Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: stuntmovie on May 29, 2018, 09:21:48 AM
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I go back a ways, so I've met and/or associated with most of them!
And here's my story.
A story which many GetBiggers can elaborate on providing that they have been around long enough ... or have even set foot inside of one.
First of all .... You gotta realize that gyms of any kind and the lifting of heavy things were noy too popular way back then.
ED YARICK .... Ed had a small place within a commercial neighborhood in the city of Oakland, California, just across the bay from the city of San Francisco where a kid by the name of Reeves trained, but you only heard of him if you lifted heavy things or just happened to run into him at one of the summer resorts along the Rssian River (Rio Nido was the big draw at that time) roughly 70 - 80 miles from the Bay Aea in a northerly direction.
Back then no one looked quite like Reeves so he attracted a lot of stares and even a knock down punch from someone who was offended by Reeves physical condition ... but that'sanother story for another time.
So ... the first real gym that I ever knew was Yarick's Gym over there in Oakland, California ... where once upon a time a kid by the name of Steve began a very successful career as a result of lifting heavy thins.
Most likely the first to do so on the good old West Coast of California!
That's one gym and two individuals ... but many more were to follow .....
Appears to be a yoing Reeves outside of Yarick's!
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Not in the west coast, but I had 2 friends that owns different CrossFit gyms, and an old friend-ish that owned a hardcore powerlifting gym. All have sold or shutdown their gyms. Everybody wants to own a gym but no one realizes that you can’t just lift weights all fucking day.
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TEX, Your 'story' sounds to have occured most recently, but I hope you will elaborate on it a bit.
So meanwhile on the other side of the Bay in the City of San Francisco .... there were two individuals who were in the same gym business but who were takng very different paths.
One such individual was a guy by the name of Jack LaLanne. He owned a gym on the fifth floor of an old building on Market Street in downtown, San Francisco.
The gym itself was nothing to brag about but Jack was well known for doing strange things which required an ample amount of strength and stamina..... such as pulling a boat-load of San Franciscans while swimming across the San Francisco Bay.
I'm sure that all you gym-fanatics have already heard that story many times so I won't go into those details here. ..... but then Jack became super famous wwith his wife and his dog and an electric food-blender on the famous, West Coast, "Jack LaLanne TV Show".
His only competition within the world of TV Fitness shows was one other TV program in which the star squatted with the same calf on his shouders each week in an attempt to establish a Calf Squattng World Record.
But that live TV show went off the air within a few weeks because the calf let go with a massive shit while on that guy's shoulders and that was the end of that TV show and another attempt to set that calf squatting record was never undertaken to the best of my vast but sometimes inaccurate knowledge.
And then Jack got into the big time gym business along with the help of a guy by the name of Wynn Paris .... but I my have spelled that wrong.
And those old and rusty gyms became a classy enterprize with chrome plated barbells and upholstered benches .... and a different class of people altogether.
These were the days when these so-called gyms began to become an interest to the masses, but the Personal Training business was still a far way off.
So let's proceed to that second San Fran gym I mentioned above and the owner whose route took a different path.
That gym owner was Walt Baptiste!
But the following is a photo of Jack.
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TEX, Your 'story' sounds to have occured most recently, but I hope you will elaborate on it a bit.
Not really much too say. Boring stories. Power lifting gym was sold about 9 year ago. Dude was big but not too bright when it came to business, and lack all people skills.
2 CrossFit gyms were in the past 5 years.
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Just trained at Leo Sterns gym in San Diego. It is still there. Old school prices...somewhat. What a gem this place is. I am surw that you have stories of Sterns. Bill Pearl got his early years in at Sterns Gym.
http://www.sternsgym.com/
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Yea, BEEF, but my first time visit to Sterns in San Diago took place many years after what I have been posting above ..... Sometime round the early to mid 1960's if my memory serves me correcttly.
But I'll get into that a few posts later.
Right now I gotta tell anyone who is still awake about the 2nd gym operator wihin the city of San Francisco . (You might recall earlier that LaLanne was the 1st.)
The second "gym" operator was Walt Baptiste! If tou're inro yoga, you have most likely heard of Walt.
Actually was a yoga instrtuctor and known by many as one of the wolrd's leading advocates on the benefits of yoga .... of which I know nothing at all.
But walt and his wife had a yoga studio above a major automobile dealership on Van Ness Blvd. with a few pounds of weights over in an otherwise unoccupied cornor which he apparently used on a frequent basis because he had the build of an early day bodybuilder.
I think that Walt won the Mr. America back then but just about no one knew what a "Mr. America" even was.
I'll attach a photo of Walt and his wife someplace below but about 40 years later I had the opportunity to meet Walt's daughter who was carrying on the family tradition of all things yoga and is possibly one of the leading yoga authorities within the USA today.
And then came Vic Tanny's with call-chrome equipment and fancy carpeting on Market Street, Bill Stathis' with his 600 square foot gym in the Sunset neighborhood, and an neven smaller gym on Irving Street which was also in the Sunset neighborhood and American Health Studios which was set up some old time Northern California boduybuilders some of you old GetBiggers may still be able to recall ...
but I cannot!
But that one had a lifespan about the same as a pregnant woman and was never heard from again.
But there were enough of these origninal gyms in the city of San Francisco so that competition was getting fierce .... but the so called customers who had any interest in lifting heavy things were few and far between .... and in most cases bodybuilders were referred to as 'freaks of nature' ... and more often than not .... somthing even worse.
But something was happening about 350 miles further south which was causing problems .....whcih a few years later would have a happy ending.
It all started on a beach in Santa Monica.
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Right now, in my opinion the coolest & best old school gym is in Portland, Oregon. It's called Loprinzi's Gym. I train there two separate times every year when I'm in Portland for work. This place is awesome.
A full line of the 1st & 2nd generation Nautilus. Universal multi-station and all Univeral brand single stations from the early 1970's. Dumbells to 150. Some new stuff as well... bars, bumper plates. Still $10 per workout. Good hours. I highly recommend Loprinzi's Gym for a workout when you're in Portland. Good cheap food close by too for that post workout feed.
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:)
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:)
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Right now, in my opinion the coolest & best old school gym is in Portland, Oregon. It's called Loprinzi's Gym. I train there two separate times every year when I'm in Portland for work. This place is awesome.
A full line of the 1st & 2nd generation Nautilas. Universal multi-station and all Univeral brand single stations from the early 1970's. Dumbells to 150. Some new stuff as well... bars, bumper plates. Still $10 per workout. Good hours. I highly recommend Loprinzi's Gym for a workout when you're in Portland. Good cheap food close by too for that post workout feed.
I always liked the looks of that one -
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Very cool BB! That's the place.
I swear to god, his Mom works the front desk sometimes. She has to be 90. Last time there I gave her a $10, signed the clipboard and walked in. She said, Wait! Stop! She then gave me $90. She was positive I gave her a $100. I was POSITIVE I gave her a $10. She finally, reluctantly took back her $90.
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Last post, I promise. :D
Loprinzi's even has both of these 1st generation Nautilus neck machines. The one with the resistance handles is very rare. The one with the girl using it. Those handles control the weight/resistance.
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Last post, I promise. :D
Loprinzi's even has both of these 1st generation Nautilus neck machines. The one with the resistance handles is very rare. The one with the girl using it. Those handles control the weight/resistance.
If that chick was in the same gym as me, I would make her spot me.....
With her anus.
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I actually used that twisting neck machine. It really was a good piece. I think the design died with Arthur Jones. To my knowledge no one else made anything remotely like it.
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Very cool OT. You rarely ever see that piece anymore. Very unusual piece- no weight stack, no weight pin. Just the resistance you apply to those handles. I do not know of any other Nautilus piece designed that way. I much preferred the other selectorized weight stack piece.
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TOMMY, The name 'LOPRINZI' sounded familiar, but I couldn't place the face ... so I did some research and came across the attached photo which I've never seen before and thought that it may be of interest to some GetBiggers.
Plus there is a hell of a lot of good info on the Joe Loprinzi family up there in Portland.
This photo may not be too clear but it is interesting to read the names of all those in it. One grenade accurately tossed and there would be no bodybuilding today!!!
