WEST COAST (USA) GYM OWNERS THROUGHOUT RECENT HISTORY !!

[Big Pat]

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 .
.

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

[Vince B]

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.

[The Scott]

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 .
.

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.

[tommywishbone]

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.

[stuntmovie]

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'.

[HTexan]

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

[stuntmovie]

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.

[Big Pat]

"(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

.

[The Scott]

"(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

.

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!

[Schmoff]

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

[funk51]

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.

[stuntmovie]

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.

[The Scott]

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. 

[OlympiaGym]

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?

[Megalodon]

George Eiferman owned either two gyms in San Diego county or more likely one gym that he moved to a nearby location.

[stuntmovie]

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?

[The Scott]

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.   

[Big Pat]

"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?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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
 

[stuntmovie]

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.

[Big Pat]

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."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

[The Scott]

I remember the Hamels!  Thanks, Pat!  Hamels Surf Shop!  Where did the time go...

[Dan-O]

The guy who played Conan at Universal Studios was named Richard Brose.  That's all I got to add.

[Megalodon]

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.

[urj200]

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.

[urj200]

Stunt- in your travels did you ever run into Steve Neece?