BODYBUILDING TREND WAS BUILT ON STEVE REEVES

BODYBUILDING TREND WAS BUILT ON STEVE REEVES

LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- If it wasn't for Steve Reeves -- who died of cancer on Monday -- Americans would never have built up an interest in bodybuilding. That's according to "Muscle & Fitness" publisher Joe Weider, who was friends with Reeves for 55 years. He claims before Reeves hit it big, fitness buffs were considered weirdos who spent hours "building up useless muscles." But Weider says Reeves' boy-next-door looks and Greek god physique convinced the world that bodybuilding was perfectly normal, inspiring studs like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. In fact, Weider claims Stallone still keeps photographs of Reeves in his personal gym.