Charles Atlas was an Italian-American bodybuilder and the creator of a famous fitness program that became an iconic part of American pop culture. His advertising campaign, featuring the story of a "97-pound weakling" who transforms himself, was ubiquitous in comic books and magazines for decades. The program, which he co-created, relied on a method called "Dynamic Tension" and promised to build muscle without weights. Through his wildly successful mail-order business, Atlas became the enduring face of physical fitness for much of the 20th century.