Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: dknole on January 05, 2018, 06:01:33 AM
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A nice article about Charles (with a little about the culture at Gold's Gym in Venice) in today's NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/style/charles-glass-bodybuilder-workout.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront
VENICE, Calif. — Remember the episode of “Seinfeld” that features Elaine trying to return a dress to Barneys after she takes it home and realizes that it doesn’t look nearly as good as it did when she was at the store, surrounded by mirrors that made her appear skinnier?
Well, it’s the opposite at Gold’s Gym in Venice, Calif., the longtime bodybuilding mecca frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger and three subsequent generations of herculean he-men.
Here, lifters get stretched out horizontally not just by pushing heavy weights and ingesting supplements of varying legal statuses, but also through their own reflections on the walls.
And for those with a real interest in getting huge and $225 an hour to burn, one trainer stands at the front of the pack.
He is Charles Glass, a bespectacled, beanie-wearing and dreadlocked former bodybuilding champion who got his start competing in gymnastics at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the middleweight championship with the International Federation of Bodybuilding in 1983, before giving up the sport professionally to train others.
His celebrity clientele, as listed on his website, has included the actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock; the four-time Arnold Classic champion Kenneth Wheeler, known as Flex; the 2008 Mr. Olympia winner, Dexter Jackson; and big-name athletes such as Magic Johnson, George Foreman and Jose Canseco.
The wall of champions at Gold’s Gym. Mr. Glass is the trainer of choice there. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
YouTube and Instagram have turned Mr. Glass into something of a national fitness celebrity. And here at home, in this land of thick necks, turbo tans and tattoo parlors, he is a tourist attraction unto himself.
On a recent Friday afternoon, bodybuilding legends like Kai Greene, a three-time runner-up in the Mr. Olympia contest, ambled over with camera crews for impromptu interviews. People with day passes took selfies with Mr. Glass.
Mr. Glass moved to a private area with Lionel Brown, a 5-foot-8, 240-pound competitive bodybuilder, and watched him practice his stage poses.
“This is what we call classic shape, nice form,” Mr. Glass said, after instructing Mr. Brown to take off his shirt. “Show your abs. Do a double bicep. Squeeze your lats.”
“See the separation there?” Mr. Glass said. “That’s the difference between a professional and an amateur.”
Most bodybuilding trainers emphasize low repetition with free weights and extreme poundage. Mr. Glass, who is in his 60s (“old,” he said), makes essential tweaks to that, emphasizing form over maximum overload and unapologetically using machines — often in strange new ways that take handlebar and seat placement as mere suggestions.
There is also an earthy gracefulness about him, from the inconspicuous dark green sweatshirt and matching green cargo pants he wears to the way he avoids barking clichés like “come on, baby” and “let’s go, cowboy” at his clients. (Among his favorites is an 80-something grandmother who works out with him nearly every day and is, he says, “one of the hardest working people in the gym.”)
Mr. Glass coaches Silvio Samuel who works his back on a machine. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
For the most part, he comes off less like mayor of the mesomorphs than their Yoda-ish therapist.
So this November, I went to Mr. Glass for a couple of workouts.
The first day, we did an intense pec workout in which he moved me around to a variety of chest press and fly machines. The weights we used were significantly lower than what I do on my own, but the workout was considerably more focused. And difficult.
Putting a rectangular block behind my back on the incline press pushed back my overdeveloped shoulders, forcing me to isolate my chest in ways I’d barely felt before.
The next day, we worked legs, where even the ordinary hamstring curl machine exercise was made exponentially harder by having me put my hands at the front of the pad and arching up slightly, as if I was doing a back extension.
Mr. Glass also had me do one of his signature exercises, a single leg press movement that is done by stepping into a horizontal leg press, turning the body to the side, and going one leg at a time with the other suspended in midair.
It was not only one of the most intense quad exercises I’d ever done, but also felt sort of like being forced to take a calculus test at the same time.
“Before we had a lot of machines, we all used free weights because that’s what we had,” Mr. Glass said. “But now, you can’t get certain angles from free weights than you can get machines. They put a different kind of stress on the muscles. I try to work around what I have.”
