Part One is here:
Strong Man Philosophy
"The knowledge thus gained was the end product, so produced by intuition, trial-and-error, and an absolute integrity in the implementation of my daily procedure, coupled with an undeviating mode of conduct in my living habits and an unwavering belief in the morality of man's struggles to improve himself using only the natural, God-given attributes that he was provided at birth. This paragraph represents my philosophy as a strong man."
Most Productive Technique
"When I trained, everybody was doing series of 6 and 8 reps. And I don't know why. Why would a man, who was living with people who had done something since the beginning of weight lifting, go out and then suddenly, for some strange gut feeling, throw the whole thing in the trash can and do something entirely opposite to what everyone did?
"I don't know why I did, but I started to do sets of 3's - which was something that wasn't done. Mind you, I'm going back now to the 1940s.
"I started out with the 3's, and I believe what brought about the change in me was partially due to a somewhat good heritage, but also because I was the first one who discovered and utilized intensively that method of training, whereas nobody else did it.
- Doug Hepburn, noted raconteur, known at times to "expand" on certain topics.
No worries here!
"The principle was that I would do sets of 3's, over and over and over for 20-30 sets. And I found out that all of a sudden my body responded unbelievably!
"And one thing I just want to mention. When you check into my lifting at that period when I first came to be known, the gap that I established between myself and the other person in the world was the widest gap - strength-wise - of any other lifter in history.
"I'm fully convinced that the structure of sets and repetitions, coupled with the application as to intensity and frequency of augmentation of the resistance, represents the keystone in the building of ultimate physical strength.
"I believe, as I've said repeatedly, that . . .
the structure of the repetitions
is more important than anything else you can do in regard to getting strong. Other than taking drugs.
"It's the structure of the routine and how it's used that develops ultimate strength.
"Protein and all that is fine, you know. Presently I'm 66 years old and I'm still reasonably strong. I don't have any aches and pains although, of course, age takes its toll. I'm in a very unique position here. I'm inclined philosophically, and maybe to some extent scientifically, and I've been given the opportunity for probably the first time in history to approach the problem scientifically and study myself and the effects on my body of all different types of foods and different mental attitudes to see what happens and combat the aging process and the lowering of physical strength within a human being.
"I discovered that when you reach a point in your life a reversal starts to take place. In other words . . .
you're dying faster than you're living.
What actually kills the body is poisoning, the inefficiency of the body to function at its peak level. So it begins to poison itself, and then no nutrients are able to get to the muscles and so forth. So I say, 'How can we surmount this?'
"I say that as you get older you have to
eat less, not more, in order to get strong.
If you eat more when you reach that point of no return in aging, it will make you ill. It will kill you. If you look at it logically, and I'm a great person for reasoning and logic, obviously when you're born, you go through a cycle of life and there's a point where the body begins to go the other way. It begins to die; it's going from life to death in the cycle. But they don't analyze the cycle and realize that during a part of that cycle that reversals take place. When you think, they allow for the evolution of man in the material plane, but do they ever think that thought may evolve and alter during the late cycle?"
Motivation for the Older Man
"When a man is 75 and wants to utilize his strength and maintain it, he has no libido. Most guys now, as you know, are lifting weights and getting stronger to impress and get themselves a mate. But the reason the old guy doesn't still train is that he can't think of a damn good enough reason to do it. What does a man do to do this?
"Because this is also part and parcel of the aging process, I have to take these factors into consideration and say, 'How can I train, and push myself? What am I going to use for my impulsion to do it?'
"YOU CANNOT APPROACH TRAINING FOR STRENGTH LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO SET IT ALL DOWN ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND DO 6 REPS OF THIS OR THAT.
YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT BY EAR."
Why Doug Was Popular With Poultry Farmers
"I had a strong constitution genetically. I remember I was eating a lot one day in the summertime and I gained eight pounds in one day with water and food. I mean, I could EAT. One day I ate 65 eggs!
I wanted to see how many I could drink in a milkshake."
Defeats Paul Anderson
"Well, Anderson was a young man then, but he was strong. I think he was probably a little more experienced and a little older. Yes, I did beat him, although his publicists claimed that he 'was never beaten.'"
Anderson's Manager
Who the fuck was this guy . . .
Anderson's manager?
No, really . . . who was it?
