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!
Rickey Crain told me in the 1980s that he figured steroids, suits and wraps added at least 33% to the lifts and probably closer to 50% on guys squatting super wide and deadlifting sumo.
ReplyDeleteHepburn's comments on steroid use, and the Anonymous comment on Ricky Crain above, are my cue to express the thought I've had brewing for a while. Based on the Vienna beer garden champions of 1890 to 1920 or so as recorded here: https://affectinggravity.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-seven-lift-total-continental.html I came to the conclusion that the maximum weight a drug-free man weighing 250-350 lb could jerk overhead was approx. 400 lb. As you'll see on the page linked to above, all of the guys were knocking on the door of 400 lb, with Swoboda getting 409. This is also taking into account stiff, non-revolving bars and so on.
DeleteThen I found out about Charles Rigoulot unofficially jerking 400+ lb, at a bwt of only 215. If accurate, Rigoulot exploded my view of a bwt of 250-350 being required to put 400lb overhead. Okay. I've seen his height listed as 5'8" and 5'6". So not sure. But strong as all bluddy hell.
Okay, fast-forward 100+ years to Randy Strossen's comment on his IronMind Forum, when queried by a forum member about how much Strossen thought steroid use added to an Olympic lifter's lifts, Strossen replied, probably 15-30%.
Now take Patera's Olympic lifts, adjust 15-30% for steroids, and you find them comparable to those of the Vienna boys of 1890-1920. And those Vienna boys, again, without revolving bars and so on, right?
Rigoulot skewed my figuring due to his low bwt for putting 400 lb + overhead, so I guess for a drug-free man weighing 215-350 lb, depending on his height, around 400 lb is the most he can get overhead in whatever manner, the most his natural musculoskeletal structure can do and cope with.
Now there is an Olympic lifter getting about 600 lb overhead. I don't know how much is due to "advances" in steroids, or other factors. But still, when you look at Patera and Alexeev and adjust for steroids, they are similar in strength to the 1890-1920 Vienna guys. Using Strossen's 15-30% adjustments, makes Patera's and Alexeev's approx. 500 lb lifts 350-425 lb, comparable to the Vienna beer garden boys', especially when you take into account the non-revolving bars and so on.
So maybe still, to this day, about the most a drug-free man weighing 215-350 lb can jam overhead is 400 b.
Hey Eric . . . trick or treat!
DeleteThat's a great website you linked to. I'm liking this Marvin Eder article . . .
https://affectinggravity.blogspot.com/2013/07/lessons-learned-from-marvin-eder.html
Happy Halloween! Yeah I regularly go back to the Bob Peoples page there: https://affectinggravity.blogspot.com/2013/12/lifter-profile-bob-peoples.html But you know when I read that Hepburn pressed 440 off the rack, and I think Anderson maybe did even more, those guys were damned close to what Patera pressed off the rack while using steroids. It makes me start to think, especially due to Hepburn's supreme form when pressing his 371+ Olympic record, that all in all Hepburn was the strongest man of the 20th century.
DeleteI'm reading that Swoboda jerked 440 after the bar was handed to him, or at least he didn't have to continental it unassisted, so that pushes the drug-free overhead strength estimate above 400 lb by some distance. That was in 1912 by the way.
DeleteI used to frequent Fred Hatfield's Dr. Squat website about 25 years ago. The site had a forum and Crain posted answers to questions and I remember Crain commenting that he did not know a single world champion of powerlifting from the 70s or 80s that was clean except for Hideaki Inaba of Japan. He was sure Inaba was clean and possibly Lamar Gant. In the early to mid 80s, several "former" USPF lifters, some I.P.F. World Champions jumped to the old ADFPA. The ADFPA was only polygraph testing then. So, these former champions, that all of a sudden were "clean"(?), were only subjected to a polygraph. About that same time I saw ads in PLUSA magazine for books on how to beat a polygraph. These guys had no shame. But I think the biggest insult was the B.S. PLUSA would peddle when USPF National Champions would show up at the Worlds and totaled much less than they did at the Senior Nationals. I blame Mike Lambert for destroying powerlifting. When Ernie Frantz decided to form the APF, all Lambert had to do was refuse to advertise their meets or print their results. At that time, powerlifting in the USA already had the USPF, which was testing the nationals, and the ADFPA which had just started urine, in some meets blood, testing. But Nooooo. Lambert chased the dollar and took down an entire sport. I will not even get into that clown Louie Simmons and the amout of damage he did to the credibilty of powerlifting. And today we have the enhanced games. Louis Cyr is not amused.
