Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Ironman Magazine, Volume 1, Number 6Here's something you don't see every day, Ironman Magazine Volume 1, Number 6. The first few issues (this being one of them) were produced by Peary Rader on an old mimeograph machine. Only about 50 copies of each were ever printed up so needless to say they are pretty hard to come by. Weightlifter Bill Good graces the cover.
Labels: Bill Good, Bodybuilding Magazine, Cover, Iron Man Magazine, Peary Rader
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
| Ironman Magazine is a well-known publication these days but it all started way back in 1936 with this issue. As you can see it was originally called "Super-Physique" and featured John Grimek on the cover. (It wasn't titled "Iron Man" until issue #2.) As the story goes, Peary Rader found an old mimeograph machine in the garbage, fixed it up, and started putting out a magazine on physical training. There were only 50 copies of "#1" ever produced, mostly just for Rader's friends. They liked what they saw, Peary Rader edited and produced every issue of Ironman for the next 50 years! |  Ironman Magazine #1 |
Labels: Bodybuilding Magazine, Cover, Iron Man Magazine, John Grimek, Peary Rader, Super-Physique
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Monday, June 01, 2009
Elmo SantiagoElmo Santiago on the cover of the July, 1959 issue of Ironman Magazine. He won the AAU Junior Mr. America contest that year.
The popular (and quite prolific) New York bodybuilder also won the AAU Mr. New York Metropolitan contest in 1953, Mr. New York City in 1954, Mr. Eastern America in 1958, Mr. North America in 1960, and the 1965 NABBA Mr. Universe title.
Labels: AAU, Bodybuilding, Cover, Elmo Santiago, Iron Man Magazine, Jr. Mr. America, Mr. New York City, Mr. New York Metropolitan, Mr. Universe, NABBA
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Friday, May 22, 2009
Ironman Magazine April, 1952: Cover man Zabo Zoszewski Irvin 'Zabo' Koszewski on the cover of the April, 1952 issue of Ironman Magazine. He finished 5th at the 1952 Mr. America Contest although to no ones's surprise, took home the 'Best Abs' subdivision.
Labels: 1952 Mr. America, Best Abs, Bodybuilding, Cover, Iron Man Magazine, Irvin Zabo Koszewski
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Thursday, April 02, 2009
You Can Bench Press 400 lbs. by "Big" Bill AntonReaders of the classic Iron Man Magazine will no doubt remember this ad, it ran there for years. I've never actually seen "Big" Bill's course and I'm wondering how it is. Pretty good I suspect. The 13th man in the world to bench press over 400 pounds can't be wrong!
Labels: 400 Bench Press, Advertisement, Bench Press, Big Bill Anton, Iron Man Magazine, Mail Order Course, Training Course
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Rheo H. Blair's Instant ProteinLongtime reader's of Iron Man Magazine will no doubt recognize these two fellows and this familiar color scheme. On the right is Irvin Johnson, otherwise known as Rheo H. Blair. (He changed his name after a numerologist said it would make him more successful -- It Worked!)
His secret formula was fashioned after enzymes found in mother's milk. As a result, "Blair's Protein" became THE protein powder of choice of all the top pros and likely the best known supplement of all time. Vince Gironda the Iron Guru, was a big fan and supporter of Blair's Protein and since many Hollywood movie stars trained at Vince's Gym, the popularity of Blair's Protein sky-rocketed.
On the left is classic bodybuilder Don Howorth, one of Blair's top students and winner of many west coast bodybuilding contests, including the 1967 IFBB Mr. America.
Labels: Advertisement, Blair's Protein, Don Howorth, Food Supplement, IFBB, Iron Man Magazine, Protein Powder, Rheo H. Blair, Vince Gironda, Vince's Gym
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Friday, February 13, 2009
Melvin WellsThe great bodybuilder Melvin Wells on the cover of the October/November 1950 issue of Ironman Magazine. It was said that Wells was the "uncrowned" Mr. America, this is the condition that he was in when he nearly took home the crown at the 1950 contest. He didn't win the contest but he did capture the "Most Muscular" subdivision - and deservedly so.