"He was just back from his stage act in Reno where he had all these silver dollars that he used to lift. I remember I phoned down to the hotel where he was performing his act because Anderson had issued a challenge offering $15,000 to anyone who could match Paul's lift of a box filled with silver dollars. I called down to see if I could come down and attempt it.
"And you know what happened? And this isn't common knowledge either. About an hour later, Anderson's manager phoned, and this documented because I have an article in the Oregon newspaper that documents this. Anderson's manager told me, 'Please don't come down, we'll do something with you later.'"
Anderson's False Claims
"The other thing is this . . . Anderson is undoubtedly one of the strongest men in history. I have a great respect for him. However, there are lifts and things that are given to him that are beyond the realm of what I believe to be possible.
"It's just gotten ridiculous. You know, 10 repetitions with 300 pounds in the one-arm press. Now, he might have done that in a one-arm bent press, but they're calling it a Press! The point here is, it isn't only me, it ridicules all the other strong men in history. It's and insult. I look upon the strong man in terms of the world and what strength represents to mankind."
The Bench Press Competition
"Anderson and I once had a bench press competition in his back yard. I had just come back from Hawaii; I'm not making excuses but I was tired because it was very hot over there and I put on some shows for a guy named Rex Ravelle. It was hot and I was a little tired, and when I came back I wasn't at my best. I weighed about 275 pounds. I went into Los Angeles from Hawaii because you have to go through there to get to Vancouver, where I live.
"Anderson's manager met me at the plane and took me to where he was staying, which was the manager's house. Anderson was training for a movie, and I met him in the backyard. He must have weighed at least 360 pounds. I mean, he wasn't young, but he was near his peak of strength. So I don't know how we ended up doing this, but got down to a bench press and had a little competition. Both of us managed to do 500 pounds, which wasn't a bad bench in those days, but Anderson couldn't do an ounce more and neither could I - but I weighed 270 and he weighed 360.
"After the bench pressing, Anderson had an Olympic bar on trestles and he attempted to press 420 pounds, and he could not do it. Now I know he could do it, he was that close, and on any other day he might well have done it, but he couldn't do it that day. From that, and remember I did it at a bodyweight of 290 pounds, I standing pressed 440 pounds, and this was without any belt and on a gimpy leg and with no steroids.
"Taking a man of the present age who might have set his records while on drugs can't be compared to those of us who did it clean.
"It's an insult to all who have been before.
"I called the doctor specializing on sports and steroids at the University of British Columbia. He told me that steroids became used and known to athletes at the beginning of the 1950s. Now, before that, I had this gap between me and all the other strong men.
"After the '50s, that's when all these other 'strong men' began to appear. It may be coincidence but I'm doubtful. However, of the more modern crop, I appreciate a man like Kazmaier, and he admits to taking steroids. I mean, if a man admits it, that's great - he's an honest man. But for a man to do this and not admit it - that's all I'm complaining about.
"Anderson, all things being equal, would have been a great lifter at any time. I'm not trying to belittle Anderson, but I'm trying to save the credibility of powerlifting in the world. What the heck! Since when does a man like Anderson or anybody else mean more than the principle of sport and the morality of man in the world? I'm doing it for that and thank God some people do!
"One of the greatest compliments I ever got was at the Goodwill Games when they were held in California. I was told by a writer-friend of mine that the Russian weightlifting team was down there at that time and Alexeev was with them. We went down to see the lifters, and I could see Alexeev walking around backstage. I said to my friend, 'If you ever get backstage, which you might be able to do because you're a writer, can you do me a favor? I'd like you to ask the Russian coach if I would be allowed to correspond with Alexeev as one strong man to another.'
"So he phoned me back the next day and said, 'Well, Doug, I went down there and I got hold of the top Russian coach from their lifting team, and I showed him your pictures and I showed him what you lifted way back when, and then I asked the coach whether or not you could write to Alexeev, and you know what the coach said? He said, 'I think that Alexeev should write to Mr. Hepburn!' You know why? Because that coach knew that I did those lifts before steroids came into common use. And as you well know, Alexeev was loaded with them.
"Terry Todd once told me that when a lifter gets all wrapped up in their support suits and takes steroids, they add 30% to their lift. And if you notice, take some of my old lifts and add 30% to them. You'll get up to just about what they're doing today with those aids."
Enjoy Your Lifting!