The way Mr. Glass tells it, he gave up his own bodybuilding career in the 1980s because of the toll it was taking on his body. “At my heaviest, I was 262 pounds,” he said. “I was taking health risks, and I didn’t want to do that. I couldn’t walk without breathing like a madman. I thought, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ And that’s when I realized I was done.”
He’s not about to voice blanket opposition to performance-enhancing drugs. “I’d be a hypocrite,” he said.
He acknowledges the role steroids play with bodybuilders competing at the highest levels. But he does want clients using them to start making choices that factor in their health, including going to a doctor regularly and getting blood work done.
As I worked out, a pair of lifters who are big enough to snap Chris Hemsworth like a twig screamed through dead lifts.
Mr. Glass was unimpressed. “A waste of energy,” was what he called their loud display.
In walked Mr. Glass’s next client, another person who is expanding his customer base.
“Calvin!” Mr. Glass said, walking off to greet him.
It was Calvin Klein, who looked like lithe and fit in his tight navy T-shirt and charcoal sweatpants.
“I’m committed to staying healthy and energized, and this is a great way of doing it,” Mr. Klein said.
Mr. Glass, he said, “is up there with the best.”
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Dude has a good soul RESPECT
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$225 an hour
Absurd.
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Lol at $225 am hour. For what? All the special angles that he teaches to clients? ??? ???
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Good article. But photo of Silvio Samuel in NY Times??? Back looking good so soon out.
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25$/hr for training + 200$/hr to be able to say that you were trained by Charles Glass = you have too much money, I can help you with that............
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Lol. Haters. He deserves every penny. Respect.
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Lol. Haters. He deserves every penny. Respect.
good on him. I don't any longer begrudge anyone who can command top dollar for their services no matter what the minions think
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Spoke to this blonde 50 something woman that personal trains in Manhattan. Her clients pay sick rates and she lives a good life. Nice scam she figured out.
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Does that include gear connections?
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$ 225 per hour :o
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He has had some of the most genetically elite bodybuilders ever at his disposable and they still didn't win any olympias.
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Lol. Haters. He deserves every penny. Respect.
Wiggs, with all due respect, do you really think this is accurate?
Of course, in a capitalistic society, Mr. Glass is free to make as much money as he wants. In that respect, he does deserve every penny because people are willing to pay it. So be it.
However, from a personal training and nutrition standpoint, do you really think Mr. Glass is worth/deserves $225 an hour? In other words, do you truly believe that his knowledge is worth $225 an hour?
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A nice article about Charles (with a little about the culture at Gold's Gym in Venice) in today's NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/style/charles-glass-bodybuilder-workout.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront
VENICE, Calif. — Remember the episode of “Seinfeld” that features Elaine trying to return a dress to Barneys after she takes it home and realizes that it doesn’t look nearly as good as it did when she was at the store, surrounded by mirrors that made her appear skinnier?
Well, it’s the opposite at Gold’s Gym in Venice, Calif., the longtime bodybuilding mecca frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger and three subsequent generations of herculean he-men.
Here, lifters get stretched out horizontally not just by pushing heavy weights and ingesting supplements of varying legal statuses, but also through their own reflections on the walls.
And for those with a real interest in getting huge and $225 an hour to burn, one trainer stands at the front of the pack.
He is Charles Glass, a bespectacled, beanie-wearing and dreadlocked former bodybuilding champion who got his start competing in gymnastics at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the middleweight championship with the International Federation of Bodybuilding in 1983, before giving up the sport professionally to train others.
His celebrity clientele, as listed on his website, has included the actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock; the four-time Arnold Classic champion Kenneth Wheeler, known as Flex; the 2008 Mr. Olympia winner, Dexter Jackson; and big-name athletes such as Magic Johnson, George Foreman and Jose Canseco.
The wall of champions at Gold’s Gym. Mr. Glass is the trainer of choice there. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
YouTube and Instagram have turned Mr. Glass into something of a national fitness celebrity. And here at home, in this land of thick necks, turbo tans and tattoo parlors, he is a tourist attraction unto himself.
On a recent Friday afternoon, bodybuilding legends like Kai Greene, a three-time runner-up in the Mr. Olympia contest, ambled over with camera crews for impromptu interviews. People with day passes took selfies with Mr. Glass.
Mr. Glass moved to a private area with Lionel Brown, a 5-foot-8, 240-pound competitive bodybuilder, and watched him practice his stage poses.
