(Photo above: Steve Reeves - Mr. Pacific Coast, Mr. America 1947, Mr. World 1948, Mr. Universe 1950)The mainstream world of roid-based bodybuilding continues to disappoint and there are no signs that anything is changing soon!
It is sad that today when a person becomes interested in weight training and goes to the magazine rack to look at the modern muscle mags, all they see are unreal, unhealthy, unbalanced, and uninspirational physiques that don't even look naturally human! If you were simply to go to these modern muscle mags to learn about building your body, you wouldn't even know what a naturally, well-built, muscular body should look like!
Well, take a look at the picture of Steve Reeves above - there is your answer! He built his body with weights, good food, and rest (with no modern supplements). His physique is classic, healthy, real, balanced, and inspirational!
Yes...all it takes is appropriate weight training (Steve followed the best of the pre-roid, Golden Age methods), good wholesome & nutritious food (you can see what his diet was in our previous posts), and proper rest (he worked out with full body routines 3 times per week in order to give his body 4 days of complete rest for muscle growth).
- He didn't need to be in gym everyday with split routines.
- He didn't need roids or modern supplements.
- He didn't value the unhealthy, "shredded/ripped," cadaver-like look.
- He didn't need to sacrifice his health for the sake of a physique.
- He didn't have to look terrible in regular clothes.
Yet, he could just walk down the street and inspire admiring crowds to follow him!
Just look at him - healthy, happy, balanced, real, strong, and inspirational! Isn't this why most of us get into weight training? Wouldn't you want to have a physique that looks like that and radiates with health? Steve wanted to be the "healthiest man alive" - yes, he actually said that that was his goal! This is what it is all about!
So, stay true to the course and take your inspiration from the pre-roid Golden Age champs like Steve!
[Note: the next issue of CPBzine is in the works - thanks for being patient].
- CPB
P.S. For a free, 1 year subscription to Classic Physique Builder Zine (CPBzine) - a pdf "zine" (do it yourself magazine) patterned after the muscle mags of the pre-roid Golden Age of Bodybuilding (the 1940s and 50s) - just email your name, the name of your city (not your actual address), state/province, and country to cpbzine@gmail.com. That's it! Any info you send us is strictly confidential. We don't share info with anyone, so you won't get on any lists or receive any automated spam (even from us)!
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11 comments:
Anthony baby you are back GREAT!! I'll keep it up beat & friendly - Most of the time I kept with Reeves' program this summer with overall workouts and off-days I walked a lot - Lost over 50lbs with just a proper diet since June 7th - I am getting hip revision surgery this September 21st, I shouldn't be down long, but when I get back training I'm going to lose the other 60lbs I need to lose( 220lbs or less @6'1" is my ultimate goal) - The guys in the gym have been asking me about my program and I just say it is pre-steroid or better yet pre-BS era _ enough of this BULL about constantly training - stimulate the muscles with moderate weights, reps, and sets - I did take off this past week, I needed a break but looking forward of hitting it hard and JUST 3 times a week - truly to develope a program one must be honest with ones self. I do not mean to be profound, but it is the truth - Focus on what you want to be and go for it - I feel to really develope ones body that the old school style is the best - Not easy,but very effective and @ 57years old I got to tell ya I'm getting my mojo back - So let all of us CPB fans kick start our programs with the upcoming holiday season that will be upon us before we can say Santa Claus!!!! What I want for Christmas is to be able to look good in a small swimming suit for next year, and damn it I WILL !!!! Glad you are back Anthony!!
Johnny, it´s great to have someone in your age with so much motivation and successful results as well.
I think when someone wants to build muscle he should not say that he wants to look like this athlete or bodybuilder. Because it´s not possible, you complete different genetics. When one says he wants a build like a gymnast or a bodybuilder thats possible.
I could not believe it when i read that Marvin Eder said in an interview that he has never used any supplement. He said that to days bodybuilding contest winners should be called "Mr. Chemical"
And he just ate 3 meals a day without overeating or "forced feeding". He tried this once in Ed Yaricks house to eat as much burgers as possible because all the other athletes in the house did it.
After a short time he had to vomit in the bathroom.
Here´s a great article written by Ed Yarick (mentor of Steve Reeves and many more)about uniqueness in training and diet is very important.
