Big Muscles Forever

Recently I have been corresponding with Laree Draper over at www.davedraper.com. Laree is the wife of bodybuilding great Dave Draper. She mentioned to me that Dave had a heart problem at one time and that bodybuilding had saved his life. I thought about just sending her a note back but a little voice told me to blog about it. That little voice was probably Joe Vitale at www.mrfire.com who suggested I blog about my hernia recovery.

We can all probably see that being strong from bodybuilding could help physical recovery but what does that have to do with drugs and booze? On June 1st, 2009 I will celebrate 15 years sober. Prior to that I overindulged in alcohol and later hard drugs. Somehow the alcohol, booze and weightlifting mixed for awhile. Toward the end of my drug using I was dealing with some real bad dudes. I believe that the mental toughness and confidence from the earlier years of lifting kept me alive in a few instances. I no longer had the strength or the muscle but somehow my brain didn’t realize this. This attitude didn’t hurt in the streets…luckily.

Now this might start to read more like a recovery blog (which is next on the agenda) than a bodybuilding one but let me continue with the above story. On June 1st 1994 when I was fortunate enough to get into recovery one of the first things I did was to get back into the weight room. I love AA but let’s face it, those rooms are not exactly filled with future Mr. & Ms. Olympia’s. A cup of coffee, a donut and a cigarette might be okay as long as you don’t drink but there is a better way. Why not get healthy and sober at the same time. “Don’t drink or use, go to meetings and the gym and eat right!” Not exactly AA wisdom but close.

To get started on the iron visit www.davedraper.com. For some great marketing and spiritual stuff (Especially the Missing Secret) visit Joe Vitale at www.mrfire.com.

Blogger note: Fortunately I never had any real bad legal consequences as a result of alcohol and drug use. If you are in that lifestyle do whatever it takes to get out of it. Here is a prison study I worked on for the government:http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411296_prisoner_reentry_cleveland.pdf. Stay sober and keep pumping

Call Grandma or Grandpa and get a copy of the AARP Bulletin (Vol.47 No.9 October 2006). On page 20 you will see Dave Draper at age 64 and looking good. It’s obvious this guy has some kind of physical Alzheimer’s that is causing him to forget how to age. This is a great short article on a great bodybuilding champ. You can get more information on Dave at www.davedraper.com.

Let’s jump into reviewing an of old muscle mag with Dave on the cover. If you have the AARP article you will see a blue cover on the far right with Dave doing a double biceps pose. This is from the September of 1971 issue of Muscle Builder/Power. This issue has some interesting information. In the Between Sets column by Dick Tyler there is a picture of Arnold with then girlfriend Barbara Oatland. It reads, “Is Barbara Oatland the beauty who will curb the roving ways of Mr. Olympia?” (Editors note: I guess not!) The highlight of this issue is the yellow page insert titled Golden Impressions 1 by Art Zeller and Golden Impression 2 by Dick Tyler. These articles take us through a Gold’s Gym workout with the champs. Present in the photographs are Arnold, Dave Draper, Serge Jacobs, Rick Wayne,Frank Zane and Zabo Koszewski. How would you like to work out with this crew? You can, if you can find this issue and mentally put yourself there.

Training routines are also included for the back (Mike Katz), the waist (Rick Wayne) and power with George Frenn. As cool as this issue of Muscle Builder/Power is, the most mind boggling photo(to use Joe Weider lingo) is that of Sergio Oliva, in street clothes with Joe Weider and Bruno Sammartino on page 55.  Keep pumping iron and stay young and fit like Dave Draper.

This issue concluded with a list of contests scheduled for 1974. They included the Mr. Asia championship, Mr. Universe, Mr. Europe, Mr. International and Mr. Western America, Mr. Middle East and Mr. Scandinavian.

This sums up another great issue of Muscle Builder/Power, especially if you are a Lou Ferrigno fan.

This issue took a long time to review as I was in and out of the hospital recovering from double hernia surgery. As far as I know this was not brought on by weightlifting.

This was a new column by Arnold Schwarzenegger for advanced bodybuilders only. Arnold answered questions regarding Lou Ferrigno and Sergio Oliva in addition to some training questions.

Arnold stated that he would have to train harder to stay ahead of the 22 year old Lou ferrigno as well as champs such as Sergio Oliva and Serge Nubret. Arnold lso wrote that Sergio Oliva chickened out in their last Mr. Olympia contest.