“This is what we call classic shape, nice form,” Mr. Glass said, after instructing Mr. Brown to take off his shirt. “Show your abs. Do a double bicep. Squeeze your lats.”
“See the separation there?” Mr. Glass said. “That’s the difference between a professional and an amateur.”
Most bodybuilding trainers emphasize low repetition with free weights and extreme poundage. Mr. Glass, who is in his 60s (“old,” he said), makes essential tweaks to that, emphasizing form over maximum overload and unapologetically using machines — often in strange new ways that take handlebar and seat placement as mere suggestions.
There is also an earthy gracefulness about him, from the inconspicuous dark green sweatshirt and matching green cargo pants he wears to the way he avoids barking clichés like “come on, baby” and “let’s go, cowboy” at his clients. (Among his favorites is an 80-something grandmother who works out with him nearly every day and is, he says, “one of the hardest working people in the gym.”)
Mr. Glass coaches Silvio Samuel who works his back on a machine. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
For the most part, he comes off less like mayor of the mesomorphs than their Yoda-ish therapist.
So this November, I went to Mr. Glass for a couple of workouts.
The first day, we did an intense pec workout in which he moved me around to a variety of chest press and fly machines. The weights we used were significantly lower than what I do on my own, but the workout was considerably more focused. And difficult.
Putting a rectangular block behind my back on the incline press pushed back my overdeveloped shoulders, forcing me to isolate my chest in ways I’d barely felt before.
The next day, we worked legs, where even the ordinary hamstring curl machine exercise was made exponentially harder by having me put my hands at the front of the pad and arching up slightly, as if I was doing a back extension.
Mr. Glass also had me do one of his signature exercises, a single leg press movement that is done by stepping into a horizontal leg press, turning the body to the side, and going one leg at a time with the other suspended in midair.
It was not only one of the most intense quad exercises I’d ever done, but also felt sort of like being forced to take a calculus test at the same time.
“Before we had a lot of machines, we all used free weights because that’s what we had,” Mr. Glass said. “But now, you can’t get certain angles from free weights than you can get machines. They put a different kind of stress on the muscles. I try to work around what I have.”
The way Mr. Glass tells it, he gave up his own bodybuilding career in the 1980s because of the toll it was taking on his body. “At my heaviest, I was 262 pounds,” he said. “I was taking health risks, and I didn’t want to do that. I couldn’t walk without breathing like a madman. I thought, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ And that’s when I realized I was done.”
He’s not about to voice blanket opposition to performance-enhancing drugs. “I’d be a hypocrite,” he said.
He acknowledges the role steroids play with bodybuilders competing at the highest levels. But he does want clients using them to start making choices that factor in their health, including going to a doctor regularly and getting blood work done.
As I worked out, a pair of lifters who are big enough to snap Chris Hemsworth like a twig screamed through dead lifts.
Mr. Glass was unimpressed. “A waste of energy,” was what he called their loud display.
In walked Mr. Glass’s next client, another person who is expanding his customer base.
“Calvin!” Mr. Glass said, walking off to greet him.
It was Calvin Klein, who looked like lithe and fit in his tight navy T-shirt and charcoal sweatpants.
“I’m committed to staying healthy and energized, and this is a great way of doing it,” Mr. Klein said.
Mr. Glass, he said, “is up there with the best.”
Did I read Silvio Samuel? I didn't know he is out of Jail I personally don't think Dex can afford 225 an hour, he prolly pays around 50, given the fact is a 5 days a week regimen
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$225/hour - get the fuck out of here.
There are only so many ways to work out any muscle on the body. For this guy to expect to get paid $225/hour is absolute bullshit.
Professional bodybuilders aren't rich, most are barely making it through and some have to even resort to illegal and sexually explicit activities just to compete in hopes of a plastic trophy.
For this guy to charge that much is insane. I know a few guys in the circuit that try to charge people that much.
That said, a fool is born every day. If you want Glass to train you, go ahead and waste your money.
"1"
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$225/hour - get the fuck out of here.
There are only so many ways to work out any muscle on the body. For this guy to expect to get paid $225/hour is absolute bullshit.
Professional bodybuilders aren't rich, most are barely making it through and some have to even resort to illegal and sexually explicit activities just to compete in hopes of a plastic trophy.
