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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Sunday, March 01, 2009
Arthur Jones, Milo Steinborn and Peary and Mabel RaderA meeting of the legends: Arthur Jones, Milo Steinborn and Peary and Mabel Rader in Ocala, Florida, circa early-1980's. Notice Arthur is actually inside the crocodile pen.
Labels: Arthur Jones, Henry Milo Steinborn, Mabel Rader, Peary Rader
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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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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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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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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, 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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