Post by ChrisC on Jul 12, 2004 14:17:57 GMT -5
Found a great article in the Oakland Tribune this weekend:
Nice to see bodybuilding getting some positive press for a change, there's bee a lot of "bodybuilder x busted for trafficking/dealing/using steroids " type stories lately.
This one is about Pax Beale, 74yr old NPC Masters competitor (I think he won the NPC Southern States Masters a couple of years back too). Great Read.
I've attached a couple of photos at the end of the article.
www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1865%257E2267478,00.html
Bodybuilder won't let age beat him
Ex-Oakland, Cal star came back from near death to become a senior champ
By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER
When Pax Beale, 74, walks into a room of former Cal classmates, especially the men with their withered biceps and bulging belt lines, heads automatically turn his way and jaws begin to drop.
That's because Beale is so physically different from these other men. For he is the most masculine of Old Blues, a senior-citizen Adonis.
San Francisco resident Beale has 191/2-inch biceps. He is 6-2, 227 pounds of perfectly sculpted anatomy. Massive chest, rock-hard belly.
That's right, he's 74. Beale is bigger and stronger than when he was the Oakland Athletic League shot-put champion at Oakland High in 1947, or when he lettered on the University of California, Berkeley's Rose Bowl teams as an oft-injured reserve lineman.
And he resembles Hercules compared to his days as an Oakland Tribune delivery boy.
"They comment on that clearly," Beale said of his muscular appearance whenever he attends Cal reunions. "I get it there and in the business world all the time. In the gym, people ask me how old I am. When I tell them, they can't believe it."
At an age when most men's bodies are in serious decline, Beale is winning such titles as Mr. America Over 40 (while in his 50s), Mr. USA Over 50 and Mr. Hercules Over 60. He poses in bodybuilding competitions all over the world.
Vanity? Yes and no. Ego? Yes and no. Near-death recovery? Now you're getting the true picture.
Beale always has been athletic. He ran from Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney in August heat, and completed more than 30 marathons. He took up swimming just before his 50th birthday, then made two swims to Alcatraz -- one-way in the dead of night, and a round trip without touching boat or land.
As a boxer, he was the U.S. Air Force champion, losing his only amateur fight to Ed Sanders, a 1952 Olympic gold medalist. And Beale became America's first triathlete in an emergency, when his two racing partners were no-shows. That's his story, and he's sticking to it.
He started as a bodybuilder at 53, discovering that weight lifting suited his back more than swimming. But with all of his athletic endeavors, he couldn't prevent what happened to him at 61: Quintuple bypass surgery.
Beale's father died of heart disease at that exact age, 61, so the signs were there for the son even though he already had won his first national bodybuilding title.
"My heart was so clogged," he recalled, "the doctor said if one thing breaks loose, you're dead. I was in intensive care for 21 days, a heart cripple for four years.
"I have the ability to cope. Whatever it is, it is. I got married to Sophie (Taggart) while I was in my hospital bed. I couldn't even move. Sophie remembers thinking, 'I'll be married at 11 a.m. I'll be a widow at 5 p.m.'"
Eventually, Beale returned to lifting weights against the advice of his cardiologist, who told him he was chancing a stroke. Beale used an oxygen tank at first as his chart was only 25 percent of maximum efficiency.
He benefited from Pyrubate, a product that made muscle contraction stronger and relaxed tissue in the heart, and by weight lifting one arm at a time so as not to overtax his weakened heart. He also mastered a breathing technique that kept his blood pressure under control.
The results were amazing: He was more physically developed after heart surgery, and he became the oldest national bodybuilding champion ever at 68.
Beale then became an author. His book, "Body For The Ages: From Heart Surgery to Bodybuilding Champion," is now available in the Bay Area. But the book isn't for everyone, including some Cal classmates.
"Not if they let themselves get out of shape," said Beale. "They'll never get that skin tone back. My book isn't to show you how to put an inch on your arms. Its intent is to show how to reduce heart disease. At any age, you can increase your self-esteem and a better way of life."
Beale's body fat is an amazingly low 8 to 9 percent. He works out five to six days a week at his privately owned Body for the Ages Health Center in San Francisco. Wife Sophie, a bodybuilder herself, trains there as well.
"Few people can keep up with me in a gym, even Lou Ferrigno," Pax Beale said of "The Hulk" portrayer. "I plan to work out for the rest of my life. Why not? Cardiologists verified that I've remodeled the configuration of my heart. And they've found no more symptoms of heart disease."
Beale no longer takes medication for the heart. All of this likely has some Cal classmates speculating he used steroids to enhance his strength.
'No," Beale said adamantly. "I weighed 222 at Cal. If I used steroids, I better get my money back because I haven't put on much weight."
