Those of you who follow me on other social media (yeah, both of you) may have noticed that I usually tag any remotely fitness related post first with #oldguyslifttoo. Though it clearly hasn’t caught on I’m trying to make a point with that hashtag.
Youth and Fitness
It doesn’t take much observation to realize that in our culture and society fitness and athletic activities are the province of the young. In mo and t pro sports you’re finished before 40. A quick look through Instagram and you’ll find hundreds, if not thousands, of posts, pictures, selfies, swolfies, and not so random flexing poses of young men (and a few women) in front of bathroom mirrors. Each who seems fully dedicated to their particular workout, diet and intent on spreading their knowledge and enthusiasm to the world. Or at least get a date. Maybe both, I’m not sure, and I’m not criticizing this in the least. If it motivates anyone towards physical fitness I’m for it. Heck, if I had the abs and biceps of some of these guys I’d be right there in front of my mirror with my phone snapping a picture too.
Old = Inactive?
But, you don’t see so much from older people. Go to a gym, again filled with folks under 40. Now I’m sure that there are a lot of reasons for this. The usual being other priorities. Career, family, etc. But, these reasons don’t explain all the middle-age men and women out there who have just stopped moving. The kids are out of the house, but instead of using the time gained from no longer running mom’s transit service they have doubled down on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and the like. Then complain that they hurt all the time or don’t have energy.
Time for a Change
It’s time to change this folks. The benefits of daily exercise are well documented. Both men and women at any age can increase strength and improve quality of life with a moderate program of walking and weightlifting. Barring an underlying medical condition (and hey, I’m pooping into a plastic bag as I type this so I know about underlying conditions) you can stall father time. You may never have 20 inch arms or buns of steel again but you can keep your bones strong and muscles firm well into old age.
Which, for all you teens out there, doesn’t start at 30.
So, I’m proud to be an old guy who lifts, too. I hope you’ll join me.
And whoknows, maybe senior citizen swolfies will catch on too!
One of the blessings of constantly searching the internet for workout ideas, plans, diets, etc. is that you run across postings by interesting and often inspiring people (we’ll ignore the dull and uninspiring for now who seem to be much, much more prevalent). One person I found is Davy Barnes, a business owner by day and an aspiring fitness model/bodybuilder pretty much the rest of the time. He posted something a few weeks ago that I think sums up why so many first picked up a weight and become addicted to it. Though I imagine this is true of runners and pretty much any other dedicated athlete I chose a bodybuilder because I like to pretend I’m one whenever I’m lifting weights. He has, of course, given me permission to share this with you.
In his words…
“I remember when I used to consume toaster strudels, Mountain Dews, Chips, energy drinks, etc. every day. I was nothing bu skin and bones and couldn’t have been healthy. I hated that and finally one day I decided that was going to change. I have worked HARD for six years. A lot of people just see the results, but don’t see the endless hours at work, in the gym or in the kitchen…I don’t think a lot of people understand. To me Bodybuilding or Fitness is not only about your physique or how you look in the mirror, although that is a great reward; it is a way of developing a connection between your body and mind! It’s a way of building a stronger character and persona!
It must not be a selfish, self-centered activity but rather a tool to build confidence and strength to go through life. It can help motivate and lift those up around you who are maybe overweight, depressed, sad and looking to change to a healthier lifestyle. Many people confuse bodybuilding with only lifting weights, drinking protein shakes, juicing [steroids], flexing in photos or for girls but I look at it as a much broader experience! For me it is a continuous process of self-betterment in and outside the gym! Because of bodybuilding I am able to be more successful at other aspects of life; I am more disciplined, organized and focused at achieving my goals. I’m not lazy and I learned the most valuable principle-hard work always pays off!
Because of bodybuilding I can reach thousands of people all around the world to deliver my message, inspire and motivate to live a fuller, healthier and exciting life, to chase after goals and dreams and most importantly, be a witness to others. Even the Bible has verses stating to take care of our bodies and to eat healthy. Besides that, with all of the unhealthy food choices and diseases now days, it motivates me to eat even more clean every day! As hard as it is, I try not to be the guy who puts down anyone who may be unhealthy or overweight because, hey, at the end of the day we are all in this together!”