Back row, left to right: Bob Delmonteque, John Isaacs, Glenn Sundby, George Redpath, Les Stockton, Pudgy Stockton (the only woman to be included in this historic picture), Red Lerille, Vince Gironda, Steve Reeves, Russ Warner, Leo Stern, Bill Pearl, Dennis Tinerino, Jimmy Payne, Leroy Colbert, Larry Scott, Chuck Krauser, Al Berger, Pat Casey, Don Peters, Babe Stansbury, George Coates, Bill Cantrell.
Front row, left to right: Joe Loprinzi, Sam Loprinzi, Orville Wertzbaugher, Johnny Gibson, Joe Abbenda, Ed Jubinville, George Eiferman, Joe Weider, Harry Smith, Walt Marcyan, Armand Tanny, Mits Kawashima, John Grimek, Jack LaLanne, and Don Arnold.
It would be interesting to see how many of these individuals GetBiggers have actually met. And it us amazing that all these pioneers were able to get together for this historic photograph!
Anyone missing?
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Greetings Stuntmovie,
This was the gathering Mr. Stern and Mr. Coates put on here is San Diego. Sort of a West coast AOBS (Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen). YouTube used to have a 3 or 4 part video series on the gathering. I talked to David Stern about it many years ago and he said it was amazing to say the least (and he grew up knowing a lot of the participants). Sad to note that only one or two of those in the photo are still alive today.
I remember Sam Loprinzi advertised a Gym Owners handbook in Mr. Rader's IronMan magazine for many years. Maybe Funk can post an image of the ad.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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BIG PAT, Thanks for that info. It's really appreciated.
I just counted and I have either met or have known for a long time .... 17 of the individuals as shown in that photo. And I'm surprised that one of those individuals was at that meeting.
Looking back to the early 60's .... PAT CASEY was one of the first of those 17 individuals I've met. That was in the early 60's when he set a world's bench record at the Police Academy in San Diego, Ca.
I recall that day clearly as... at the exact moment when the officials called it a good lift, a lion let out a huge roar. The San Diego Zoo must have been close by.
AND ... It would be amazing if YOU are actually PAT CASEY!
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Right now, in my opinion the coolest & best old school gym is in Portland, Oregon. It's called Loprinzi's Gym. I train there two separate times every year when I'm in Portland for work. This place is awesome.
A full line of the 1st & 2nd generation Nautilus. Universal multi-station and all Univeral brand single stations from the early 1970's. Dumbells to 150. Some new stuff as well... bars, bumper plates. Still $10 per workout. Good hours. I highly recommend Loprinzi's Gym for a workout when you're in Portland. Good cheap food close by too for that post workout feed.
Awesome Tommy.
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Hello Stuntmovie,
Thank you for the kind words, I, as many others do appreciate your posts.
"AND ... It would be amazing if YOU are actually PAT CASEY!"
Sorry to report that I am not the famous Pat Casey. Mr. Casey died in 2005 from cancer. If you get a chance, read Bruce Wilhelm's book on him called "King of Powerlifters", a excellent read I am told. You can get it from the Iron Mind Co. in Calif., if interested. Something I found interesting is the powerlifting rivalry between Mr. Casey and Terry Todd (West coast vs. East coast thing). I never got to ask Mr. Stern about it but I'm sure he would have had some interesting facts to share.
Look forward to the rest of the posts in this thread.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
PS. Dave Draper has an thread on Pat Casey at his site.
Pat Casey, RIP - - Dave Draper
https://www.davedraper.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/3806/
Apr 25, 2005 - 11 posts - 6 authors
Pat Casey was the reason that I started lifting in the late 60s. ... On page 37 of the book Pat Casey King of the Powerlifters by Bruce Wilhelm, ...
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OK, Let me get back to the subject at hand and return to Muscle Beach.
First of all I'll have to say that it was appropriately mis-named because the main characters who hung out on that small piece of ocean-front sand just south of the Santa Monica Pier were mainly gymnasts of ever size and discription ... male and female, young and old, lean and fat.
You name it and they were all there doing front-flips and back flips, handstands and sommersaults, and human towers four bodies high.
Those who thought that they were bodybuilders or were trying to be confined themselves to a small, three foot tall wooden fenced in area
that was full of rusted metal plates and rusted bars ... the kind you had to look around for and put together so that you could curl them to make your biceps bigger.
There were a few but very limited number of dedicated individuals who did well in even fewer summer bodybuilding events that were held here on the beach or within the L.A. basin .... usually at the Downtown Embassy Auditorium which was usually 'hosted' by none other than Gene Mozee.
Back in them good old days the unworthy bodybuilding competitors (usually 1 or 2 out of a total of 12) would be booed, pulled off the stage by one of those iron hooks you never see nowadays ... or possibly get hit with a rotten tomato.
Those who came to see the show repreented members from the original Gold's Gym, the local Y's , and Vince's 'over thar' on the other side of Mulholland Drive where the stunt guys (very few in number) trained their horses fom motion picture work.
If you ever saw "Spin and Marty, I got the autograph of that old sway-ack horse that made his owner very wealthy.
And bodybuilding trophies that were usually passed out by one of Gene's girlfriends were the metal-cup type because the plastic ones were yet to be in vogue.
So as all GetBiggers already know, the Santa Monica Muscle Beach lasted for a few good years, but apparently something happened beneath th Santa Monica Pier that encouraged the Santa Monica city hierarchy to shut it down ... so the weight-pit was removed along with all those rusty bars and plates .... and a good part of bodybuilding history drifted away ... but would soon drift back in a mile or two south where the WWII Jewish 'settlements' used to be.
History does indeed repeat itself.
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BIG PAT, Thanks for your input.
I have a couple of questions for you if you don't mind.
Is "Mr Stern" the same Mr Stern who was a good friend of Pearl's.
I worked with Terry and Jan Todd many years ago. Are they still as active as they were back then?
I gotta assume that you knew my old friend, Bill Star, who passed away a couple of years ago. I helped him a very little, little bit while he was writing "ONLY THE STRONG WILL SURVIVE!"
I don't know if you reside in So. Cal but you possibly knew Rev. Zuver and his son, 'RHINO'. I have heard that Rino also passed away a while back. Zuver's Gym in CostaMesa should have been declared a Historical Monument by the city fathers.
I'm hopeing to go into all this past history stuff as we proceed... so input such as yours and Tommy's and BB's, and Old Timer's, etc. is really appreciated.
Oh yEA!!! ...And AusBB also.
HEY! Whatever happened to Mr. MB? He seemed to like this kind of 'stuff'.
Thanks!!
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Last post, I promise. :D
Loprinzi's even has both of these 1st generation Nautilus neck machines. The one with the resistance handles is very rare. The one with the girl using it. Those handles control the weight/resistance.
That's a damn nice set of tits.
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I enlarged the photo so we can see the people better.
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Right now, in my opinion the coolest & best old school gym is in Portland, Oregon. It's called Loprinzi's Gym. I train there two separate times every year when I'm in Portland for work. This place is awesome.
A full line of the 1st & 2nd generation Nautilus. Universal multi-station and all Univeral brand single stations from the early 1970's. Dumbells to 150. Some new stuff as well... bars, bumper plates. Still $10 per workout. Good hours. I highly recommend Loprinzi's Gym for a workout when you're in Portland. Good cheap food close by too for that post workout feed.
Cool, I’m in Portland maybe I’ll go check it out. Heard of it but never been. So just ten bucks for a visit?
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Good evening Stuntmovie,
I reside in East San Diego county and have had the pleasure to meet most the "Stern's Boys" {esp. Gene Fisher who bought George Redpath's gym in Spring Valley} who opened gyms in the San Diego area. In the last conversation I had with him before he died, Mr. Fisher said that Bill Pearl was interested in the Spring Valley gym also. I have alway heard that Mr. Pearl did not want to compete with Leo and that was one of the reasons he bought another Geo. Redpath gym in LA .
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I met Leo Stern in about 1978 when I was looking to upgrade my home gym. Just kinda clicked and he always remember what we had talked about in previous visits. He always treated me well and I always showed him the respect that he deserved.
I fellowship subscriber to the Iron Game History publication which Mr/Mrs. Todd run at the University of Texas at Austin. Both are very fine people in my opinion and they are the premier keepers of the History of Weight Training. Please take the time to check it out when you get the chance.
Iron Game History | Stark Center
https://www.starkcenter.org/iron-game-history/
Iron Game History is totally non-profit, peer-reviewed, and published under the auspices of the Roy J. McLean Sports History Fellowship at The University of Texas. No one is paid for articles or artwork and no one is paid for editorial work. The magazine layouts are done by Jan Todd.
