Big Muscles Forever

This was a 28page report from Jack Neary. First of all this contest had three fabulous guest posers in Franco Columbu, Boyer Coe and Lou Ferrrigno. The event was held in Montreal to a crowd of 2,000. In today’s internet age this contest would have drawn millions via a paid webcast. Here’s how it went. In the short classDanny Padilla finished second to perennial nemesis (usually more cut) Rick Wayne look alike Mohammed Makkawy. Adolph Zigner, despite being drunk, finished 3rd. . Renato Bertagna from Italy finished 4th. Barbadian Bernard Sealy finished 5th. In a three way tie Geoff Alexander, Nicholas Kemp and Hugo Montenegro finished in 6th place. You old timers out there should remember these guys. what a lineup!

Bloggers note: I saw Bertagna compete and win in Columbus, Ohio for the Mr. International (I think). On stage he looked huge but looked about 5 feet tall in the lobby area. This guy was nothing but muscle!

In the medium classRobby Robinson defeated Mike Mentzer. Mentzer was also faulted on tv for a week back. He didn’t take too kindly to this in future articles but corrected the problem. In 3rd place was a disappointed and underated Ahmet Enunlu. What a bodybuilding star this guy was. Peter Stach of Czechoslovakia finished 4th. Walter Bubeniceck of Austria finished 5th and was awarded the Most Improved Bodybuilder of the Year honors.

Blogger note: I saw Bubeniceck compete in Columbus and in that contest he looked like the next Arnold, which of course didn’t happen.

The tall classwas a bit of a letdown after viewing the stars in the first two classes. Roger Walker of Australia won the class and Darcy Beccles of Barbados finished 2nd. A couple of journeyman and good but not great bodybuilders. Karl Kainrath of austria who also fit the journeyman bill finished 3rd. Iraq’s Abas Kareem finished 4th, Gerald Papawski of Canada finished 5th and South Africa’s Chris Kaiser was in 6th.

Overall, one of the better Mr. Universe contests of all time but definitely dominated by the short and medium classes.

This issue as reviewed by BigMusclesForever.com is one of the best Muscle Builder/Power issues of all time and is attainable on ebay. The section on the Mr. Universe contest is rare reporting and is a must have item for the collector and hard core bodybuilding fan.

Here is a nice article by Rick Wayne with a great waist routine by Bill Grant. Grant stated, “Concentration is the key to abdomial training. I believe in feeling my abdominal exercises in the same way I feel my curls.” The routine reflects this statement. Here is the routine.

Bill feels that normal exercise and a good diet will keep the waist trim through regular exercise. Hence, he only does his waist work three months before a contest. Here is the routine he used to prepare for the 1976 Mr. Olympia. Bill starts out with leg raises at the end of a bench. This movement works the lower abs. With your heels on the floor, exhale and raise your legs until your feet are above your face. Inhale as you lower your legs but do not touch the floor. Immediately repeat the exercise without stopping. Bill uses continuous tension and concentrates on getting a burn. Twenty reps if you can.
Do six sets of leg raises and then do Roman chair crunches. When crunching Bill sits up with elbows almost touching his knees. Hold for a count of three, if you can. Once again Bill uses continuous tension. Up and down, up and down for a total of 15-20 reps for six sets.

Bill’s final exercise is the twist holding a light bar behind his neck. Twist for a 100 reps to the left and right. Bill will also use hanging leg raises from a chinning bar for variety at times. The photos show great ab development. Find the mag and buy it! Bill is still going strong at www.billgrant.net.

Still on the 1977 Greatest Issue ever, Larry Scoot has an article about full muscle development. If you look at Larry’s physique, especially in the biceps, you will see he has this type of development. This article stresses the importance of a balanced physique through full muscle development. Anyone can get big and/or cut but can you put it all together?

Full muscle development all the way to the attachment tendon. Larry Scott made the scott curl famous (preacher bench curls) because the movement worked the low end of the biceps better than any other movement. Muscles have high, middle and low areas and each area needs to be developed for a complete look.

Movie stars Steve Reeves and Mark Forest (Lou Degni) went for full development. Reeves use to do hack squats to get this type of full develdopment.

Scott concluded that every exercise he ever performed was intended to build the high and low area of the muscle. He tried to develop muscle as close to the attachment as possible. Scott concludes by saying upper pecs, lower lats, lower biceps, lower triceps, lower thighs, lower calves and all the upper and lower parts of any muscle do not develop easily. According to Scott it is an art to get this type of development and build those hard to get at muscles.