Now, Davy is very good at what he has been doing and dedicated (see the picture I’ve included for evidence of this) and he’s gaining recognition and followers on social media and from what I can see, his message has remained unchanged. I like that.
He has chosen bodybuilding as his method of relating and dealing with the world and I think that anyone who looks to improve themselves could do much worse than begin a regular program of exercise – even if you choose not to build a Mr. Olympia worthy physique, you’ll end up stronger and healthier for the effort. I think this is true of any physical pursuit whether it be weight lifting, running, yoga, or whatever. As long as you focus, are patient, and stick with it you’ll develop not only your physical toughness but your mental toughness as well (presuming you avoid drugs, etc.). You’ll be able to endure during difficult times, set goals, push your limits and continue long after others have given up.
And these are traits that can carry you through most any other part of your life as well, personal or professional.
Onward!
Starting upper left and then going clockwise, Davy Barnes in 2007 (when he first took up weights), 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Patience, perseverance, and hard work paid off for him. You can find more about him on Facebook @davybarnesbodybuilding (aka Davy Muscle) and Instagram @davyb2333
I find it an ironic fact of the age we live in that as a society we know more about nutrition and diet than ever before, we have access to more devices to aid in exercise than ever before, we have gyms and fitness centers everywhere, our televisions, computers, and mobile devices are littered with ads for weight loss and muscle building, bodybuilding has gone from an obscure past time to a main stream activity, the pressure to have a six pack (men and women) is palpable, diet, nutrition and exercise are common topics at any gathering and yet we are as a nation – with the rest of the world close behind – fatter and more unfit than ever before!
Now there are any number of reasons that this is the case. For example, our food is over sugared and over fat and we are eating out more and more often where the food is prepared with taste in mind first and health second (and the QSRs and Restaurants of the world think we like fat, salt, and sugar). I get that. But why do so many people start diets and fitness regimens each day only to fail?
I think a big part of it is that though everyone starts out with some sort of goal in mind, not everyone properly tracks and monitors their progress towards that goal.
One of the first things we learn in business is that if you can’t measure it you can’t fix it. As a result everything is measured, counted, and tracked in the most successful businesses. From the amount of product moved each day to the satisfaction of the patrons. Not only is an overall goal set but a good business also identifies strategic benchmarks and tracks information every step of the way.
I’m afraid that what seems like common sense in business may be forgotten in the kitchen and in the gym. How many of us have said, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds this month” and then made some changes to low fat foods, increased vegetables and switched to leaner meats only to discover that you have gained weight at the end of the month? This is because though you thought you were tracking what you were eating you really weren’t. If you want to be the most successful you need to track every single thing you eat. Not only the food itself but the amount. Is this a pain in the you know what? You betcha! But I think it is the only way. Otherwise, you will slip into old habits without even thinking about it (the “one cookie won’t hurt” mentality). Try logging everything you eat for a week. I bet you’ll be surprised to find out a couple things:
1. How much you really eat.
2. That you’ll lose weight the first week you do this because you are now conscious of what you are eating.
Once you’ve mastered logging move on to measuring portions. There are apps out there to assist (I like MyFitnessPal) but you’ll find you are better off eating and preparing meals at home versus eating out.
The same goes with your exercises and even your body. Most of us probably use a scale and check our waist on occasion but do you also track other key measurements? For example bodybuilders will often measure their arms for bragging rights (anything over 16″ is usually considered big check out my earlier blog, When is an Arm Considered Big? if you are interested in factoids like that) but did you know that if you check your unflexed arm and compare it to your flexed measurements and track the difference you can get an idea if you are getting leaner (you can’t flex fat)? Do you check your hips along with your waist? Are you tracking your exercises? It’s not enough to say “I’m going to run 20 minutes today” you need to check your distance as well. If you’re running 20 minutes and find yourself not going as far each time you need to step it up a notch and make progress – otherwise you are literally running behind!
