#21 - Why old-school bodybuilders looked so damn good - Golden Era Bookworm

Nov 3, 2025

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Dr. Juan Carlos Cassano is a fitness historian and clinical scientist who runs the YouTube channel Golden Era Bookworm. He was a key researcher for the Netflix documentary Arnold and is a renowned expert on all Golden Era bodybuilders, including Schwarzenegger, Tom Platz, and Mike Mentzer.

Expect to learn:

<ul>

<li>What Golden Era bodybuilders did differently to look so good</li>

<li>The daily routine of Arnold Schwarzenegger at Gold's Gym</li>

<li>The surprising link between bodybuilding and being a gentleman</li>

</ul>

Timestamps:

<ul>

<li><a href="#t=0">00:00 – Why men are still fascinated by the Golden Era physique</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=70">01:10 – The art and aesthetics of bodybuilding as human sculpture</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=140">02:20 – Joe Weider: the salesman who turned bodybuilding into a dream</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=260">04:20 – From outcasts to icons: how Weider built a new empire</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=360">06:00 – Selling the California fantasy — muscles, girls, and freedom</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=460">07:40 – Arnold’s arrival and how Weider spotted his star potential</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=600">10:00 – The reality behind the dream: life at Gold’s Gym in the ’60s</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=720">12:00 – What set Arnold apart from other lifters of his time</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=940">15:40 – Inside Arnold’s daily routine and training cycles</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=1230">20:30 – Diet in the Golden Era: real food, few supplements</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=1460">24:20 – Early steroid use and how it evolved across decades</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=1980">33:00 – Why physiques looked better then: training, food, and mindset</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=2400">40:00 – The lost camaraderie of old gyms vs. isolation today</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=2540">42:20 – How the image of bodybuilding has changed since the ’80s</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=2820">47:00 – Hyper-masculinity, Hollywood physiques, and lost gentlemanly values</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=3360">56:00 – Unreal expectations in the age of social media</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=3480">58:00 – The birth of Golden Era Bookworm: from childhood fascination to YouTube historian</a></li>

<li><a href="#t=3960">1:06:00 – Hilarious behind-the-scenes stories from Arnold’s apartment</a></li>

</ul>

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