I do have Mr. Star's book on training and have always enjoyed all of his writings. I would like to do more research on his days at York someday.
I have seen images of Rev. Zuver's gym, what a tremendous place to train and the list of "famous" lifters who trained there seems endless. I do have one of his catalogs from the time when he was producing his new equipment for his last gym {somehow connected to Joe Weider I believe}. His son Mark(?) posted on Mr. Draper's website a few years back and was still selling the Zuver Oly. plates at that time. I know he did post here too for awhile in the Historical section.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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Do a Google search for Loprinzi's Gym and see hundreds of photos. The gym is 70 years old in 2018.
There was a book about the gym business called "Business is Great" that featured Sam Loprinzi.
I drove down to Portland in 1970 to use their tanning machine plus buy some posing trunks. I had a workout while there.
I remember doing 5 reps with 115 pound dumbbells on a steep incline bench. Suntan machine was something from science fiction.
Huge device but it worked well.
I asked Sam if he was making a good living from the business. "No", he remarked, "I am making a very, very good living!"
There he was cleaning an area with the vacuum cleaner. He said that people wanted a clean gym. I asked how he could be
successful when located nowhere near a business area. He explained that his family had been in business for a long time
so the members came to the new location. Smart businessman that Sam Loprinzi.
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Good evening Stuntmovie,
I reside in East San Diego county and have had the pleasure to meet most the "Stern's Boys" {esp. Gene Fisher who bought George Redpath's gym in Spring Valley} who opened gyms in the San Diego area. In the last conversation I had with him before he died, Mr. Fisher said that Bill Pearl was interested in the Spring Valley gym also. I have alway heard that Mr. Pearl did not want to compete with Leo and that was one of the reasons he bought another Geo. Redpath gym in LA .
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I met Leo Stern in about 1978 when I was looking to upgrade my home gym. Just kinda clicked and he always remember what we had talked about in previous visits. He always treated me well and I always showed him the respect that he deserved.
I fellowship subscriber to the Iron Game History publication which Mr/Mrs. Todd run at the University of Texas at Austin. Both are very fine people in my opinion and they are the premier keepers of the History of Weight Training. Please take the time to check it out when you get the chance.
Iron Game History | Stark Center
https://www.starkcenter.org/iron-game-history/
Iron Game History is totally non-profit, peer-reviewed, and published under the auspices of the Roy J. McLean Sports History Fellowship at The University of Texas. No one is paid for articles or artwork and no one is paid for editorial work. The magazine layouts are done by Jan Todd.
I do have Mr. Star's book on training and have always enjoyed all of his writings. I would like to do more research on his days at York someday.
I have seen images of Rev. Zuver's gym, what a tremendous place to train and the list of "famous" lifters who trained there seems endless. I do have one of his catalogs from the time when he was producing his new equipment for his last gym {somehow connected to Joe Weider I believe}. His son Mark(?) posted on Mr. Draper's website a few years back and was still selling the Zuver Oly. plates at that time. I know he did post here too for awhile in the Historical section.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
Gene Fisher was pretty cool and built some good equipment back in the day. Same with Leo Stern and Bill Pearl. Of course Bill G. was too at VBC and then there's the character known (I think) as Maynard who owned a gym in La Jolla. If memory serves me, I think orange was his favorite color. Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart trained there sometimes.
The original Gold's was so bitchin' and Joe Gold's World Gym was pretty nice to, but not quite the same atmosphere for me as was Gold's back in the day.
Those days are long gone and while that's the way time sticks it to us, I'm still sad to see how the world has devolved.
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Cool, I’m in Portland maybe I’ll go check it out. Heard of it but never been. So just ten bucks for a visit?
Yes sir $10. Highly recommended. Old school neighborhood. Very cool.
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BIG PAT, VINCE B, SCOTT, and TOMMY, Thanks again for your input. A lot of the 'stuff' you each have posted managed to re-ignite my memory banks, so I'm gonna do my best to respond in somewhat of an intelligent manner to most of you guy's input.
First of all to BIG PAT ... You mentioned a lot of stuff I'd like to comment on but one item could prove to be most interesting if I find that the coast is clear and can proceed.
I was a friend (maybe 'associate' is a better term) of Bill Star's and he asked me to proof-read "Only the Strong Shall Survive" before it went to print.
And on numerous occasions I found myself sitting in smoke fllled rooms and smoke filled VW's along with his good friend (STEVE D., whom some of your may know and will be able to I.D.) discussing the interesting parts of Bill's life as a Strength Coach and close association with the Hoffman camp and his York associates.
I stopped Bill many times and strongly recommended that he should write a tell-all book, but Bill felt that in an effort to protect the 'guilty' as well as himself ... he would have to wait until certain 'guilty' participants passed on to that great gym up yonder.
I use the term "guilty' for emphasis ... and not to insinuate that those 'guilty' individuals committed any federal offense .... but 'maybe' damn close to doing so.
And now I gotta do my best to contact Steve D. and see if the coast is clear to tell an interesting story.
Even better ... I hope that Steve (if I can find him) tells me that Bill did write that tell-all book before he passed away and that book is simply waiting for me to proof-read it before it goes to print.
Does history really repeat itself?
Sorry ... Got more to add to this story but some GetBiggers hate to read long shit unless it's full of derogatory statements about various individuals ... and this one 'ain't'.
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Do a Google search for Loprinzi's Gym and see hundreds of photos. The gym is 70 years old in 2018.
There was a book about the gym business called "Business is Great" that featured Sam Loprinzi.
I drove down to Portland in 1970 to use their tanning machine plus buy some posing trunks. I had a workout while there.
I remember doing 5 reps with 115 pound dumbbells on a steep incline bench. Suntan machine was something from science fiction.
Huge device but it worked well.
I asked Sam if he was making a good living from the business. "No", he remarked, "I am making a very, very good living!"
There he was cleaning an area with the vacuum cleaner. He said that people wanted a clean gym. I asked how he could be
successful when located nowhere near a business area. He explained that his family had been in business for a long time
so the members came to the new location. Smart businessman that Sam Loprinzi.
very true. Go on yelp, biggest complaint people have after contracts and hard selling, is cleanliness
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OK, Before I attempt to tackle some more of the above comments .... here is a small part of 'bodtbuilding gym history' of which I may possibly be the last person on earth to recall. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!
And the following may only be interest if you were a Gold Gym member way back when gym memberships were something like $34.
That's $34 a YEAR!!!
There is a tall building on Santa Monica Beach located about a 100 or so yards south of where the old Muscle Beach lifting pit use to stand.
Today it proudly stands as a very expensive complex of very small apartments overlooking the Pacific..... if you're fortunate enough to own or rent one on the west side of the building.
The present name of the beachside building is The Sand Castle, but go back 50 - 60 years ago when it overlooked Muscle Beach ... it was some sort of exclusive club for rich beach loving folks. And years later it became some sort of drug recovery facility.
I parked my car on the east side of that building back around the time it was some sort of a beach club and took a look inside a door that was open and saw one of the best equipped gyms I had ever seen ... but no one was inside so I locked my car and walked to the beach.
Many years later some knowledgeable weight lifting type individual told me that that small space with the great equipment was actually the original gym and the original gym equipment that belonged to the young (back then) Joe Gold.
But I can no longer confirm that because all them folks have 'flown the coop'. Any knowledgeable input would be appreciated.
So over the years there were 4 Gold Gym locations run by Joe himself and not 3.
Sorry ... Boring input, but part of bodybuilding history none-the-less.
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"(I think) as Maynard who owned a gym in La Jolla. If memory serves me, I think orange was his favorite color."
Greetings Scott,
That would be Maylen Wiltse, who had the gym in La Jolla (N. Pacific Beach in reality). Met in about 1981 or so, had a huge handlebar mustache and eyebrows to match. Had a nice talk with him and yes, you could consider him to be a "character". Gene Fisher told me once he wanted to be called "Maylen the Magician". He is the one who put together what was to become Kroger's Gym in El Cajon. He trained people at two North SD Coastal communities gyms for years until his death.
Maylen Wiltse - Legacy.com
www.legacy.com/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/obituary.aspx?n=maylen-wiltse...