I’ve been tracking measurements and lifts since high school myself and have quite a log of progress to look back on when I find myself thinking that I haven’t made any progress over the years (see the featured image with this post). I find it helpful and motivating to realize that my forearms are now larger than my upper arms were in college and to see that I now, when I feel weaker overall inside, that I still lift more than twice what I did in high school. In many ways I find the old records more motivating than pictures or the mirror. I’ll be honest, I pretty much always see the same good looking guy in the mirror no matter how heavy, thin, bald, or old I am. I also realize that pictures can be deceiving depending on lighting and other factors (I always twist a little to make my waist seem smaller and shoulders broader for example). But the scales and tape measures don’t lie (unless you get the stretchy kind – don’t do that).
It should not come as a shock to anyone who’s ever known or paid attention to me (or has read this blog) that I’ve had a long time interest in health, fitness, bodybuilding, etc. This interest goes back quite a ways to my first flirtations with the gym and working out in high school, through a more serious attempt during college, up to the current day. Yet, during all this time, even when I was at my strongest and curling more than 100 pounds and benching almost 1.5 times my body weight (when I weighed close to 240) I don’t think there was ever a time you would have called me muscular. Sure, I had big arms and a big chest but I also had (have?) a big butt and big gut to go along with them. In my quest for size and strength I only gave lip service to fat loss. So even though I could bench more than 300 pounds (which is why I’m glad I write down my workouts – it’s hard to believe that I was once capable of this) I couldn’t run around the block without the risk of heart attack. Though my arms taped at just over 17.5 inches in circumference when flexed (4.5 inches more than the “average” man’s) my biceps lacked peak – though my tris were pretty well defined – in short, I was big but not built. I wanted to look like a bodybuilder but I looked more like a Bluto (from the Popeye comic strip).
Over the years I’ve tried a variety of workouts with varying consistency. I always blamed my lack of consistency, genetics and even my Crohn’s for my lack of progress. Well, people with Crohn’s much worse than mine have made better progress (see my earlier blogs on Peter K. Vaughn and Peter Nielsen for examples) and I know men who have made dramatic changes in their physiques in the course of a few months.
Well, today in the grocery store I finally had a revelation. My problem has been in front of my for all these years. Why do I not look the way I want? Because I eat the way I want!
I’ve been told this over the decades by at least two personal trainers (maybe three), a nutritionist, friends, family and God only knows how many books on exercise, weightlifting, diet, and nutrition.
So, what am I going to do about this? Well, I’ve already started.
Now that I have my caloric intake under control I need to improve the quality of what goes into my mouth. I loaded up on fresh (or as fresh as we get now days) veggies and fruits. I avoided the sugary treats, and I have enough to last the week. I chose Greek yogurt over regular because it has fewer calories and more protein (need some dairy after all). Tomorrow I plan my meals out so that I’m not caught in a situation where I “have” to go through the drive-thru and I’m taking another look at my supplement plan. Currently, I’m not taking anything except iron and calcium that my doctor prescribed. I’m thinking of adding back in a multi-vitamin and fish oil. Possibly some glucosamine as well for joint health.
I currently feel better than I have in years so I’m determined not to squander this feeling. I may never lift 350 pounds again (or maybe I will, who knows) but I bet I still have time to see my abs. At least two of them…
Back in 2011 I first went to the Arnold Sports Festival, affectionately know simply as “The Arnold,” and was in many ways awestruck. The event is huge and more over very crowded! I got it into my head that I wanted to go again this year. So, last Saturday off I went – along with a young man on my staff who has recently decided to give bodybuilding a try (and who, in my humble opinion, probably has better genetics and will power to succeed in bodybuilding than anyone else I’ve ever known – except for one other person who also, coincidentally, worked for me a few years ago. But, I digress…).
We got to Columbus without incident quickly found parking near the convention center and followed the crowd to the doors. There we found the convention center literally packed with people! I’ve seen smaller crowds at Big Ten football games. However, the event did not disappoint.
The Expo was the centerpiece of the day and there were plenty of supplement companies there. The ones you’ve heard of and ones you haven’t heard of. Compared to last time I noticed that there were fewer exercise equipment companies which was a shame since I’m not much into supplements anymore. The amateur bodybuilding finals were going on most of the day at one side of the Expo hall and the WWE “experience” crowded them in at the other. There were lines everywhere! So much so that we didn’t get much in the way of supplement samples – and I gave most of what I had away to my young protege (ha) since chocolate was the flavor of the day and I don’t do chocolate. The longest line of the day appeared to belong to Bodybuilding.com and a lot of people seemed willing to wait probably two or more hours to get a t-shirt and a picture with a celebrity or two. But, not us!