ReplyDeleteIn the early '90s steroid use in powerlifting was well known alright. A guy named Jeff Moore was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times newspaper in '92. He represented the tiny number of lifters competing who were lifetime clean.
Delete"Moore estimates that 90% of competitive power lifters use.”
And they sum up with
"Most people associated with the sport say steroid use is the rule, not the exception."
Some lines about polygraph and urine tests always being beatable.
The disposal of the sharps and vials at a national meet, the quantity of it alone would be overwhelming.
Total hypocrisy.
Up here the BC Powerlifting Association chose to simply "remove" all the records from the past because they couldn't be certain who was clean and who wasn't. Anyone in the sport competing through the years coulda told 'em that easily. Like it's not obvious?
So they destroy all the records without even contacting the man in charge of them for years.
Brave new world and I don't think Cyr would bother to piss on it.
If he did they'd likely do a bogus urine test.
DeleteLouie Simmons...yup, self-important clown. I went to a bench/deadlift meet in the summer of 1988 and Louie was there with one of his "lifters". More like steroid monster. So, Louie's guy benched 500 raw at 181. I didn't bench that day but might have gotten 300 or so at 165. Everything was by coefficient, so Louie's guy easily won the bench.
DeleteWhen the deadlift came, the only real competiton was going to be Dan Carlson from Wisconsin who I thought would pull close to 800 at 242. Surprise, Dan showed up weighing 270 and ultimately only pulled his opener at 725. Louie's guy pulled 600 at 181 and figured he had also won the deadlift since Dan was much heavier than he was. Note: I pulled 505 that day which was a P.R. for me.
Well, the annoucer says, please load the bar for, some guy, I forget his name, to 605 for his first attempt. With that Louie and his lifter ran up to the scoring table to ask what the next lifter weighted. "162" they were told. Needless to say, this guy went on the pull 660 using a "clean grip". He was an olympic lifter. Louie had the gall to ask the guy what he was on and he said, "Nothing, I was training for the Olympics and could get drug tested, I hurt my shoulder and can't snatch so I thought I would try this instead."
Of course, Louie being the expert that he claimed to be, wanted to know if the guy knew anything about Soviet or Eastern Bloc training. To which the olympic lifter said, "ya, they use lots of drugs." I actually went and ate at McDonalds with the olympic lifter(he was from Minnesota) after the contest and he said he had met a few people at the Jr. Worlds a few years ago, but he wasn't going to tell that idiot(meaning Louie) anything. It was many years later that I realized that, yes, Louie is/was an idiot.
In the strength sports, we tend to be polite and not call names. Not me. Call them like I see them. 'Nuff, gentleman, until next time.
I encountered Louie Simmons a few times in the old days. Nice guy, a little misguided. What I never understood was why these guys were willing to risk their health for a record or title when there was no real money to be made from powerlifting then. Sure, guys sold supplements(vitamins, protein, etc.), suits, wraps, and programs, but eveyone had a job. I remember when Tony Fitten got busted. Several ifters said he was the only one making money from the sport. But, of course, I think John Inzer did okay. Good memories, I think I need to go find my trophies in the basement. I earned them(mostly local level).
