Bodybuilding became more popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the emergence of strength and gymnastics champions joining
the sport, and the simultaneous popularization of muscle training, most of all by Charles Atlas, whose advertising in comic
books and other publications encouraged many young men to undertake weight training to improve their physiques to resemble
the comic books' muscular superheroes. Of notable athletes, US national and gymnastics champion and US Olympic weightlifting
team competitor John Grimek and British strength athlete Reg Park as winners of newly created bodybuilding titles such as
the Mr. Universe and Mr. America competitions paved the way for others. Magazines such as Strength & Health and Muscular
Development were accompanied by the fame of Muscle Beach, in Santa Monica, California. The casting of some bodybuilders
in movies was another major vehicle for the sport's popularization. Of bodybuilder-actors perhaps the most famous were
Steve Reeves and Reg Park, who were featured in roles portraying Hercules, Samson and other legendary heroes. -Wiki-