May 11, 2014 - Wiltse, Maylen 11/17/1931 ~ 05/02/2014 OCEANSIDE -- Maylen Faye Wiltse of Oceanside, formerly of La Jolla and Salinas, passed away on ...
Images for maylen wiltse ...
"Those days are long gone and while that's the way time sticks it to us, I'm still sad to see how the world has devolved"
Yes, that is so true, but we still have good memories of better times {In my humble opinion).
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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"(I think) as Maynard who owned a gym in La Jolla. If memory serves me, I think orange was his favorite color."
Greetings Scott,
That would be Maylen Wiltse, who had the gym in La Jolla (N. Pacific Beach in reality). Met in about 1981 or so, had a huge handlebar mustache and eyebrows to match. Had a nice talk with him and yes, you could consider him to be a "character". Gene Fisher told me once he wanted to be called "Maylen the Magician". He is the one who put together what was to become Kroger's Gym in El Cajon. He trained people at two North SD Coastal communities gyms for years until his death.
Maylen Wiltse - Legacy.com
www.legacy.com/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/obituary.aspx?n=maylen-wiltse...
May 11, 2014 - Wiltse, Maylen 11/17/1931 ~ 05/02/2014 OCEANSIDE -- Maylen Faye Wiltse of Oceanside, formerly of La Jolla and Salinas, passed away on ...
Images for maylen wiltse ...
"Those days are long gone and while that's the way time sticks it to us, I'm still sad to see how the world has devolved"
Yes, that is so true, but we still have good memories of better times {In my humble opinion).
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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Hi Pat! Yes! Maylen's! Six plus decades took that name from my memory, so thanks for giving it back brother! Some of the youngsters here have no idea. It's like music. I seriously doubt that Disneyland will ever have an "old fart Rap night" but in the 70s they had Big Band nights and the Greatest Generation flocked to the park and the dance floor. Most of these cRappers will be deaf or dead. If they make it to being a seasoned citizen what memories could they have, how they robbed a 7/11 to a song or raped someone to another?
The bodybuilders I knew that took steroids didn't stay on them year 'round. They got off them. They rested and many of them were concerned for possible side effects. They all had a strong and powerful base before ever popping a pill...I digress.
Maylen was a character. Thanks, brother! ;D
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Right now, in my opinion the coolest & best old school gym is in Portland, Oregon. It's called Loprinzi's Gym. I train there two separate times every year when I'm in Portland for work. This place is awesome.
A full line of the 1st & 2nd generation Nautilus. Universal multi-station and all Univeral brand single stations from the early 1970's. Dumbells to 150. Some new stuff as well... bars, bumper plates. Still $10 per workout. Good hours. I highly recommend Loprinzi's Gym for a workout when you're in Portland. Good cheap food close by too for that post workout feed.
just got so turned on by looking at those pics
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Do a Google search for Loprinzi's Gym and see hundreds of photos. The gym is 70 years old in 2018.
There was a book about the gym business called "Business is Great" that featured Sam Loprinzi.
I drove down to Portland in 1970 to use their tanning machine plus buy some posing trunks. I had a workout while there.
I remember doing 5 reps with 115 pound dumbbells on a steep incline bench. Suntan machine was something from science fiction.
Huge device but it worked well.
I asked Sam if he was making a good living from the business. "No", he remarked, "I am making a very, very good living!"
There he was cleaning an area with the vacuum cleaner. He said that people wanted a clean gym. I asked how he could be
successful when located nowhere near a business area. He explained that his family had been in business for a long time
so the members came to the new location. Smart businessman that Sam Loprinzi.
this book came out in 1963... i have a copy of it. i bought it when i was thinking of buying a gym in the early seventies.
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I'll need some help here from some of you older type, So. Cal., GetBiggers which could possibly turn out to of interest for these younger guys.
But many years ago a group of U.S. Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton used to enter any summer beach type fitness event/contest that was sometimes held in the beach towns south of the base.
If I recall correctly ... one such summer event was held at Pacific Beach just north of San Diego.
The usual contestants were surfers, life-guards and Marines. And numerous physical fitness events were contested ... and we won the majority of those well remembered medals hanging from those red, white, or blue ribbons.
But the main thing that may be of intetest here is that there was a small, two story, Pacific Beach front house that was totally unfurnished except for the weghts and benches and other lifting gear that was randomly scattered all over the place.
It was a very dis-organized, beach front, gym ... but whomever owned that unorganized gym really did a good job organizing those fun-fill fitness events right outside that gym's front door on the beach.
Do any of you old timers recall any of the above and who ran the place?
PS ... There was an old wooden roller coaster and amusement park just about 100 yards south of this dis-organized make-shift gym so I am assuming that it was Pacific Beach.
And there was a hell of a great hard drinking, beach type gatering spot right around the cornor close enough to that roller coaster that you could hear the creaking of the wooden uprights.
I assume it ain't there no more. And that dis-organized gym ain't no more either.
But I hope those fitness events are still being held ... and that Camp Pendleton Marines are continuing their medal winning tradition in beach towns along the California coastline.
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I'll need some help here from some of you older type, So. Cal., GetBiggers which could possibly turn out to of interest for these younger guys.
But many years ago a group of us Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton used to enter any summer beach type fitness event/contest that wee sometimes held in the beach towns south of the base.
If I recall correctly ... one such summer event was held at Pacific Beach just north of San Diego.
The usuall contestants were surfers, life-guards and us Marines. And numerous physical fitness events were contested ... and we won the majority of those well remembered medals hanging from those red, white, or blue ribbons.
But the main thing that may be of intetest here is that there was a small, two story, Pacific Beach front house that was totally unfurnished except for the weghts and benches and other lifting gear that was randomly scattered all over the place.
It was a very dis-organized, beach front, gym ... but whomever owned that unorganized gym really did a good job organizing those fun-fill fitness events right outside that gym's front door on the beach.
Do any of you old timers recall any of the above and who ran the place?
PS ... There was an old wooden roller coaster and amusement park just about 100 yards south of this dis-organized make-shift gym so I am assuming that it was Pacific Beach.
And there was a hell of a great hard drinking, beach type gatering spot right around the cornor close enough to that roller coaster that you could hear the creaking of the wooden rights.
I assume it ain't there no more. And that dis-organized gym.
But I hope those fitness events are still being held ... and that Camp Pendleton Marines are continuing their medal winning tradition.
That would be Mission Beach. I can't (yet?!) recall the name of the gym or who owned it. I think they call that wooden roller coaster, "The Coaster" now and I think it's still standing.
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His only competition within the world of TV Fitness shows was one other TV program in which the star squatted with the same calf on his shouders each week in an attempt to establish a Calf Squattng World Record.
But that live TV show went off the air within a few weeks because the calf let go with a massive shit while on that guy's shoulders and that was the end of that TV show and another attempt to set that calf squatting record was never undertaken to the best of my vast but sometimes inaccurate knowledge.
Haha. What? Is this for real?
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George Eiferman owned either two gyms in San Diego county or more likely one gym that he moved to a nearby location.
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OLYMPIA, That calf squatting/shitting incident is the absolute truth.
The cameraman was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking .... and back then those TV cameras were pretty damn huge.
SCOTT, Mission Beach, YEA! Is it possible that you or anyone else can recall that Mission Beach house with the disorganized gym and the name of the individual who owned/ran it?
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OLYMPIA, That calf squatting/shitting incident is the absolute truth.
The cameraman was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking .... and back then those TV cameras were pretty damn huge.
SCOTT, Mission Beach, YEA! Is it possible that you or anyone else can recall that Mission Beach house with the disorganized gym and the name of the individual who owned/ran it?
I'm trying to remember it but so far I can't. :'(
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"SCOTT, Mission Beach, YEA! Is it possible that you or anyone else can recall that Mission Beach house with the disorganized gym and the name of the individual who owned/ran it?"
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Bud Keith's Health House.
Was know for his health food products for many years. Bill Golumbick sold his "Food" packs and brewers yeast protein mix in his gym. Mr. Keith's son still produces his health bars today.
The Hamel Bros. {tourist-bike rental shop} used to run the Mr. Mission Beach contest on the upper deck facing the ocean for years. They sold out about about 15 years ago. Mission Beach and the Amusement park with the Big Dipper roller coaster almost faded away in the 70's through 90's but now the area is being revitalized.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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SCOTT, Here are another couple of questions for you and any other GetBiggers who canfigure out what in the hell we are talking about here.
