I was getting ready to train the other day, and shortly after arriving at the gym, an older man (so, 55-ish, you know, like me) approached me and started a conversation with, "Bro …." You might feel different, but I appreciate—now that I'm in my mid-50s—any time someone starts a conversation with, "Bro." It beats the shit out of, "Sir...."
I had just recently eaten my large pre-workout meal, so I wasn't against killing some time with the conversation that followed. It was the usual: How long have you been training? How long have you trained here? Where are you from? Do you compete?...
Here's where I digress for a minute:
If you ever meet me, and I don't ask about you, it's because I don't care. My wife busts me all the time for this because she's sweet. If she's next to me when I meet someone, and she notices that I don't ask them any questions so they can talk about themselves, she will ask them questions. She then looks over at me while they are responding, and I shoot daggers out of my eyes and scowl as if to say, "I don't like being married to you right now."
My wife's career has taught her to be personable and to build relationships with people. No, she's not a stripper (though I have probably said this in past articles because it's fun); she's in property management for residential and commercial properties. So, she has the brain of a stripper, but she feigns class, doesn't do coke, and doesn't usually sleep with anyone other than me.
Me? I have worked online for over 20 years. I have no interpersonal skills and would probably qualify as socially inept. That's why I'm so glad to have my wife point out when she catches me not giving a shit when I meet someone. If you missed it, that was sarcasm.
Back to the conversation with… I can't remember his name because I didn't care enough to remember it; I'm just being honest.
We somehow started to reminisce about the 80s. We discussed the gyms, the "sport" of bodybuilding in the 80s, and how great it was. At some point on the drive home after the workout (my most profound thoughts are while driving, flying, or shitting. I'm a guy; it's how we're wired), I had to question if the 80s really were as good as I remember them, or if I just remember them being great because I was young. While pondering this long after I arrived home, I made a list of several comparisons between the 80s and 2025 in relation to bodybuilding.
Physiques: Then vs. Now
There weren't a lot of jacked dudes back in the 80s other than in the movies. Stallone and Arnold were muscular, of course, but it would have been an odd occasion when I was at the beach or the mall if I saw a jacked guy. At the same time, I don't remember a lot of fat people, either. People just looked "normal," I guess.
These days, everywhere you go, there are jacked dudes. Hell, I'll see a jacked chick and immediately deflate my lats. My ego can't handle a giggle from a girl who's bigger than I am. The fatness pandemic is out of control these days. It's almost as if people are either in great shape or they're fat.
Training Info Overload
Outside of the muscle magazines in the 80s, there wasn't any information about training or nutrition as it related to bodybuilding. Arnold's Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding was the one exception. Everything I learned as a teen was from Arnold's book or the muscle magazines.
These days, there's so much information available that you have to wonder if it's not TOO much information. I would have loved to have had access to the amount of information available today. I concede that it would also be difficult to sift through all of the current information to find out what is good information and what is shitty. At least the limited information I was getting in the 80s was relatively accurate because it came from the mouths of real bodybuilders. Or at least it started from the mouths of bodybuilders, went through Julian Schmidt's extensive-vocabulary brain, and came out sounding articulate and believable.
Gym Culture and Ego
Something else that stood out in the 80s is that the biggest guys in the gym would willingly give you free advice even without asking them. They sincerely wanted to help and would spend a lot of time giving advice about training or dieting.
No one wants to give advice these days because it usually falls on daft ears (I could have gone with "deaf," but it wouldn't have had the same punch. Consider that a Julian Schmidt-ism). No one wants advice these days unless they ask for it because one of their bros is jacked, and he has already given them all of the information they need to be just as jacked. Even if someone does ask for advice, they typically walk away after giving you that look of, "Yeah, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about."
So far, the 80s are winning.
Dieting: Then vs. Now
It was also much harder to diet in the 80s. The only things we had to fall back on for taste while dieting were TAB, Diet Rite (I remember white grape), or Butter Buds. Butter Buds was considered a breakthrough for dieting bodybuilders because it was a zero or very low-calorie, butter-flavored powder that you could use on food. Never mind that it was made primarily of maltodextrin. In the 80s, no one cared about carbs; we just wanted zero fat. That was the only way to get ripped in the 80s. And don't get me started on the abhorrent protein powder that was sold in coffee cans. You literally had to use a can opener to open the massive metal can of protein.
These days, people purchase a Ninja Creami to make a protein drink that tastes like a dessert. There must be hundreds of diet soda flavors, and they taste just like the regular version that is loaded with sugar. I don't know how many times I've taken a couple of swallows of Coke Zero and had to check the can real quick to make sure that I didn't just drink a real Coke.
Supplement Scene Shift
The supplement game has changed dramatically, as well. In the 80s, you had two options for supplements: GNC and the ads in the muscle magazines. The former was legal and wouldn't cause you to fail a drug test, while the latter was more about supplements that were arguably more dangerous than real steroids. I admit it; I fell for the bottle of "bull testicles" and Cyber-Genics.
These days, you can order from thousands of supplement companies or even get real steroids delivered to your doorstep as early as 4 am-10 am the following morning.
For someone with zero patience, 2025 is far more my jam than the 80s.
Age, Not Just Era
After I gave it more thought, I had to admit that I prefer 2025. I touched on this earlier, but the appeal of the 80s is simply because I was young, and I had far less responsibility than I do these days. In my mind, life was easier, less stressful, and arguably more fun because I had more downtime. That doesn't have as much to do with the 80s as it does that I was a teenager.
Which brings me to this: When our only son (we have three daughters and a son) was turning 18 back in 2018, I was on his ass to get a job because he wasn't doing much of anything at that time. I told him he had to have a job by the time he turned 18, or he would be out on his own. His response to me—verbatim and with a smart-ass tone—was this: "So, being an adult is all about working for the rest of your life until you die?"
Stone-faced but with my jaw clenched and lips pursed (picture Clint Eastwood but with a better tan and more jacked), I leaned into him for effect and said very slowly, "You're damn right it is, son. Welcome to adulthood."Just Sayin'.
Ken “Skip” Hill has been involved in the sport of bodybuilding for almost 40 years and competing for over 20 years. Born and raised in Michigan, he spent 21 years calling Colorado home with his wife and their four children. Four years ago, he and his wife traded the mountains for the beach, relocating to South Florida. His primary focus is nutrition and supplementation, but he is called upon for his years of training experience, as well. He started doing online contest prep in 2001. He is considered one of the original contest prep guys when the bodybuilding message boards were still in their infancy. Skip’s track record with competitive bodybuilders is well-respected, and he also does sport-specific conditioning, including working with professional athletes.
