Articles: 
 From The Desk of Clarence Bass

John Grimek's Family and World Bodybuilding

This photo of the Grimek family on the cover of the February 1958 Strength & Health magazine was provided to us by our French friend Rolf Waern.

It is the first time we've seen the entire family. We had no idea that there were five Grimek children and it prompted us to review his place in the world of bodybuilding.

John Grimek was arguably the most famous bodybuilder of his time, having won the Mr. America title twice--in 1940 and 1941-- bringing about the rule that you could only win the Mr. America title once. 

Grimek was considered unbeatable and might win the title year after year. Moreover, his posing routine was action packed. He stood  out on any stage.

He was the Arnold of his time.

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This photo of Grimek on the September 1945 cover of Strength & Health magazine hangs on the wall in both our study and gym. It is said to have inspired more people to take up bodybuilding than any other magazine cover.  

Grimek was famous around the world and posed for art classes at universities. He found it unpleasant holding a pose for art students, but endured it to supplement his income. As shown above, he had a large family to support.

Grimek took many of his own photos--and may have taken this action shot. 

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Grimek's story is the first and most detailed on our Fitness Personalities page:  https://cbass.com/GRIMEK.HTM

Father Jim Schwertley tells of sleeping under a bush waiting for the York office building to open so he could meet Grimek. They became good friends in the years that followed. Grimek would sit in a chair in his front yard waiting for Father Schwertley to drive by and pick him up. (Can you imagine that?)

That was one side of his personality. Here's the other side.

Father Jim also tells about seeing Grimek pose for the first time. He says that Grimek came running down the aisle and leaped onto the stage. 

*  *  *

I had two contacts with Grimek. The first in the early days of my training, when a training partner and I visited York Barbell--and again years later.

Both were unforgettable. 

He was very welcoming the first time, telling of coming over our 9-mile hill from the west and seeing the city of Albuquerque spread out before him.

Years later when I became known in the world of bodybuilding, he called me "Clancy Ripped."

I loved it.

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For a short history of Grimek and a great photos see:  https://gmvbodybuilding.com/john-grimek/?v=6cc98ba2045f

John Grimek was a kind and friendly Monarch of Muscledom!

February 1, 2024

World Traveler Wayne Gallasch Stops Over

Our Aussie friend Wayne Gallasch first visited us 40 years ago. I didn't know much about him and he didn't know much about me. But we've become good friends over the years. Carol and his wife Tina have also become good friends.

Wayne took some the best gym photos ever of me. These are two of our favorites:

Wayne and Tina and Carol and I also made several videos: Our lifestyle and their technical expertise.

*  *  *

This time around Wayne was on the way to Orlando Florida to photograph the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest.

He travels the world photographing bodybuilding and bodybuilders.

He took some of the early photos of Frank Zane and Arnold. Zane posing in a park and Arnold in a swimming pool setting.

He also took early photos of Sergio Oliva and later Mike Mentzer.

* * *

He and Tina devote full time to selling their products world wide.

They have kept their entire backlog of material available, with an amazing array of filmed interviews, contest coverage, and special posing done on camera.  See:  www.gmvbodybuilding.com 

They have maintained coverage of European and American pro contests, and document women's bodybuilding as well.

Wayne goes wherever bodybuilding happens. He travels to virtually all major world contests and expos.

(He usually travels alone. He tells about being under the weather traveling through the Soviet Union and not being allowed into a hospital because he was still able to stand up!)

*  * *

Bodybuilding Reviews write that "No one has done more to maintain a visual record of who was and is who in the world of bodybuilding."

Carol and I are honored to have Wayne and Tina as friends.

December 1, 2023

Perhaps Our Greatest Senior Lifter Has Died
 

Photo provided by the family

Larry Grier's training partner and friend Jed Harris tells us that he passed away at 76.

His obituary adds that he grew up loving sports including Baseball, Track & Field and later Olympic Lifting. That's when we came to know him.

What sticks in my mind is that he made the heaviest Clean & Jerk ever in our garage gym. The poundage was 385, far better than my lifetime best training lift of 325.