Labels: Bodybuilder, Cover, Iron Man Magazine, Melvin Wells, Mr. America, Muscle Magazine
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Friday, January 09, 2009
Bill PearlThere is little doubt that Bill Pearl is one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. He won nearly every contest he ever entered (including 1953 AAU Mr. America, 1953, 1961, 1967, 1971 NABBA Mr. Universe and 1965 Mr. USA), appeared on dozens on bodybuilding magazine covers, ran a successful gym, authored several best selling training books, performed classical feats of strength and today still trains regularly and runs a thriving business. Here's how he looked on the cover of the September, 1957 issue of Ironman Magazine.
Labels: 1953 Mr. America, AAU, Bill Pearl, Bodybuilding, Iron Man Magazine, Mr. America, NABBA, Strength Author
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Friday, December 12, 2008
Nautilus Bulletin No. 1 Iron Man Ad Thought you might like to see this -- an advertisement for Nautilus Bulletin No. 1 from the pages of the May, 1972 issue of Iron Man Magazine. If the ad looks interesting, imagine reading the whole book...
Labels: Advertisement, Arthur Jones, Iron Man Magazine, Nautilus, Nautilus Bulletins, Nautilus Training
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
The Neck HelmetA "strongman" should be strong everywhere and that means building a strong neck too. One of the best ways to build a thicker stronger neck is by using a "neck helmet" a football helmet with a retrofitted weight horn. This setup makes it very easy to train the neck from several different directions. This particular neck helmet was using some plans from an old issue of Iron Man Magazine and has been in use for over 10 years (no, it's not for sale.)
Labels: Equipment, Iron Man Magazine, Neck Exercise, Neck Helmet, Neck Strength, Unique Equipment, Unusual Training Equipment
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Friday, December 05, 2008
The Samson Cable SetMike Brown was always a big fan of expander training and came up with his own unique st which he used to advertise in the back of Ironman Magazine. The handles actually unscrew apart so the bands can be looped on to them - an ingenius design really.
Labels: Cable Training, Cables, Chest Expanders, Iron Man Magazine, Mike Brown, Rubber Chest Expanders, Samson Cable Set
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Friday, November 07, 2008
Jim Park - 1952 Mr. America1952 AAU Mr. America Jim Park, on the cover of the June 1952 Iron Man Magazine. Park also won the 1952 Mr. World and 1954 Mr. Universe bodybuilding contests.
Labels: 1952 Mr. America, AAU, Bodybuilder, Cover, Iron Man Magazine, Jim Park, Muscle Magazine
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Thursday, October 02, 2008
 The Porta-Gym | Direct from the pages of the old Iron Man Magazine comes the Porta-Gym! ... really just a set of pushup handles or mini-parallettes. Either way, you could still use them for some very good bodyweight exercises or sharpen up your hand balancing skills. |
Labels: Advertisement, Bodyweight Training Equipment, Hand Balancing, Hand Balancing Equipment, Iron Man Magazine, Porta-Gym
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Monday, June 23, 2008
1959 AAU Mr. America winner Harry Johnson demonstrates Moore's Squat Bar, a unique piece of equipment often advertised in the old Iron Man Magazine that eliminates much of the discomfort of squatting.
Look familar?
The rights were eventually purchased by multiple-time Mr. Olympia winner Frank Zane, and re-released as the Frank Zane Leg Blaster (which is still available today.)
Moore's Squat BarLook familar?
The rights were eventually purchased by multiple-time Mr. Olympia winner Frank Zane, and re-released as the Frank Zane Leg Blaster (which is still available today.)
Labels: 1959 Mr. America, AAU, Frank Zane, Iron Man Magazine, Leg Development, man Magazine, Moore's Squat Bar, Mr America, Mr. Olympia, Squat Workout, Training Equipment, Unique Equipment
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
In the old days strength athletes were true athletes; equally proficiant in weight lifting, bodybuilding and handbalancing... and speaking of hand balancing, one of the greatest hand balancers was George Redpath from the original Muscle Beach. Redpath's hand balancing partner was the first Mr. America Bert Goodrich.
