Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, California, was the birthplace of the worldwide fitness revolution. Just a few names of those who made their names there: From the prewar group there were Jack LaLanne and Joe Gold; in the ’50s came Armand Tanny, Zabo Koszewski, Russ Warner, Pudgy Stockton and Steve Reeves; in the ’60s and ’70s came Arnold Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu, among other bodybuilding stars.

Muscle Beach has always been as much a dream as a place. The magnetism of sun, sand and athletic men and women has drawn thousands to Southern California for generations—including me. I’ve always been drawn to the water, first as a teenager to the shores of Lake Michigan and later through my ongoing love affair with the Pacific Ocean. That all came flooding back to me on the Fourth of July, as I sat next to Zabo at Muscle Beach, Venice, for one of Joe Wheatley’s contests.

At 88 Zabo is one of the last links to the golden era. He lives only a few blocks from the Venice workout area, and as he told me, he loves it as much as he did in 1950, when he made his way from Pennsylvania to the iconic beach. As he said, no one had any money then, but they made up for it with a shared passion and camaraderie. Zabo was with me not just to enjoy the picture-perfect day but also to receive an award—his name was added to the Muscle Beach Walk of Fame.

My relationship with Muscle Beach goes back more than 40 years, to when I was a competitor. That’s why I support Wheatley’s request that IRON MAN be a sponsor of the Muscle Beach events and awards ceremonies. It’s still a special place, and the programs Joe produces there underline that fact.

The contests and awards that took place on July 4 recognized both the foundation of our sport—Zabo—and the enduring appeal of bodybuilding. If you have a chance to attend one of the Muscle Beach events, you’ll understand what I mean when I say that it’s exciting not only to watch bodybuilders from teens to 70-year-olds show why what we do is so special but also to experience the love and appreciation the crowd lavishes on the dedicated athletes. It’s bodybuilding in its most elemental expression: sun, sand and joy.

I enjoy the events because they refresh my memory. I get to talk with people like Zabo, who inspire my own training. Everyone is having a good time, the stakes are personal, and the exhilaration is experienced by everyone who attends. That’s what bodybuilding is all about.

For photos from two Muscle Beach events, see pages 236 and 237 of the Oct ‘08 issue of Iron Man.

This past weekend my son Justin graduated from high school. I heard many parents, faculty and graduates describe the event as a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.” That phrase stuck in my head like the cliché that it is. We graduate from high school only once in our lives, but I started to think that every day every experience
is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Most situations aren’t absolutes the way graduations and births are, but the reality is that every experience happens only once in exactly the same way. Anyone who has more than one child realizes that while they were all born, each birth was a different experience for us.

I’ve always been an early riser—I enjoy experiencing the sunrise every time. I find that the rising sun feeds my enthusiasm for the day and a sense of wonder at the magic of life. After witnessing thousands of sunrises and sunsets, I understand that the emotional content and experience are always different. “We see
the world not as it is but as we are”—I don’t know who originally said that, but it works for me. My dad was one who always relished the early-morning hours. He’d say, “Even if you don’t have anything to do, get an early start.” He always had something to do.

It’s all really a corollary to Arnold’s saying, “Everywhere I go I have a good time.” You have a good time by living in the moment, enjoying the uniqueness of the situation. Have you noticed that every workout is different? In the gym I’ve heard people say that it was a “great workout,” “bad workout” and so on. How do you measure it? Who’s responsible for the good and the bad? I never heard Arnold say negative things about his workout because he understood that he made it what it was and that every workout is different.

Starting a workout is “good”; missing a workout is “bad.” Your workout has the potential to transform your day, and if you appreciate it for what it is, you’ll be rewarded with not only strength and muscle but also a sense of what an amazing machine the human body is.

IRON MAN’s founder, Peary Rader, was fond of saying that those of us who work out with weights are different. The difference was far more than just greater strength and muscle—it included the way we experience life. No study of anatomy or kinesiology can convey the feeling of your muscles at work. Only a workout can. That’s part of the magic. Every workout is a once-in-a-lifetime event; enjoy it. IM

Lonnie Teper’s NPC Junior California Bodybuilding and Figure Championships is grassroots bodybuilding at its best. It’s the kind of contest where the audience appreciates every competitor and is as much a part of the event as the contestants. The Junior Cal and Joe Wheatley’s Muscle Beach events are, as Peter McGough of Weider Publications said to me at the beach, “what real bodybuilding is all about.” The events are “happy,” and the contestants are intense, but the competitors and the audience are sharing a love affair with bodybuilding and what it can do for everyone. The competitors are there to share the results of their labor, and it’s fun for all involved.

Because it’s supported by the superstars of our sport, the contest is also very special. I sat next to IFBB pro Silvio Samuel, and he was an enthusiastic fan of everyone onstage. When Lonnie asked him to come onstage and hit a few shots, he was joined by giant IFBB pro Quincy Taylor for some impromptu posing. The audience went wild. Remember, the two pros were in the audience not as guest posers but as fans and supporters of friends and contestants—only in Southern California.

As I entered the theater lobby, I stopped to talk with Jay Cutler and I was reminded what a class act he is. While I respect Jay as the current Mr. Olympia, what I admire most is how he wears the crown. While we spoke, many fans came by to say hello, get an autograph or just stare. Jay gave each of them his complete attention—take a picture, sure. Jay’s megawatt smile flashed over and over. His character is front and center; he genuinely cares for his fans, and they can feel it.

