His back and legs lagged way behind his chest and shoulders and there are poses he just doesn't do. He had the 'potential' to be the best but fell well short to me because of his lack of attention to those body parts...
Fantastic two part list. When you got low in the numbers I was was hoping for S. Reeves, but you won me over with your commentary on his honorable mention placement. Well done Tom!
Flex Wheeler at the 1993 Arnold Classic had my favorite physique of all time and in my opinion the greatest Classic Bodybuilding/Physique of all time! Imagine 1993 Flex vs the modern day Classic Physique guys! I think Flex would dominat the Classic Physique lineup.
He'd be dominating any category. He's one of those guys on another level when it comes to genetics, he can choose what division he wants to compete and he will dominate.
2021 and we still in this bullshit era where mass wins no matter how shitty you look. Gotten a little better but not much. What is pleasing to the eye should be a massive part of bodybuilding. Not just who takes the most gear. I would have loved to see Flex beat Ronnie. I have always hated Ronnie. Just a big ugly body. I don't care he is 300 pounds of pure muscle and conditioning is good. It's ugly. Especially the year he beat Flex, Ron had that gyno that stuck out like crazy when Flex looked amazing. And they crowned Ronnie and started a era that mass was only thing that mattered. Ugly body's like Ruhl, Cutler, Kai, Phil. Thought when they changed it to Dexter Jackson I thought we finally turned a corner. And nope right back to mass. Granted cutler came out in his best shape ever, and part of that is because he took off some muscle and focused on shape and it paid off. Guys should learn from that. Miss guys like Flex, Shawn, Ray, Levrone, Chris Cormier and more. Guys that looked great to the eye and had great lines. We need that type of lineup again. Body building would blow up if we went back to that. Instead of the insulins taking roided up pregnant dudes that have caused body building to fall hard.
@@thomasc.5219 Ronnie had gyno one year. And Flex had Synthol in his arms. It was blatantly obvious. Gyno is nothing compared to that. He was also watery and had a lot of weak poses. And Ronnie was 247-255 the years he beat Flex and provided what is probably the best combination of mass with aesthetics. He only looked ugly after 2000 when he got too big.
@@thomasc.5219 Also Phil in 2011-2013 was aesthetic. A combination of Ray and Wheeler. Just shut up. Flex never deserved an Olympia. There was always someone better. Hell Cormier should have beat him in 99.
@Sam Caballero Reeves was about as natural as Kim Kardashians ass. You should know better. Nobody after 1945 was all natural. They just didnt use as much. That's all.
@TheLusianPopa nope i disagree his legs were perfect. he had 30 inch legs on a 27-28 inch waist thats amazing, he said that because of his small waist and massive legs it gave him lower back pain loool
No one in the history of bodybuilding had a shape like him especially shoulders and legs in his dayvhevhad size like arnold he was a coleman in his day what about dave draper and reg parks size and symmetry .
He was great too one of the other old school guys I considered along with Mike mentzer. Both those guys could be in the top 20 but ultimately couldn't find a spot for them
@@AsadAli-jc5tg@@AsadAli-jc5tg Chris Dickerson’s arms were awful short triceps and his left biceps was a bad shape and his elbows were hideous. As you can tell I’m not a fan of his
@@AsadAli-jc5tg Chris Dickerson should not be in the top 20 of all time aesthetics wise. He had a truly awful physique for an Olympia winner in terms of aesthetics imo.
Steve Reeves was not on steroids during his competition years, so no wonder he did not have the mass compared to the others. Reeves retired after his last competition in 1950. It would be a few years later when the first steroids were administered among the American bodybuilding community at the York gym. Steve Reeves was 6 foot 1 inch height and weighed 215 at most in competition. Back then they were still doing full body workouts as split routine training came later. To compare his physique as a "fitness" physique against steroid users was misplaced. The comparison needs to be made with other pre-1952 bodybuilders and their "fitness" physiques which were actually the elite steroid-free bodybuilders of their day.
100% on point . . . . . . Steve Reeves was a f*ckin Stud! Bob Paris, Berry De Mey, Gary Strydom (88' Olympia) were the type of dudes that made my home-girls back in high-school go completely gaga! --- Wasn't the list supposed to be all about "Aesthetics'??????
Surprised not to see Mike Mentzer in this list. His proportions and esthetic allowed him to have the first perfect score, 300 in professional competition at the 1979 Olympia in which he won the heavy weight class and then lost to Frank Zane for the overall.
Very overhyped but overall midclass bodybuilder. He’s good and balanced and have an incredible physique but he don’t stand out. He also was despicable as a person
1) Bob Paris 2) Shawn Ray 3) Frank Zane And then all the others in my mind. Great video! Let's give it up for the golden days when bodybuilding was art, beauty and intelligence.
So totally agree with you. I even had Benfatto and Charles Clairmont in front of Flex. I like Flex but in terms of aesthetics I still think like Levrone he's leaning more slightly to the bulky side than aesthetic.
Good list, I agree on all except Clairmont, would have placed him a spot or two higher. I think he's the one bodybuilder that matched Flex in the aesthetics dept, always thought Clairmont got overlooked several times.
Good job bud. To me Zane will always be the 1st one, like you said, the father of aesthetics. Given that our genetics are quite similar, I even got a list I update every month with my measurements and Zane's, my goal is to achieve the best out of my body to look as much as I can to Zane. I'm aware I'll never look like him though.