Little did we know that he was just getting started, peaking at the 1988 World Masters competition in Orlando, Florida, where U.S. lifters took first place over 226 lifters from 16 countries.

West Germany finished second while Austria claimed third place.

*  *  *

Denis Reno's Newsletter bellowed: Grier Triumphs at World Masters.

Reno wrote: "Larry Grier of Albuquerque, N.M. captivated the crowd with his top finish in the 40-44 110 kg class. Grier and Robert Suchyta of Dearborn Michigan contested to the limit to take first and second place."

"It was a fantastic duel," Florida Weightlifting Federation president Ed Wojchick said. "It went to the last lift and was very impressive. Grier won by 2.5 kilos."

Reno published a photo of Larry with his final lift overhead. "This is the last attempt of the contest and it was FANTASTIC! Larry Grier jumped 1.5kg to this 187.5kg and to the surprise of almost all, he made the lift and won the championship."

Larry's Obit tells us that the lift in pounds was 413.37, earning him the title of the World's Strongest Veteran.

Larry's wife Miriam provided us with the above photo.

Our sincerest condolences go out to her and their son Tyler.

*  *  *

We hope and trust that this NEWS piece will help to keep Larry's greatness alive in the memory of New Mexico lifters and in the world of weightlifting.

Thanks again to Jed Harris for alerting us to Larry's passing and providing us with information.

December 1, 2023

Strength (Not Muscle Mass) Bolsters Cognitive Function

Our friend Wade Smith M.D., alerted us to this research exploring the relationship between strength and cognitive function: https://bradyholmer.substack.com/p/physiology-friday-186-muscle-strength

Training of Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates

We want to alert our readers to a recent interview of Dorian Yates: Mr. Olympia six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997- and well known for his high intensity training. The Youtube interview by Jay Vincent goes on and on, but held our interest all the way.

He acknowledges the use of "hormones," but stresses his straight forward training.

The surprise is the simplicity: One set all out of six to eight basic exercises once or twice a week.

Sound familiar? 

You'll want to hear his detailed explanation of his training now and when he was competing - driving home that effective training need not be long and complex.  Short and intense is the key.

Our Aussie friend Wayne Gallasch, who just visited with us, captured Dorian's training years ago on a video. I remember the intensity--and the simplicity. It shows him planning the workout in his office and then going all out on each body part. I don't remember if he did more than one set, but I'll never forget the intensity. 

Go hard and go home.

You can still purchase the Blood & Guts DVD from Wayne's company in Australia at www.gmvbodybuilding.com 

Their company sells wonderful photos of Dorian see:  https://gmvbodybuilding.com/category/galleries/bodybuilders-p-z/dorian-yates/?v=6cc98ba2045f
 

This photo of Dorian is on the wall in our gym.

November 1, 2023 (News 14)

Lunch with Doug McGuff, MD

 Author of Body by Science

We just had the pleasure of having lunch with Doug McGuff, MD, and his wife, Wendy at the Indian Pueblo Culture Center Restaurant (owned and operated by New Mexico's 19 Pueblos) near Old Town in Albuquerque.

Doug's book (with John Little) Body by Science is a landmark on brief and infrequent high intensity strength training: a modern day continuation of the Arthur Jones philosophy.

Published in 2009, it calls for a "purified" approach to strength and fitness: one set of five exercises once a week to muscular failure. The Big Five are leg press, chest press, overhead press, pulldown, and seated row.

They put skill training on a separate track--a single, very short, super hard strength session once a week for strength gains, and then doing skill development separately when you're sharp, focused, and explosive.

*  *  *

McGuff trains people in his "Ultimate Exercise" facilities where every set is overseen by a professional strength trainer.

Clarence questioned whether people are willing to pay for that level of supervision. Doug laughed and said he is opening new facilities regularly--and that one of his first clients has been paying the price and training with him for 15 years.

Clarence explained that we do one-set high intensity training on Saturdays and keep moving on weekdays. We both walk and Clarence does a bodyweight "Morning Motion" routine that includes balancing on weekdays. Carol also does a movement routine.

Doug said he approves of low-intensity bodyweight movement between high intensity workouts--to promote blood flow and aid recovery.

We trust that Arthur would agree.

