Body building witnessed the emergence of an important voice during the early part of the Twentieth Century. Like all human voices, it had begun as the voice of a child. When the residents of York County in Pennsylvania saw Bob Hoffman playing on the area’s many fields, they did not know that they were watching a boy who would later become the “Father of World Weightlifting.”

Bob Hoffman did not know, as the sun bronzed his back and the exercise toned his muscles, that he was learning a great deal about body building. Only in his wildest dreams could that young Bob Hoffman think about becoming a coach for the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team. Yet Bob Hoffman did serve as the U.S. Olympic weightlifting coach.  That long tenure as coach offered proof of Bob Hoffman’s knowledge of body building.

Body building is a sport that highlights the benefits of physical fitness. The physically fit body can respond well to routine physical demands. Such routine demands do not tax the body’s energy. If someone has trouble going up the stairs, then that person is not physically fit.

Body building calls on participants to demonstrate multiple aspects of physical fitness. Body building requires the formation of muscle strength and endurance. That is why body building has been linked to weightlifting. Yet body building also develops something more in the well-built, the physically fit body.

Body building develops flexibility. Body building develops the range of motion around specific joints. When a body builder stretches, then he or she is concentrating on the development of flexibility.

Bob Hoffman preferred supplements that aided the use of the muscles. He knew that the use of muscles led to the toning of muscles. He knew that when supplements eased the use of the muscles, then those muscles would develop faster.

Fortunately for Bob, he had grown-up in an agricultural area, an area with easy access to fruits and vegetables. Therefore, when Bob got hungry he did not turn to high fat snack food. He did not rationalize that his high metabolic rate would allow him to eat a less well-balanced diet. Bob believed strongly in the value of eating a well-rounded meal.

Bob saw food supplements as a way to replace any nutrients left out of the daily diet. Yet he did not rely upon supplements to make-up for laziness on his part. He put constant effort into planning his meals, so that he would give his muscles the necessary nutrients.

Bob saw body building as a commitment to the improvement of the body. He felt that such improvements were best obtained by using the body’s natural tendencies. The body naturally tones the muscles, when they enjoy regular and repeated use.

Some might question whether the bulky muscles created by steroid use represent an improvement of the body. Would the bulky muscles that the hardcore supplements or steroids create qualify as an example of body building? For Bob Hoffman, they probably would not.

Perhaps that is why Bob Hoffman played such an important part in the history of supplement use. He showed how supplement use could work with the natural body processes. He did not advocate use of supplements to alter the nature of man’s God-given body processes. That difference in approach is central to the present-day debate.

It is a debate that involves any sport where muscles are of great importance. It is most certainly a debate that involves the participants in the body building competitions. It is a debate that lacks all of the necessary scientific evidence. Investigators such as Brownell and Rodin are working to supply the world with that missing information.

Why do people with more muscle tissue have a higher metabolic rate? Does that hold true only for those who relied on natural processes to build up their body muscles? If someone gets bulky muscles by using anabolic testosterone boosters, will such an individual then have a higher metabolic rate?

Those are the sorts of questions that remain unanswered. Those are the sorts of questions which relate directly to the sport of body building. Those are the sorts of questions that the research scientists hope to answer.

Until scientists come forth with those answers, it seems logical to adopt the practices used by Bob Hoffman. After all, Bob helped his athletes to achieve victories, even without the use of steroids. Bob and the members of his weightlifting team showed the world why steroid use does not belong in the Olympics.

Some argue that the rampant use of steroids by professional athletes has forced acceptance of steroids by the owners of professional teams. Others favor a stronger emphasis on body building, as developed and pursued by Bob Hoffman. On one thing everyone agrees—the use of body building helps to make a person more physically fit; it helps a person to feel healthier; it may help people to live longer lives.

Bob Hoffman well-known promoter of American weightlifting owner of an oil burner manufacturing company in York, Pennsylvania, became interested in the athletics about 1930. And his company began producing barbells after two years. Bob cooperating with editor and friend Jowett also began publishing famous weightlifting magazine "Strength and Health".