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2009/01/training-for-bulk-ed-yarick.html
Best Wishes to everyone
Ibrahim, thanks for the kind words, but I feel my window is still open to develope or at least get back into shape - Now I am NOT an expert in this field about intestial digestion, but I read or heard that some people have longer intestinal tracts then others, and some people have more alkaline for digesting certain foods, and some people have naturally more stomach acids digesting other kinds of food - I guess what I am saying that one size does not fit all when it come to nutrition - I hope Anthony will comment on this issue or Casey Butts they are more the experts on this field and I know for sure I am not - Some people can digest protein better and some can digest carbs better - I know there was discussion on a book called EAT RIGHT for YOUR TYPE, it was about eating a certain way depending on your blood type. Now I feel any one given a forum with no one else disputing their claims can make sense and I do not buy into blood type diet, but I do buy into that some of us have a different intestinal tracts and we can all not eat the same and expect the same results
Thanks for the article. Keep em' coming. Speaking of the magazine rack... there is an issue of "Reps" I believe, that just came out. It is dedicated to the Legends of bodybuilding starting with Sandow all the way to Lee Haney. There are many pages dedicated to many of our Golden age heroes. Some great photos and biographies (Reeves, Grimek, etc.). Robert Kennedy even wrote an article about how he is trying to gear his magazine towards the golden age and away from the bloated freaks of today's standard. It's amazing to see how the sport has degraded in every aspect from the golden age on. The posing, the physiques, the lifestyle, even the posing trunks! The whole message was lost. Anyways just thought I would share :)
Johnny, there´s so much crap so much BS talk about nutrition like about training. Sorry i don´t want to talk that way either but i can´t find other words. I recently came across expedition story starting 1906 in the antarctic . I read it on the ironguru.com site. (No i don´t start a diet that Vince Gironda recommended ;) ) Anyway the person who did the expedition tells that he saw the Inuits only eating fish and drinking water. They had no ill effects and any kind of cancer or vitamin deficiency. Of course the natural (without mercury) fish and the "climate" were ideal for such a diet.
The point i want to make is this weather its meat, fish, egg, fruits, veggies and whole wheat flour products and grains, as long as its natural there is no problem.
On a UK site about such myths i read that in the 19 century the same person who did the expedition visited a high commissioner to England from Canada and that his diet consisted of nothing but eggs, milk and butter. He lived 94 years.
Another interesting story is, that a Cholesterol Skeptic did eat 59 eggs in nine days and his cholesterol went down by 11%.
Here´s the link:
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/eggs-arteries.html
So hear again i think basics are still the best the most protein which i consume are eggs, milk, cheese, meat (occasionally but i´m no vegetarian), legumes and fish.
I was fasting recently because of Ramadan and there i was eating meat quite often and i got no problem. But when i ate cakes, other Turkish sweet stuff i felt so full. When i did not eat over processed stuff i felt always better.
Another surprise was i found my skin softer after the fast.
I ate 2 meals a day one on evening and on in the early morning. This fasts really give the organs a break. Lionel Strongfort (physical culturist) and Zabo (at his older age i think) ate 2 meals a day.
Anyway tomorrow i start again to train. So best wishes of success for everyone.
to Ibrahim, you are on target with your comments - one size does not fit all - with either diet or training - as I said before, some people digest certain foods better then others and some people will respond better to one kind of training program compared to someone else - that's why its a personal journey - We get frustrated at times for not making progress fast as we like, but heck we aren't going anywhere so we might as well plug away - the alternative is to stop get soft and lazy and we are not going down that road - My frustration with the gym scene is all the talking and all the TVs around the gym (so distracting)- Ready to give the Bodylastic Bands a try with P90X - might be a nice change of pace - I'll let all of you know how it goes !!
found a great Face Book page : "Building a classic physique"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Building-a-Classic-Physique/122313584483852?ref=ts
time for us to pick-up the pace and start blogging on this site - still the best site for classic physique
to see more Steve Reeves pics by going on either MSN or Google search - put down (Mr. Olympia Steve Reeves) and submit search, the first site will bring up 210 pics of Reeves - He is and still will be the greatest - Also I seen where they did a poll on bodybuilding.com on who was the greatest bodybuilder and Reeves won hands down over Sergio Oliva - they pitted different bodybuilders against each other and Reeves won - It amazes me that even the younger crowd likes the classic look over the extreme when given a chance to compare - I do really hope that Anthony continues his site - You need to be able to sell merchandise on your site like pictures, books or DVDs - Best to all - Johnny G
I heard on the radio about a guy who went on a twinkies diet and lost about 10 lbs in a month as well as lowering his cholesterol. All he ate was twinkies and a few Little Debbies for variety. Go figure.
REEVES!!! This guy loved to train,He didn't just lift weights He was an artist with a vision. Much like a sculptor with his hammer and chisel, Reeves too used his iron tools to create his masterpiece! LONG LIVE STEVE REEVES!!!
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