For this guy to charge that much is insane. I know a few guys in the circuit that try to charge people that much.
That said, a fool is born every day. If you want Glass to train you, go ahead and waste your money.
"1"
Would love to have a training session with you, OMR!
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Would love to have a training session with you, OMR!
I can't pretend to know how to train anyone.
I just stick to the basics nowadays. I hope you've been well.
"1"
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Lol. Haters. He deserves every penny. Respect.
lol. He doesn't "deserve" every penny. Bodybuilding is all drugs and genetics. He uses false advertising and his former clients to pump up his prices and delude people he's training into thinking his methods are somehow "superior" Would you pay him 225/hr? Of corse you wouldn't because you know the reality of the situation. So you're just hypocritical and really don't truly believe what you're saying.
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plus he is not gonna say his lowest rates or deals on the NY TIMES article
why cheapen your rate via the media? of course not dumb practice
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lol. He doesn't "deserve" every penny. Bodybuilding is all drugs and genetics. He uses false advertising and his former clients to pump up his prices and delude people he's training into thinking his methods are somehow "superior" Would you pay him 225/hr? Of corse you wouldn't because you know the reality of the situation. So you're just hypocritical and really don't truly believe what you're saying.
How is that false advertising? He's a celebrity trainer. He's high profile, he has high profile clients and is more in demand. Therefore he can charge more. Celebrity anything costs more, why should he be charging $18/hour when people literally beg him to train them on social media?
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Did I read Silvio Samuel? I didn't know he is out of Jail I personally don't think Dex can afford 225 an hour, he prolly pays around 50, given the fact is a 5 days a week regimen
Silvio is definitely out and training at Gold’s. Plus the back photo of him standing next to Glass in NY Times article looks very solid.
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How is that false advertising? He's a celebrity trainer. He's high profile, he has high profile clients and is more in demand. Therefore he can charge more. Celebrity anything costs more, why should he be charging $18/hour when people literally beg him to train them on social media?
Oh so because other people do it, it's not false advertising? Virtually the whole supplement industry and bodybuilding industry is based upon false advertising. Not saying other people don't do it. But he certainly does. Why do we try to distinguish people like Rich Gaspari, Kevin Levrone, and people like this apart? Saying this guy has better mores than the other blah blah blah. They all sell snake oil to the public and overprice it. They're all pieces of shit, but they're decent businessmen who are capitalizing on their past work. Doesn't make it just.
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Silvio is definitely out and training at Gold’s. Plus the back photo of him standing next to Glass in NY Times article looks very solid.
Is Silvio being trained by Glass?
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Damn.
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Oh so because other people do it, it's not false advertising? Virtually the whole supplement industry and bodybuilding industry is based upon false advertising. Not saying other people don't do it. But he certainly does. Why do we try to distinguish people like Rich Gaspari, Kevin Levrone, and people like this apart? Saying this guy has better mores than the other blah blah blah. They all sell snake oil to the public and overprice it. They're all pieces of shit, but they're decent businessmen who are capitalizing on their past work. Doesn't make it just.
I didn't say anything about other people doing it. I'm not even sure what "it" is. He's a trainer. He charges what people are willing to pay. People are willing to pay more because he's well-known and works with well-known people. Same with celebrity cooks and hairstylists. A meal or a haircut can only get so good, but people are willing to pay "celebrity" prices because of intangible factors. There are other options. You don't have to pay those prices if they are not for you.
And in defense of his training methods- he probably has a sliding scale for competitive bodybuilders, but even if he doesn't they may think he's worth it. They have the same information you do. For an everyday lifter, training is simple: pick something up, put it down. When you get to a more competitive level and the difference between being a champ and an also ran is stuff so minor most people wouldn't even notice, then maybe his guidance is helpful.
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$225/hour - get the fuck out of here.
There are only so many ways to work out any muscle on the body. For this guy to expect to get paid $225/hour is absolute bullshit.
Professional bodybuilders aren't rich, most are barely making it through and some have to even resort to illegal and sexually explicit activities just to compete in hopes of a plastic trophy.
For this guy to charge that much is insane. I know a few guys in the circuit that try to charge people that much.
That said, a fool is born every day. If you want Glass to train you, go ahead and waste your money.
