Since perfectly proportioned men like Steve Reeves and Darrem Charles, Troy Alves and Bob Paris, the IFBB has made sure that a Greek-god look alike with perfect proportions always discovered that their glory years were brief, never winning Mr. Olympia.

Bodybuilding is a very subjective sport where balance, proportion and symmetry are often put on the back seat for shear muscle mass. In honor of the Greek God Adonis we have selected 20 competitive bodybuilders that have not been fully rewarded for their pursuit of perfection is attaining a well-balanced aesthetic physique.

No 20 Melvin Anthony; born November 13, 1972, standing 5'9" and competing at around 235 pounds. Called "Marvelous" Melvin Anthony, he had the smallest waist of all bodybuilders. But "Marvelous" Melvin also was also born with the widest clavicles ever seen in bodybuilding. Still today he is regarded in the same category as famous V-tapers such as Sergio Oliva, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Shawn Ray.

No 21 Sonny Schmidt; Born September 9, 1953 - January 25, 2004, he stood 5'10" tall and competed at around 240 pounds. Sonny Schmidt is the greatest bodybuilder ever to come out of New Zealand. Sonny's flawless proportions put him above the average, finally winning the Masters Mr. Olympia in 1995.

No 18 Sergio Olivia; Born July 4, 1941, standing 5'10" and competing at around 240 pounds. Sergio "the Myth" Oliva is the Adonis look personified. Probably the only bodybuilder in history that was ever able to strike cold fear in pre-judging to greats like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbo.

No 17 Danny Padilla; born April 3, 1951, standing 5'2" and competing at around 175 pounds. They called Danny the Giant Killer for a good reason. His balanced proportions and his flowing lines defeated men who were sometimes two feet taller than him. For a short man Danny did not have the classic long torso with stubby legs, each body-part were in perfect ratio with his other body-parts.

No 16 Serge Nubret; Born October 6, 1938 standing 6' and competing at around 220 pounds. Serge introduced a graceful power to bodybuilding that had never been seen before. He competed from the early 1960's through to the late 1980's. Serge's high volume training with moderate weights helped him to polish his genetic gift to a very fine finish.

No 15 Lee Haney Born November 11, 1959, standing 5'11" and competing at around 248 pounds. Lee competed between 1983 and 1991 very successfully, usually the largest contestant onstage, this behemoth blew the judges away with his groundbreaking size, his stellar shape and his spot-on conditioning, year after year.

No 14 Matt Mendenhall; Born June 26, 1960, standing 5'11" and competing at around 242 pounds. Matt Mendenhall is now considered to be one of the greatest bodybuilders that never won pro-status. His presentation of muscle mass coupled with his very well balanced aesthetics never actually won him a big title.

No 13 Thierry Pastel; Born June 6, 1959, and competing at around 178 pounds. Standing only 5'2" Thierry was had arms that were the same size as men who stood at least a foot taller, presenting an overall aesthetic excellence that is rarely seen, plus he was a master poser.

No 12 Chris Cormier; Born August 19, 1967, standing 5'10" and competing at around 250 pounds. Chris was able to present a very heavy musculature with thin bones and tiny joints, which made him look bigger but with full muscle bellies. Chris competed in over 70 different IFBB shows winning 11 pro titles in his career.

No 11 Shawn Ray; Born September 9, 1965, standing 5'7" and competing at around 205 pounds. Shawn is a rare breed of bodybuilder that started his career by winning the NPC in 1987 when he was only 22 years old. Although Shawn never won a Mr. Olympia title, he was a constant threat to all competitive bodybuilders from 1986 to 2001.

No 10 Mohamed Makkawy; Born August 29, 1955, standing 5'3" and competing at around 160 pounds. Despite his small 5'3" stature Mohamed's shape and his overall ethereal qualities were said to be as close to human physical perfection as possible. He won 6 pro titles in IFBB placing second at the Mr. Olympia where many fans felt he was robbed.

No 9 Samir Bannout; Born 7, 1955, standing 5'7" and competing at around 190 pounds. When Samir competed at the Mr. Olympia in 1983 he presented a physique that was as close to perfect as bodybuilders had ever seen to date. Also he dealt with some serious water retention problems during his competitive career, he had perfect balance between size and shape.

No 8 Berry Demey; Born February 23, 1962, standing 6'1" and competing at around 225 pounds. With his photographic model good looks Berry trained hard using high volume gut-busting workouts using single reps to help increase his lean body mass.

No 7 Milos Sarcev; Born January 17, 1964, standing 5'11" and competing at around 240 pounds. Just like his good looking rivals like Berry DeMey and Steve Reeves, this Yugoslavian import called Milos Sarcev was able to take full advantage of his classic GQ looks.

No 6 Charles Clairmonte; Born October 27, 1962, standing 6' and competing at around 248 pounds. Charles won the NABBA Mr. Universe 4 times before he joined the IFBB where he won four Grand Prix titles 1993. His flawless physique is almost impossible to fault, sporting wide clavicles, super-thick back and chest with flaring thighs and a very thin waist.

No 5 Flex Wheeler; Born August 23, 1965, standing 5'9" and competing at around 230 pounds. Flex is an exceptional bodybuilder who won the first four times he ever stood onstage. What made Flex unusual as a bodybuilder is that despite his obvious shortcomings of narrow clavicles, bad definition on his glutes and a pair of high calves, he still became one of the best bodybuilders in the world because of his posing, his presentation and the deceptively aesthetic pleasing look he presented.

No 4 Lee Labrada; Born March 8, 1960, standing 5'6" and competing at around 185 pounds. Lee was in a class of his own and has beaten countless bodybuilders who are taller than him, presenting perfect proportions with good balance and a rock-hard conditioning with some muscle mass left over. Many of his fans call him the "Uncrowned Mr. Olympia."

No 3 Frank Zane; Born June 28, 1942, standing 5'9" and competing at around 185 pounds. Frank is well-known for his attention to detail when he competes, presenting perfect proportions with balance, shape and symmetry he is somehow able to present jaw-dropping muscle mass, winning 3 Mr. Olympia titles.

No 2 Steve Reeves; Born January 21, 1926, May 1, 2000 6'1" and competing at around 216 pounds. With his movie-star good looks, his broad shoulders and tiny waist and diamond shaped calves, Steve was said to be "the most beautiful human to ever walk the sand of Muscle Beach," in a book called Remembering Muscle Beach written by Harold Zinkin.

No 1 Bob Paris; Born December 14, 1959, standing 6' and competing at around 230 pounds. Since Steve Reeves the bodybuilding world had to wait another 35 years before they saw that perfect Adonis-type balance, size and proportion again. Bob competed for 9 years, although he won his pro-card winning the NPC in 1983 he never won any top bodybuilding shows, always placing a close second or third.

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