100 Years of Muscle

Here's a look at some of the most popular physiques over the last ten decades. What body type can you relate to? Also, see how well you do at a little game I call, "Guess when steroids made their way into bodybuilding."

1900s - Eugen Sandow, often called "the first bodybuilder."

1910s - Bobby Pandour, Vaudeville entertainer and circus gymnast.

1920s - Angelo Siciliano, won the "World's Most Beautiful Man" contest. Later changed his name to Charles Atlas and created one of the first nation-wide fitness crazes.

1930s - Bert Goodrich, the first Mr. America.

1940s - Clancy Ross, 1945-46 Mr. America. 1948-49 Mr. USA.

1950s - Steve Reeves, 1950 Mr. Universe. The first bodybuilder to become popular in Hollywood.

1960s - Larry Scott, 1962 Mr. America, 1963-64 Mr. Universe. Won the first two Mr. Olympia contests in 1965-66.

1970s - Ken Waller, won Mr. World, Mr. America, Mr. International, and Mr. Universe throughout the '70s. Frequent training partner of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

1980s - Lee Haney, 1984-1991 Mr. Olympia.

1990s - Flex Wheeler, winner of 1993, '97 and '98 Arnold Classic, winner of 1993 and 1995-1998 Ironman Pro Invitational

2000s - Ronnie Coleman, 1998-2005 Mr. Olympia.

Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors

I've always recognized the value of learning how the bodybuilders of yesteryear did things. (Did I just say "yesteryear"? Yeah, I did.)

So when I had the chance to pick up a copy of Randy Roach's giant text Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors: Volume One, I grabbed it and devoured the info as quickly as possible.

The book discusses the entire concept of Physical Culture, and explains how that lifestyle evolved (some would say devolved) into today's bodybuilding scene. It covers the late 1800's right up to the 1960's, and talks about the guys who defined the lifestyle, how they trained, how they did business, and primarily, how they ate.

Armand Tanny. 1949 Pro Mr. America, 1949-1950 Mr. USA.
Preferred to eat raw meat.

I interviewed Randy for TMUSCLE.com and got him to share some more thoughts about how the book developed, as well as some "behind the scenes" info that he discovered through his research.

Until Volume Two comes out next year (and Volume Three sometime after that), be sure to check out my interview with Randy and pick up a copy of the book.

If weight training and eating right is any part of your lifestyle today, you'll gain an even better appreciation for it once you learn about its roots.

I'm a Farmer, Again

You might remember my venture into joining a CSA farm last year. Well, I'm back at it again this year. I've signed up for a full membership to help support the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm out in Jamesport.

A CSA, or community-supported agriculture, farm is a throwback to the good old, "Yes Mr. Farmer. I'll pay you cash monies, and in return, you'll give me some of your crops."

I first got the notion to join a CSA after reading Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto which discussed the benefits of a diet based on nutritious whole foods, fruits, and vegetables. I highly recommend that you give the book a read, or at least, read through this great summary, Eat Food. Not Much. Mostly Plants.

I received my first batch of certified-organic vegetables (fruit should start arriving next month), and it looked something like this.



Going clockwise from the lower left corner, that's rhubarb, French breakfast radishes, a head of red lettuce, a head of Boston lettuce, a small bag of arugula, beets, baby bok choi, and white turnips.

You'll notice the greens missing from the beets. That's because I ended up sauteeing them (with some olive oil, shallots, and sea salt) before I remembered to snap the picture. Whoopsy. But it was delicious.

This is all just one week's worth which means I'll be seriously increasing my daily vegetable intake. That's a good thing, and fits right in with what I decided to do after my recent diet experiment.

Another great thing about this farm is the strawberries. Holy crow. If you've never had fresh Long Island strawberries, buddy, you're missing something. The farm just had a "u-pick" strawberry weekend. It was well-worth the three-hour round trip to spend an hour in the field plucking a few quarts of strawberries right off the vine with my own two hands.

Ridiculously red, no preservatives, no chemical pesticides.

So, consider this one more suggestion for you to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. The more natural, the better. A side of creamed spinach from KFC = not quite natural. Raw spinach that was harvested at 10am and in your kitchen by 2pm = good times.

To find a CSA farm near you, check LocalHarvest.org.