Category: Biographies

Resources by Conor HeffernanApr 17, 20192:37 pm

Joe Weider, Why I Entered the Mr. Universe Contest, Your Physique, February 16: 7 (1952), 7

UP UNTIL a few minutes ago, I had not the slightest intention or expectation of writing this article. Since my return from Europe, my mail has been flooded with letters asking my why I entered the contest. “How good are the European bodybuilders compared to our boys?” asked one reader. “What were your experiences, and how was the show conducted and organized?” inquired another. I read a score of letters and as the pile of mail slowly grew higher and higher before me, I realized the futility of answering separately each piece of correspondence. So after a few minutes consideration, I decided to make an article take the place of a letter to those many fellow enthusiasts who have congratulated me, and have expressed pleasure and surprise that the editor of a physique culture magazine had the courage to show the world he practised what he preached.

Bob Gajda’s Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) Training

One point that always fascinates me about training is the sheer diversity one finds when it comes to training systems, exercises and training philosophies. What works for one trainee can prove pointless to another. No matter how good the programme, it often has to be tailored towards the individual, and indeed, we often find that the most successful trainees when it comes to bodybuilding have devised or used workouts advantageous to themselves.

Today’s post is a case in point. Titled ‘Peripheral Heart Action’ or PHA training, this form of exercise has come to be associated with Bob Gajda, the 1966 Mr. America Winner. Counting a host of proponents, including Charles Poliquin, PHA training is a rather interesting combination of circuit, strength and hypertrophy designed with bodybuilding in mind. That being the case, today’s post seeks to answer three simple questions. What is PHA Training and who invented it? Why did it come to be associated with Gajda and finally how can it be used for the modern trainee?

Resources by Conor HeffernanMar 18, 20195:34 pm

Frank Zane’s 1980s Pabst Blue Ribbon Commercial

One of the odder Bodybuilding placements, the following 1980s advertisement features the legendary Frank Zane itching for a Pabst Blue Ribbon following a tough day in the gym. If the costumes don’t make you smile, […]

Resources by Conor HeffernanMar 13, 20195:34 pm

Arnold Schwarzenegger on Johnny Carson (1979)

Part of his impressive press junket in the years following his then temporary retirement from bodybuilding, the following clip shows Arnold Schwarzenegger at his approachable best. Part of the wonders of YouTube, the clip is well […]

Resources by Conor HeffernanMar 6, 20195:20 pm

FAQ, ‘Complete Muscle Building Course’ (c. 1970s)

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This booklet will not only help you, the average man to become many times stronger than you are at present, but will give you the inside knowledge and information required for developing a body of dynamic muscular proportions.

Resources by Conor HeffernanMar 4, 20194:18 pm

David Rensin, ’20 Questions with Jack Lalanne’, Playboy Magazine (October, 1984).

“When the interview began in La Lanne’s living room at 8:30 A.M., he had already been awake for five hours. He’d exercised, had breakfast and donned a red jump suit.”Most people know La Lanne only from his TV show. It’s the least of his achievements. On each birthday, La Lanne performs a muscle-numbing feat. At 45, he did 1000 push-ups and 1000 chin-ups in an hour and 22 minutes. At 60, he swam from Alcatraz to Fisherman’s Wharf–handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1000-pound boat. At 66, La Lanne swam more than a mile–handcuffed, feet shackled, towing ten boats carrying 77 people. In 48 minutes.”Most of us have trouble just turning on a tape recorder. Happy birthday, Jack.”

Q1 Playboy: What incredible feat are you planning to do to celebrate turning 70?

Jack La Lanne: I’m planning to swim underwater from Catalina Island to Los Angeles. That’s 26 miles. I’ll do it in less than 24 hours. But what I really wanted to do was carry a 350-pound bar bell on my shoulders down Hollywood Boulevard to protest all the male and female prostitution, all the dope and crap. I wanted to show people that there are better things in life, that you can be fit at any age. Can you imagine 350 pounds on your back for half an hour? All your muscles contract simultaneously. That’s plain pain. And I would challenge anyone in the world to do that and give him $10,000 if he did. But I can’t do it now. Some kid hit my new Porsche 924 head on. About $15,000 damage. I had to have surgery on my knee to take cartilage out, and that took care of that. But I got a new Porsche 944 recently. It’s a pistol. I had it up to 130 the other day.

Biographies by Conor HeffernanFeb 27, 20195:44 pm

‘The Sandow Girl’, c. 1906

Source: The Sketch, 2 May (1906), 69. In the early 1900s, a travelling vaudeville show known as ‘The Dairymaids’ briefly toured across Great Britain and North America. As part of the performance, every night would see […]

Resources by Conor HeffernanFeb 25, 20195:01 pm

The History of Kaatsu Training

“Wrap a band around your bicep until it begins to go numb, then pump out 30 reps with a light weight… Trust me, the pump is worth it.”

These are not the words of an enlightened man but rather my first experience of Kaatsu or Blood Restriction Training. Brought to my attention by a training partner whose grasp of science is not always the strongest, Kaatsu training has grown in popularity over the last decade. While my friend’s description may seem appropriate at first glance, there is quite a lot more to this training system than first meets the eye.

With this in mind today’s post seeks to answer three simple questions: what is Kaatsu training? How was it created? And, perhaps most importantly, should you try it?

Training by Conor HeffernanFeb 21, 20194:14 pm

Guest Post: The Evolution of Combat Sports

Mixed martial arts as we know it began in November 1993 in Denver, Colorado, the night of UFC 1. What began as a showcase of individual martial arts disciplines from Jiu Jitsu to Tae Kwon Do and all the rest, has become a recognised sport with competitors and followers from all over the world. While the concept of mixed martial arts is still relatively new, martial arts have been around for thousands of years, MMA is the culmination of millennia of training and perfecting different disciplines from around the globe.

Biographies by Conor HeffernanFeb 20, 201911:01 am

Guest Post: Jack LaLanne’s “My Daily Dozen” (1962, 1968)

Fitness guru Jack Lalanne’s “My Daily Dozen” pamphlet offers a short glimpse into the broad appeal of LaLanne’s early productions.

LaLanne’s popular television show is often thought of as being aimed at mid-twentieth century American suburban housewives who wanted to lose weight. But the charismatic LaLanne had a way of reaching out to a broad audience, including children. Published first in 1962 and revised in 1968, “My Daily Dozen” was an attempt to interest kids in exercise and healthy living. The simple booklet contains cartoon images and rhymes meant to make fitness fun and to encourage youth to move, eat well, and get rest. The back of “My Daily Dozen” contained a chart that allowed users to mark their fitness and hygienic activities on a daily basis.