A Half Century of 'Pumping Iron'

A best seller leads to a film, which leads to the explosion of bodybuilding

Arnold Schwarzenegger displaying his goods at a park bench. A book, followed by the 1977 film ‘Pumping Iron’, made him a household name and pushed bodybuilding into mainstream America.

Long the domain of a small but dedicated group of muscle enthusiasts, bodybuilding burst into the mainstream in the late 1970s as part of the fitness craze that swept the …