However, we met some famous people in the bodybuilding world include Ed Corney who competed until he was about 70 years old. An inspiration for us older lifters.
We broke away from the Expo a couple times to see some gymnastics, martial arts, boxing, almost saw fencing, artwork, and I caught a glimpse of the jump rope finals (yes, really). All for the $15.00 entry fee – and there was more going on in other venues around Columbus. This event seems to take over Columbus. I’m impressed with how many people it draws.
Oh, and the extrovert part of this? Despite my usually reserved nature around strangers my brother-in-law insists that I am an extrovert. Not because I am gregarious and outgoing (unless I know you) but because he has noticed over the years that I seem to be drawn to crowds and am energized by them. It was late afternoon at The Arnold while surrounded by a crush of humanity that I realized something. I felt good. I wasn’t tired and actually seemed more energetic than I was in the morning. This led me to think about the places I like to frequent in general, amusement parks, NYC, etc. and it dawned on me…son of a gun, my brother-in-law is right. I am an extrovert.
I hate when he’s right…
Oh, and I finally got my picture taken with Jay Cutler. I seemed to be the last gym goer on earth to not have a picture of him! Nice guy but by the time I got to meet him at the end of the day it was clear to me that he’s an introvert!
In one of the Facebook groups I participate in we’ve been discussing some different body weight exercises and different types of exercise equipment over the years and it occurs to me that we, as humans, are always looking for that “quick fix” to get healthy. We are always searching for the magic exercise or that one piece of equipment that will do the trick and finally let us reach our goals.
Don’t believe me? Just turn on the television early any given morning and you’ll find ads for “Total Gym” this, “Body Blast” that, “PX-99” or whatever number they are up to now. In the past i remember ab rollers, rockers, and slides. Thigh masters and belly busters, and more gimmicks and gadgets than I can remember!
And even for the more serious lifters there have been “gimmicks” and fads too. Remember the first Universal machine? Nautilus equipment (state of the art in the eighties)? What about Soloflex, Bowflex, and I don’t know what other flex? Bullworker? These were (and are) all variations of the same principle. Lift heavier weights (aka increase resistance) and you will get stronger. Whether it’s from lifting iron and lead or carbon rods and rubber bands resistance is the key.
Even with plain old body weight exercises we have fads: crossfit (which does include weights I believe), planking, aerobics, Zumba, dance aerobics, “yoba” (yoga and Zumba combined), etc.
Now, to be fair, I think that all these things probably did work to one degree or another. If the person who bought or tried them actually used them more than a few days. That’s the trick. It doesn’t matter so much what you do as long as you do it. The truth is that there is only one way to build a bigger (or smaller), better, and healthier you – you have to exercise more and eat less (or eat more if you’re bulking – but most of us don’t have a problem getting enough calories. Nutrients are another matter).
I’m actually a fan of a few of the items and workouts I’ve listed above (I enjoyed working out with Nautilus equipment and still use a variety of machines – especially when I don’t have a spotter). There’s nothing wrong in using something as long as you use it. But you need one other thing along with the device/gadget/gimmick/fad…patience.
And don’t get me started on supplements…
Onward!
PS – I’ve posted a few pictures of my favorite workout fads below. I haven’t used them all, but know people who have!
I’ve always had a problem, unrelated to my Crohn’s and other health related issues, in that I tend to measure my successes against other people. I suppose we all do this to some degree, but it can really be a problem/bother when working on physical changes. Not so much with weight loss, I don’t really get worried if someone else loses weight faster than I do (even when competing with them a la “Biggest Loser”). But with things less under my control. Like “why don’t my biceps look like that guy’s” or “why can’t I bench as much as him?” and other things like that.
