1967 Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Mr. America ’68, Jim Haislop

Posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 by John Wood

Jim Haislop, the popular bodybuilder from Tampa, Florida, shows the foundation of his development: squats. Haislop had quite a career, winning Mr. Florida in 1965, Mr. North America in 1966, Mr. Northern States and Mr. USA in 1967, Mr. America and Junior Mr. America in 1968 and took first in his class at the 1969 NABBA Mr. Universe contest.

The Japanese Handstand

Posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2014 by John Wood

The Japanese Handstand, also aptly called the wide-arm handstand is an intermediate handbalancing skill that you should be able to accomplish without too much trouble. With the arms positioned out wide, and the fingers oriented differently, achieving the Japanese handstand will require more strength than a typical handstand to achieve. If you really want to impress people you can start out in a normal handstand, slide your hands out wide and hold and slide back again. Above, Mike White, of Southwest Miami high School performs a Japanese handstand during the free exercise event of the 1967 Gold Coast High School Gymnastic Championships.

Rheo H. Blair’s Instant Protein

Posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2014 by John Wood

Longtime 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!)

Blair’s 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.

Manfred Rieger

Posted on Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 by John Wood

German weightlifter Manfred Rieger, competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, as heavyweight in 1964 and 1968 and super heavyweight in 1972. Rieger never finished higher than fourth at the Olympics, but he did win seven German weightlifting championships. Above is a snap from the 1967 championship where Rieger set a new German record with a 520 kg total (which surpassed his previous best by 15 kilograms.)