"1"
Lol never seen this mod before!
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Glass is da` man !!
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bravo for him charging celebrity prices. it's a free market, the price for one guy goes up, the rest can bump up their prices a little bit, too. he's raising the ceiling for other trainers. don't hate, participate
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How is that false advertising? He's a celebrity trainer. He's high profile, he has high profile clients and is more in demand. Therefore he can charge more. Celebrity anything costs more, why should he be charging $18/hour when people literally beg him to train them on social media?
This is true. Why cant you guys understand this?
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$225 an hour
Absurd.
But tapping on the muscles for a better mind muscle connection is included for all sets..
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This is true. Why cant you guys understand this?
Agree 100%.
If someone's dumb enough to pay that, or if they feel they get value from it and can afford it, why not?
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$225/hour - get the fuck out of here.
There are only so many ways to work out any muscle on the body. For this guy to expect to get paid $225/hour is absolute bullshit.
Professional bodybuilders aren't rich, most are barely making it through and some have to even resort to illegal and sexually explicit activities just to compete in hopes of a plastic trophy.
For this guy to charge that much is insane. I know a few guys in the circuit that try to charge people that much.
That said, a fool is born every day. If you want Glass to train you, go ahead and waste your money.
"1"
Maybe he's charging less when training a pro, since they help him to attract new clients?
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Charles is a good guy and knows more about unlocking a physiques potential through training than anyone in the game, Chemical wise there are guys who are ahead of him.
But you can go to Charles and he will tell you if you have what it takes and what it will take you to unlock it. He won't lie to you and even though he charges that amount you quoted I can tell you he does a lot for guys who can't afford his services on that level.
Hes a good guy and I have never seen a PT the world over in my travels who consistently has worked as hard and long as Charles has, he deserves all the success that is attributed to him and he's still a humble guy.
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$225 an hour Good for him
If he has people paying that amount then clearly they think it's worthwhile
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How much does esf charge?
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How much does esf charge?
500
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500
For a 6 week boot camp that's fair
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For a 6 week boot camp that's fair
Per hour.
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So much jealousy in this thread. People will always pay a premium for the best advice and the higher that adviser gets to the top the more acute the price hike is.
$50 for a gym babysitter or $200 for someone who adds value - if you can afford it, and many can, then go with the $200. It's like flying first class, now that I can afford it I always do it, but it's certainly not "worth it" on most international flights.
However...Charles Glass is a fcuking awful trainer. He looks like a hobo, eats food whilst his clients are training, goes off and chats to people in the middle of client sets, and invents bullshit angles in the worst broscience manner imaginable.
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I can't pretend to know how to train anyone.
I just stick to the basics nowadays. I hope you've been well.
"1"
do you think you could get Shizzo into shape?
Sure we getbiggers could pool our resources to make it worth your while at $226 per hour
it would probably go something like one of these 3 scenarios though
in the beginning of the third all the people accused of gimmicks take out their frustration on Shizzo. later on One More rep gets fed up bans shizzo and the consequences happen
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Lol at $225 am hour. For what? All the special angles that he teaches to clients? ??? ???
exactly
Some people will say it’s worth it ::)
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Lol. Haters. He deserves every penny. Respect.
Care to explain? Have you worked with him? I’ve watched him train “clients” for yrs, all the same, they don’t need him
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So much jealousy in this thread. People will always pay a premium for the best advice and the higher that adviser gets to the top the more acute the price hike is.
$50 for a gym babysitter or $200 for someone who adds value - if you can afford it, and many can, then go with the $200. It's like flying first class, now that I can afford it I always do it, but it's certainly not "worth it" on most international flights.
However...Charles Glass is a fcuking awful trainer. He looks like a hobo, eats food whilst his clients are training, goes off and chats to people in the middle of client sets, and invents bullshit angles in the worst broscience manner imaginable.
No ones jealous
Getbiggers have millions in their account ::)
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Lol at $225 am hour. For what? All the special angles that he teaches to clients? ??? ???
This! I’ve never understood what exactly Charles Glass does other than add in bullshit angles, make exercise more dangerous because of the way he alters machines, or increases risk of injury because he has guys doing behind the neck movements or side laterals ‘leading with the pinkys’ - that just lead to shoulder impingement.
What ‘science’ are any of his hair brained exercises based on?
