Joe Weider Legendary Bodybuilding and Fitness Icon Dies at 93
oe Weider, the legendary fitness and publishing figure who popularized the modern conception of fitness and nutrition, and is considered the father of the sport of bodybuilding, died this morning in Los Angeles of heart failure. He was 93 years old.
Joe Weider’s influence is felt in every area of fitness and health. He created a massive fitness publishing empire, which included Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Shape, and Men’s Fitness magazines. He popularized the use of fitness equipment in people’s homes and was a leader in establishing the use of nutritional supplements. The company he founded, Weider Health and Fitness, became synonymous with fitness, nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
A weight training pioneer, fitness crusader, and magazine publisher, Joe Weider overcame the challenges of childhood poverty and lack of education to create a sports movement that changed modern culture’s conception of physical beauty and the way athletes and everyman exercises and diets. Through the magazines he published, the sports federation (International Federation of Bodybuilders) he created, the bodybuilding contests he promoted, and his groundbreaking advocacy of fitness for women, Joe Weider created a sports legacy that has a worldwide reach and affected the lives of millions of people.
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