DeleteWhen the US Government announced that they were making Anabolic Steroids a Schedule III drug like Heroin starting on Nov. 29,1990, that had a big effect on powerlifting - in my eyes anyway. By the mid 90s state meets,or regional meets like the West Coast Open went from having 15 to 20 lifters in every open weight class to 3 to 5. In Powerlifting USA's top 100, the top 20 or so were at about the same range of poundages, but the lifts to make the bottom of the list went way down. After that legislation, I think there were a lot of "average gym bro's" whose steroid supply and availability dried up fast. Then, to make up for the lower strength levels, the support from shirts and suits went completely out of control. In my own case, I sneaked onto the bottom of the top 100 in 2003 for deadlift(600) and total(1531), but wouldn't have been close to making it in 1991.
ReplyDeleteFrank, check this out, pdf of powerlifting magazines: https://www.benchpresschampion.com/Biblio.htm You can sort through the PLUSA back issues and find your name in the top 100. I did, it took a while, I was only in the list once in the 80s for a 628 DL in the 165 class. I had lifted at one of Rich Peter's USPF Natural Regionals.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember the meet. I know I had the winning 683 deadlift above the knees and could not lock it out. I was living in Ames, Iowa and went by myself to Kansas City, stayed in a hotel, lifted, and drove home. Then about three months later I met my wife(still married).
Those were the days. ISU college radio played the coolest tunes, R.E.M., Husker Du, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Smiths. I lifted in a gym in campus town called, "The Body Shop." It was full of drug fueled bodybuilders, men and women. Remember when Anthony Clark was benching with a reverse grip? I saw a guy named Rod Merfield bench 555 with a reverse grip. He "dated" a female bodybuilder and said a part of her private area was the length of his pinky finger because of her steroid use.
I stayed way clear of those type of women. My wife worked in a dry cleaners/laundry mat. Beautiful, Swedish blonde. And we have three beautiful children and four beautiful grandchildren. I could not have done any better.
Wow! 628 and taking 683 for a ride is a heck of a DL at 165! First meet I competed in Anthony Clark was a guest lifter and made a 735 reverse grip which was the record then in 1993. When you say"it was full of drug fueled bodybuilders", that's what I mean, it seemed most guys at the gym back then - if they were training hard - were "using". I remember there were several guys who would only train when on steroids. If they were short on money, they'd go off and wouldn't train at all. Then after 6 months or so, they'd find some money and back to the gym they'd go. They thought I was strange for staying natural when gains are so slow. But I liked training, so I thought they were strange for quitting only to start over again.
DeleteWhen I tried 683 @ 165 I had only been sumo deadlifting for about 12 weeks. I had been a conventional deadlifter for 11 years at that point. I still squatted high bar(and still do now) because I was competing in Olympic Lifts often. Usually, I did a set of three sumo followed by a set of 10 conventional standing on a 100 lb plate to complete failure(sometimes nearly blacked out), then a few sets of 1-3 reps on a hip sled. I never did reps in the bench, only infrequent singles, mostly overhead presses/pushpresses. I didn't want my shoulders to get tight and immobile so I couldn't snatch.
DeleteI was at a ADFPA meet once, 80s. There was lifter named Fred Toins who was selected for drug testing before the meet even began. He thought it was polygraph and refused the test and pulled out of the meet when he became informed the test was urine. Just a few weeks later, he lifted at the APF Nationals and just missed a 700 squat, a 400 bench and a 700 deadlift at 165. Make your own conclussions. I lifted at that ADFPA meet and made 501-303-600 at 165 as a lifetime drug free lifter in suit and wraps, no bench shirt. I was selected for testing after the meet. Lanny Shepard ran the meet. Lanny always gave out the best tropies. The ADFPA had their own newsletter/magazine. In the 90s when I was BROKE, I sold my entire muscle magazine/newsletter collection to a man from Michigan named William Hinbern. I had copies of Ken Leistner's The Steel Tip and Osmo Kiiha's The Iron Master as well as Iron Man magazines, magazines from the early 1900s, Perry Rader's Lifting News, early issues of Hardgainer(McRobert) and Milo(Strossen). All gone for a price. Wish I had them now. Memories are meant to fade. So long.
DeleteSo long it is. I tossed two full recycling bins on wheels of lifting books and mags after getting disgusted with the whole deal a while back. Two more full ones of other non-lifting literature to boot.
