Monday, July 06, 2009
Roy HilligennRoy Hilligenn did some training at York in preparation for the 1951 Mr. America Contest (which he eventually won). Here he is in front of the famous Warren Lincoln Travis Dumbbell which, at the time, sat in front of Bob Hoffman's house in York, Pennsylvania.
The famous dumbbell can currently be seen at the York Barbell Museum and if you know where to look in York, you can also see Bob Hoffman's old house too.
Labels: 1951 Mr. America, Bob Hoffman, Bodybuilder, Famous Dumbbell, Roy Hilligenn, Travis Dumbbell, Warren Lincoln Travis, York Barbell Company Museum, York Pennsylvania
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Calf RaisesHow does Mr. America train his calves? Here's how Roy Hilligenn did it on his way to winning the 1951 AAU Mr. America title. Crude... but certainly effective. This picture was taken at Ed Yarick's Gym.
Labels: 1951 Mr. America, Calf Development, Calf Raises, Calf Training, Ed Yarick's Gym, Oldtime Strength Equipment, Roy Hilligenn
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Thursday, March 05, 2009
Ed YarickWe have featured his gym, his equipment, even his wife... the only thing missing is the man himself, so here he is: Ed Yarick.
In addition to running one of the most popular gyms in the land, the 6'4" Yarick won the tall class in the "Mr. Pacific Coast" bodybuilding contest and was also the coach of the 1952 National Jr. Weightlifting Team.
Yarick's Gym was located at 3355 Foothill Blvd. in Oakland, California and was one of the centers of the strength world on the West coast. It was also where Steve reeves got his start and the training headquarters at various times of Roy Hilligenn, John Davis, Clancy Ross, Jack Delinger, Tommy Kono and Doug Hepburn (among others)
Labels: Clancy Ross, Doug Hepburn, Ed Yarick, Ed Yarick's Gym, Jack Dellinger, John Davis, Roy Hilligenn, Steve Reeves, Tommy Kono
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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
Saturday, January 17, 2009
| 1. Roy Hilligenn 2. Malcolm Brenner 3. Marvin Eder 3. George Paine 5. Pepper Gomez 6. Keith Stephan 7. Victor Nicoletti 9. Joe Sanceri 9. John Witkowski 10. Ken Cameron - Max Grunig - Ed Heckinger - Elwood Holbrook - Ed Holovchik - Dominick Juliano - Alvin Lee - Newman Lewis - Ralph Mascaro - Allen Moraes - Elias Rodriguez - Stan Stanczyk - Carlin Venus - George Waselinko - Monte Wolford |  Roy Hilligenn won the "Most Muscular"award as well as the overall title |
Labels: 1951 Mr. America, AAU, Bodybuilding, Bodybuilding Contest, Carlin Venus, Elwood Holbrook, George Paine, Malcolm Brenner, Marvin Eder, Pepper Gomez, Roy Hilligenn, Stan Stanczyk
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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
Friday, December 26, 2008
 Roy Hilligenn | Roy Hilligenn Mr. America 1951 and 1952 Jr. Light-heavy weightlifting champ is a strongman athlete of rare ability. Here he is in mid-clean with Ed Yarick's 142-pound dumbbells while weighing less than 180 pounds himself. The average man would be lucky to clean a pair of 100's. These are the same dumbbells that John Davis is cleaning and pressing here. |
Labels: Clean, Dumbbell Lift, Ed Yarick's Gym, John Davis, Roy Hilligenn
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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, July 01, 2008
One Corner of Ed Yarick's GymThis picture represents approximately 50% of Ed Yarick's Gym out in Oakland, California. As you can see, there wasn't much to it -- a couple rows of dumbbells, a few platforms, barbells and benches -- but that is all it takes.
These spartan surroundings produced some of the greatest strength champions the world has ever known: Olympic Champion John Davis, THE clasic physique, bodybuilding champion Steve Reeves, Mr. Americas Roy Hilligenn, Clancy Ross and Jack Dellinger all trained there. As did Doug Hepburn and Reg Park when he visited the west coast.
Labels: Clancy Ross, Classic Gym, Doug Hepburn, Ed Yarick's Gym, Oakland California, Reg Park, Roy Hilligenn, Steve Reeves
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Anvil Lifting - Roy Hilligenn 1951 Mr. AmericaHow's this for odd object lifting? 1951 Mr. America Roy Hilligenn does some squats with a pretty big anvil on his back.
Roy Hilligenn weighed around 175 pounds and I bet that anvil isn't too far off...
Labels: Anvil, Anvil Lifting, Mr. America, Odd Object Lifting, Roy Hilligenn, 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
Sunday, December 16, 2007
 Roy Hilligenn 1951 Mr. America | Roy Hilligen was a great all-around "iron athlete." As a bodybuilder, he won the Mr. South Africa title in 1943, 1944, 1946 and 1976 as well as the AAU Mr. America Title in 1951. As an Olympic lifter, Hilligenn was the first South African to Clean and Jerk double body weight. His lifts in 1946 were Press: 245 pounds, Snatch: 255 Pounds and Clean & Jerk: 321 pounds. In the early 1950's, and weighing just 173 pounds, Hilligen unofficially equaled the world record in the Clean & Jerk with a lift of 375 pounds. |
Interestingly, he was also a life-long vegetarian.
Labels: AAU, Bodybuilder, Clean and Jerk, Ed Yarick's Gym, Mr. America, Olympic Weightlifting, Roy Hilligenn, South African
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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
www.oldtimestrongman.com
All Contents, Including Images and Text, Copyright © 2010 by John Wood and Thunderdome Media Inc., Not to be reproduced without permission, All Rights Reserved
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