Post by Tim Wescott on Dec 19, 2003 11:44:33 GMT -5
By: Dennis B. Weis
I suppose it is a sacrilege in the present youth-dominated bodybuilding game to even write about what I personally consider to have been "The Golden Years of Bodybuilding." I consider those years to have been in the 1960s when such bodybuilders as Dave Draper (www.davedraper.com), Larry Scott (www.biophase.com), Bill Pearl (www.billpearl.com), Harold Poole, the late Chuck Sipes, and Sergio Oliva (www.sergiooliva.com) roamed the pages of the bodybuilding magazines as the top superstars in the sport.
Why The Magazines SUCK!
Each one was and is to this day unique unto themselves. To give you an example, in some of the bodybuilding magazines today there is a "Guess Who?" page where the head of some top bodybuilder is missing in the photo and only his or her upper and lower torso is showing.
It seems that the bodybuilders today are so generic in their physical appearance that you can guess it to be one of any 5 or 6 bodybuilders. Not so back in the ‘60s. Put a photo of Sipes in the magazine minus his head and it only would take a millisecond to identify him just by seeing those monster-like forearms, or it if was Larry Scott, his arms and shoulders would be a dead giveaway.
Back in the ‘60s, there were only a few good bodybuilding magazines from which to choose from. Today it seems that going to the bank for a small business loan to start up a magazine is no problem at all and new bodybuilding magazines flash by us from year to year. Open up the magazines and you will see all kinds of articles on the current superstar of the moment and without exception most have found it cliche to say "I am natural." Bull S_ _ _!
Are we supposed to believe that when the "natural" superstar doesn’t look any different from a chemically enhanced user? On top of that, it seems that every superstar can bench press at least 500+ pounds on a bad day, squat 700 lbs. for 10 deep and easy reps. Oh, and don’t forget, each of these guys claim to have at least 21-inch plus arms cold and a 31-inch waist. Ah, the magic measuring tape which adds, subtracts and multiplies. I find it laughable that the guys claiming the huge arms never weigh more than 220 pounds and the guys with the 31-inch waists always weight at least 240-265 lbs.
Right! How about a battery of tests in which accurate bodypart measurements are taken (and with a steel measuring tape) along with contest bodyweight (fat versus lean muscle mass) and some actual strength performances. Along with this, tests should be scheduled which can determine anabolic drug usage, the results of the usage, etc. Publish these test results and also make them available to the readers of the bodybuilding magazines. I seriously doubt that many of the top bodybuilders would go for this and more than likely when they hear about it would be out of the door faster than Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson out of the starting blocks in a 100-meter sprint.
I remember back in the 1970s one top bodybuilder went so far as to have a notarized statement published in one of the bodybuilding magazines which stated he had never taken anabolic steroids to develop his physique. What a crock! Have you ever seen a notary actually read a statement (in full) presented to them? Not many do. Usually they just want to sign off the statement and get that person the heck out of the office. The other side to this story is that the bodybuilder who went to all the trouble to have his statement notarized has suffered the negative effects of heavy anabolic steroid usage during his previous bodybuilding career.
Another thing that really irritates me is that there is when a top bodybuilder endorses a certain product supplement line and says that it developed his physique from that of an untrained bodybuilder to a top superstar in amateur bodybuilding competition in a little less than a year. While the photos show him to be in sensational shape, the truth be known he looked like a contest-winning bodybuilder previously, and where was that supplement company then?
Not only that, but I get really steamed when I see an ad in a muscle magazine or website for a course, book, or audio or video tape, and order it, and then I get my cancelled check back or see that my credit card has been charged many weeks previous to receiving my order. I really go into a silent rage when I do receive my order and find out that the ad was 10 times better than the course. It really chaps my ass when I can’t find the author’s name on the course. He is either ashamed of his work or he doesn’t want the Better Business Bureau tracking him down.
Back In The Day...
In a lot of the commercial gyms back in the 1960s, there seemed to be an atmosphere of kinship. There was an unselfish feeling of cooperation and an easy friendliness to strangers. Now it seems that some of the people behind the desks in many high-profile gyms give you the once-over and if you don’t meet their subconscious standard of looking like you have 20-inch arms, a 50-inch chest, with a 31-inch waist and 28-inch thighs, then you are not wanted.
You’ll know if you are not accepted by the deadpan and vacant look (kinda like Jon Arbuckle in the Garfield comics) on their faces. However, that expression of downright unfriendliness can change into a big cheesy grin if you say that you have $75-100 to cough up for a one-to-one training session. Once I overhead one personal trainer advise a client to eat two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a six pack of beer every day to gain additional bodyweight. Whew! Was this guy for real or not?
