the ban was in effect for 30 years, until it was officially lifted in 1983. while the ban was still in place, however, many secretly practised bodybuilding under the "father of chinese bodybuilding", luo zhuoyu (), who corresponded with american bodybuilding promoter joe weider and the chinese weightlifting federation. the "most influential bodybuilding circular in china", "bodybuilding and beauty" (), and the chinese bodybuilding association staged the first national bodybuilding contest, the hercules cup.