Joe Weider

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Joe Weider
Joe Weider.jpg
Joe Weider
Born Joseph Weider
November 29, 1919
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died March 23, 2013 (aged 93)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names The Master Blaster
Occupation Publisher, Fitness Icon, Nutrition Business pioneer
Known for Creating: The Mr. Olympia Contest & The IFBB
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Spouse(s) Betty (m. 1961�2013, his death)
Children Lydia Ross
Relatives Ben Weider (brother, deceased)
Eric Weider (nephew)
Website www.joeweider.com
Joseph "Joe" Weider /wi?d?r/ (November 29, 1919 � March 23, 2013) was a Canadian
bodybuilder and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of
BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of
the Mr. Olympia, the Ms. Olympia and the Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. He
was the publisher of several bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, most
notably Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men's Fitness and Shape, and the manufacturer of a
line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements.

Contents
1 Life and career
1.1 Nutritional products
1.2 Fitness publications
1.3 Legal issues
1.4 Death
2 Honours and accolades
3 Bibliography
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
Life and career
Weider was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Louis and Anna Weider, Polish
Jewish emigrants from the town of Kur�w, Poland. He published the first issue of
Your Physique magazine in 1940,[1] and built a set of barbells out of car wheels
and axles the same year out of the family garage on Coloniale Street in Montreal.
He designed numerous training courses beginning in the 1950s, including the Weider
System of Bodybuilding.

He married Hedwiges "Vicky" Uzar; together they had one child, Lydia Ross (mother
to Weider's three grandchildren), and subsequently divorced in 1960.[2] During his
marriage to Vicky Uzar he had met Betty Brosmer, who was then the highest paid pin-
up girl in the U.S.[3] In 1961 Joe and Betty married, and she began working
alongside him as Betty Weider. Betty and Joe together authored books on
bodybuilding.[4] Joe, Betty and Ben together were the co-founders of the
International Federation of BodyBuilders.[5]

Nutritional products
The family founded Weider Nutrition in 1936, considered the first sports nutrition
company. Now called Schiff Nutrition International, they were the creators of
Tiger's Milk nutrition bars and related products, one of the earliest lines of
sports foods.[6]

Fitness publications
In 1953, Your Physique was renamed Muscle Builder magazine. The name changed again
to Muscle & Fitness in 1980. Other magazines published by Weider's publishing
empire included Mr. America, Muscle Power, Shape magazine, Fit Pregnancy, Men's
Fitness, Living Fit, Prime Health and Fitness, Cooks, Senior Golfer, and Flex, in
addition to the more risque Jem Magazine and Monsieur. The last two publications
caused at least two clashes with obscenity laws. Weider has written numerous books,
including The Weider System of Bodybuilding (1981), and co-wrote the 2006 biography
Brothers Of Iron with Ben Weider. In 1983, Weider was named "Publisher of the Year"
by The Periodical and Book Association. In 2003, his publication company, Weider
Publications, was sold to American Media.

Legal issues
In 1972, Weider and his brother Ben found themselves a target of an investigation
led by U.S. Postal Inspectors. The investigation involved the claims regarding
their nutritional supplement Weider Formula No. 7. The product was a weight-gainer
that featured a young Arnold Schwarzenegger on the label. The actual claim centered
on consumers being able to "gain a pound per day" in mass. Following an appeal
wherein Schwarzenegger testified, Weider was forced to alter his marketing and
claims.[7][8] Also in 1972, Weider encountered legal problems for claims made in
his booklet Be a Destructive Self-Defense Fighter in Just 12 Short Lessons.[9]

Weider was ordered to offer a refund to 100,000 customers of a "five-minute body

shaper" that was claimed to offer significant weight loss after just minutes a day
of use. The claims, along with misleading "before and after" photographs, were
deemed false advertising by a Superior Court Judge in 1976.[10]

In the 1980s, Weider found himself answering charges levied by the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC). In 1984, the FTC charged that ads for Weider's Anabolic Mega-Pak
(containing amino acids, minerals, vitamins, and herbs) and Dynamic Life Essence
(an amino acid product) had been misleading. The FTC complaint was settled in 1985
when Weider and his company agreed not to falsely claim that the products could
help build muscles or be effective substitutes for anabolic steroids. They also
agreed to pay a minimum of $400,000 in refunds or, if refunds did not reach this
figure, to fund research on the relationship of nutrition to muscle development.
[10]

In 2000, Weider Nutritional International settled another FTC complaint involving

false claims made for alleged weight loss products. The settlement agreement called
for $400,000 to be paid to the FTC and for a ban on making any unsubstantiated
claims for any food, drug, dietary supplement, or program.[11]

Death
Weider died of heart failure on March 23, 2013 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in
Los Angeles, California at the age of 93.[12][13]

Honours and accolades

Sign at Venice Beach commemorating Joe Weider's donation.

