Since the early modern age, the ‘athlete’ as a key figure of ancient physical idealism was playing an increasingly important role in the epochal transformation of human self-perception all over Europe. The idea that the human body is a self-referential work which one can self-help (without God’s intervention) transform through repeated de-spiritualized austerities – training – in order to become an object of admiration found the most visible reflection in the cult of competitive sport that exploded around 1900. It was the critical stage of what Peter Sloterdijk suggests as 'somatic and athletic renaissance.' However, unlike the athletes, the bodybuilders highlight visual-aesthetic aspects of their bodies. In this vein Jörg Scheller considers present-day bodybuilders to be postmodern sculptors embodying a central idea of modernity and enlightenment, that is 'man can mould himself, even newly create himself.' A corporeal training here works as a mere means to control and sustain a musculature. The lean muscle bulk, symmetry and vascularity are main objectives and criteria at catwalks of bodybuilding contests. Ripped physique is a goal per se, no matter how strong and healthy the body really is. It is no longer about how much weight you can lift but about how much you look like you can lift. As Scheller says, 'Notwithstanding the usual claims to health, or even nation building, the image or art of strength and health became more important than real strength and health.' The paper retraces footsteps of such an obsession with present hypervirilized anatomy and sheds light on connections with the modern sports, gymnastic movements, popular urban nighttime entertainment, nationalism, gender and industrialisation process.