It's just a little bit of California bodybuilding history and those who drove the wheels to get it where it is today .....
Do you recall Rick Stephenson? To the best of my limited knowledge it was Rick and a partner of his who opened the Gold's Gym in the La Jolla vicinity up along highway 101. It had great eguipment and was run and managed by real bodybuilders and was somewhat unique in that it had neon lighting decore on the walls.
I forget if it was Rick or someone similar to Rick who worked as CONAN in the Universal Studios theme park, had a beautifuo wife who was somehow related to John Wayne .... and who may be reading this right now as we speak.
If you are ever in contact with any of these individuals, I'd sure like to get in contact with them via email before we all depart this planet.
Do you recall the story or have you ever heard about the San Diego bodybuilder who almost sliced his leg off while useing an electric buzz saw? Name was somethig like VON LaMon.
"Slicing his leg off' might be a bit of an exaggeration compiled over the years , but it sure did a lot of damage to his bodybuilding career.
OK, I gotta get back to Muscle Beach and make an attempt to continue on qwith this topic in somewhat of a sequential order.
Thanks for participating, SCOTT!
Oh Shit! I just noticed your "Bud Keith's Health House" input but have not had a chance to read it. Give me a bit of time and I'll get to it.
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Good evening Megalodon,
"George Eiferman owned either two gyms in San Diego county or more likely one gym that he moved to a nearby location."
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I do know that in the late 70' early 80's, Mr. Eiferman owned a gym in Vista Calif. (Northern Inland San Diego county) and Las Vegas. I never did get to meet Mr. Eiferman, but my Dad did in LV and he even offered to help with my commercial gym plans. Still have the t-shirt and gym shorts with the "Be Healthy" logo.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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I remember the Hamels! Thanks, Pat! Hamels Surf Shop! Where did the time go...
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The guy who played Conan at Universal Studios was named Richard Brose. That's all I got to add.
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I do know that in the late 70' early 80's, Mr. Eiferman owned a gym in Vista Calif. (Northern Inland San Diego county) and Las Vegas. I never did get to meet Mr. Eiferman, but my Dad did in LV and he even offered to help with my commercial gym plans. Still have the t-shirt and gym shorts with the "Be Healthy" logo.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
Thanks Pat. I heard that the 1 gym in Vista had 2 different locations over time, less than a mile apart and on the same street.
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I remember the Hamels! Thanks, Pat! Hamels Surf Shop! Where did the time go...
Ray and Danny Hamel. I went to school with both of them. Ray was a car guy and the older of the two.
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Stunt- in your travels did you ever run into Steve Neece?
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Stunt- in your travels did you ever run into Steve Neece?
I knew Steve pretty well. We were certainly friends.
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I went to school with him, Tommy. He was a very interesting person.
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Doing my best to catch up here ,,,,,
First of all … thanks to each of you contributors for this past history stuff. I’m doing my best to Google most of it and finding the ‘backstories' really interesting…. such as …
Bud Keith's Health House and what he had to do to start his health food company.
I don’t recall ever meeting the Hamel Bros., but I wasn’t a Mission Beach regular. We would usually hit a different So. Cal. beach just about every weekend and end up in one of the beach bars before heading back to CP. Does anyone recall a beach bar called 'MOM'S'?
George Eifferman … George was a good friend of mine during the last few years of his liFe. I first met George when he owned his gym in Las Vegas . George was in a LV hospital prior to his passing and we were intending to visit him but a family member asked us not to mention the recent death of Steve Reeves because Steve and George were very close friends and that bad news would not help his recovery.
Long story there but I think I wrote about George and Steve on this site many years ago.
DAN-O, Thanks for the Richard Brose (Conan) info. There must have been more than one Conan actor during the years that it was a major attraction at the theme park. We saw that show a number of times and on one occasion the apparatus that made the dragon rise up from the lower level refused to function, but ‘Conan’ and the other performers continued to fight the ‘nothing-ness’ as if the dragon was actually there.
The funny thing is that the audience had no idea about the malfunction and gave Conan some big applause after that performance without realizing that they had missed one of the best parts of the show.
I gotta add that a few friends who received honorable discharges after their tour of duty in the Corps (namely JACK TYREE) were somewhat instrumental in establishing the original Universal Theme Park. They were all early day stunt people (guys and gals) who performed many times each day at that wild west attraction where they get into a bar-room brawl and the saloon falls down among them … and other interesting stunt stuff.
If I recall right that one one of the first attractions in the park.
URJ/TOMMY … I don’t recall ever meeting Steve Neece. If you mention how he was involved, it may refreshen my memory.
Thanks again, all!
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Stunt, I don't drink alcohol but I do remember (maybe that's why?) MOM'S and Tug's. Sluggo's too.
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SCOTT, Are those beach bars still active?
Here's my MOM'S story. But it could have been MOTHER's.
Years ago I was driving from Fountain Valley to CP with an old girlfriend (a nurse) and we stopped in MOM's (Mother's?) which was (and possibly still is) a very depressing little bar right on the beach side of the Pacific Coast Highway (101 ??).
We made a decision to stop at each roadside bar we came to as long as it was on the beach side of US 101 ... PCH?
SO our frist stop and was MOM's and we were the only patrons as it was an early Sunday afternoon, but as we were on our first mug of beer, a group of motorcycle gents came in and started to cause a ruckus among themselves.
But my girl asked them to quiet down a bit and that caused even more of a ruckus.
SO she got up and said, "Who wants to join me in a game of pool?"
And that resulted in a lot of adverse comments among the motor cycle crew until she said, "I only play for money!"
To make a long story short .... we left Mom's wih more cash than when we entered and those bikers actually turned out to be good guys who paid their debts and even offered to buy the last couple of rounds.
But we were driving and had a few more beach bars to hit before we got where we were gett'en.
We made a few unexpected friends that day.
I do recall Sluggo's but not Tug's.
Do you recall L'il Abners within walking distance of Zuver's Gym? I think that was in Costa Mesa.
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Good evening Megalodon,
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"Thanks Pat. I heard that the 1 gym in Vista had 2 different locations over time, less than a mile apart and on the same street".
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Yes, I seem to remember that too. MTI magazine I believe , had an article titled, "Should you be in the Gym Business" that showed Mr. Eiferman cleaning up beach balls after an exercise class at his Vista gym location. Somewhere in all my stuff, I either have a copy of the magazine or a copy of the article.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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SCOTT, Are those beach bars still active?
Here's my MOM'S story. But it could have been MOTHER's.
Years ago I was driving from Fountain Valley to CP with an old girlfriend (a nurse) and we stopped in MOM's (Mother's?) which was (and possibly still is) a very depressing little bar right on the beach side of the Pacific Coast Highway (101 ??).
We made a decision to stop at each roadside bar we came to as long as it was on the beach side of US 101 ... PCH?
SO our frist stop and was MOM's and we were the only patrons as it was an early Sunday afternoon, but as we were on our first mug of beer, a group of motorcycle gents came in and started to cause a ruckus among themselves.
But my girl asked them to quiet down a bit and that caused even more of a ruckus.
SO she got up and said, "Who wants to join me in a game of pool?"
And that resulted in a lot of adverse comments among the motor cycle crew until she said, "I only play for money!"
To make a long story short .... we left Mom's wih more cash than when we entered and those bikers actually turned out to be good guys who paid their debts and even offered to buy the last couple of rounds.
But we were driving and had a few more beach bars to hit before we got where we were gett'en.
We made a few unexpected friends that day.
I do recall Sluggo's but not Tug's.
Do you recall L'il Abners within walking distance of Zuver's Gym? I think that was in Costa Mesa.
Stunt, I did a search and I think Tug's and Sluggo's are long closed. I could be wrong. MOM"s in PB and Mother's in OB might still be around. I think I recall L'il Abner's as I used to go to Costa Mesa frequently in the mid 70s. Hodad's over in OB is still around and the last time I got out there I had lunch (maybe 5 years ago?). They had license plates from all over on the walls. Cool.
I need a WayBack Machine. ;D
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Some other Mission Beach/Pacific Beach places that you guys may remember:
World Famous at the end of Grand Avenue. Used to be owned by the Seraspi family. (Laurel Seraspi is married to a good friend's sister)
Old Town Mexican Cafe (not in MB/PB I know) Owner Bob Estrada is married to the other sister (see above)
Saska's about the middle of Mission Beach on Mission Blvd. Had incredible hamburgers.
