body trainer

- you were playing "physical examination" with your buddies out there in the woods, didn't you.

Wow. I just found out about the place where not only all 80's muscle fantasies came true but where they were actually born.
In 1982 then gym-owner and current photographer Brian Moss opened his legendary gym Better Bodies in NYC:

"My gym quickly attracted local bodybuilders, and I became an active participant in the birth of women�s bodybuilding and the growth of men�s bodybuilding. (�) Opened in 1982 and sold in 1997, Better Bodies was a touchstone for many people for many reasons. It was the right gym at the right time for the right group of people. I still get emails from former members waxing poetic about what a special time that was"
- Brian Moss





Well, already by checking out his website I felt a certain, very special enery. Indeed this place seemed to be something like the Studio 54 of bodybuilding, and the members appear like a buff version of the legendary Blitz Kids. - http://www.theblitzkids.com/




That's Gary Strydom on the far left.





Last but not least Better Bodies achieved some attention with it's flamboyant Muscle Operas:




I believe that's John Wessinger?




"The master and his prot�g�e" - such a sensual picture.

Mr Moss, can't you start Better Bodies again? Creating a little world where muscles meet glamour and - yes - campness? What's that? "Sorry kids, been there - done that. You're turn." Oh. Right, I see your point.

All photos via www.betterbodies1982.com.

Bob Paris, 1983 Heavyweight class and Overall Champion (NPC National Championships [Mr. America] & IFBB World Championships [Mr. Universe and professional qualifier]), in a very post-modern, quite New Wave setting.





Bob was professional bodybuilding's 1st (and is untill today the only) openly gay athlet - he came out in the July 1989 issue of Ironman Magazine. Bob and his then-partner, Rod Jackson, had a commitment ceremony in a Unitarian church in 1989 [so they could officially cheat on each other ;-)].


Paris & Jackson

In 1995, the two separated.
Today, Paris lives with his spouse, Brian, on an island near Vancouver, British Columbia. Together since 1996, Bob and Brian were legally married after Canada equalized the marriage laws in 2003. (source: wikipedia)

Those ladies probably wouldn't have cared about him being gay as long as they could get a taste of those bis'n'pecs:



Still holding the title of "1st Openly Gay Pro Bodybuilder"