Former IFBB pro Chris Cormier: Image via Instagram (@_chriscormier)

"I think it’s easy to forget" - Chris Cormier on how modern media has changed bodybuilding

Modified Mar 13, 2024 12:33 GMT

After a successful career as a professional in the sport of bodybuilding, Chris Cormier has taken up the role of a unique voice surrounding the sport. Appearing on several bodybuilding shows, often critically analyzing posing routines and debating show-placings, Cormier has become an important critic of the sport.

On a recent episode of The Menace podcast, Chris Cormier joined Dennis James in discussing the differences between the sport back in the golden era and today. Cormier noted that the introduction of social media has changed the way the game is viewed. He said:

"I just think people look at it different nowadays. Now, if you win a contest or you let’s say you spring up and then you fade away and then there’s more information everyday like this, I think it’s easy to forget."

Research has shown that social media may be a reason for shorter attention spans today. This has resulted in people constantly searching for the next big news to engage with.

"Lot easier to remember" - Chris Cormier on magazine rollouts in the golden era of the sport

Cormier added that it was really easy to remember athletes' successes and losses during the golden era of the sport when it was mainly covered through magazines. He stated:

"It’s a lot easier to remember when we all looked forward to that one magazine per month ... I think the attitude behind it is different. We got so much [news] coming every day."

Dennis James agreed with Cormier's views on the sport today. He added that the contestants back then were more memorable compared to athletes in 2010s:

"Listen, I can still remember the people that competed at the Olympia in the 80s, in the 90s… if you asked me about the Olympia lineup 10 years ago, I might miss five, six, seven, eight people! Because I don’t remember."

"I like his physique" - IFBB veteran Tony Pearson on Derek Lunsford's impressive physique

Tony Pearson competed in an era of the sport when lines and esthetics were top-priority.

Speaking on the podcast, Pearson told Cormier and James that he still has favorites in the sport today, one of them being Derek Lunsford:

"For me, it’s a whole different world, I came from a different world. The American guy, okay, I like his [Derek Lunsford] physique. This is why I don’t judge because I sit there and say to vote for the guy that looks like me."

While Pearson has not seen enough of Lunsford yet, he has enough information on Kai Greene. Pearson added that Greene was a top-notch athlete in every criteria within the sport. He said:

"Kai Greene. Kai had it all there. Posing, he’s very unique. Really shredded, had all the body parts, to me, everything was there. The taper was there. The flare was there. You know what I’m saying. That’s how I would score people. I’m looking for the Classic look. He did very well."

"Personally, I thought he should have won [Mr. Olympia]. I always looked forward to his routines because he always put on good performances."

Kai Greene was notoriously famous for his posing routines, enough so that a case can be made that he is the greatest poser of all-time.