Jones confessed that most bodybuilders are not be willing to train at the level of intensity he recommends--without his hob nail boot there to keep them going strong. (Arnold said he had a hard time lying down afterward.)

We doubt that Doug's trainers would resort to that, but it reinforces the need to have trainers there to oversee workouts in his fitness centers.

Doug tells us that he has had wonderful results helping people reach their fitness goals, including rehabbing those with physical disabilities. 

(Our long time friend Carl Miller reported the same results. Doctors would send patients to him for rehabbing.)

*  *  *

Getting personal, we learned that Doug has a full time emergency medicine practice, along with his training center operation. How he does it we don't know, but we are impressed.

A man had a "medical event" in the restaurant while we were eating. It would be a little much to say that we had to hold Doug down to keep him from running over to help the man. But he was definitely ready to help if necessary.

Carol enjoyed getting to know Wendy, learning that they are both regular walkers, with step counts that put the men to shame.

Carol took this photo while we were walking around in the Indian Pueblo Culture Center after lunch.
It's a huge facility with many exhibits of the Pueblo way of life.

We're looking forward to visiting with Doug and Wendy again some time soon.

It was an honor and pleasure to have them stop by to see us.

PS: Doug tells us the he is a regular visitor to our website. Something that we are pleased to know.

October 1, 2023

Hunter-Gatherer Life Style Resembles our Week of Training

I told our long-time friend Wade Smith, MD that Carol and I do an intense whole body strength workout on Saturday and then keep moving (she goes her way and I go mine) on weekdays to keep our blood flowing and aid recovery.

I suggested that his twin daughters might do something similar to add strength without hampering their cross-country skiing, perhaps the most demanding of all sports.

He tells us that they have a good chance of making the Junior National team in the next few years.

(We admire how Wade keeps his family active by encouraging them to do what they enjoy and do best. His older daughter won a physique contest a while back.)

In the process of this exchange, he referred me to an October 2020 study of hunter-gatherers which lends credence to our approach.

"We believe the model of physical activity that would prove most salutary is one closely mimicking our hunter-gather ancestors," the researchers wrote.

Cherry picking the results, they found that those performing low intensity exercise in combination with "resistance exercise just once a week" showed the greatest risk reduction. A hunter-gatherer fitness regimen also "included cross training targeted at flexibility, balance and strength."

My morning motion routine also targets flexibility and balance, things that Wade's daughters get plenty of in their cross-country skiing. For me it's icing on the cake.

For more details you can access the entire study online: Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise (2021) 3:147-157

October 1, 2023

Four-Second Sprint Bikes Now in Production

UT Professor Jan Todd, Ph.D. tells us that her colleague Eddie Coyle, Ph.D. now has a line of stationary bikes with 4-Second sprint monitors.

That's big news if you're interested in a stationary bike that allows 160 seconds of four-second sprints spread over the course of the day--with minimal fatigue.

        Inertial Load Ergometer

The bike, with its big and heavy flywheel, allows riders to go from zero revolutions per minute to about 160 RPMs in four seconds, requiring them to go slow and hard at first, then fast with less resistance, Coyle explained. This engages fast-twitch muscle fibers, which spring into action when people move very vigorously.

The ergometer is different from a standard stationary bike since the typical home equipment lets riders accelerate too quickly, recruiting fewer fast muscle fibers.

Dr. Coyle put it this way in an email: "The unique aspect of the training is that maximal power is typically about 1000 watts which is 5-fold higher than the power at aerobic maximum. This is made possible by using 'inertial-loading' (patented)."

He adds that the Power Cycle is for sale at www.Powercycle.com.

*  *  *

See my thoughts in the early stages of developing the bike: https://www.cbass.com/sprintssupercharge.html

October 1, 2023

New Book on Tommy Kono

Having taken part in talks with Tommy about becoming our national coach, exchanging emails over a period of years, and writing book reviews that he used for promotion, I thought I knew him pretty well.

John Fair's new book, "Tommy Kono: The Life of America's Greatest Weightlifter" tells me a lot more, especially about his last years.

If you are only now learning about Tommy Kono, or haven't read any of history professor John Fair's superb books on bodybuilding and weightlifting, you'll want to read his book about Tommy, arguably the greatest weightlifter of his time.

