Robert Collins Hoffman (November 9, 1898 – July 18, 1985) was an American entrepreneur who rose to prominence as the owner of York Barbell.

[3] Hoffman promoted bodybuilders like John Grimek and Sigmund Klein,[4][5] coached the American Olympic Weightlifting Team between 1936 and 1968,[3] and was a founding member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Hoffman was deployed to France in May 1918 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, with whom he was active at the front and "in numerous campaigns and engagements" including Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

He was decorated many times for bravery during the war, and received the Belgian Order of Leopold, the French Croix de Guerre and a silver star.

[1] In December 1969, Hoffman and three other weightlifters associated with the 1968 Summer Olympics met with President Richard Nixon for seven minutes at the White House along with Pennsylvania congressman George Atlee Goodling.

[1] Until the definite ascent of the IFBB by the 1970s, Hoffman remained the single influential figure on the North American weightlifting, weight training, bodybuilding, and overall physical culture scene.

[12][13] Hoffman believed that protein supplements gave special health and muscle-building powers, a view not supported by scientific evidence.