Lately, I stumbled across an interview given to the legendary Reg Park by the equally legendary (but lamentably less well known), John Grimek.
In it, he said the following:
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Although I’ve taken part and won a number of weightlifting championships, National, North American, and district championships, I can truthfully add that I never trained very seriously ON ANY LIFTS.
Now, however, I do reflect and lament my lack of seriousness, and why I didn’t make just a wee bit more effort to lift what I was capable of.
But lifting was a pastime which gave me some pleasure, and I only trained and lifted weights BECAUSE I LIKED IT and not because I wanted to establish records and win championships.
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For context, Grimek was one of, if not the, premier figures of his day in not only weightlifting, but bodybuilding as well. (His feats included a 600 pound deadlift, 700 pound squat, 480 pound deadlift, two wins of Mr America, and winning the Mr USA against a field that included Steve Reeves among other titans.)
What’s more, he did it all naturally despite what the pencil necks haunting r/nattyorjuice claim.
However.
The chap was obviously blessed with genetics and talent afforded to only a handful in each generation. So I am not saying training as he did with the attitude he took is “the key” to getting a physique like his with power to match.
But we can certainly learn much.
For example, the above quote sums up my reason for training to build rather than demonstrate performance far more succinctly than I ever could.
Most do the latter, likely because they have been tricked into thinking a workout doesn’t count unless it involves smashing your face into a wall until your teeth fall out by fitness professionals and influencers who have a less-than-stellar relationship with their body image.
Hence why they end up wandering about the gym with a face like a smacked backside, going through the motions, and, ultimately spinning their wheels.
Something to ponder.
Something else to ponder is that John Grimek trained three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) using full body workouts in a manner broadly similar to what I teach on my three month programme “Silver Era Secrets”.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Learn all about the programme here:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/programme/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman
P.S. You can find the full text of the interview I pulled the quote from on the website “The Tight Tan Slacks of Deszo Ban”. The title is “John Grimek, As a Weightlifter – As Told to Reg Park (1957)”.