For example: there’s this guy I know who from my earliest memories of meeting him gave me a big case of bicep envy. Of course, over time memory does embellish things, but back in college on the rare occasions I would see him flex I remember being struck by how high and peaked his biceps were – to the point that you could even see the split in the peak. His arms weren’t especially large at the time, about 16 inches or so, but to an even skinnier me they seemed huge. Over the years I worked on my biceps until eventually my arms were just as large as his were back then. But, to my surprise, my arms didn’t look like his at all. I knew that I had muscle as I had gained strength and my arms were hard to the touch, but instead of high “peaks” my biceps retained a flatter “football” shape. Back to the weight room…
Some time later we began to work out together. Doing a heavy bench routine that we both responded well to – though to be fair he responded much better to than I did. By this time however, though I was still envious of his gains (his arms swelled from about 16 inches to well over 18 inches in just a few months – mine from just under 16 to about 17) I was also truly happy for him and his gains (though he never really gave the impression of caring about gains in size the way I did/do). But I noticed something else. Once again, my arms never got the peak I so desired but the peak that he had in his youth was not nearly as evident either. When he flexed I could see that his biceps were still decidedly more peaked than mine, just not as much as before. What happened? Science tells us that you can’t change the shape of the muscle, so why weren’t his now much larger arms (and solid) more dramatic as they were before? That’s when it occurred to me. It’s an illusion.
What caused his arm growth wasn’t this time so much a change in his biceps but instead that his triceps grew to match. As a result, the biceps did not stand out as much because they were balanced by the larger muscle underneath. This is part of my issue as well since my triceps actually to a degree overshadowed my biceps (something my friend had to point out to me).
These body illusions occur in other ways, too. I know another young man who when you meet him you realize that he is fit. You know, wide shoulders and thin waist, the classic “V” shape. But he’s not very large so fully dressed you don’t think of him as being overly muscular. It wasn’t until he posted a “selfie” on Instagram one day (which apparently is a thing you are supposed to do nowadays) that I realized he was very muscular – complete with six pack – and looked huge. I know he’s not “huge” but a lack of body fat actually adds to the illusion of size when there isn’t anything else for a point of reference (like another person).
I once play Lenny in “Of Mice and Men” and if you’ve read the book you know that Lenny was a big hulking brute of a man. I’m not so much of a hulk. I was going to be aided in creating the stage illusion of size by wearing some thick books (I was already the tallest in the cast except for one guy), but I went to a personal trainer friend of mine and asked what do I do to add size quickly? He suggested just focusing on the back and shoulders as those muscles will give the greatest illusion of size.
Where am I going with all this? I’m not sure. The big lesson is don’t compare yourself to others. That way leads to disappointment especially when you don’t understand that some of what you admire or envy in another person is an illusion. Instead compare yourself with yourself with your training and fitness goals as there are fewer illusions involved (except for the self-deception many of us have when looking in a mirror – but that’s another topic).
Also, I’ve been talking about physical illusions. There are other illusions too. For example: like many Crohn’s sufferers, I try to give the illusion that I’m not in some sort of pain or discomfort every day. I have a feeling that this is true of many other people with other conditions physical and mental. So maybe when approaching someone else we all should keep in mind that the person we see on the outside is just an illusion. We can’t know what’s going on inside – they may be in just as much pain as we are and perhaps should be treated as such.
Many articles have been written about how women are faced constantly by unrealistic body images and that this causes issues for girls growing up. I think that there is a lot of validity to this argument and one only needs to look as far as the Barbie aisle of the local department store to see how early these expectations are planted in little girl’s minds.
But, I don’t think that much has been written about the same issue for boys and young men. Over the past century the expectation for men to be not only fit but very well built has increased incredibly. Check out any gym today and you’ll find plenty of guys working their abs until they drop, making sure that their biceps and triceps pop – but not so much the thighs. I was, for better or for worse, brought up in an age before muscles were not only encouraged, but expected. I often like to joke that I went to high school before abs were discovered.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think that the pressure and expectations on boys and young men is less than on girls – and certainly not as overtly sexual – but it is there.
To illustrate my point let’s take a look at some images of everyone’s favorite Man of Steel over the past 75 years or so…by the way, all images and trademarks I’m sure are property of DC Entertainment and are used here only for educational purposes and I found them using Google anyway…(hopefully, this is enough to keep the lawyers away).