El Indio, was at the end of PB Drive. Main place on Washington above the airport.
These posts are bringing back a LOT of great memories!
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Some other Mission Beach/Pacific Beach places that you guys may remember:
World Famous at the end of Grand Avenue. Used to be owned by the Seraspi family. (Laurel Seraspi is married to a good friend's sister)
Old Town Mexican Cafe (not in MB/PB I know) Owner Bob Estrada is married to the other sister (see above)
Saska's about the middle of Mission Beach on Mission Blvd. Had incredible hamburgers.
El Indio, was at the end of PB Drive. Main place on Washington above the airport.
These posts are bringing back a LOT of great memories!
Thanks! Great places and great memories! A quick search shows Saska's is still there! Ill have to check more later!
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I see World Famous is still around too!
http://www.worldfamouspb.com/
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I just finished typig a shitload of 'way-back-stuff' but somehow it got losted while attempting to up-load it.
So I'll try again...
Speaking of bars in the 'south of LA areas', do any of you guys remember the bar that was built when the John Wayne Airport opened a bit south of Anaheim/Disneyland?
The theme was built on someone's WW1 experience and made you feel like you were sitting in the trenches with the 'bad guys' on the other side taking shots at you every time you stood up.
And that bar had a large pair of real looking and real feeling tits over one of the urinals .... and every time some unexpecting pisser squeeded those tits, it would set off a siren in the bar area.
And Lil' Abner's (Costa Mesa) was supposedly a very crazy bar where some good looking ladies who looked like Daisey Mea would hop on the bar and swab it down with a mop while doing a sexy dance.
And I forgot to mention lanother gym that used to be situated in Nothern California's San Jose area .... now SIlicon Valley I think.
That gym was called Moonlight Health Studio and it is where John Corvello trained for one of the mid-60's Mr. Caifornia contest. He won that title beating the guy who eveyone though would be unbeatable and trained by Larry Scott .... Bill McArdle.
Both Larry and Bill are gone now.
Years later John was a big 'star' with a center spread in Playgirl magazine and became semi-famous.
A good looking kid back then and a hell of good man. He should have been a movie star.
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Midway Drive in San Diego. The Chuck Wagon restaurant. Buffet!!!! All you could eat and very reasonable. To the WayBack Machine, gents!
Man. I ate there so much and they never gave me a hard time about how much I consumed. It had a huge neon sign with a Cowboy.
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/360602276350-0-1/s-l1000.jpg)
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I just finished typig a shitload of 'way-back-stuff' but somehow it got losted while attempting to up-load it.
So I'll try again...
Speaking of bars in the 'south of LA areas', do any of you guys remember the bar that was built when the John Wayne Airport opened a bit south of Anaheim/Disneyland?
The theme was built on someone's WW1 experience and made you feel like you were sitting in the trenches with the 'bad guys' on the other side taking shots at you every time you stood up.
And that bar had a large pair of real looking and real feeling tits over one of the urinals .... and every time some unexpecting pisser squeeded those tits, it would set off a siren in the bar area.
And Lil' Abner's (Costa Mesa) was supposedly a very crazy bar where some good looking ladies who looked like Daisey Mea would hop on the bar and swab it down with a mop while doing a sexy dance.
And I forgot to mention lanother gym that used to be situated in Nothern California's San Jose area .... now SIlicon Valley I think.
That gym was called Moonlight Health Studio and it is where John Corvello trained for one of the mid-60's Mr. Caifornia contest. He won that title beating the guy who eveyone though would be unbeatable and trained by Larry Scott .... Bill McArdle.
Both Larry and Bill are gone now.
Years later John was a big 'star' with a center spread in Playgirl magazine and became semi-famous.
A good looking kid back then and a hell of good man. He should have been a movie star.
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OLYMPIA, That calf squatting/shitting incident is the absolute truth.
The cameraman was laughing so hard that the camera was shaking .... and back then those TV cameras were pretty damn huge.
SCOTT, Mission Beach, YEA! Is it possible that you or anyone else can recall that Mission Beach house with the disorganized gym and the name of the individual who owned/ran it?
Was it 'All American Gym'?......It was owned by bikers and didn't last long....
Also another gym in PB named Clarks.....Crappy little place owned by a couple of ex gymnasts, circus performers...
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OLDTIMER, I think BIG PAT ID'ed that Mission Beach house-gym as Bud Keith's Health House.
But if I understand the story correctly Bud sold it to start up a health bar/food business so you may be correct if he sold it to a motorcycle club member.
SCOTT, Speaking of buffets ... there used to be a real Swedish Smorgasboard buffet a block or two away from Gold's Gym when Gold's was located on 3rd st (2nd street???) in Santa Monica. But it had to clode down shortly after it opened because it got too damn popular among the Gold's Gym heavy eaters who took full advantage of the "all you can eat" deal.
And I mention this earlier but there was a restaurant just a bit south of Disneyland that served huge portions of food at very reasoable prices.
Order the turkey sandwich and you got half a turkey and a loaf of bread and a jar of mayonaise ... or damn close to it.
The place was always full of gluttons and bodybuilders.
Does anyone recall the name of that restaurant?
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"Was it 'All American Gym'?......It was owned by bikers and didn't last long....
Also another gym in PB named Clarks.....Crappy little place owned by a couple of ex gymnasts, circus performers..."
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Good morning olgolds,
Never heard of the All American Gym, its possible it could have preceded the Health House gym.
Bob Clark is the man who started the gym equipment company called Ironco, that later became Polaris Gym Equipment. He was the one who designed the "cam" type pulley on his weight machines. The Mr. America, Earl Clarke had a gym in the South Bay for years also.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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It was owned by bikers and didn't last long....
Also another gym in PB named Clarks.....Crappy little place owned by a couple of ex gymnasts, circus performers...
I respectfully disagree with your comment about Bob Clark's gym in PB. Will post more later
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"Was it 'All American Gym'?......It was owned by bikers and didn't last long....
Also another gym in PB named Clarks.....Crappy little place owned by a couple of ex gymnasts, circus performers..."
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Good morning olgolds,
Never heard of the All American Gym, its possible it could have preceded the Health House gym.
Bob Clark is the man who started the gym equipment company called Ironco, that later became Polaris Gym Equipment. He was the one who designed the "cam" type pulley on his weight machines. The Mr. America, Earl Clarke had a gym in the South Bay for years also.
Be safe and strong,
Don't forget the old 'Fitness and Muscle', or was it 'Muscle and Fitness'.......Opened in 83 up in Kearney Mesa..Really nice place with lots of room.
Pat
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"Was it 'All American Gym'?......It was owned by bikers and didn't last long....
Also another gym in PB named Clarks.....Crappy little place owned by a couple of ex gymnasts, circus performers..."
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Good morning olgolds,
Never heard of the All American Gym, its possible it could have preceded the Health House gym.
Bob Clark is the man who started the gym equipment company called Ironco, that later became Polaris Gym Equipment. He was the one who designed the "cam" type pulley on his weight machines. The Mr. America, Earl Clarke had a gym in the South Bay for years also.
Be safe and strong,
Hey Pat...Remember the 'growin Samoan' Floyd Scanlin who used to work for the Iron Co.? 300 lb bodybuilder who competed locally....
Pat
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Hey, FUNK! Thanks for posting that Corvello shot.
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Hello oldgolds,
________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ___________
"Don't forget the old 'Fitness and Muscle', or was it 'Muscle and Fitness'.......Opened in 83 up in Kearney Mesa..Really nice place with lots of room".
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I can't say I remember a gym/health club by that name. It wasn't in the old George Brown place was it? I think that most went under the Lance Alworth banner after the bankruptcy of Brown's. I do remember a place called Muscle Mart that sold gym equipment in Kearney Mesa run by a powerlifter named Doug Pettit.
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"Hey Pat...Remember the 'growin Samoan' Floyd Scanlin who used to work for the Iron Co.? 300 lb bodybuilder who competed locally."
________________________ ________________________ ________________________ _____________.
Sorry to say I strike out on that one to. After I got out of the gym business in the early 80's I gave up on following any contests or lifters.