Redpath was also one of the first to promote healthy eating and correct nutrition through his many excellent articles in Iron Man Magazine and for years owned and ran one of the most popular gyms out on the West coast (which was eventually purchased by Bill Pearl.)
George Redpath and Bert GoodrichRedpath was also one of the first to promote healthy eating and correct nutrition through his many excellent articles in Iron Man Magazine and for years owned and ran one of the most popular gyms out on the West coast (which was eventually purchased by Bill Pearl.)
Labels: Bert Goodrich, Bill Pearl, George Redpath, Iron Man Magazine, Muscle Beach
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Sunday, May 11, 2008
| The Super Gripper is one of the classic pieces of grip training equipment and has actually been around since the early 1940s if you can believe it. The first Super Gripper was invented by a man named Daniel Marvosh of Flint, Michigan and it was advertised in the pages of Strength and Health and Ironman Magazines. This ad is from 1963. |  The Super Gripper |
Labels: Advertisement, Daniel Marvosh, Grip Equipment, Grip Strength, Grip Tools, Iron Man Magazine, Strength and Health, Super Gripper, The Super Gripper
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Saturday, April 19, 2008
| Some of our eagle-eyed Ironman Magazine readers might remember this one from the back cover of the August-September 1970 issue: The Neil Lewis Arm Wrestling Trainer. It was not only featured on the back cover but the inside back cover, the inside front cover and a two-page spread in the magazine with Chuck Sipes, 1970 IFBB Mr. Canada Vince Basile, "Big" Jim Forsythe and several other notables. Looks pretty nifty -- Wonder how many they ended up selling? |  The Neil Lewis Arm Wrestling Trainer |
Labels: Arm Wrestling, Armwrestling Equipment, Chuck Sipes, Equipment, IFBB, Iron Man Magazine, Neil Lewis Armwrestling Trainer, Unusual Training Equipment, Vince Basile
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Thursday, February 07, 2008
Peary RaderPeary Rader was the editor and long-time publisher of Iron Man Magazine from 1936 through 1986. It all began when Peary printed the first issue of Ironman (there were only 50 copies) on an old mimeograph machine and distributed it to his friends.
His no-nonsense style and focus on the basics went over well... soon the demand for another issue grew too big to ignore, then another and another. At it's peak, Iron Man Magazine had 40,000 subscribers.
Labels: Iron Man Magazine, Muscle Magazine, Peary Rader, Strength Author
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
| The well-known bodybuilder John McWilliams wrote his own arm development course entitled "Big Arms for You" which he advertised in Iron Man Magazine for years. As you can see, his arms were quite impressive. -- McWilliams wasn't all show though, he also had a 710 pound deadlift to his name. |  John McWilliams - Big Arms For You |
Labels: Arm Development, Bicep Exercise, Bicep Workout, Big Arms, Bodybuilder, Bodybuilding, Deadlift, Golden Age Bodybuilder, Iron Man Magazine, John McWilliams, Strength Author, Training Course
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
 Bert GoodrichThe First Mr. America | The first ever AAU Mr. America was Bert Goodrich, shown here on an early cover of Iron Man Magazine. Bert got his start by training with Earle E. Liederman's courses and was a tremendous athlete in highschool, excelling in hand balancing, swimming, and track and field events. He went on to became a stuntman in several Hollywood Movies and later opened up his own gym. |
Labels: AAU, Bert Goodrich, Bodybuilding, Cover, Earle E. Liederman, Iron Man Magazine, Mr. America
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Saturday, November 03, 2007
Old School Strength: Wilbur MillerWilbur Miller was Kansas wheat farmer who became the best amateur deadlifter in America back in the 1960's.
He trained by himself when the day's farm chores were done.
In 1963, Wilbur Miller pulled an official AAU record 705 lbs. and a year later topped that when he pulled 715 at the very first National Powerlifting Tournament held in York, Pennsylvania.
Wilbur Miller was also widely known as having some of the strongest hands around -- notice the palms forward grip in the deadlift pictured above.
He could also close the "Extra-Heavy" Iron Man Hand Gripper with ease.
You've got to admit -- it looks pretty darn cool when the bar is loaded all the way to the end like that.
