The bodybuilding industry has always been an evolving ground. During Arnold Schwarzenegger's time, everyone focused on developing high conditioning while in Ronnie Coleman's era, a behemoth physique with incredible conditioning was required to win the title.
Let's take a look at some of the mass-monster bodybuilders from the start of this era.
Ronnie Coleman
The mass-monster era was introduced by the six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman was the bodybuilder who took it to the next level.
The eight-time mass monster used to weigh around 300 (according to Wikipedia) pounds on the Olympia stage. Ronnie Coleman managed to build such a massive physique with no flaws and dominated the stage with his exceptional conditioning on such a massive body.
Coleman began competing in 1982 and won his first Olympia in 1998.
Jay Cutler
Jay Cutler is a four-time Mr. Olympia and the successor of the King of Bodybuilding Ronnie Coleman. Culter was an absolute menace on the stage and was the only bodybuilder to defeat Coleman on the Olympia stage.
The Comeback Kid used to weigh around 275 (according to Wikipedia) pounds on the stage and had phenomenal quads, giving him his nickname, the Quadstomp. Cutler dethroned Coleman in 2006, ending his eight-year streak.
Markus Ruhl
Markus Ruhl is a German bodybuilder who started his bodybuilding journey after sustaining a knee injury while playing football.
The bodybuilder hasn't looked back and has become an absolute beast, weighing around 273 (according to Fitness Volt) pounds on the Olympia stage. He has competed with some of the bodybuilding legends, like Ronnie Coleman.
Dorian Yates
Six-time Mr. Olympia and the bodybuilder who brought the revolutionary trend of mass monsters into bodybuilding, Dorian Yates weighed around 260 pounds on the stage and 290 (according to Wikipedia) pounds in the bulk season.
The Shadow won his first Olympia in 1992 and put together a winning streak until 1997. In 1998, the bodybuilder got a severe tricep injury and was ruled out of the competition, giving Coleman a chance to continue the mass monster era.
Kevin Levrone
Kevin Levrone competed in 14 Olympia events but didn't get the chance to lift the Olympia trophy in his hands. He had one of the most elegant and massive physiques on the Olympia stage.
Levrone used to weigh around 250 (according to Wikipedia) pounds on the Olympia stage. He has competed against the 300-pound mass-monster Coleman and even defeated the eight-time Mr. Olympia early in his career.