On Labor Day 2006, California governor and seven times Mr. Olympia winner Arnold
Schwarzenegger, a Weider prot�g�, presented him with the Venice Muscle Beach Hall
of Fame's Lifetime Achievement award. Schwarzenegger credited Weider with inspiring
him to enter bodybuilding and to come to the United States.[14][15] That same year
Joe and Ben received the lifetime achievement award by the Young Men's Hebrew
Association.[16]

Bibliography
Joe Weider; Bob Oskam (August 1, 1958). The Olympians: The Story of the Mr. Olympia
Contest. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-58428-3.
Joe Weider (November 1981). Bodybuilding, the Weider approach. Contemporary Books.
ISBN 978-0-8092-5909-0.
Joe Weider; Weider (1982). Women's Weight Training and Bodybuilding Tips and
Routines. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5754-6.
Joe Weider; Bill Reynolds (May 31, 1983). The Weider system of bodybuilding.
Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5559-7.
Betty Weider; Joe Weider (October 1, 1984). The Weider body book. Contemporary
Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-5429-3.
Joe Weider (1990). The Best of Joe Weider's Flex Nutrition and Training Programs.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-8092-4118-7.
Joe Weider (1991). Joe Weider's Mr. Olympia Training Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill.
ISBN 978-0-8092-4040-1.
Joe Weider; Bill Reynolds (1999). Joe Weider's ultimate bodybuilding: the master
blaster's principles of training and nutrition. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-
8092-9775-7.
Daniel Levesque (January 1, 2004). The Weider Weight Training Log: Including a
Daily Planner. Hushion House. ISBN 978-0-9684004-2-5.
Ben Weider; Joe Weider; Daniel Gastelu (2003). The Edge: Ben and Joe Weider's Guide
to Ultimate Strength, Speed, and Stamina. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-58333-144-6.
References
Classic Physique Builder: Your Physique: Joe Weider's First Bodybuilding Magazine.
Classicphysiquebuilder.blogspot.com (September 1, 2007). Retrieved on 2017-03-01.
McFadden, Robert D. (March 23, 2013). "Joe Weider, Founder of a Bodybuilding
Empire, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
Mike Steere Brothers of Iron, p. 120, Sports Publishing LLC, 2006 ISBN 978-1-
59670-124-3
The Weider Body Book, Joe and Betty Weider, Contemporary Books (1984) ISBN 0-8092-
5429-8
"Betty Weider website". Bettyweider.com. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
"Weider Global Nutrition � History of Excellence". Weider Global Nutrition. 2010.
Archived from the original on April 12, 2013.
P.S. Docket No. 3/27 July 17, 1974
P.S. Docket No. 2/81 October 29, 1975.
Tom Heintjes. ""The Deadliest Ads Alive!", ''Hogan's Alley'' #11, 2007".
Cartoonician.co. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
W McGarry, T (August 20, 1985). "Body-Building Firm to Pay $400,000 in Settlement
of FTC Vitamin Case". Los Angeles Times (1886�Current File). pp. V_A6. ISSN 0458-
3035.
AssociatedPress (October 6, 2000). "FIRM TO PAY $400,000 FOR BAD ADVERTISING". The
Post � Tribune. p. A.14. ISSN 8750-3492.
"Joe Weider Legendary Bodybuilding and Fitness Icon Dies at 93". MarketWatch.
Retrieved March 24, 2013.
Trounson, Rebecca. "Joe Weider dies at 93; bodybuilding pioneer and publisher".
latimes.com. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
Finnegan, Michael; Robert Salladay (September 5, 2006). "CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS;
Angelides, Governor Work the Holiday; Schwarzenegger pays a nostalgic Labor Day
visit to a bodybuilding event in Venice. His challenger seeks to shore up support
among unions". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif. p. B.1.
"Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame". Californiabeachbodybuilding.com.
Retrieved March 24, 2013.
"Awards". Joe Weider. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
Further reading
Joe Weider; Ben Weider (September 15, 2006). Brothers of Iron. Sports Publishing
LLC. ISBN 978-1-59670-124-3.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joe Weider.
Joe Weider Official Website
Weider Fitness Official Website
[show] v t e
Mr. Olympia competitions
[show] v t e
Ms. Olympia competitions
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 61577941 LCCN: n81015242 ISNI: 0000 0000 8140 4832 GND:
1032915722 SUDOC: 029551137 BNF: cb12115351r (data) NDL: 00476954
Categories: 1920 births2013 deathsAnglophone Quebec peopleCanadian
bodybuildersCanadian expatriate sportspeople in the United StatesCanadian sports
coachesCanadian sports businesspeopleCanadian people of Polish-Jewish
descentCanadian magazine publishers (people)Sportspeople from
MontrealBusinesspeople from MontrealBodybuilding
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