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This! I’ve never understood what exactly Charles Glass does other than add in bullshit angles, make exercise more dangerous because of the way he alters machines, or increases risk of injury because he has guys doing behind the neck movements or side laterals ‘leading with the pinkys’ - that just lead to shoulder impingement.
What ‘science’ are any of his hair brained exercises based on?
It’s either you have it or you don’t
People are just idiots
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A fool and his money are soon parted.
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I charge my clients much, much more than that per hour just for reading Getbig. Nobody said life was fair.
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Have known Charles for 25 years now. We are not friends but gym aquaintences. Charles is a very humble man who just does his thing. He does not get caught up in the gym bullshit and gossip. Just loves doing what he does.
On a side note...these late 70's pics of Glass are full blown Superfly-Shaft-Soulbrother. Just imagining Charles posing to the opening theme of Sanford & Son. Lol.
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Have known Charles for 25 years now. We are not friends but gym aquaintences. Charles is a very humble man who just does his thing. He does not get caught up in the gym bullshit and gossip. Just loves doing what he does.
On a side note...these late 70's pics of Glass are full blown Superfly-Shaft-Soulbrother. Just imagining Charles posing to the opening theme of Sanford & Son. Lol.
He looked great
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Have known Charles for 25 years now. We are not friends but gym aquaintences. Charles is a very humble man who just does his thing. He does not get caught up in the gym bullshit and gossip. Just loves doing what he does.
On a side note...these late 70's pics of Glass are full blown Superfly-Shaft-Soulbrother. Just imagining Charles posing to the opening theme of Sanford & Son. Lol.
very very good, but he could never beat this
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Charles Glass is bodybuilding's Matt Foley, Schmoetivational Speaker. He lives in a van, down by the gym.
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If he can get $225 per hour, good for him. I am pretty sure there are plenty of people looking for secrets that will pay him. Or just purchase a day pass and spend all day there watching him train others and take notes.
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Charles Glass is bodybuilding's Matt Foley, Schmoetivational Speaker. He lives in a van, down by the gym.
lol, quite unlikely, prolly lives in a big Condo in Venice Area
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If he can get $225 per hour, good for him. I am pretty sure there are plenty of people looking for secrets that will pay him. Or just purchase a day pass and spend all day there watching him train others and take notes.
I saw him train a few people in Golds gym in california. He was a nice guy. I approached him and said, "Hi." Highlight of my life, to be honest.
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A nice article about Charles (with a little about the culture at Gold's Gym in Venice) in today's NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/style/charles-glass-bodybuilder-workout.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fsports&action=click&contentCollection=sports®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront
VENICE, Calif. — Remember the episode of “Seinfeld” that features Elaine trying to return a dress to Barneys after she takes it home and realizes that it doesn’t look nearly as good as it did when she was at the store, surrounded by mirrors that made her appear skinnier?
Well, it’s the opposite at Gold’s Gym in Venice, Calif., the longtime bodybuilding mecca frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger and three subsequent generations of herculean he-men.
Here, lifters get stretched out horizontally not just by pushing heavy weights and ingesting supplements of varying legal statuses, but also through their own reflections on the walls.
And for those with a real interest in getting huge and $225 an hour to burn, one trainer stands at the front of the pack.
He is Charles Glass, a bespectacled, beanie-wearing and dreadlocked former bodybuilding champion who got his start competing in gymnastics at the University of California, Berkeley. He won the middleweight championship with the International Federation of Bodybuilding in 1983, before giving up the sport professionally to train others.
His celebrity clientele, as listed on his website, has included the actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock; the four-time Arnold Classic champion Kenneth Wheeler, known as Flex; the 2008 Mr. Olympia winner, Dexter Jackson; and big-name athletes such as Magic Johnson, George Foreman and Jose Canseco.
The wall of champions at Gold’s Gym. Mr. Glass is the trainer of choice there. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
YouTube and Instagram have turned Mr. Glass into something of a national fitness celebrity. And here at home, in this land of thick necks, turbo tans and tattoo parlors, he is a tourist attraction unto himself.
On a recent Friday afternoon, bodybuilding legends like Kai Greene, a three-time runner-up in the Mr. Olympia contest, ambled over with camera crews for impromptu interviews. People with day passes took selfies with Mr. Glass.