Superman as illustrated in the late thirties and forties.
The image at the left shows Superman as he appeared shortly after he was introduced to the world by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. Even at this point he was portrayed as an athletic figure with broad shoulders and a thin waist. His pecs are evident and there is the suggestion of abs, but no six pack. He gives the impression of strength without bulk. In fact, I’m sure many a farm boy and laborer looked like this (but who could tell under the baggy shirts and pants?). But not the average kid who was reading the books (back then comics were read almost exclusively by 10-12 year old boys). This was a physique that most of the boys reading could obtain with a good diet and some basic exercises and realistically aspire too.
Wayne Boring’s Superman in the fifties.
Now let’s jump ahead into the fifties and sixties. Superman has clearly packed on some mass. This is the image a lot of people think of when they think of Superman even today. As illustrated by Wayne Boring, Superman took the form of a powerlifter. His abs are more defined, sure, but look at that barrel chest and torso. This was the image of strength in post-war America. Pure brawn without too much concern over aesthetics (at least by today’s standards). Though his chest and torso are big, his arms and legs are relatively scrawny compared to any modern bodybuilder (and even to bodybuilders of the day). Again, the physique that I image a lot of hard working construction men or guys on the loading dock might have had. Again, the boys reading the comic could realistically aspire to this physique.
Superman – Kryptonite No More!
Now onto the seventies and things are starting to change more rapidly. To keep up with the changing expectation of what was considered muscular and super-heroic Superman finally gets honest to gosh abs. His delts are much larger and his chest to waist ratio is beginning to look more like a top level bodybuilder/athlete. Legs are still a bit thin, but now they are defined. Clearly, this Man of Steel has been hitting the gym in his Fortress of Solitude! The bar, as they say, has been raised for boys reading the comic. By the way, the age of comic book readers starts to go up during this period. Now teens are reading. Gawky, skinny, self-conscious teens who are more likely to have body image issues.
Superman in the eighties by John Byrne.
In the eighties Superman got a major make over by John Byrne both artistically and story wise. Overall, I approved of most of Mr. Byrne’s changes by the way except for his insistence that Lois Lane was a red-head…ugh. Everyone knows that she’s a brunette and preferably with blue/black hair! Anyway, look at the proportion of Superman’s chest to his waist, the size of his arms and even his legs are larger. I think that at this point we have started to move well beyond the type of physique that the average man could obtain without some great genetics and a lot of gym time! The average age of readers continues to rise and now most comics are sold in specialty shops as opposed to the supermarket, drug store, or news stand.
And here we have Superman today (below). This man’s shoulders are positively massive. His legs have caught up to his arms and I think in most drawings he now has an eight pack as six just wasn’t enough. A physique that most men could only realistically obtain if they were born on Krypton.
Now, to be fair, the point of super-heroes is that they appear to be super-heroic (don’t get me started on Batgirl’s bat-boobs and the main wonder about Wonder Woman is how her wonder bra manages the strain). So you want to depict them as larger than life. And perhaps the fact that now comic book readers are typically males aged 20-45, along with a small but growing number of women has influenced the look of the books in general. I get that, but my point here is simply that the expectation of what is super heroic has changed over the years and that this is the type of image that may be affecting the body image of many of our youth today without most of us even realizing it.
What do you think?
Next Up: The physics of Eternia or How Does He-Man stand?
So, I was just sitting here earlier today, shooing some young whipper-snappers off my lawn, when it occurred to me that kids really do have it better today than when I was growing up.
Not so much in terms of jobs, economic mobility, etc. (heck, even us old folks don’t seem to have that anymore), but in terms of training and especially in terms of lifting.
Way back when dinosaurs roamed this great land and you couldn’t stand still for long without melting the soles of your shows (the Earth was still cooling you see) – so basically before 1985 – if you said out loud to someone that you wanted to be a bodybuilder you would have been ridiculed. The only reason anyone went to a gym was to…well actually almost no one went to the gym. Weight training was not a part of high school sports because “bulk” (aka “muscles”) only slowed you down. It might be okay for the occasional high school line backer to lift weights but even he couldn’t do it often for fear that those muscles would not only slow him down but tighten him up so badly that he couldn’t move. And a girl lift weights? Not even if everyone thought she was a lesbian (which she would never admit back in those days by the way).
