Earlier this year I had the chance to speak with legendary Mr. America and Mr. Universe Mike Katz by phone. In contrast to the seemingly introverted and passive figure he was portrayed as in “Pumping Iron”, I found Mike to be a gregarious and competitive-minded man, but no less the gentleman than his screen persona.
When I say mid-century fitness programme, you’re probably thinking of Jack LaLanne’s long running programme broadcast across the USA. While this is a fair assumption to make, old Jackie boy was not the only […]
A recent trawl through Ebay uncovered a story which for me, has a very unhappy ending. Stumbling across a 1979 movie poster for the Silver Surfer, the Marvel superhero capable of travelling through space aboard his trusty surfboard, I was shocked to find name of the legendary bodybuilder and three time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane attached to the project. So I did a little more digging and came across one of the greatest what if moments in bodybuilding… and no I’m not being overly dramatic.
Born in England in the early 1900s, Saxon Brown (real name Henry Brown) was briefly lauded during the 1930s as ‘Britain’s strongest youth‘ & ‘the world’s strongest young man’. Though his time in the physical […]
After a man reaches the age of 50, and sometimes even 40, he sometimes feels that he is an old man, and tho he realizes the need for exercise for health’s sake, he thinks that he might be getting for heavy work.
This all depends on how he has trained in years past. If he has taken the best care of his health he can feel assured that he can stand rather heavy training until he is 50. Furthermore he will have enough experience and “know how” to arrange his own workout program from then on. We do not feel that man over 50 should try to excel the younger fellows in lifting meets regardless of how good he thinks he feels. However we do feel that fairly heavy bodybuilding training or even lifting training will be beneficial if he has always kept in good shape.
Aside from your mental state, which is entirely within your capacity to control, there are two other items that you can fully regulate most of the time as well: your diet and the amount of rest you obtain. Both are as essential in building strength and size as is exercise.
Strength is built on solid foods. Meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Milk and cheese. Thick hearty soups. Whole grain bread. Fruits and vegetables. All sorts of nuts, beans, peas. That’s good eating. That’swhat you need to build strong, solid, healthy muscles! Two nice-sized meals a day are usually enough for most mature people who train. Many people can easily do with three big meals a day, plus one or two healthy snacks if they train hard and try to couple it with a full-time job and family responsibilities.
For American weightlifters of the mid-twentieth century, Bob Hoffman was the guru of the Iron Game. Owner of York Barbell, Hoffman’s ambitious career saw him produce some of the first protein supplements, work with giants […]
I have, I believe, been fairly open about my love of the World’s Strongest Man, specifically the opening decade of the competition. Whereas today’s competition is professional, modern and scientific, the contests of yesteryear were […]
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 […]
For anyone skeptical of the weird and wonderful modern gym equipment found in the dark recesses of the internet, it’s important to note that unscrupulous salesmen and women have long sought to capitalise on people’s […]
