It was a time of hyper-concentration on appearance. The Baby Boomers were out of their twenties, and now starting to see the signs of age (and flab). This manifested itself in an unparalleled vanity craze. Boomers were suddenly rabidly doing aerobics, eating yogurt, and looking in the mirror with a senseAll Commentsof panic. Nowhere was this pathology more apparent than on the covers of workout magazines. The over-the-top aerobics-wear and bronzed muscles slathered in oil are something to behold. Let’s have a look.
Ladies, can you imagine walking into a health club wearing what she has on? You’d be laughed off the premises. (Yet, I can’t help but like the look.)
Dolph Lundgren – This guy has a master’s degree in chemical engineering. Definitely a winner in the genetics lottery.
I can’t help but wonder what the “space age workouts” consist of.
Shannon Tweed and Judy Landers
I’m certainly down with the Kessler Twins, but those bedazzled gold leotards with those pink leotards – YOWCH! Even by 1980s aerobics-wear standards, they’re awful.
No muscle mag beefcake model is truly complete without a porn stache.
You know what they say about the “shrinkage” factor for bodybuilders… but, as this next magazine proves, they still were functional.
Lou “The Hulk” Ferrigno and his psychotherapist wife, Carla Green. Still married to this day.
Shorts UNDER a leotard? Was that ever really a thing?
The 1980s – the pathos, the narcissism, the manic self-absorption, the unapologetic vanity, and the complete abandonment of the anti-materialist mindset of a decade prior…. all captured on this one magazine cover. It’s a beautiful thing.
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