Labels: AAU, Deadlift, Grip Strength, Iron Man Magazine, Powerlifting, Wilbur Miller
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
 Ell Darden | Ell Darden was a champion bodybuilder who graced the cover of several different magazines in the 1970's. He made the cover of Strength and Health Magazine and Muscular Development Magazine several times but he never did make the cover of Iron Man Magazine... He did, however, make the back cover of Iron Man as shown here from the November 1970 issue. He went on to write countless training articles and a few books. You can see his latest book here: The New Bodybuilding for Oldschool Results. |
Labels: Bodybuilding, Ellington Darden, Iron Man Magazine, Muscle Magazine, Muscular Development, Strength and Health
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Monday, October 01, 2007
The Nautilus PulloverThe Upper Body Squat
by Arthur Jones
In general it has long been believed by most bodybuilders that the legs respond fastest to training. After a year of regular workouts, most trainees would display a far greater degree of muscular development in their legs than. In their other body parts, assuming that a wellrounded weight training program was being followed; so there was at least some evidence to support the theory that the legs were the easiest body part to develop.
But regardless of such evidence, the theory itself is totally groundless, and the real experts in the field of weight training have known this for at least thirty years; however, simple awareness of a problem, while an essential prerequisite to its solution, is not enough in itself, nor is even a clear understanding of the problem of much assistance when the problem itself appears to demand the application of impossible principles for its solution.
Similar situations have existed throughout history, in any field you can think of; a problem existed, people were aware of it, some people even knew what was required for its solution, but the state of the art had not yet reached a point where the needed principles were available. Then suddenly, sometimes after thousands of years of effort to reach a solution -- "breakthrough"; a simple solution to a seemingly insolvable problem would be discovered, and in almost all such cases, the solution would be based upon a previously unknown principle.
And in many such cases, when the answer was provided, it was immediately obvious that the answer came from the problem itself; "that the answer existed within the problem." For that very reason, we frequently are forced to ask ourselves, "Why didn't I think of that?"
For example, the full squat. For at least twenty years the editor of this magazine, Mr. Peary Rader, has been pointing out that no other single exercise, or combination of other exercises, could produce anything even approaching the results possible from the proper application of this one exercise. He, among others, also noted that such results were not limited to the legs; that overall strength gains in both size and strength would result from full squats – in the chest, in the back, and even in the arms.
But after all, since the squat is a direct leg exercise, it should not have been surprising that the greatest degree of results would be in the legs; nor should it have been surprising that the upper body did not respond to any sort of training as fast as the legs did to squats, because there was no direct upper body exercise that could even begin to approach squats insofar as "intensity of effort" is concerned. Additionally, there was no upper body exercise that directly worked the largest muscle masses in the upper body and this "direct working of the largest muscular masses in the area being worked" was the primary factor behind the success of squats.
That much, at least, was clearly understood years ago; but no obvious solution presented itself, because the largest muscular mass in the upper body, the latissimus muscles, could not be worked directly. In order to work the lats, it was also necessary to work the arms, and the arms were the weak link in the chain, being smaller and weaker than the lats, they became exhausted long before the lats had been worked hard enough for much in the way of growth stimulation.
The potential size of the lats is literally enormous, far beyond anything that has been seen up to now; but such potential will never be realized until it becomes possible to work the lats directly, and very hard. Second: such direct work for the lats will also cause as a "side effect" great increases in both size and strength throughout the entire body, even in the legs.
Guesswork? Theory? Wishful thinking? No, none of these, because an exactly similar effect has already been observed in connection with every other muscular mass in the body: growth in any muscle mass causes growth in all of the muscle masses in the body, even if they receive no direct exercise of any kind. This effect is most obvious as a result of squats, simply because the thighs, being so large, exert a proportionately large growth stimulation upon the other muscles.
And while their function is completely different from that of the thighs, the lats occupy a similar position in the upper body simply because of their size.
But even though this is true, since it is impossible to work the lats directly, and thus impossible to work them hard enough for maximum possible results, of what value is this information? Or at least that was the position as recently as two years ago; but then "breakthrough", a new principle was discovered.