New complete course by Frank Zane covering the exercises, diet, supplements you need to get maximum definition. Sixty four pages of intense instruction. Special thanks to Frank Zane via Joe Vitale for my copy. Order from Frank Zane at www.FrankZane.com or at 800-323-7537

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Here is an article by Rick Wayne which talks about Frank Zane’s busy but balanced life. In this article, which is not your usual bodybuilding piece, Zane talks about dream interpretation and how it relates to his bodybuilding. He also talks about how his six day a week training will go to eight days then twelve and then twice daily as a contest gets closer. At this time in his life (1976-77) Frank is a school teacher, along with his wife Christine, and a student. He still finds time to train and practices archery with Arnold. Nice article that tells you a little more about the person Frank Zane.

This is the third part of a three part series which is aimed at advanced bodybuilders. The other two sections will be covered in future blogs. This article is aimed at the series bodybuilder not just someone working out to supplement another sport. According to Pearl, “Bodybuilding is as much a mental thing as it is physical.” Amen to that! “Mental attitude has the greatesst measurable effect on what you get out of training. Nothing will beat you quicker than negative nergy. You get out of training what you think you are putting into it.” The article goes on to explain that once you get to an advanced level you can pick your exercises by feel. One exercise might work a muscle better than another one so according to Pearl use the exercise that works. Pearl advocates three Weider principles for this type of training: quality training, forced reps and supersets. Pearl has included an extensive routine which I will summarize below.

1). Abdominals and calves are worked everyday.
2). A portion of the forearms are worked one day and the other half the next.
3). Chest, back and shoulders are work on one day.
4). Triceps, biceps and thighs are worked the next day.
If you like and have the time you can work the double split although Bill Pearl doesn’t advocate this
for the average non-full time bodybuilder.

Day 1

Abs: Pick five movements and work one set of each five. Pearl likes bent knee situps, bent knee leg raises, alternate leg raises, good morning exercises and standing twists. Do a hundred reps for each exercise.

Chest and Shoulders Superset #1 Incline bench presses and one arm laterals. Five sets of six. Superset #2 Pullover and press for five sets of six reps. Superset #3 Decline bench flyes and one-arm cable rowing, again five sets of six reps.

Back One-arm rowing for five sets of eight reps. Wide grip chins are performed for eight to fifteen reps for five sets. Straight armed pullovers are performed for five sets of eight reps.

Forearms Wrist curls for five or six reps of fifteen reps.

Calves Toe raise on a blcok with toes pointed straight then in and out. Six sets in all three positions for a total of eighteen sets of twelve to fifteen repitions.

Day 2

Triceps and biceps
Superset #1 Dips for five sets of eight reps supersetted with incline dumbell curls for five six of six reps. Superset #2 Standing dumbell extensions for five sets of eight reps supersetted with the isolated dumbell curl for for five sets of six reps. Superset #3 Decline extensions for five sets of eight reps supersetted with kamber bar curls for five sets of six reps.

Thighs freehand squats for five sets of thirty to fifty reps per set. Leg presses are the nd one forfive sets of eight reps followed by leg curls using five sets of eight reps.

Calves Same as the first workout.

Forearms Reverse wrist curls for five or six sets for twelve reps.

This routine is more fully explained in the February 1977 issue of Muscle Builder & Power.

Special thanks to the next Mr. Olympia Joe Vitale for this limited edition Steve Reeves item. Granted Reeves is prior to the time period this blog covers but it’s my blog so it gets included. Visit Joe at his site www.mrfire.com for the best motivational and life changing material out there.

Unfortunately their should be a book written about this subject. Jack Neary wrote this article which is basically about Arnold’s charisma contrasted to Robbie Robinson’s shy nature. It is interesting to note that Arnold was being paid $1,500 to guest pose and also made $1,000 by letting someone kiss his biceps. The one saving feature of this article are the photos especially the one of Arnold lifting a huge barbell over his head in a “Pumping Iron” publicity shot.

Weider had it right with this issue (February 1977). On the cover were four bodybuilding legends, Frank Zane, Robby Robinson, Boyer Coe and Ed Corney. the issue starts out with an article titled, “The Charisma of Bodybuilding.” The title pretty much explains it all, but it does highlight the excitement that goes along with being a professional bodybuilder. “Hail to the Beef We Must Remain Loyal to Our Concept,” is the editorial by Joe Weider. Joe makes no bones about big muscles versus a more acceptable slimmed down version. Also in this issue is the Compleat Man by Rick Wayne about Frank Zane. Hey, that rhymes. If you are a Zane fan you’ll love this article.
Training articles for this issue include instinctive training by Bill Pearl, Injury by Joe Weider, Robby Robinson’s arm routine and Bill Grant’s waist routine. High Low tie ins and pumping up for contests is also included.

This issue has a thirty one page contest insert. The pages are yellow colored and if you like reading about the stars of the seventies this should do the trick.

This is another super issue of Muscle Builder/Power. One of the best ever. You can probably pick one up on ebay for under ten dollars, again if you can find it. Stay tuned as this issue will be reviewed in full with some contact information for some of these 70’s stars.