His competitive nature was unmatched. He lifted whatever it took to win.

Kono won three Olympic medals and eight world championships, capturing 11 national and three Pan-American titles, and set 26 world records in the process.

We had to wait almost 2 years for our copy, but you can now buy your copy on Amazon (276 pages).

August 1, 2023

Calling All Bulldogs

Albuquerque High School (AHS) was built in stages beginning in 1914, the same year the Panama Canal opened and only two years after New Mexico became a state. The school became a community landmark, steeped in culture and tradition.

Clarence walked through the downtown area and the channel under the railroad track to get there during the school year, graduating in 1955.

The school is built around a patio and now houses an apartment complex.

AHS has an active Alumni Association, which sponsors an "Annual Social" in the patio, which we attended a few days ago.

We enjoyed seeing what had been done with the school building and the surrounding area. We were lucky to find a parking place, because cars were parked bumper to bumper block after block.

The patio is smaller than Clarence remembered, leading into the gym where he wrestled for the state championship. His father and uncle were there and saw him make a dumb mistake and get pinned.
 

*  *  *

We created a stir when Carol put "1955" on Clarence's name tag. That was the beginning of a wonderful experience.

We circled around the patio, stopping at every gathering of alums. Clarence's name tag was a conversation starter and things got better and better. Everyone was as cordial as could be.

We were surprised and pleased to hear a middle-aged guy say that he remembered reading Clarence's column in Joe Weider's Muscle & Fitness. We talked about the Ripped column running for 16 years and making us known around the world.

He didn't know that the column continues on our website and that we now had more books and friends than ever before. Clearly a fan, he promised to check out our website.

Our tour of the patio ended with a lady calling Clarence a Blessing.

We're not quite sure what she meant, but know it was good.

It was a wonderful ending to a surprisingly pleasant experience.

It pays to be a lean and healthy old guy--with a spry looking wife.

August 1, 2023

Back to the Cooper Clinic

Photo by Carol Bass

Carol and I just returned from the Cooper Clinic for my regular preventive medicine exam and want to report the highlights here, with more coming if Dr. McFarlin's overview includes significant amplifications.

Something that won't be in his report is the almost 13,000 steps Carol and I logged walking through airports and around the Cooper Clinic campus of lakes, ducks, jogging trails, a fully equipped training center, the Cooper Hotel, and the Clinic buildings.

The high-class automobiles occupying the spacious parking lots suggest that Dr. Kenneth Cooper's 50+ year-old enterprise is hugely successful.

He just turned 92 and is an excellent role model for the active lifestyle he has been recommending since the publication of his landmark book Aerobics in 1968.

Mostly Good Findings

Perhaps the most impressive finding is my 146 pounds of muscular BMI, due to my 70 years of continuous high intensity exercise. (With my clothes off my BMI would be even better.)

In the same category is my 679 testosterone reading in a reference range of 240-1035.

My lipid panel ratio is a healthy 3.3: cholesterol 216, HDL 65, LDL 146 and triglycerides 80-all with no medication.

While my cholesterol is a little high, my substantial HDL reading evens things out, the reference range being 45-70.

My fasting glucose is 100, just over the 70-99 reference range. The glass of milk I had before walking over to Dr. McFarlin's office probably pushed me over the line.

In any event, this is a negative, showing a mild glucose intolerance. (Believe I inherited this from my father.)

My unprocessed whole food diet and active lifestyle are just what doctors would recommend to counter this tendency.

Now we come to my blood pressure which does not like the medical office setting. Arnie Jensen, the doctor who brought me to the Cooper Clinic the first time, called me a "hot responder." (He knew because he had the same tendency.)

While my blood pressure was a slightly elevated 156-160/92-94, my home readings average a pretty decent 122 over 75. (I bring a print out from our Omron monitor to keep Dr. McFarlin happy.)

Finally, my Vitamin D level is good at 40.3, the reference range being 30 to 100.

*  * *

What I like best about the Cooper Clinic is that it documents the benefits of my lifetime of healthy living.

Photo by Carol Bass

April 1, 2023
 

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