John Grimek was a great all around athlete.
He competed in weightlifting competitions as well as bodybuilding conests.
I remember reading an article in an old S&H Magazine that in the 1940's, the National Board of Directors for the YMCA was debating whether to provide weight-lifting equipment in YMCA's nationwide.
There was some resistence from some Board members because of the old myth that weight-lifting made you "muscle-bound".
According to the article, Bob Hoffman took John Grimek to a meeting of the Board members. Grimek performed a series of calesthentics and acrobatic moves that demonstrated his flexibility and balance and stamina. Grimek walked on his hands, did handstand push-ups, cartwheels, situps, one-leg squats and a varirty of tumbling moves non-stop, for five minutes and was barely breathing hard when he finished. The Board of Directors were so impressed with Grimek that they unanimously voted to equip YMCA's with weight training equipment.
BTW - Does anybody have any info on Bert Goodrich? Was Goodrich the first Mr. America? Did Goodrich compete in other competitions?
