This is one of the last interviews and perhaps the longest interview ever recorded with Reeves. He offers many insightful thoughts on nutrition, training, the mind, mental aspects, movies and more.
The year was 1981. I was the promoter of the most ambitious bodybuilding event ever held in Northeastern PA: the USA vs Europe Challenge Match, the inaugural WABBA Mr. America and the pose-down to select the American team to compete in the WABBA World Championships - WABBA Mr. World the following week in The Hague, Holland.
The event was scheduled for October, 1981, to be held at the Irem Temple in Wilkes Barre, Pa. A beautiful auditorium that seated close to 2,000. There was a hotel right next door. The theater even had a restaurant in it! The airport was only 15 minutes away. Great location.
I was in constant touch with Serge Nubret, founder of WABBA. I told him that things were going well, except ticket sales were a little slow. Another promoter scheduled a show for the exact same date in nearby Scranton, Pa. and had Mike Mentzer appearing as a guest power. My feelings are that no one should schedule shows on the same day. It robs the fans.
Also, I spoke with Mentzer about a month before the event and invited him to compete in this show. I knew he was unhappy with the IFBB after the 1980 Mr. Olympia. He said he would be happy to guest pose and do a seminar for an obscenely inflated fee. I told Mike that Nubret would be doing the seminar and I had three Mr. World winners competing, and then asked him if he could guarantee being in great shape. I knew from the past that unless Mentzer was training for a competition, he usually disappointed. Mike would not guarantee so I told him that I couldn't use him. He did tell me that he was glad Nubret was building this federation and felt that bodybuilding needed an option to the IFBB.
Mike did not draw a big crowd for his seminar in Scranton. Most people came to see Nubret, who they had never seen before. When Mike guest posed the next day, he disappointed, was way out of shape. Afterwards, he called Nubret and I "bootleggers" . . . obviously angry that we drew more people to the seminar than he did and fans were upset with his condition.
I've known Mike since 1971. He stayed at my house, we worked out together, partied together. He was a great guy. May his soul RIP but he had a multiple personality along with an enormous ego. He thought the WABBA Federation was a good deal as long as I paid his fee. But when we went in toe-to-toe competition, we were bootleggers. What a guy!
I called Nubret and told him what was happening. Nubret, ever so confident, said, "No worries. Get Steve Reeves. He has more drawing power than Arnold. You get him and you'll have a huge audience."
So, I made the call the Reeves. Unfortunately, missed him the first time, left a message with his wife and he was kind enough to call back. Here is how the telephone call went.
After some chitchat and intro, Steve told me that he was raising Morgan horses, still working out and was about to have a book released. He wanted to do my show to promote his book as well as give back to bodybuilding.
Me: Hey, Steve, it is an honor to meet you over the phone. I am a longtime fan of yours.
Steve: Thank you.
Me. Serge Nubret suggested that I contact you and request that you be at my show scheduled for October, 1981. It will be held in Wilkes Barre and I would love to have you there.
Steve: Been a long time since I've been in PA. Would love to do it.
I then asked Steve about his fee.
Steve: Didn't Serge go over that with you?
Me: No. He told me to ask you.
(I then told Steve that I had worked with Lou Ferrigno, Arnold, Ed Corney, Roy Callendar, Mike Mentzer and Danny Padilla.)
Steve: How much did you pay Arnold?
(I told him).
Steve: You think I'm worth at least as much as Arnold?
(I agreed he was.)
Steve: Here's the deal. You pay my plane fare, hotel and meals and we call it even.
Me: (shocked) What? No fee?
Steve: No fee. Just cover my expenses. I am coming out with a book which I would like to promote at your contest. Set up a table for me where I can sell my book plus pictures. I can also come out a couple days ahead of time to do some promo for you on radio and TV.
Note: I was jacked up! I was told that Reeves didn't like to do any promo. I guess with his book deal, his attitude had changed.
But then we ran into a snag. When Steve asked for the date of the shoe, he told me he was booked for a horse show, so couldn't do it. Asked me to chenage the date of my event; I couldn't as this was the qualifications for the WABBA World Championships, and no other dates were available to rent that facility. So, we talked about doing an event the next year. Reeves also asked me about promoting his book in my area. I agreed.
Moving on, with Steve on the phone, I didn't want to end there, SO NOW ON TO THE INTERVIEW . . .
Me: Steve, I have always admired your physique over virtually every other bodybuilder from your time to the present. You had a certain quality that transcended the others. Can you tell me a little on how you trained?
Steve: Initially, I trained just about like everyone else. Basics. Bench press, squat, curl, press, etc. After training for a while, I became more aware of aesthetics, symmetry and proportion.
I didn't like what I was seeing. Bodybuilders doing so many bench presses that their pecs began to look like a woman's bust. Thighs were turnip-shape. Biceps were bulging. So, I began to look into body shaping and sculpting, not just randomly training.
Me: What did you do differently?
Steve: I trained at Ed Yarick's gym in Oakland, Ca. This was when the incline bench, lat pulleys, leg extension/leg curl and hack squat first came into vogue. Also, I noticed an Olympic lifter who had exceptionally well-developed thighs. When I studied his training, I found that he did a lot of front squats to build strength to come up out of a heavy squat clean.
So, I started doing front squats, 10 reps a set. My leg shape and size improved amazingly. Then I started doing hack squats. I thought I died and went to heaven.
Me: So that was what developed those incredible thighs?
Steve: Yes. My thighs were getting bigger with basic squats, but the shape wasn't there. My legs looked like everyone else. The front squats and hacks developed the lower thigh and gave me sweep to the outside.
Pre-contest, I would do lunges and some extra leg extensions.
Me: The incline press is an exercise that has been attributed to you. Is that truth or myth?