Later that night Jay was the guest poser, and he gave the fans more than they expected. This wasn’t a “hit a few poses and walk off” personal appearance; this was jumping off the stage after posing and going into the audience and up and down the aisles posing and taking pictures with anyone who wanted one. It was bedlam, and it went on for 10 minutes till he bounded back to the stage and Lonnie handed him the microphone. What followed was a short speech that really underlined Jay’s character. He, of course, thanked the fans for their support, but he then went on to talk about the contestants and about his own experience as a beginning bodybuilder and the courage it takes to, as he said, “stand onstage in your underwear.” He asked for a special round of applause for all of the contestants. I believe Jay comes back year after year to Lonnie’s contest not only out of friendship but also because it’s a touchstone to his own start in bodybuilding.

Lonnie thanked me for coming to his event, but I really need to thank him for the pleasure of the experience. How about this celebrity support for an event—eight-time Ms. Olympia Lenda Murray, Flex Wheeler, Cathy LeFrancois, two-time Figure Olympia winner Jenny Lynn and IFBB fitness star Tanji Johnson.

The Junior Cal wasn’t just a bodybuilding contest; it was a reaffirmation of why bodybuilding has been an important part of my life for 50-plus years. (For more on the NPC Junior Cal, see News & Views, which begins on page 228 of the September issue of Iron Man.) IM

Big Brown’s loss at Belmont Park put a spotlight on drug use in horse racing. While it is legal in horse racing in most states, the owners of Big Brown took an unprecedented step. There are many parallels in bodybuilding. If you substituted the word bodybuilding for horse racing in the article, it would have been about many of the same drugs and the same problems.  What hasn’t happened in bodybuilding is no “owner” has taken the step that Big Browns owners did. They not only began withdrawing all performance enhancing substances from Big Brown but also from their entire stable of fifty horses. They did this for the integrity of the sport and the health of the horses. Now there’s  a novel idea.  

Today, sports and integrity are rarely in the same sentence. The owners of Big Brown called upon the other owners to join them in this step to “turn the game around,” to share their global vision. Let’s see if short term greed prevails or do the rest follow the lead of these global thinkers.

In horse racing, as in competitive bodybuilding, it’s about competition and the competitor demanding a level playing field. The problem is always how to insure that level playing field.  If the horses “slow down equally” it’s the same race. If the bodybuilder loses 20-30 lbs. of muscle, it’s a different game.  Would the fans come to see “smaller bodybuilders”?  That is usually the question. What do the fans want? I know what the bodybuilders want; it is that level playing field.  I have never met one competitive bodybuilder who liked taking the chemical load that is required to compete at the top.  One way or another, I feel that genetics and hard work would continue to rule but the physiques would look different. 

There is another parallel to horses: it’s obvious that the drug enhanced strength/muscle mass of the horses have contributed to the injury and death of these beautiful animals. Is there anyone out there who believes that a bodybuilder weighing 250-280 pounds at average height is healthy? Is bigger, better?

“We Know Training.” That’s our mantra, our focus, our mission statement. This issue is a perfect example of how we use those three words to shape IRON MAN.

Peary and Mabel Rader, the founders of Iron Man, believed not only that training was much more than lifting weights but that lifting weights was much more than lifting weights—it was a part of a process of building or expanding one’s self. The components of physical culture have expanded as our knowledge has expanded. From the beginning, Iron Man has been an open forum for ideas, and that has led to an eclectic mixture of authors and information that you won’t find in any other magazine in our field.

Everything starts with the author—no script, no movie! Passion is the unifying attribute, which is exemplified in coaches Bill Starr and Charles Poliquin. They have the credentials, certainly, but they also have the experience of testing their ideas on many athletes in the crucible of the gym. Their focus is narrow but with a wide field of vision. That, plus their ever-present passion, is what makes their material so interesting to read and their ideas so useful. In addition to Coach Poliquin’s regular column, this issue includes a feature by him on the chinup, which begins on page 158 of the July ‘08 issue.

Joe Horrigan, D.C., has helped Olympic and professional athletes, famous actors and yours truly to overcome injury at his world-renowned Soft Tissue Center. He’s another unique and invaluable resource who’s included under our training umbrella, and he covers both prevention and recovery in his monthly Sportsmedicine column.

If you train regularly, you know that motivation is an indispensable part of the pie. Knowledge is only potential energy until the mind energizes the body to action. Both words and pictures can be sources of that all-important ingredient, and Michael Neveux’s photography is an integral part of the inspirational mix. From food to fab abs, he sets the standard. Page through this issue, and you’ll see why his images are a cut above.

Training for competition is a big motivator for some. This issue highlights a bodybuilding champ from the past, Leo Robert, whose interview begins on page 188 (July ‘08 issue), and a current up-and-comer, ’08 IRON MAN Pro champ Phil Heath, who gets a pictorial salute, starting on page 242 (July ‘08 issue). Excellence is timeless. Fifty-plus years separate those two champs, but they share the will and passion to win. I find them both inspiring.

Jerry Brainum is the pros’ pro. He answers the tough questions from the pros and shares his 35-plus years of experience and research with us on various topics every month in IRON MAN. Jerry is a unique training resource whose expertise in nutrition, supplementation and pharmacology is unequalled.

As you can tell from this issue’s table of contents, there’s a cornucopia of training and related info that makes us who we are and what we are striving to be. IM