If his classmates don't believe him, Beale might get angry enough to bench-press them one at a time.
Nice to see bodybuilding getting some positive press for a change, there's bee a lot of "bodybuilder x busted for trafficking/dealing/using steroids " type stories lately.
This one is about Pax Beale, 74yr old NPC Masters competitor (I think he won the NPC Southern States Masters a couple of years back too). Great Read.
I've attached a couple of photos at the end of the article.
www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1865%257E2267478,00.html
Bodybuilder won't let age beat him
Ex-Oakland, Cal star came back from near death to become a senior champ
By Dave Newhouse, STAFF WRITER
When Pax Beale, 74, walks into a room of former Cal classmates, especially the men with their withered biceps and bulging belt lines, heads automatically turn his way and jaws begin to drop.
That's because Beale is so physically different from these other men. For he is the most masculine of Old Blues, a senior-citizen Adonis.
San Francisco resident Beale has 191/2-inch biceps. He is 6-2, 227 pounds of perfectly sculpted anatomy. Massive chest, rock-hard belly.
That's right, he's 74. Beale is bigger and stronger than when he was the Oakland Athletic League shot-put champion at Oakland High in 1947, or when he lettered on the University of California, Berkeley's Rose Bowl teams as an oft-injured reserve lineman.
And he resembles Hercules compared to his days as an Oakland Tribune delivery boy.
"They comment on that clearly," Beale said of his muscular appearance whenever he attends Cal reunions. "I get it there and in the business world all the time. In the gym, people ask me how old I am. When I tell them, they can't believe it."
At an age when most men's bodies are in serious decline, Beale is winning such titles as Mr. America Over 40 (while in his 50s), Mr. USA Over 50 and Mr. Hercules Over 60. He poses in bodybuilding competitions all over the world.
Vanity? Yes and no. Ego? Yes and no. Near-death recovery? Now you're getting the true picture.
Beale always has been athletic. He ran from Death Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney in August heat, and completed more than 30 marathons. He took up swimming just before his 50th birthday, then made two swims to Alcatraz -- one-way in the dead of night, and a round trip without touching boat or land.
As a boxer, he was the U.S. Air Force champion, losing his only amateur fight to Ed Sanders, a 1952 Olympic gold medalist. And Beale became America's first triathlete in an emergency, when his two racing partners were no-shows. That's his story, and he's sticking to it.
He started as a bodybuilder at 53, discovering that weight lifting suited his back more than swimming. But with all of his athletic endeavors, he couldn't prevent what happened to him at 61: Quintuple bypass surgery.
Beale's father died of heart disease at that exact age, 61, so the signs were there for the son even though he already had won his first national bodybuilding title.
"My heart was so clogged," he recalled, "the doctor said if one thing breaks loose, you're dead. I was in intensive care for 21 days, a heart cripple for four years.
"I have the ability to cope. Whatever it is, it is. I got married to Sophie (Taggart) while I was in my hospital bed. I couldn't even move. Sophie remembers thinking, 'I'll be married at 11 a.m. I'll be a widow at 5 p.m.'"
Eventually, Beale returned to lifting weights against the advice of his cardiologist, who told him he was chancing a stroke. Beale used an oxygen tank at first as his chart was only 25 percent of maximum efficiency.
He benefited from Pyrubate, a product that made muscle contraction stronger and relaxed tissue in the heart, and by weight lifting one arm at a time so as not to overtax his weakened heart. He also mastered a breathing technique that kept his blood pressure under control.
The results were amazing: He was more physically developed after heart surgery, and he became the oldest national bodybuilding champion ever at 68.
Beale then became an author. His book, "Body For The Ages: From Heart Surgery to Bodybuilding Champion," is now available in the Bay Area. But the book isn't for everyone, including some Cal classmates.
"Not if they let themselves get out of shape," said Beale. "They'll never get that skin tone back. My book isn't to show you how to put an inch on your arms. Its intent is to show how to reduce heart disease. At any age, you can increase your self-esteem and a better way of life."
Beale's body fat is an amazingly low 8 to 9 percent. He works out five to six days a week at his privately owned Body for the Ages Health Center in San Francisco. Wife Sophie, a bodybuilder herself, trains there as well.
"Few people can keep up with me in a gym, even Lou Ferrigno," Pax Beale said of "The Hulk" portrayer. "I plan to work out for the rest of my life. Why not? Cardiologists verified that I've remodeled the configuration of my heart. And they've found no more symptoms of heart disease."
Beale no longer takes medication for the heart. All of this likely has some Cal classmates speculating he used steroids to enhance his strength.
'No," Beale said adamantly. "I weighed 222 at Cal. If I used steroids, I better get my money back because I haven't put on much weight."
If his classmates don't believe him, Beale might get angry enough to bench-press them one at a time.