I have a zane and reeves type body too but i have the heignt of zane and the high clavicles of steve and big calves of reeves i used train calves 3times a day like reeves its dimond like but its high calves like arnold reeves has loe cslves like chinese people
He could arguably be on here. There's a ton of obscure bodybuilders like that who looked tremendous back in the day. But I mostly tried to stick with top tier guys who have competed at the Olympia and Rory I don't think ever even turned pro.
Good call bro . . . . . Rory and Bob (paris) went head-to-head in 83'. Bob (paris) also went mono-on-mono with Berry De Mey the same year! No disrespect, but the list is a bit of a bust without throwing studs like Berry De Mey, Rory Leidelmeyer up on there! . . . . . mykey from toronto
Thoughtfully done. I would have to agree with your top two rankings based on a strict "sport" of bodybuilding criteria but personally prefer to have a physique like the Black Panther. Nevertheless, thanks again. Good job.
Thanks bro. Yeah Serge was more natural looking and Wheeler looks more like a comic book character, otherwise they're very similar. At the end of the day I'd probably rather look like Serge as well to just walk around but Wheeler is just too perfect on a bodybuilding stage
Very comprehensive and well researched list. You have a very good eye for bodybuilding aesthetics. I don't have anything to disagree with. Great work!!
Flex's physique was no doubt very good. But even his earlier, lighter-weight pics show quads that are simply too large to be considered 'aesthetic'. As for the the bulkier (2nd pic) of him, he looked decidedly blocky - no aestheticism whatsoever. The most aesthetic physique was most likely that of Bob Paris.
For me aesthetics are funny because it’s almost as if imperfections tend to enhance aesthetics. They cause the bodybuilder to present more artistically and add unique quality
21:32 the pose here an watching arnolds life story got me into the gym again great video man thanks for all the hard work an putting in a good unbiased list ive seen others that were kinda odd i dont get the new bb stuff or the big attitudes they have now kai greene seems like a legit good person but other than that they all seem like big ole tanned pregos lol
Oh man, I just finished watching your latest video of the Freakiest Mass Monsters and I was wondering if you would do one of the more aesthetic physiques ... and to my surprise, you ALREADY did one; with two parts.👍
Loved the top, personally I know that nubret is the epidemy od aesthetics but to me, his traps are too big and makes him less apealing, but it's just muy opinion
I never understood how Serge Nubret was overlooked in favour of Zane as a god of aesthetics. Then I looked at the politics behind it in the 1970s. Joe Weider was a bigoted and power obsessed man, there’s evidence and testimony of that all over the internet. He froze out a lot of potential superstars, Sergio Oliva, Robby Robinson, Serge Nubret, and many others
I like that list. Some very good picks. But I do feel Wheeler’s lack of symmetry in the abs makes him lower on the list. After viewing all those bodybuilders I actually think Bob Paris might be edging everyone out. I love Shawn Ray but Paris looks like perfection.
Here , I’ll fill you in on the secret of Arnold’s physique , he had what’s called .....expansion. That’s the difference from being totally relaxed to hitting a pose. When totally relaxed, Arnold looked almost normal. But when he pumped and posed, O....M....G!! Most guys today, especially the roid abusers, they walk around all day hitting the front “relaxed” full lats on. And when they hit a pose, nothing changes. This is very evident in Arnold’s side Chest “expansion” pose, where no one hits anymore .
I agree he may not have the best taper but his huge ribcage when he hits the vacuum pose just looks so aesthetic he pulls it off so well and in his side chest his vacuum helps along with his smaller delts compared to his massive chest giving the illusion that its bigger. Its mostly his structure though his torso is relatively short with his chest taking almost half of it.
I see quite a few people in general who think Zane is overrated. Not just here but in other forums as well. I beg to differ. Winning 3 Olympia's (let's not forget the other titles he won like Mr. Universe) with such little mass is definitely not a joke. Secondly, he was a master of illusion. He knew how to pose and present himself and he trained accordingly. And that's what the golden era was all about, it was basically creating an illusion on stage and look as godlike as possible. He IMO would come not just in the top 5 aesthetic physiques list but also under the top 5 bodybuilder list. But this is just my opinion lol.
Frank Zane was incredible and not as " small" as his critics think. Many youtube commentors criticize him yet his competitors Coe, Padilla, Grant, Arnold, Ferrigno et al are very respectful of him .
Excellent list Tom, Flex is the guy for me as well, 1993 Arnold is the best physique in history hands down, the muscle separation and muscle detail were unreal....
I started training after seeing Kozo Sudo (look him up) on the cover of Iron Mag (the real Iron Man magazine) in mid to late 70s he was NABBA Mr Universe, absolutely flawless but probably only weighed about 12 stone (168 Ibs) I've still never seen a better balanced physique. It's a very subjective issue and enjoyed your take on it despite not agreeing some of your choices. Strange that you mentioned Mohamed Makkaway several times and yet you didn't place him.
I think Shawn ray should have been higher. Definitely higher then zane. I personally think that his physique was best in 1999 and overall I think it's one of the best of all time. But good list bro, keep up the good content.
before watching this video I would bet my car that u cant hit nubret and flex as number 2 and 1, and U DID IT!!! exactly same point of view and reasons for that, awesome, thumbs up man, btw, its chest, why serge looks so awesome, rest is very very good, but that chest, ooh man...
The pattern that I see is that people who are most aesthetically pleasing have their back as the most dominant body part and their legs as their weakest.
Frank Zane is a bit overrated in terms of Aesthetic, not to say he’s not, but guys like Serge and Bob imo looked way better with a greater frame and structure
Really liked the analysis. I agree for the most part but would put Brian Buchanan as number 1. Really agree with your position that bodybuilders should actually look good and that its been no good since the 90s
