My Pilgrimage To The 'Mecca'" "People seem to assume that because I'm a pro bodybuilder, I must have been out to Venice Beach on many occasions and trained at the world-famous Gold's Gym. The truth is that until a couple weeks ago, I had never so much as set foot inside Gold's. Five years ago… Continue reading Kai Greene, ‘The Predator,’ Iron Man, April (2009), 372-375
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o391Xd0ycSM&feature=youtu.be The Mr. Olympia contest is still the pinnacle of the bodybuilding calendar. Previously on this website we've looked at the competition's contest report which spoke of the great Larry Scott, who swept all other challengers aside. Well, thanks to STG Strength and Power we also have video footage of the competition itself. Looking at the competition… Continue reading Rare 1965 Mr. Olympia Footage
Given the current vogue for Mike Mentzer and high-intensity training, I thought it would be cool to look at John Little's 2008 interview with Iron Man magazine. Little is a Mentzer expert, and has written several books on his training methods. Here we get a unique insight into Mentzer as a person, and as a… Continue reading John Little, Heavy Duty: The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, Iron Man, August (2008), 267-269.
I grew up on the internet memes of the 2000s and nothing was more pervasive than 'friends don't let friends skip leg day' or some variaton thereof. What was innocent for the time was a rallying call for trainees to actually train their legs and not just focus on the upperbody. Despite the recency bias… Continue reading Why Strong Legs Are Important!
John Grimek was one of the greatest American weightlifters and bodybuilders of the 20th century. Nicknamed 'The Monarch of Muscledom', Grimek also competed for the US in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. It's fair to say he knew something about lifting weights. Today's article sees Grimek discuss one of the most pressing issues in bodybuilding.… Continue reading How Fast Should You Gain Weight and Size – John C. Grimek (1976)
The following extract comes from Vince Gironda’s 1984 Book: Unleashing the Wild Physique (available here). This book cannot be recommended highly enough, from VInce’s no nonsense take on steroids to his innovative training techniques. Today’s post comes from Vince’s advice on a lacto-vegetarian diet. The Lacto-Vegetarian Diet This is the easiest diet to follow because you can eat as much as… Continue reading Vince Gironda’s Lacto-Vegetarian Diet
Why did the first era of bodybuilders have flat chests? Two common explanations I see online are that lifters in the 1890s and early 1900s considered large chests to be feminine and thus wanted to avoid it or that lifters modelled their own physiques on Ancient Greek statues and, thus, wanted to build their physiques… Continue reading Why Did Bronze Era Lifters Have Flat Chest? A Serious Answer to a Stupid Question
This article, first published in Health and Strength Magazine in 1956 is a great reminder that we don't need to spend hours in the gym to maintain our fitness. In fact, the writers of this programme believed it could be done in half an hour or less. Ideal for those struggling to make time to… Continue reading Workout for a Working Man
One of the most fascinating things to me is how bodybuilders prepare for a contest. How do they tweak their diets? Manipulate their water and sodium intake and, more importantly, how do they train to maintain their muscle mass while simultaneously losing body fat? In many ways bodybuilding contests are biological warfare. As bodybuilding has… Continue reading How Did Steve Reeves Prepare for a Bodybuilding Show
The Westside Barbell club run by Louie Simmons, is one of the current institutions of the iron game. Known for producing champion powerlifters and even effective machines such as the Reverse Hyper Extension, there is little doubting the club's importance for lifters, whether or not they adhere to powerlifting itself. In today's short post, we're… Continue reading Forgotten Exercises: The JM Press
