There’s no denying that professional athletes hailing from every sport have tried supplementing with everything and anythingover the years in order to get a head start and surpass their competitors. Being the star athlete of your generation and rising up the proverbial ladder to a prominent and profitable sports figure is definitely not an easy... Continue Reading →
Sig Klein’s Beginner Workout
Earlier this year I had the great fortune to visit the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports in Texas. Founded by Jan and Terry Todd, the Stark Center is a playground for anoraks like me. Containing the collections of Bernarr MacFadden, Professor Atilla, Bob Hoffman and several other Iron Game legends, Stark... Continue Reading →
Alan Palmieri, Gaining Weight And Adding Muscle Mass (2003)
Although sometimes people take up bodybuilding to lose weight, the majority take to the sport in an attempt to add weight and gain muscle size to their frames. This is especially true for teenagers and young adults. As one matures with age it is usually much easier to gain weight, sometimes too much weight. Individuals... Continue Reading →
Bradley Steiner, ‘ON GAIN WEIGHT SUPPLEMENTS’, The Hard Gainers Bible (1988)
I don't believe in the heavy use of food supplements. Not for anyone. ESPECIALLY (and perhaps, surprisingly so to many) in the case of hard gainers, of all people! Why? Hard gainers need COMPLETE, BALANCED NUTRITION. They need ir more definitely and more direcrlv than their easy-gaining brothers. THEY DON'T HAVE THE EXTRA-EFFICIENTMETABOLISMS NEEDED TO... Continue Reading →
Charles Gaines, ‘Cutting Some Fancy Figures, Sports Illustrated, 10 July (1972).
Outside the auditorium, or Pavilion, as it's called, it is a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at the Mountain Park amusement center in Holyoke, Mass. A roller coaster clatters up and down a wooden trestle. Children fly around in little whirly things that look like boats with wings. There are clam bars, pizza stands, dart throws, cotton-candy... Continue Reading →
John Balik, Total Muscularity: SuperStar Nutrition (Santa Monica, 1979)
Describing himself as Arnold's Seminar Nutritionist, Balik opened his short pamphlet on gaining muscle with the often forgotten law that 'nothing beats persistence.' Produced alongside a pamphlet on gaining muscle, which we'll be discussing in a future post, Balik's Total Muscularity represents a great insight into the training philosophy of 1970s Muscle Beach bodybuilding. Sparing myself... Continue Reading →
T.C. Luoma and Bill Phillips, ‘Muscle Media 2000 Exposes 30 of Bodybuilding’s Biggest Myths That Stand Between You and Success!’, Muscle Media, (October/November, 2000).
1 -- You can get as big as a pro bodybuilder without taking steroids; it just takes longer. Despite what many of the magazines say, all professional bodybuilders use either steroids or steroids in combination with other growth-enhancing drugs. Without manipulating hormones, it just isn't possible to get that degree of muscularity, the paper-thin skin,... Continue Reading →
Vince Gironda, ‘Presses – Vince’s Gym Style’, Ironman Magazine, 29:2 (1969), 20
A quick tip on military pressing from the Iron Guru himself, Vince Gironda. Known for his unique approach to the bench press and the squat, it should come as no surprise to learn that Gironda was equally opinionated when it came to the military press. At a time when back bending and sloppy form had... Continue Reading →
John Christy, ‘Mid-Year Checkup’, Hardgainer Magazine, July/August (1999)
By the time you receive this issue of HARDGAINER we will be about half way through the year. So it's a good idea to take stock as to how your training is going so far, so that you make the rest of the year as productive as possible. Question #1 Are you stronger now than you... Continue Reading →
Bodybuilders Who Passed Away Too Young
It’s deniable that using powerful drugs on a regular basis appear to be needed to be a world-class bodybuilder. While steroids are very common and open to debate to be harmful for body, some other drugs like insulin, HGH and Diuretics cause more serious issues likemuscular corpse, organ failure, Cardiovascular disease and even death for bodybuilders.... Continue Reading →