Muscle Beach Venice vs. the Original Muscle Beach: What's the Difference?

Muscle Beach Venice vs. Santa Monica comes down to this: the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica is where the outdoor fitness scene was born in the 1930s, and Muscle Beach Venice is the outdoor weightlifting pen about two miles south that carried that scene forward after Santa Monica shut its version down in the late 1950s. Santa Monica is the birthplace, with a gymnastics and acrobatics focus. Venice is the heir, with barbells and bodybuilding. If you care about fitness history, you should see both, and they are close enough to visit on the same day.

This guide covers where each one is, how each started, what you will find there today, and how to choose if you only have time for one.

Where are the two Muscle Beaches?

Both sit on the same stretch of Pacific coastline in the west of Los Angeles County, but in two different cities.

• The Original Muscle Beach is in the City of Santa Monica, on the sand immediately south of the Santa Monica Pier, next to the beachfront path known as Ocean Front Walk.
• Muscle Beach Venice is in the Venice neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles, right on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, roughly two miles further south.

That two-mile gap is the heart of the story. When the Santa Monica site closed, many of its regulars simply moved down the coast to Venice. You can walk or bike between the two along the beach path, so the shared history is easy to trace on foot.

How did the Original Muscle Beach start?

The Santa Monica site began as a public works project, not a gym. After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake badly damaged local schools, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program installed exercise and gymnastics equipment on the Santa Monica beachfront. The City of Santa Monica dates the start to the early 1930s; several sources, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, give 1934.

The equipment was meant for children, but it quickly drew a very different crowd. Acrobats, gymnasts, wrestlers and stunt performers, many of them working in Depression-era Hollywood, started practising there in public. Hand balancing, human pyramids and tumbling routines drew spectators, and over the late 1930s and 1940s the platform, rings and bars became a stage.

The name "Muscle Beach" itself caught on later, around the mid-1940s, according to the Living New Deal project's history of the site.

Who trained at the Original Muscle Beach?

The Santa Monica site is closely tied to the early physical culture pioneers who shaped American fitness:

• Jack LaLanne, the future television fitness pioneer. Read more in Jack LaLanne and the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.
• Abbye "Pudgy" Stockton, often called the "Queen of Muscle Beach," a strongwoman who helped make women's lifting visible.
• Joe Gold, who later founded Gold's Gym in Venice.
• Steve Reeves, the bodybuilder and film star, whom the Santa Monica Conservancy lists among the site's famous names.

By the 1940s the beach was famous enough to be the subject of a short documentary. Joseph Strick's 1948 film Muscle Beach was shown in competition at Cannes in 1949, and the Academy Film Archive restored it in 2008.

Why did the Original Muscle Beach close?

The Santa Monica site was closed in the late 1950s. Sources disagree on the exact year: the Santa Monica Conservancy and the Living New Deal give 1958, while the Academy and several local histories give 1959.

The background was a mix of local politics and controversy. BarBend's history of the site reports that the city council had already proposed moving Muscle Beach further south in 1957. Then, in 1958, a criminal case involving several weightlifters who were regulars at the beach gave opponents the push they needed. The city council ordered the equipment removed. Many of the regulars took their training two miles south to Venice.

How did Muscle Beach Venice start?

Venice already had its own outdoor lifting area before Santa Monica closed. Most accounts say an outdoor weightlifting platform opened at Venice Beach in the early 1950s (1951 is the date most often given, and some sources say 1952), although the City of Los Angeles gives 1963. It became known simply as "the Pen" or "the Weight Pen."

After the Santa Monica equipment came out, the Pen became the natural home for the lifters. Over the 1960s the emphasis shifted. Gymnastics and acrobatics did not disappear, but bodybuilding took centre stage. In 1965 Joe Gold opened the first Gold's Gym a few blocks inland, and Venice became the centre of the bodybuilding world. You can read that part of the story in The History of Gold's Gym Venice.

During the Golden Era of the late 1960s and 1970s, the Pen was where the biggest names of the sport could be seen training in the open air. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and their contemporaries are widely reported to have trained there.

When did the name "Muscle Beach Venice" become official?

In 1987 the City of Los Angeles officially dedicated the site as "Muscle Beach Venice." The word "Venice" was added deliberately to distinguish it from the original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. The Venice site is operated by the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department.

