Posing Trunks in Paris
On a recent segment .jpeg)
of Ask Dave on the Heavy Muscle Radio show Dave was asked, “Do you think more mainstream exposure is good for the sport of bodybuilding?” In comparison to mainstream sports and the public and mainstream media perception of bodybuilding, saying bodybuilding is viewed as a fringe sport is like saying Charlie Sheen has a drinking problem – it’s a major understatement.
They know about us, but they don’t really understand what’s going on here, and that’s okay as long as we don’t crossover into their realm of perceived normalcy. Recently we’ve seen 3x Mr. Olympia Phil Heath make appearances on TNA wrestling and Highly Questionable with Dan LeBatard on ESPN, but even Mr. Olympia is looked at with part confusion and part disgust by those major media outlets.
If ever there was going to be a group who would embrace all of the beauty and brutality that is bodybuilding, you’d probably never imagine that it would be the ultra-posh world of international high fashion. However, former NPC bodybuilder Domion Pontrelli’s recent appearance in Twelv Magazine with runway superstar Ava Smith may have blazed a trail into uncharted territory for the sport.
So, how did the former NPC bodybuilder turned NYC Department of Education contract administrator, who last competed in 2008, end up working side by side with the fashion elite? In a word, luck. “It’s actually pretty funny. The scout for the magazine came to my gym, Gold’s Gym in Brooklyn Heights, and told the manager that she heard that there was a pretty good short bodybuilder here. The manager pointed to my picture on the wall (Gold’s framed one of my competition pictures) and said, "How about Domion?"
The scout said he’s perfect! So the manager called me at my job and said “The scout from Twelv Magazine is here and wants you to do a photo shoot with you because she needs a short bodybuilder to do a magazine shoot with a famous runway model.” Pontrelli stated, “I actually told her to stop messing with me because I was really busy at work right now, but the rest was history.”
Although the majority of us are about as familiar with the fashion industry as vegans are with a filet mignon, the fact that the sport is able to cross boundaries and enter into new territory is a positive sign and representative of how the bodybuilding and fitness industry has continued to expand its pre.jpeg)
sence.
In the last twelve months we’ve seen early signs of change in the way that the general public is coming to embrace our world. Vlad Yudin’s film Generation Iron was the first major motion picture about the sport since Pumping Iron. The film Pain and Gain starring The Rock and Mark Wahlberg was a box office smash, even though they played on the age old “stupid meathead” stereotype; it still shines a little bit of of light on a sport that’s been left in the dark for far too long.
In the classic 1950 issue of Your Physique Magazine, Joe Weider wrote his legendary column titled “I predict” in which he made the following proclamation “I predict that a full realization of the importance of muscular development will sweep the world, and the sport of bodybuilding will grow by leaps and bounds.” As we continue to see a greater infusion of bodybuilding culture into the mainstream consciousness, the sport may finally be on the verge of fulfilling the prophecy as Joe predicted over sixty years ago.