I suppose it is a sacrilege in the present youth-dominated bodybuilding game to even write about what I personally consider to have been "The Golden Years of Bodybuilding." I consider those years to have been in the 1960s when such bodybuilders as Dave Draper (www.davedraper.com), Larry Scott (www.biophase.com), Bill Pearl (www.billpearl.com), Harold Poole, the late Chuck Sipes, and Sergio Oliva (www.sergiooliva.com) roamed the pages of the bodybuilding magazines as the top superstars in the sport.
Why The Magazines SUCK!
Each one was and is to this day unique unto themselves. To give you an example, in some of the bodybuilding magazines today there is a "Guess Who?" page where the head of some top bodybuilder is missing in the photo and only his or her upper and lower torso is showing.
It seems that the bodybuilders today are so generic in their physical appearance that you can guess it to be one of any 5 or 6 bodybuilders. Not so back in the ‘60s. Put a photo of Sipes in the magazine minus his head and it only would take a millisecond to identify him just by seeing those monster-like forearms, or it if was Larry Scott, his arms and shoulders would be a dead giveaway.
Back in the ‘60s, there were only a few good bodybuilding magazines from which to choose from. Today it seems that going to the bank for a small business loan to start up a magazine is no problem at all and new bodybuilding magazines flash by us from year to year. Open up the magazines and you will see all kinds of articles on the current superstar of the moment and without exception most have found it cliche to say "I am natural." Bull S_ _ _!
Are we supposed to believe that when the "natural" superstar doesn’t look any different from a chemically enhanced user? On top of that, it seems that every superstar can bench press at least 500+ pounds on a bad day, squat 700 lbs. for 10 deep and easy reps. Oh, and don’t forget, each of these guys claim to have at least 21-inch plus arms cold and a 31-inch waist. Ah, the magic measuring tape which adds, subtracts and multiplies. I find it laughable that the guys claiming the huge arms never weigh more than 220 pounds and the guys with the 31-inch waists always weight at least 240-265 lbs.
Right! How about a battery of tests in which accurate bodypart measurements are taken (and with a steel measuring tape) along with contest bodyweight (fat versus lean muscle mass) and some actual strength performances. Along with this, tests should be scheduled which can determine anabolic drug usage, the results of the usage, etc. Publish these test results and also make them available to the readers of the bodybuilding magazines. I seriously doubt that many of the top bodybuilders would go for this and more than likely when they hear about it would be out of the door faster than Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson out of the starting blocks in a 100-meter sprint.
I remember back in the 1970s one top bodybuilder went so far as to have a notarized statement published in one of the bodybuilding magazines which stated he had never taken anabolic steroids to develop his physique. What a crock! Have you ever seen a notary actually read a statement (in full) presented to them? Not many do. Usually they just want to sign off the statement and get that person the heck out of the office. The other side to this story is that the bodybuilder who went to all the trouble to have his statement notarized has suffered the negative effects of heavy anabolic steroid usage during his previous bodybuilding career.
Another thing that really irritates me is that there is when a top bodybuilder endorses a certain product supplement line and says that it developed his physique from that of an untrained bodybuilder to a top superstar in amateur bodybuilding competition in a little less than a year. While the photos show him to be in sensational shape, the truth be known he looked like a contest-winning bodybuilder previously, and where was that supplement company then?
Not only that, but I get really steamed when I see an ad in a muscle magazine or website for a course, book, or audio or video tape, and order it, and then I get my cancelled check back or see that my credit card has been charged many weeks previous to receiving my order. I really go into a silent rage when I do receive my order and find out that the ad was 10 times better than the course. It really chaps my ass when I can’t find the author’s name on the course. He is either ashamed of his work or he doesn’t want the Better Business Bureau tracking him down.
Back In The Day...
In a lot of the commercial gyms back in the 1960s, there seemed to be an atmosphere of kinship. There was an unselfish feeling of cooperation and an easy friendliness to strangers. Now it seems that some of the people behind the desks in many high-profile gyms give you the once-over and if you don’t meet their subconscious standard of looking like you have 20-inch arms, a 50-inch chest, with a 31-inch waist and 28-inch thighs, then you are not wanted.
You’ll know if you are not accepted by the deadpan and vacant look (kinda like Jon Arbuckle in the Garfield comics) on their faces. However, that expression of downright unfriendliness can change into a big cheesy grin if you say that you have $75-100 to cough up for a one-to-one training session. Once I overhead one personal trainer advise a client to eat two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a six pack of beer every day to gain additional bodyweight. Whew! Was this guy for real or not?