Nutrition consisted of pretty much anything you could put into your mouth, well sweets weren’t good so you only had them after dinner, but there was no real talk of protein, fats, carbs, or anything else.
Now, some people may still be ridiculed for wanting to be a bodybuilder, but today you have guys (and gals) openly talking about working on their “six pack,” adding a few pounds for the summer, and proudly taking pictures of themselves while locked in their bathroom to show off any new gains (okay, so maybe bodybuilding isn’t completely out of the water closet yet). And it seems that everyone is aware of their diet these days (did you see what I did back there with “water closet?” cute, huh?). Though most of us clearly don’t pay attention to nutrition despite knowing the rules.
So, all in all, I think that there are advantages to training in the early 21st century, even without flying cars. What do you think?
Even though I’ve obviously never been a serious bodybuilder/weightlifter, for as long as I can remember I’ve had an interest in the sport. Though there are those who don’t really think it’s a sport. But at the very least it’s a competition, albeit a subjective one from a judging point of view. Much like boxing is when I come to think of it (barring a KO). I’ll call it a sport anyway as it is a competition, it does involve training and much like professional football and baseball they like to pretend that there is no steroid use or abuse (“no, really, I just naturally have 23″ arms and can bench press a Ford F-150 judge…”). But, I digress…
As I was saying I’ve always had an interest and I must say it was this interest that first led me to pick up a weight in my teen years when my father one day bought a weight set (I suspect that he was a bit of a frustrated bodybuilder himself looking back on it). That and the fact that I never really identified with the “jocks” in high school and was actually afraid to work out with them. Of course, back then weight lifting was not really advocated by the coaches, especially for those of us on the track team who were not in the strength related field events (i.e. shot put). Also, my high school was not well equipped in the weight room department. I remember we had one Universal Lifting machine in a small store room just off the gym near the custodian’s office. It was tough in those days. Today, by comparison, I understand that the weight room at my old high school takes up what used to be the entire wood shop. But, again, I digress…
Anyway, I’ve often wondered if my interest stemmed from my early reading of comic books (back in the sixties kids actually read comic books, today it’s mostly 20-40 year olds). But not because comics were filled with hyper-muscled heros (and women very blessed by mother nature by the way, but not as well endowed as many of today’s super-heroines), but because of the ads that filled the pages of every book.
You see, I think Charles Atlas, Joe Weider, and other gurus of bodybuilding understood that the boys reading comic books were the boys who would become the teens who would want, nay yearn, for their products with the promise of building muscle, defeating the bully, and getting the girl. And, they were right. While much of the public at the time saw bodybuilders as oddities or worse yet, freaks, the men who sold muscle building “systems” knew that behind every skinny kid lived a super-hero waiting to get out.
Well, it worked for me…but not completely. Though I have always had an interest and have tinkered with weights – getting serious about it here and there (see my earlier post on bench pressing) – my true love revealed herself later. Yes, I’m talking about theatre and let me tell you, theatre is a demanding mistress (or mister if you prefer). Takes a lot of time and effort, more so than most people think. And let’s not even talk about work and other life commitments! Okay, excuses all, but I’m sticking with it. We all make priorities in life and somewhere along the line bodybuilding for me fell to the middle of the priority list (at least not to the bottom as it clearly has for so many Americans).
I’d be interested to hear about other people’s early bodybuilding inspirations and/or stories. I’d even like to hear about comic books and theatre too!
Onward!
I remember this ad clearly. Dave Draper in the sixties was something to behold. He is still an active bodybuilder today and still sports those impressive arms.
When I first saw this ad I wanted those wrist weights. I thought for sure I’d look just like Arnold even though I was only eight or so at the time!
Don’t we all know about the “Insult That Made a Man Out of Mac” the original bodybuilding ad.
Picking up women was a strong theme in these ads. FYI I believe that the lovely young women who Arnold is holding up is Betty Weider, Joe’s wife.
Journeys With Dave 