Santa Monica followed two years later. In 1989 the City of Santa Monica rededicated its site as the "Original Muscle Beach." The site is widely described as the birthplace of the twentieth-century physical fitness boom. In 1999 Santa Monica replaced the exercise equipment as part of a larger beachfront refurbishment, according to the Living New Deal.

What is at Muscle Beach Venice and the Original Muscle Beach today?

The two sites have very different personalities, and that reflects their histories.

The Original Muscle Beach (Santa Monica)

• Focus: gymnastics, acrobatics and bodyweight skills, much like the 1930s and 1940s.
• Equipment: rings, parallel bars, climbing ropes and similar apparatus set in the sand.
• Atmosphere: open, playful and athletic. On weekends you may see acrobats, aerialists, slackliners and families trying the rings.
• What it is not: there is no heavy barbell pen here. The Santa Monica Conservancy notes that the site focuses on gymnastics rather than the heavy weightlifting found in Venice.

Muscle Beach Venice

• Focus: weightlifting and bodybuilding.
• Equipment: a fenced outdoor pen with barbells, dumbbells and strength machines, plus a sand area with rings, ropes and bars.
• Atmosphere: loud, sunny and very visible. Lifters train in full view of the boardwalk crowds, which is part of the tradition.
• Events: the site has a long history of hosting outdoor physique and lifting contests. Schedules change, so check with LA Recreation and Parks before you plan a trip around one.

Training inside the Venice pen is managed by the city and has its own access rules. If you want to lift there, check the current rules with LA Recreation and Parks first.

Muscle Beach Venice vs. Santa Monica: what are the key differences?

1. Age: Santa Monica came first (1930s). Most histories date Venice's pen to the early 1950s, although the City of Los Angeles gives 1963.
2. City: Santa Monica's site belongs to the City of Santa Monica. Venice's belongs to the City of Los Angeles.
3. Discipline: Santa Monica means gymnastics and acrobatics. Venice means barbells and bodybuilding.
4. Era: Santa Monica is linked to the 1930s to 1950s pioneers (LaLanne, Stockton, Reeves). Venice is linked to the Golden Era of the 1960s and 1970s.
5. Official names: "Muscle Beach Venice" since 1987. "Original Muscle Beach" since 1989.
6. Vibe today: Santa Monica feels like a beach playground. Venice feels like a working outdoor gym with an audience.

For a deeper look at how the whole scene developed, read Muscle Beach History: From Santa Monica to Venice.

Which Muscle Beach should you visit?

If you only have time for one, choose by what you care about most:

• Choose Venice if you are a bodybuilding fan, love the Golden Era or want to see serious lifting outdoors. It is also a short walk from Gold's Gym Venice and the rest of the boardwalk.
• Choose Santa Monica if you are interested in where it all began, or if you enjoy gymnastics and acrobatics. It is right next to the Santa Monica Pier, so it fits easily into a general sightseeing day.

Really, though, seeing both is the point. Standing at the Santa Monica rings and then at the Venice pen shows you the whole arc, from Depression-era acrobats to Golden Era bodybuilders. They are only about two miles apart.

Both sites are Stops on our guided Golden Era LA Tour. It is a sightseeing and storytelling tour, not a workout: the coach drives the group between Stops and tells the history at each one. You can preview the Stops in our guides to Muscle Beach Venice and the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica.

Tips for visiting both Muscle Beaches

• Go in the morning. Both sites are calmer earlier in the day, and Venice is at its busiest on weekend afternoons.
• Walk or bike between them. The beach path links Santa Monica and Venice, and you will pass the stretch of coast where the scene moved south.
• Be respectful with cameras. People at both sites are often training seriously. Ask before you take close-up photos of anyone.
• Bring sun protection and water. There is very little shade at either site.

See both Muscle Beaches with the history told on site

The Original Muscle Beach and Muscle Beach Venice are easy to find on your own, but the stories behind them are much harder to piece together. On the Golden Era LA Tour, a working LA strength coach takes you to both, along with Gold's Gym Venice (seen from outside) and the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Over about six hours you hear how a children's beach playground became the birthplace of modern fitness culture. Transport, lunch and a t-shirt are included.

Travelling as a group? A Private Tour gives your party its own date. Shopping for a fan? A Gift Card never expires. Questions are answered in our FAQ.

LA Gym Tours is an independent operator and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Los Angeles, the City of Santa Monica, Gold's Gym or any person mentioned in this article.