Chester Marian Yorton was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on June 1, 1939. He grew up in South Milwaukee, where his family moved when he was three. He was involved in a serious auto accident just out of high school. It left him with a laceration to his left eye that went through the eyeball. He also cut his left forearm from the elbow to the wrist, dislocated his hips and shattered the bones in his thighs. He ended up having a steel plate put around his right thighbone, and a steel rod inside the femur of his left leg. He was in casts from hips to toes. While in a wheelchair at the hospital, Yorton noticed a set of dumbbells in the corner of a room. He had never touched a weight prior to his accident. He asked his doctor if using weights would assist his recovery. Yorton weighed 160 pounds at 6' 0" tall and had a 35.5” waist when he first got out of a wheel chair. Seven months later he was 215 pounds with a 32” waist. He continued to train, and after two years competed in a bodybuilding contest for the first time. That was in 1959.
 

Yorton competed in a few shows from 1960-1962, including a couple of the AAU’s (American Athletic Union) Mr. America contests. Then, at age 23, he moved to southern California’s Muscle Beach area. He won several more bodybuilding titles from 1963 – 1965. In 1966 he captured the IFBB (International Federation of Body Builders) Mr. America title. He followed that with the NABBA (National Amateur Body Building Association) Mr. Universe title, which was one of three ever occasions where someone would place above Arnold Schwarzenegger. After winning the 1966 Mr. Universe title, Yorton retired from competitive bodybuilding. Nine years later he returned however, and in 1975 laid claim to the NABBA Pro Mr. Universe Tall class title. Yorton took the stage a couple more times after the 1975 Mr. Universe and competed in WBBG (World Body Building Guild) Pro Mr. World shows in 1976 and 1979. He was last seen on stage in that era in 1982 guest posing at an NBA (Natural Bodybuilder’s Association) contest.

View Chet Yorton Photo Gallery 1 - The 60's

Chet Yorton and Natural Bodybuilding
Yorton first became aware of steroids in 1964. He was at the beach and ran into a friend, who gave him a box containing 100 vials of Nilavar (oxandrolone). Yorton contemplated using them, but checked with a chiropractor he was seeing at the time who told him to forget it… that the stuff was nothing but trouble. The doctor told Yorton about side effects that could result like acne, gynecomastia (formation of breasts), impotence, hair loss, headaches, increased risk of heart disease, stunted growth if used at too early of an age, kidney problems, liver problems and high blood pressure. Yorton started speaking out against steroid use immediately afterwards.

In 1977 Yorton started a natural bodybuilding movement. He organized his own federation, the Natural Bodybuilder's Association (NBA), and held the first-ever competition that screened for the use of steroids in 1978. Blood testing was used as a means of detection for that show as well as all other NBA events. He started a publication titled Natural Bodybuilding in 1981. The magazine provided exposure to bodybuilders who didn’t use steroids, and also served to educate the public about the dangers of steroid use.

Yorton experienced a number of frustrations and disappointments along the way associated to his natural movement. The IFBB and AAU federations tried to keep competitors out of NBA shows by threatening to ban them if they took part in the events. Yorton’s protégé Ken Cole turned to steroids shortly after claiming the AAU Teenage Mr. America class title in 1978 under Yorton’s tutelage. And Yorton’s efforts to gain television exposure for the steroid problem in bodybuilding met deaf ears as he was turned down by the talk shows he approached. Yorton eventually felt he was beating his head against the wall and that no one wanted to listen. He grew increasingly frustrated with all the obstacles standing in the way of his attempts to bring bodybuilding back to what he felt it was supposed to be, and decided to walk away in 1982 feeling drugs and bodybuilding were hopelessly linked. He ended his involvement in the sport completely. Twenty-four years would pass before Yorton would be seen on the bodybuilding scene again.
 

View Chet Yorton Photo Gallery 2 - The 70's & 80's

In 2004 the Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders (OCB) named the new organization’s national championship the OCB Yorton Cup to honor Chet Yorton. Chet Yorton appeared at the 2006 and 2007 OCB Yorton Cup National Championships to not only present the Yorton Cups to the show’s winners, but to also guest pose at the event. 

The Yorton Cup title was transferred from the amateur level OCB to the professional level IFPA (International Fitness & Physique Association) in 2007 and it now serves as the top pro title for that federation.
 

View Chet Yorton Photo Gallery 3 - The Recent Years

Honors:
Inducted into Wisconsin’s Sports Hall of Fame

Inducted into Dan Lurie’s WBBG Hall of Fame 1976