A new principle that will literally revolutionize almost all sorts of physical training within the next three or four years: lats clear out past your elbows when you are standing with your hands on your hips -- arms that are actually as big as some bodybuilders now claim -- the ultimate degree of muscular size and strength in less than two years of training? Why not? Such is at least now possible.
But at least this much I can say with no slightest reservation: within two years we will see a degree of muscular development, both insofar as size and strength are concerned, that will be far beyond anything, even dreamed of in the past. The "upper-body squat" now exists, and it will do for the upper body just what squats have long done for the thighs.
More than that, the exact same principle that finally made it possible to work the lats directly can be applied to almost any sort of exercise for any part of the body and with very similar results.
Some new "gimmick?" An unproven theory? Think what you like, but we built one test subject’s lats to a point that would normally have required at least two full years of training, in less than six weeks, on a program of three weekly workouts of exactly forty-eight minutes each. During the same period he gained over fifteen pounds of muscular bodyweight, increased his arms almost exactly two inches, and increased his strength enormously.
No drugs, no special diet, no marathon workouts; just a simple routine of three sets of four very basic exercises; full squats, standing presses, barbell curls, and movements on our new lat machine. No chinning movements of any kind, no rowing motions, no "pulldowns," absolutely nothing for the lats except our new ]at machine, and only nine weekly sets on that.
A fluke? A rare individual that would have shown similar results on any sort of program? I think not; but since anything is possible, we are making quite sure -- for that reason we have placed the entire football squad of a major Florida high school on an exactly similar test program.
Results? Final results won't be available for another three months, but after the first four weeks of introductory "break-in" training our average results were already far ahead of a somewhat similar program that was conducted by a large university in their attempt to - determine the best methods of weight training, even though their program ran for eight weeks.
And when our final results are available they will be published and certified by both the coach in charge of the program and the, principal of the school involved; and it is already obvious that the results will far surpass any results ever obtained in the past – no matter what the method of training was.
Later, as we learn more about the best possible utilization of the new principles involved, it is probable that even higher degree of results will be produced; but these final answers will come only after a large number of experiments have been conducted with several thousand test subjects. However, in the meantime, it is at least possible to make use of some of the knowledge we have gathered, and part of this can be applied to almost any sort of weight training without the use of any special equipment. In another article, in the next issue of this magazine, I will carefully outline the basic principles involved, and in later articles I will tell you how to apply these principles to your present training routine.
-- Iron Man Magazine, July 1970, Volume 29 Number 5
The Nautilus BulletinsLabels: Arthur Jones, Iron Man Magazine, Nautilus, Nautilus Pullover, Peary Rader, Upper Body Squat
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All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
| Peary Rader began lifting weights at 12 years old in order to build up his 128 pound frame. Heavy, high-rep squats and plenty of milk helped him gain nearly a hundred pounds of muscle over the next few years and, as a result, he went on to become a local weightlifting champion. Needless to say, strength training became a big part of his life once he saw how effective it could be. He wanted to spread the word... In the mid 1930's Rader found a broken mimeograph machine at the school where he worked as a maintenance man, took it home, repaired it and fashioned his own magazine discussing the wonders of proper weight lifting. He mailed the original print run of just 50 copies to his friends -- who liked what they saw -- which inspired Peary Rader to keep publishing. The issues became more and more streamlined and his magazine became known first as "The Iron Man" and later just "Iron Man" which highlighted bodybuilding, weightlifting, nutrition and overall strength training. Over time, Iron Man Magazine became the "Encyclopedia" for serious trainees all over the country and the world with its simple, yet effective training messages and basic workouts. -- Something decidedly lacking in today's strength world... (Pictured above: Joe Miller, Bert Goodrich, John Grimek, Sam Loprinzi, Roy Hilligenn, Bill Pearl, Reg Park, Timmy Leong, and "Red" Lerille) |  |
Labels: Bert Goodrich, Bill Pearl, Bodybuilding, Iron Man Magazine, Joe Miller, John Grimek, Muscle Magazine, Peary Rader, Red Lerille, Reg Park, Roy Hilligenn, Sam Loprinzi, Squat Workout, Timmy Leong
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Saturday, September 15, 2007
Casey Viator gained 63 Pounds of Muscle in 28 DaysIn the early 1970's, Arthur Jones wrote a series of articles for Iron Man magazine outlining some of his unique training ideas...