Steve: It is true. As I stated earlier, most bodybuilders were overdeveloping their pecs with basic bench presses. From the first time I performed incline presses, I fell in love with the movement. And after a few weeks, couldn't believe the results in my chest development. It really filled my upper and outer pecs. I added a lot of size and quickly.
Me: Did you use a barbell for the inclines or dumbbells?
Steve: Initially a barbell, then I moved on to dumbbells. I liked the dumbbells better. Got more of a stretch.
Me: There's a story that the incline press is what gave you that famous L-shape to your pecs. Is that truth or myth?
Steve: Mostly myth. My L shape was determined at birth.
I noticed it right from the beginning. Incline DB presses may have accentuated it. The shape was genetic. The size. The filling in of the upper and outer pecs was from the incline dumbbell press.
Me: How do you think you would have looked had you continued training with basic bench presses?
Steve: Like everyone else, my lower pecs would have been too massive.
Me: What else did you do for your pecs?
Steve: Flyes, bent arm and straight arm on a bench, although not in the same workout. Sometimes decline flyes and dips; Also did decline pullovers to work the serratus muscles.
Me: What was your set/rep scheme?
Steve: 4 sets of 10, working as heavy as I could but always with good form.
Me: What do you call heavy?
Steve: I worked to as high as 140 pounds for dumbbell incline presses. I usually used a bench with a 45-degree angle. Sometimes I would use a 60-degree angle bench to work more upper pec.
Me: That is heavy! What did you do for that wide back?
Steve: Pulldowns behind the neck, long pulley rowing with the body at a 45-degree angle. Straight-arm pulldowns, sort of like a standing pullover. Several months before the Mr. America, Ed Yarick critiqued me and noticed that my lower back/lumbar region was underdeveloped, so I started doing good mornings. What a difference that made.
Me: Same set/rep scheme?
Steve: Yes. 4 sets of 10 reps for good mornings and I would go as high as 20 reps.
Me: Now, you know what I really want to know is how you developed those incredible calves. Even by today's standards, they're incredible.
Steve: When I was a teenager, I used to ride my bike a lot, I developed a style of pointing my toes down on the pedals; this really worked the calves. Even before I started training with weights, I already had 16" calves.
Then, once I started training, I did the basic calf raise. Wasn't working that well for me. I discovered the donkey calf raise. My calves blew up and I also got that all-important diamond shape. My calves were big before, but no shape.
I also did calf presses on a leg press. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this is just an upside-down donkey calf raise. Then I would like down on on my belly and do reverse calf presses on a leg press. This works almost like a seated calf raise which we didn't have in those days.
Sometimes I would do straddle hops with a barbell.
Me: What was the biggest your calves were?
Steve: At my peak, 19 inches. In fact, my arms, neck and calves were all the same, 19".
Me: I have to tell you, and don't take this the wrong way, you didn't look that big and today many people are claiming 21-inch arms when they are really around 17.5.
Steve: I understand. Please note that I was 6'1", weighed 225 pounds with a 29-inch waist. My bodyfat was not as low as the guys today. I was symmetrical and well proportioned. That is what I trained for. I also had 29" thighs.
Me: So, you think the reason that you didn't look as big as others with smaller measurements was because you were so much more symmetrical and better proportioned?
Steve: That, and the exercises I did created a unique shape. You take most guys who do curls, the basic barbell curl. This overdevelops the belly of the biceps and can give a grotesque look to the arm. I did incline curls and rarely did basic barbell curls after my early, beginning bodybuilding days.
Me: Did you do anything besides incline DB curls for the biceps?
Steve: I also did Zottman curls. A type of combination dumbbell curl and reverse curl. Sometimes I would do reverse curls with a straight barbell. We didn't have EZ-curl bars in those days. Pre-contest I would throw in some one-arm concentration curls. Me: What about triceps?
Steve: Triceps press-down on a pulley. Lying DB triceps extension with palms facing each other as though holding a hammer, and one-arm cross-body triceps stretch with palms facing forward lowering to opposite shoulder.
Me: I noticed in all your pictures that you had great triceps.
Steve: I worked the triceps harder than the biceps. Me: Your shoulders are really wide, and you have great delts. How do you work them?
Steve: I focus on the side head of the deltoids with standing two-DB side laterals switching with one-arm incline bench side laterals on a 45-degree angle bench. I also do various forms of presses in front, behind the neck and my favorite is a unique form of DB press which is a combination lateral raise/dumbbell press. I learned this from Ed Yarick. Vince Gironda taught it to his students, especially Larry Scott and now Arnold is claiming it calling it the "Arnold Press."
I typically don't do any specific work for the front deltoids; they get enough when you work chest. However, pre-contest I would add front raises and upright rows to bring out definition.
Another point . . . I never work traps. They detract from shoulder width. And I rarely worked abs. That adds girth to the waist. I wanted to maintain a small waist. Pre-contest I would do ab work.
Me: How many days a week did you train?
Steve: 3 days a week. I trained the whole body in one workout.
Me: That must have been a long workout?
Steve: I trained fast. Got in and got out. Never talked during a workout. Saved that for after the workouts. Sometimes did supersets with opposite muscle groups like chest/back, biceps/triceps, front thigh/leg biceps etc.
Me: Do you still train this way now?
Steve: No. I have a universal gym in my home, personally designed. I do circuits. I may start off, for instance, with side bends, then go to presses, then situps, then leg extension, then bench presses, etc.
In the old days, we focused on flushing and pumping the muscle. Now my concern is to get the blood moving around, not to stay in the same place. I also have a unique cardio exercise involving walking with weights.
Me: So, it sounds like you are training for cardio fitness nowadays?
Steve: Yes, exactly.
Continued in Part Two.
Enjoy Your Lifting!
No comments:
Post a Comment