Arnold talked about instinctive training to avoid overtraining. Arnold also stated that he liked to train heavy with 15 reps when it came to training the calves. Fifteen sets of fifteen reps is how he was training his calves.

Advice from Franco Columbu. Great column with a few mini-routines. Franco starts off with the following chest routine: Close grip bench presses for 4 set of 10 reps supersetted with parallel bar dips for 4 sets of 10-15 reps. Next you do the incline dumbell press for 4 sets of 10 reps supersetted with flyes for 4 sets of 10 reps. Do the routine first in your workout to give your chest area priority. Use as much weight as you can and do the routine 3 times per week.

Next up was a forearm routine. Do this after your arm workout. Do the wrist curl for 5 sets of 10-15 reps six days a week.

A waist routine was listed next. Work the waist everyday and twice if time permits. Do 25-50 reps. Watch your diet and avoid junk foods.

Calories and weight gaining was mentioned. Eat smaller meals more frequently, rest and conserve your energy to gain weight.

Wants useful muscles. Do you want muscles that are for go and show then train heavier. Not much more to it than that.

Franco concluded by stating that his current dead lift is at 725 but would like to max out at 750. He can do 675 anytime any place and doesn’t train for record poundage while going for the Mr. Olympia.

This article by Frank Picha basically stressed the importance of the one piece knee band for squatting. The article stated that more and more older athletes were turning to power lifting and needed the protection of a wrap. Good advice in this short article.

Recently I was approached by a writer who channels spirits from the beyond. She has apparently been in touch with Jesus Christ and Buddha. For those who don’t know channeling is contacting a spirit or spirits from the beyond. Sylvia Browne is noted for this. Lofty spiritual contacts indeed. However my goal at bigmusclesforever.com are a little more conservative. What if I could just contact legendary Hollywood Trainer Vince Gironda from the beyond.

I met Vince in 1975 at Vince’s Gym. The very first thing Vince did was cuss me out, read me the riot act. Once he calmed down we had a very nice conversation in the five or ten minutes he gave me. Vince was like talking to a dictionary on bodybuilding, albeit a angry one. One month later I met super nice guy Timmy Leong at Timmy’s Gym in Honolulu. Timmy said Vince was never the same after his best friend, strongman Bert Elliot, died. This is/was understandable. But why do I want to channel Vince Gironda?

In 1970 I started bodybuilding and was stuck at 138 pounds. That was it. I was ready to give up bodybuilding in favor of martial arts where I figured I could be small and still excel. However, I really wanted to pump iron instead. Luckily, I ran across one of Vince Gironda’s little mail order ads and bought everything he had which wiped out my net worth of under fifty dollars at the time. It was in one of these little masterpiece booklets that I got the answer I was looking for. I believe it was, “Blueprint for the Bodybuilder.”

In Blueprint for the Bodybuilder (I think) Vince mentioned a supplement plan to follow to gain muscle. Here is that plan: 10 dessicated liver tablets, 3-B Complex tablets and one iron pill per meal. After starting this supplement plan and training hard I went from a 138 pound quitter to a 190 pound winner in just over two years. I had the energy and gained the muscle as soon as I started the supplementation. Simple as that. If you want something more complicated then pick up any of today’s muscle magazines and start reading the full page ads. But if you want muscle and the endurance to build that muscle then give Vince Gironda a look.

I guess I really don’t have to channel Vince Gironda. I can just dust off his old courses and put them into action. Vince was known as the Hollywood Trainer that could get movie stars into shape in record time. You might have to look around a little to find Vince’s stuff but it is out there. Why not give Vince a try, I think you’ll be happy with the fast results you will get.

Vince was kind of scary the first and only time I met him so maybe I’ll leave his spirit alone. However, his training advice is timeless and works, that I won’t leave alone!

Usually I am writing about the past exploits of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rick Wayne, Dave Draper and the rest of the 60-70’s muscle crew. However, today I would like to write about how bodybuilding helped my hernia surgery at the age of 56.

On April 9th, 2009 I had a double hernia operated on. despite the doctor saying this would be major surgery I listened to friends tell me it would be a piece of cake. Prior to having to operation I increased my training pretty much with the idea I would be careful but I am getting surgery anyway so I continued to train heavy without injury. Unfortunately the surgery wasn’t as easy as I thought.

