Greg Doucette, IFBB Pro and YouTuber, spoke about the current state of open bodybuilding vs classic physique. Greg believes that open bodybuilders are too big and are not as popular as classic physique. I had to disagree and share my two cents on this topic.
In this video, we take a look at Greg Doucette. He mentions the reason we have open bodybuilding is because people are attracted to freaks. It’s so remarkable to see people get that big and shredded and be able to keep their shape. The judges are extremely strict now with guys having small waists, no bubble guts, no blown out midsections, etc. I think the reason bodybuilding is so popular is because it’s not attainable. Not everyone can become an open bodybuilder.
IFBB professional bodybuilder, Chris Bumstead, turned pro in open bodybuilding and I believe he would be just as popular if he stayed in open bodybuilding over being in classic physique. Chris is one of those special guys who has that “it” factor, and Greg has said many times that he doesn’t know what it is and why people follow him, as he doesn’t say much. A lot of people follow Chris because he’s such a relatable and humble guy and has an amazing physique. If we removed Cbum from classic physique, the classic physique division definitely wouldn’t be as popular. However, once Chris retires from classic physique, I think it will still have some popularity because of him, but if Chris never went over to classic physique, no one would care about it.
Once, Austrian-born American bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger came into the sport of open bodybuilding as a 6’1 240 lbs ripped guy, he went on a rampage and won multiple Olympia’s and became the most popular guy in the world just because he was bigger. He had a physique that was not attainable at that time, but now, there’s a lot of guys that have better physiques than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now the bar keeps getting reset year after year, and there’s always a new guy coming out that’s bigger and better, which is a problem and why open bodybuilding will remain at the top of the chain.
Now that they added divisions, they are adding more people, which means more money, and the popularity for the sport now keeps on growing. If they just kept it as open bodybuilding, figure, and fitness, we wouldn’t have as nearly as many people competing right now, because open bodybuilding is very difficult to do.
Greg then mentions Chris Bumstead is the most popular person in our sport and I believe he has been for the last couple of years. But, there is a reason why the prize money is so lopsided and why the winner of the Open Class gets $400,000. Classic Physique is just very popular and has been around for a very long time. Just because Chris is popular and brings eyeballs to the sport, it doesn’t mean the classic physique division as a whole is popular. They like classic physique because Chris is there and makes it exciting, so if you remove Chris, classic physique would be nowhere as popular as it is now.
Watch full video below.