As a side note, Gene Fisher and Bob Clark were San Diego's premier builders of gym equipment. Gene told me that he would go to breakfast with Mr. Stern and Mr. Clark and they literally stretched out designs on napkins. Gene did well selling his equipment to the Navy and Bob sold his to a larger nation wide market when he became Polaris. I do remember that when John Grimek came to Calif. he visited Mr. Stern's gym and then they went to Mr. Clark's gym to see his new cam type equipment {MTI article the year the Mr. A was sponsored by Gold's, 77/78?}.
Do you remember Lou's Gym in South Bay around that time. Lou Durante(sp) was AAU or NPC judge if I remember correctly. He was one of the first to use video cameras as a means to practice posing routines.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
...
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Hey, FUNK! Thanks for posting that Corvello shot.
no problem here's one more cover shot and a contest shot with sergio oliva.
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Hello oldgolds,
________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ___________
"Don't forget the old 'Fitness and Muscle', or was it 'Muscle and Fitness'.......Opened in 83 up in Kearney Mesa..Really nice place with lots of room".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
I can't say I remember a gym/health club by that name. It wasn't in the old George Brown place was it? I think that most went under the Lance Alworth banner after the bankruptcy of Brown's. I do remember a place called Muscle Mart that sold gym equipment in Kearney Mesa run by a powerlifter named Doug Pettit.
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"Hey Pat...Remember the 'growin Samoan' Floyd Scanlin who used to work for the Iron Co.? 300 lb bodybuilder who competed locally."
________________________ ________________________ ________________________ _____________.
Sorry to say I strike out on that one to. After I got out of the gym business in the early 80's I gave up on following any contests or lifters.
As a side note, Gene Fisher and Bob Clark were San Diego's premier builders of gym equipment. Gene told me that he would go to breakfast with Mr. Stern and Mr. Clark and they literally stretched out designs on napkins. Gene did well selling his equipment to the Navy and Bob sold his to a larger nation wide market when he became Polaris. I do remember that when John Grimek came to Calif. he visited Mr. Stern's gym and then they went to Mr. Clark's gym to see his new cam type equipment {MTI article the year the Mr. A was sponsored by Gold's, 77/78?}.
Do you remember Lou's Gym in South Bay around that time. Lou Durante(sp) was AAU or NPC judge if I remember correctly. He was one of the first to use video cameras as a means to practice posing routines.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
...
I do remember Lou's gym although never trained there. I think he eventually moved it to main str. in the otay mesa area. I trained at Clarks and knew Bob but had no idea he started Iron Co. and designed equipment. After Bob's wife died he was never the same, ended up selling the gym and bought a shopping center? in Florida. I knew Gene Fisher and trained at his gym, he was known for his curling record, I believe it was around 220. The gym on the boardwalk S of the coaster was owned by a biker named 'crunch' Renzulli....Someone owed him money so he "confiscated" all the guys exercise equipment and started a gym.
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THANKS, YA'LL! Some interesting posts as mentioned above.
I'm sorry that I never had the opportunity to make the Southern California beach-scene a regular activity, but I tried amost every weekend we got "released" from Pendleton.
We played a lot of war-games back then from ship to shore to the eastern limits of that base and I was usually assigned as one of the 'bad guys' who would hassass the 'good guys' when they landed and then depart over the PCH under a dense cloud of dark red smoke to continue the 'war' and make it difficult for the good guys to accomplishment their mission.
That red smoke caused some severe traffic problems for every driver heading between Oceanside and San Clemente and it's most likely that the local community objected so that no red smoke is used now-a-days.
Sorry ... Off track, But just a few miles further south beyond Oceanside City limits and those war games, there was a very small gym right on the beach side of 101 and it was owned by Ralph Kroger if my memory is still up to par.
That little gym stood there all by its lonesome a few feet off the highway and you could just about fall out the back door into the Pacific.
The closest other structure was on the other side of 101 ...the Del Mar Horse Race Track.
Do any of you So. Cal. lifters remember this little gym and its owner Ralph Kroger?
And then just a few years later Ralph moved to Hawaii and opened a gym in Hilo, Hawaii until someone said he became a preacher and moved back to California.
So we had Vince's Gym in L.A. up there by Universal Studios, Gold's original Gym in Venice (if I'm incorrect about that gym space in what is now called The Sand Castle Apartments), Zuver'sGym in Caasta Mesa, Pearl's in Pasadena, Ralph's Gym on 101 within the vicinity of the Del Mar Race Track, a Police Academy gym someplace close to the San Diego Zoo where a lion roared the moent when Pat Casey got the world's 600 lb bench press record, and then Stern's Gym smack-dab in the center of San Diego's old business district.
And Jack LaLanne was just about ready to open up within a number of So. Ca. locations or already had.
There are numerous way-back stories in all these gyms!
I'm bad at recalling precise dates so feel free to correct me when I'm wrong.
And how many of you old time lifting enthusiasts remember Wyn Paris, 'Peanuts' West, George Frenn?
There were more gyms either open or opening up, but they were outside of my reign of knowledge, but kick me in the head and I might remember.
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Stunt, Scott, Pat, Oldgolds, Funk et al. I'd forgotten all about the Chuck Wagon. Ate many a meal there! How about The Barbeque Pit on Garnet in PB? Or Boll Weevil's and the Steerburgers?
I remember Ralph Kroger and used to see him fairly often at Clark's Gym in the late 60s. Very nice guy and he was very active in SD bodybuilding. Bob Clark knew quite a few of the "big name" guys from the golden era and was good friends with Leo Stern. I worked for Bob grinding and painting the benches that he made in his garage and that's how I paid my dues. Of course then we were talking $10/month and Bob was very generous and often overlooked the dues for a month or more. He really appreciated athletic fetes and designed machines to enhance performance. Some of you may recall the Rockets pro basketball team started in San Diego and some of them came to Bob's gym. He attached a tether ball to a weight stack and had them pull that to simulate grabbing rebounds and strengthen the rear delts. A couple of world class sprinters (Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa and Steve Williams) also trained there and he made a hamstring machine for them that was (the last time I visited the gym on Cass St) right in the center of the room near the treadmill as you walked into the gym. I am fairly certain that Bob was the first to use cams on his machines--before Arthur Jones. If it's still there, the picture above Bob's cam equipped curling machine is my La Jolla High School classmate, Bob Crouse. Some of the San Diego State guys trained there as well. George Brown, whose dad was the team doctor was one and Ron Mix of the Chargers trained there too. I knew Ron fairly well, as my aunt was Sid Gilman's secretary when he was the Charger Head Coach and Ron played with them. Ron's wife Patty was also a classmate of mine.
Bob was very close with Leo Stern and Bill Pearl. He put a lot of his equipment in Pearl's gym. Many of the things that purport to be "new" today, Bob was talking about 50 years ago. I know the Iron Man guys were getting lots of ink about X-Reps. Bob was a proponent of the non-locking style way back when, especially for things like pushdowns if your elbows were sore.
He had a son and daughter (Bruce and Linda). Linda seemed to be the one that pursued the physical culture path.
I was around when Bob created his treadmills and to me the simplicity of them is brilliant. They were monsters and after he made the first ones, it took about 8 of us to move them into the gym. Seeing the world-class sprinters run on those things was truly awe inspiring.
Those of you that have been inside that gym know about the room where the treadmills are. From there you go down a slight ramp into the main gym. Anyway, I just recalled being a young pup, new guy there and one of the older members (a pretty big guy too) would step into that area from the main gym and puff a cigarette between sets!
I will always respect Bob Clark. He was great to work for and I think he has never gotten the credit he deserves for his innovation in equipment designs.
Thank you for starting this thread, Stunt and to the other posters who have added to it. Those were some special times.
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"I do remember Lou's gym although never trained there. I think he eventually moved it to main str. in the otay mesa area. I trained at Clarks and knew Bob but had no idea he started Iron Co. and designed equipment. After Bob's wife died he was never the same, ended up selling the gym and bought a shopping center? in Florida. I knew Gene Fisher and trained at his gym, he was known for his curling record, I believe it was around 220. The gym on the boardwalk S of the coaster was owned by a biker named 'crunch' Renzulli....Someone owed him money so he "confiscated" all the guys exercise equipment and started a gym".
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Good evening oldgolds,
The last time I saw Mr. Fisher before he went back to spirit, he mentioned he arm wrestled Ralph Kroger and lost. He said he was the strongest guy he ever went against. Attached is the image of him curling. Thanks for adding the info about Mr. Clark and the Renzulli fellow, can't be many names like that to check up on.
