MUSCLES ARE IN: Buff billionaires are latest sign that bulk is now beautiful for male body image.

Mark Rippetoe smiles. Though it’s more of a bodybuilder than a powerlifter look, really. These guys are pretty much all on various peptide/hormone anti-aging cocktails that that also boost muscle, but they’re also clearly lifting to get that look, which you don’t get just from drugs alone. I saw Arnold a while back boasting that he, and Pumping Iron, changed the aesthetic for men’s bodies around the world, and I think that’s basically right. Even the buffest stars of 50 years ago looked nothing like the actors of today. Or even twenty years ago: “As the health writer Sarah Berry has pointed out, Hugh Jackman’s 2000 Wolverine was a lot less ripped than his most recent portrayal of the character: ‘Over the years Jackman’s physique changed so much that his original Wolverine seems nothing short of doughy now.'”

Related: This article from when Salon was actually readable. Coincidentally, also from over 20 years ago.