DeleteLet's fade! And let our memories be in the mist.
Well I'd like to offer some thoughts on this discussion. For Eric wondering about feats of pressing strength check out my article here on this blog titled my talk with Bob Simpson: https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2022/11/my-talk-with-bob-simpson-jeff.html
ReplyDeleteAlthough Bob mentioned to me in our discussion pressing 500 it was described in detail in his talk with wicked Willie on the old Dave Draper site that he pressed something like 535 at 224 bodyweight with a 5 ft. 7 height. It's hard to track down that exact interview on the Dave Draper site now that it's closed but Dave's wife Laree keeps it preserved for archive purposes so it's at least nice to be able to still read old posts but takes some effort to search around.
I may be slightly off by a few pounds but very close on remembering his various lifts. So going off Bob's other feats of strength also in that same interview he did with Willie, Bob did the following: upright row 460, bent over row 630 and a hack squat with 700. Given his insane rowing strength I have no doubt that if Bob wanted to he could have cleaned and pressed his 535 but Bob just preferred doing strict standing partial presses from the shoulder height in the power rack. Bob was clean and that would put him above Ken Patera, Serge Reding and Vasily Alekseyev.
Now onto Doug's comments on Paul's one arm dumbbell pressing. Well he's not wrong on Paul's method of bent pressing as you can see for yourself in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kny0jxHszX0
I think both Doug and Paul are exceptional lifters and two of my all time favorites. Most of our favorite lifters that came after followed their training methods and achieved great success due to Doug and Paul's innovative routines. Doug had to overcome a club foot and balance issues while squatting over 700 so let's not discount that stupendous will power while squatting or doing any other lifts. It's a shame that Paul's manager prevented them from competing in the squat. It's an important to note that Paul hadn't quite peaked yet at the time they had their private bench competition and Paul did go further. One mystery I'd like to know is why the Canadian government stopped supporting Doug because I feel that Doug could've gone to greater heights in the Olympic lifts.
I'm going to repost this quote from Doug in part one because it's a valid point and I wholeheartedly agree: "A lot of bench pressers can't do anything standing up. Standing presses give a better comparison of your basic body power. The whole structure of your entire physical structure is involved. If you've got a weak back, a weak waist, or a weak link in there, they you can't press the weight. I believe that the standing press is a better test of overall physical strength than the bench press."
I actually hate benching! The military press and the varieties of overhead pressing are my favorite lifts to train.
Hey Jeff . . . great comment here. This part jumped out at me:
Delete"One mystery I'd like to know is why the Canadian government stopped supporting Doug because I feel that Doug could've gone to greater heights in the Olympic lifts."
Well, they honestly never did support the guy. The governing body had all its clout in the eastern part of Canada, and they were very "defensive" about lifters from the West breaking records. Hepburn paid his own way most of the time when he competed. No support and no backup from the Canadian gov other than to blow their own horn about what a great athlete Canada produced in Doug Hepburn.
And then they were elected and went silent. Sounds like the job description for a politician to me!
I think Doug was an outsider type and he carried that stance intentionally as a badge of honor. For me, every height he reached and every depth he sunk to were part of the process he chose to put himself into; perhaps EXPERIENCE was the KEY to LIFE in his view.
DeleteThose who choose a somewhat ascetic lifestyle in order to become elite level at any endeavor, unfortunately, often go equally far in the "excess" department when the circumstances align properly.
And for me, that's what makes them INTERESTING AND ALIVE. To fit in to a society based on the thinness of success seen as, well, you know what's seen as success out there . . . to fit in to that may be the greatest fall any of us can make.
No matter. It's not how many times you get knocked down or knock yourself down, it's how many times you get back up and continue . . .
What matters most . . .
Deletehttps://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTVLeGdcETwOP3g_yy2IfchgRItyRgGhiwY1KrHBAP58LtIVjk1UL-TYwVs&s=10
Or, to paraphrase the falsely attributed Bukowski quote . . .
DeleteFind what you love and let it pill you.