The surgeon had trouble reducing the size of the hernia and had to cut from the outside. I was swollen like a football. Use your imagination on that one. I was released a day later with a bottle of pain killers and a boot in the butt. Fortunately a friend and his family took me in. One of the first things my friend told me was that since I was in shape I would recover. At this point I had to crawl around and pretty much smelled like a urinal. The next five days were rough with two emergency room visits and an overnight stay. The next five days were not much better.

I got to the point where the swelling went down somewhat but now I was always tired and sleeping whenever I could. Maybe that is part of the recovery process. A little depression set in and still I was moving and acting like a sick person. Again, this is probably part of the recovery process. Let me fast forward to today May 5th, 2009.

The day started with me inspecting a house and going to a dental appointment. Still a little depressed and moving and thinking like a sick person. Psychologically I am not that much better than I was following surgery. My surgeon said I could do certain exercises, no crunches . After the dental appointment I went home and had some caffeine and DHEA (I do want to be accurate here). I worked out very lightly at first but was able to do some moderate weight. I was very careful and don’t advise pumping iron after hernia surgery. I took precautions, followed doctors orders and used super strict movements totally away from the hernia zone. After the brief workout I had an intense endorphin high (runners high). At this point I felt that psychologically I was back. I was no longer the sick person, although I still have some healing to do. Something clicked in my brain as a result of this first workout in a month. Bodybuilding saved me going into this surgery and it seems to have snapped me back to feeling good again.

If you are an old guy or gal or even a young one and you are not feeling “right,” give the iron a try. Eat right and train and even a set back like hernia surgery can be far easier to deal with when you are in shape. Sounds simple but this morning I woke up depressed and sick and tonight I am feeling about as good as I have felt in a long time.

Another side benefit to this ordeal was that a lot of friends, mainly from AA, stepped up and helped. Hey, I’m not the only drinking and drugging bodybuilder out there (albeit sober 14 years). Also the friend and family who took me in pumps iron but also lives in a poorer part of town with probably less money than I have. However, he and his family knows how to stop and smell the roses which is what I need to do. Maybe you too? So eat right, train hard (dust off the weights if you have to), and feel good.

This was an intense article by little known but longtime muscle scribe Ernest Cottrell. According to Cottrell it is difficult physically and psychologically to train in the squat. You will have to train harder to be a good squatter. Knee joints, leg and groin injuries can occur and your energy can be sapped by squatting. One essential supplement to take to avoid sore joints is manganese. Rest, think and train properly, according to Ernest Cottrell.

The Routine: Warming up is important and this routine starts with body weight multi-squats. Stand erect with feet 12-inches apart, toes pointed out to the sides: now squat down for 10-15 reps. Point toes inward for another 10 reps. Next you point your toes out for another 10 reps. Still without resting spread your feet out 40 inches or so and do 1-legged squat stretch alternating each leg until tired. Do one or two sets as needed.

Next are leg extensions for 4 sets of 5 reps with 30-40 seconds between sets. Rest 3-5 minutes.

Low-Position Half Squats are done next. According to Cottrell you might want to start with one half of your normal squatting weight that you can do for 4-5 reps. Do 5 sets, 6 reps resting 3 to 5 minutes. Rest 5 to 7 minutes.

Squat Jumps are next. Stand erect and hold two dumbbells at your sides. Use a comfortable weight for 5 sets of 6 reps. Do 2 to 4 sets resting 2 to 3 minutes between sets. then rest for 5 minutes.

Endurance Hack Squats at 1/4 the weight of your single effort in the squat should be performed next. One set only but do every rep you can possibly do and the do a few more. Rest 5 to 7 minutes and then move on to the last exercise.

The routine wraps up with forced bodyweight squats. Hold an empty Olympic bar on your shoulder and do as many full squats as you possibly can. Don’t quit until you cannot move from the low position. One set or two depending on how you feel.

this is not a routine for beginners. Suggested training days are as follows: A-Monday-squat, Tuesday BP and some DL, Wednesday-Squat, Thursday-DL some BP, Friday-squat, Saturday and Sunday are rest days. B-Monday-squat (add 1 extra set to all exercises), Tuesday-BP and DL, Wednesday-rest, Thursday-squat (add 1 extra set to all exercises), Friday-BP (lots), Saturday DL (lots) Sunday-rest.

This routine does not take the place of your regular routine. It is to be used if you are in a slump or burned out. Use this routine for three weeks to up to a month and a half.