Bodybuilding looked very different decades ago specially when it came to performance enhancing drugs. As competition became more demanding combining multiple performance enhancing substances became part of the culture for some competitors the goal was generally to build more muscle improve conditioning nd reach a level of muscularity that was difficult to achieve naturally. This contributed to the dramatic physiques that became associated with professional bodybuilding it also changed what competitors believed they needed to bring to the stage to remain competitive. As physiques became larger and more conditioned the standard for competition continued to evolve the positive side from a competition perspective was that athletes could push the limits of muscular development and presentation but the health side was much less straightforward. Long-term exposure to performance enhancing drugs has been associated with cardiovascular, hormonal, liver, kidney andd other health concerns. Some athletes also experienced problems that weren’t immediately visible from their stage appearance Another issue was that the information available at the time was often limited compared with what is known today. A lot of knowledge was passed through gyms, coaches and personal experience rather than strong long-term research. That created a culture where impressive results could sometimes overshadow the potential health costs well looking back the history shows s both how much bodybuilding evolved and how difficult it can be to separate competitive success from health consequences for me the biggest lesson is that the physique seen on stage never tells the complete story of what happened behind the scenes.