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Ralph's Gym on 101 within the vicinity of the Del Mar Race Track,"
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Good evening stuntmovie,
From what I have heard/know about Mr. Kroger's gym locations-
Del Mar then to El Cajon. He latter moved to Hawaii. His last gym {Victory Gym} was in Cherokee Indiana which I heard he sold a year or so ago. I believe he has/had a Face Book page if you want to follow up on it.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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I remember going to Ralph's gym in El Cajon a couple of times.
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Good evening urj200,
Lots of neat memories in that post.
I do know about the George Brown Jr. gym stuff because he went to Granite Hills high school in El Cajon and I have talked to a few of his classmates. Never knew his Dad was the Chargers team Dr.. The steroid use now makes sense with the Chargers and his son. I think that Ron Mix sued the Chargers and the NFL over the "pink " pills he got in training camp out in McCain valley. Alvin Roy was the strength coach around that time and is credited as being the first weight training coach in the NFL. Maylen Wiltse was also connected to the team, as well as a fellow I met years ago named Frank Sheets.
Somewhere I have a photo of Mr. Clark showing his hyper-extension machine to Leo and John Grimek. You are definitely right about his contributions to improving weight training machines. I do remember seeing images of his equipment in Mr. Pearl's Pasadena gym.
Be safe and strong,
Pat
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Pat-
George's dad was the San Diego State football team doctor. I don't know that he was ever associated with the Chargers, though he may have been. When I was at Maylan's gym several Chargers trained there, including Jacque McKinnon, who I knew pretty well. I'm a little muddy now on exactly when Maylen became the strength coach for the Chargers, but I know my aunt really liked him.
My wife (at the time) and I used to hang out a bit with George Brown and his wife. I moved from SD to Oxnard in 1978 and ran into George up in Ventura at a contest. I think that was around 1980ish or so. That's the last time I saw him.
I also forgot to mention that Ty Young trained at Clark's Gym for a while too.
Another name that popped into my head that was a local Mission Beach guy and lifter was Bill Franks--does that name ring a bell with anybody. And Bill Moye was at Clark's as well. He was Mr. San Diego sometime in the late 60s.
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Pat-
George's dad was the San Diego State football team doctor. I don't know that he was ever associated with the Chargers, though he may have been. When I was at Maylan's gym several Chargers trained there, including Jacque McKinnon, who I knew pretty well. I'm a little muddy now on exactly when Maylen became the strength coach for the Chargers, but I know my aunt really liked him.
My wife (at the time) and I used to hang out a bit with George Brown and his wife. I moved from SD to Oxnard in 1978 and ran into George up in Ventura at a contest. I think that was around 1980ish or so. That's the last time I saw him.
I also forgot to mention that Ty Young trained at Clark's Gym for a while too.
Another name that popped into my head that was a local Mission Beach guy and lifter was Bill Franks--does that name ring a bell with anybody. And Bill Moye was at Clark's as well. He was Mr. San Diego sometime in the late 60s.
Spoke with another former Stern's member about Ty Young and he said Ty isn't doing to well now. George Brown's Racquet Club on Balboa was HUGE back in the day. I trained at Fitness & Muscle for awhile too. Nice gym.
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Ty was an animal. He played defensive tackle for San Diego State when Coryell was the coach there.
Sorry to hear that Ty isn't doing too well.
I was at Tom Haugh's Gym in Point Loma for a while too. Late 70s. Jim Welsh (Raquel's former husband) was there for a while then. I was in the Boy Scouts with Jim and ran into his son Damien a few years back down in Santa Monica.
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Ty was an animal. He played defensive tackle for San Diego State when Coryell was the coach there.
Sorry to hear that Ty isn't doing too well.
I was at Tom Haugh's Gym in Point Loma for a while too. Late 70s. Jim Welsh (Raquel's former husband) was there for a while then. I was in the Boy Scouts with Jim and ran into his son Damien a few years back down in Santa Monica.
Ty worked as a framer for a living. Piece work. The man was The Man back then.
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Ty worked as a framer for a living. Piece work. The man was The Man back then.
Ty did a bodybuilding seminar in the early '80s that was published in Dan Lurie's Muscle Training Illustrated. But they spelled his name as "Ty Youngs".
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I hate to admit my ignorance here when it comes to this subject matter, but you guys are mentioning names and gyms and places whom and which I have never heard of before ...... or have simply forgotten about over the passage of time or long term absence ftom the USA,
The gyms and places you each have menioned and which I am unfamiliar with must have been located at least 5 miles inland from the Pacific beaches (except for the more historical places in the L.A. area such as Vince's in the Valley or Pearl's in Pasadena. During my younger lifetime I seldom wandered further fron the ocean than the eye can see.
So without further excuse .... would it be possible to find and then post some photos of these individuals/places as previously mentioned and listed below.
I think that these (and othes who may be well-er known within California) were the pioneers of this thing we call "bodybuilding or powerlifting, olympic lifting, or just plain old, physical fitness".
Can any post their photos or more background storis regrding any of the following?
Steve Neece
Bob Clark
Earl Clarke
Fitness and Muscle
The 'Growin Samoan' Floyd Scanlin
Doug Pettit
Gene Fisher
Lou’s Dyrante’s Gym in South Bay
George Brown
‘Crunch’ Renzulli.
George Brown Jr. gym stuff
Tom Haugh's Gym in Point Loma
Bill Moye
Ty Yoing’s involvement
Jim Welsh (Raquel's former husband): I think we discussed Jim on this board years ago. Maybe Only Me knew him.
Leo and John Grimek. I met John, but who is Leo? If Leo is John’s son, he was in the Corps during my tour of duty.
I'll start .... Is this The Ty Young of whom we speak?
You Powerffters have got to know who MIKE LAMBERT is!
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This is the Ty Youngs I was referring to, but I didn't know him personally--guys, correct me if I'm wrong.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20439_312636816707_462657_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=c8e03e2723028588c1e893ebc052b7cb&oe=5B839B1E) (https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/419152_10150569516776708_124889184_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=ec64d2a64f6278722807c78ecdc249eb&oe=5B8170C2)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kearny.High.Alumni/photos/?tab=album&album_id=312632536707 (https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kearny.High.Alumni/photos/?tab=album&album_id=312632536707)
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This is the Ty Youngs I was referring to, but I didn't know him personally--guys, correct me if I'm wrong.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20439_312636816707_462657_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=c8e03e2723028588c1e893ebc052b7cb&oe=5B839B1E) (https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/419152_10150569516776708_124889184_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=ec64d2a64f6278722807c78ecdc249eb&oe=5B8170C2)
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kearny.High.Alumni/photos/?tab=album&album_id=312632536707 (https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kearny.High.Alumni/photos/?tab=album&album_id=312632536707)
That's the Ty I know/knew. I don't see him anymore. I last saw his brother Mike well over a decade ago.
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SCOTT, Thanks for correcting that TY YOUNG info.
Have you ever seen a list of the old day (1960's) San Diego bodybuilding contest winners? We met a few of them during those early So. Cal. beach days but I have long forgotten any of their names except for Von Lamon who (if I remember correctly) 'damaged' his leg while using a buzz-saw.
And I think that I have forgotten to mention two early day gyms located in Oceanside (right outside of the Camp Pendleton main gate) one of which was a small gym on a side street a block or two from the beach which years later became a Gold's and the other was more of a hand-ball place with various weight-lifting stuff in the back owned by Bob Janus.
I'll be surprised if anyone here can recall either of these places.
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Heading to California today from NJ. Any truth to the often repeated comment that East coast is heavy and long rests between sets. West coast is moderate weights and short rests between sets? Heading to Palm Springs. Hope I can find a gym in the area. Heading to Desert Springs Marriot. Seems to have a decent hotel gym.
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Even if your hotel has a decent gym or not, I suggest that you check out the following. I've never been there myself but I have heard that it's a damn fine facility ....
WORLD GYM PALM SPRINGS
1751 N. Sunrise Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262
T 760.327.7100
F 760-327-7102
And they have a decent website.
But I doubt that you'll want to leave the Marriott. It's a damn nice place...
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(http://www.classicbodybuilders.com/bodybuilder/sergiooliva/sergiooliva1.jpg)