The first exposure to bodybuilding I had was when I saw part of the 1979 Mr. Olympia on TV at my grandparents' house (the most boring place on earth) when visiting with my mom and sisters. I remember my dickish grandfather (R.I.P.) saying, "Look at all those smart guys." When Zane won he also made some comment about how he was surprised that the biggest guy didn't win. I remember being most impressed by Robby Robinson and his ridiculous v-taper.
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Later I saw and bought the Weider mag Muscle Power (I think it was called then) that had pics from the contest. It was the one that had Frank Zane's face on the cover. Because of my earlier interest, my mom bought me a barbell set with plastic, sand-filled weights and a crappy bench when I turned 13. I joined my first gym (a hole in the wall Nautilus gym) when I was about 14.