These training articles were like nothing anyone had ever seen before... Arthur simply gave a name to some ideas about training that had always been "true" -- and while they were simple, and involved common sense and self-evident truth they rocked the strength world to its knees.
He had, in the previous years, put his ideas into practice and the results were tremendous, but what he needed was close supervision and justification for his ideas in a controlled setting where the results could be monitored and recorded.
In 1973, he got his wish and "The Colorado Experiment" began at the Department of Physical Education, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado and supervised by Dr. Elliott Plese, Director of Exercise Physiology Lab.
Over the course of one month, with himself and Casey Viator as the subjects, training ideas would be put into practice and studied extensively.
For an article in the September 1973, Volume 32 Number 6 of Ironman Magazine, Arthur wrote up his thoughts:
PURPOSE of the EXPERIMENT . . . it is the author's contention that the growth of human muscular tissue is related to the intensity of exercise; increases in strength and muscle-mass are rapidly produced by very brief and infrequent training ... if the intensity of exercise is high enough.And the results:
It is the author's second contention that increasing the amount of training is neither necessary nor desirable . . . on the contrary, a large amount of high intensity training will actually reduce the production of strength and muscle mass increases.
It is the author's third contention that "negative work" (eccentric contraction) is one of the most important factors involved in exercise performed for the purpose of increasing strength and muscle-mass.
It is the author's fourth contention that nothing in the way of a special diet is required . . . so long as a reasonably well-balanced diet is provided.
It is the author's fifth contention that the use of the so-called "growth drugs" (steroids) is neither necessary nor desirable ... on the contrary, repeated tests with animals and double-blind tests with human subjects have clearly demonstrated that the use of such drugs is strongly contraindicated.
It is the author's sixth contention that maximum-possible increases in strength and muscle-mass can be produced only by the use of full range, rotary form, automatically variable, direct resistance.
First subject (Casey Viator), 28 days
Increase in bodyweight........45.28 pounds
Loss of bodyfat..............17.93 pounds
Muscular gain.................63.21 pounds
Labels: Arthur Jones, Bodybuilding, Casey Viator, Iron Man Magazine, The Colorado Experiment
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
 The Magic Circle - FOR MAGIC RESULTS - The most satisfactory device yet found for doing quarter, half and full squats -- for doing Hise Shoulder Shrugs and other heavy poundage exercises where weight is held on shoulders. It has made squatting a pleasure by removing the agonizing and sometimes paralyzing pain and discomfort of a heavy bar across the shoulders cutting into the flesh and putting pressure o the spine. The "Magic Circle" gives a freedom for deep breathing in the popular and result-producing "Breathing Squats" for the exerciser can stand erect and breathe normally with a high lift of the chest at every breath, and is not compelled to hump over forward and breathes it the abdominal area as with a bar. In use, the "Magic Circle" is loaded up on the side pegs (unless you go over 700 lbs., in which case you have front and back pegs to load on), step in the circle (which is supported on side horses or boxes), lift shoulder straps onto shoulders, center straps, stand erect and walk away from stand and begin squats in normal manner. When finished, walk back to stands and lower ring to supporting rack. While squatting it helps to grasp ring in front and pull slightly toward you. If you get stuck at bottom you place hands on legs and push upward to recover. No more getting stuck at bottom, will hold 1200 lbs. or more. |
If you read Iron Man Magazine in the 70's you remember Peary Rader demonstrating the Magic Circle. I actually grew up with one in our basement gym -- that's right a fully functioning Magic Circle, one of the last ones left. I don't like using it for squats -- it changes the center of gravity in the bottom position too much for my taste. Though not necessarily the same concept, (but very much along the same lines), a Gerard Trap Bar will give you a much better leg workout.
Labels: Deep Breathing, Hise Shrugs, Iron Man Magazine, Leg Development, Peary Rader, Shrugs, Strongman Equipment, The Magic Circle
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