Mr. Glass moved to a private area with Lionel Brown, a 5-foot-8, 240-pound competitive bodybuilder, and watched him practice his stage poses.
“This is what we call classic shape, nice form,” Mr. Glass said, after instructing Mr. Brown to take off his shirt. “Show your abs. Do a double bicep. Squeeze your lats.”
“See the separation there?” Mr. Glass said. “That’s the difference between a professional and an amateur.”
Most bodybuilding trainers emphasize low repetition with free weights and extreme poundage. Mr. Glass, who is in his 60s (“old,” he said), makes essential tweaks to that, emphasizing form over maximum overload and unapologetically using machines — often in strange new ways that take handlebar and seat placement as mere suggestions.
There is also an earthy gracefulness about him, from the inconspicuous dark green sweatshirt and matching green cargo pants he wears to the way he avoids barking clichés like “come on, baby” and “let’s go, cowboy” at his clients. (Among his favorites is an 80-something grandmother who works out with him nearly every day and is, he says, “one of the hardest working people in the gym.”)
Mr. Glass coaches Silvio Samuel who works his back on a machine. Credit Graham Walzer for The New York Times
For the most part, he comes off less like mayor of the mesomorphs than their Yoda-ish therapist.
So this November, I went to Mr. Glass for a couple of workouts.
The first day, we did an intense pec workout in which he moved me around to a variety of chest press and fly machines. The weights we used were significantly lower than what I do on my own, but the workout was considerably more focused. And difficult.
Putting a rectangular block behind my back on the incline press pushed back my overdeveloped shoulders, forcing me to isolate my chest in ways I’d barely felt before.
The next day, we worked legs, where even the ordinary hamstring curl machine exercise was made exponentially harder by having me put my hands at the front of the pad and arching up slightly, as if I was doing a back extension.
Mr. Glass also had me do one of his signature exercises, a single leg press movement that is done by stepping into a horizontal leg press, turning the body to the side, and going one leg at a time with the other suspended in midair.
It was not only one of the most intense quad exercises I’d ever done, but also felt sort of like being forced to take a calculus test at the same time.
“Before we had a lot of machines, we all used free weights because that’s what we had,” Mr. Glass said. “But now, you can’t get certain angles from free weights than you can get machines. They put a different kind of stress on the muscles. I try to work around what I have.”
The way Mr. Glass tells it, he gave up his own bodybuilding career in the 1980s because of the toll it was taking on his body. “At my heaviest, I was 262 pounds,” he said. “I was taking health risks, and I didn’t want to do that. I couldn’t walk without breathing like a madman. I thought, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ And that’s when I realized I was done.”
He’s not about to voice blanket opposition to performance-enhancing drugs. “I’d be a hypocrite,” he said.
He acknowledges the role steroids play with bodybuilders competing at the highest levels. But he does want clients using them to start making choices that factor in their health, including going to a doctor regularly and getting blood work done.
As I worked out, a pair of lifters who are big enough to snap Chris Hemsworth like a twig screamed through dead lifts.
Mr. Glass was unimpressed. “A waste of energy,” was what he called their loud display.
In walked Mr. Glass’s next client, another person who is expanding his customer base.
“Calvin!” Mr. Glass said, walking off to greet him.
It was Calvin Klein, who looked like lithe and fit in his tight navy T-shirt and charcoal sweatpants.
“I’m committed to staying healthy and energized, and this is a great way of doing it,” Mr. Klein said.
Mr. Glass, he said, “is up there with the best.”
Interesting read thanks dikhole.
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Had a brief conversation with Glass in Pittsburgh one year.......very cool guy.
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Where ya been OMR :o :o :o
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Good article. But photo of Silvio Samuel in NY Times??? Back looking good so soon out.
Lionel Brown is still competing? Dude was one of the up and comers with Richard Jones.
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lol, quite unlikely, prolly lives in a big Condo in Venice Area
Close... Glass lives in a $625k Townhouse in the Alta Vista Area
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Wtf... totally forgot I Did a big post regarding people not getting how or why he charges 225 an hour and now I don't see it :/
Long story short the market determines value. If people wouldn't be willing to pay 225 an hour, he wouldn't be charging to 25 an hour.
/end
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$225hr...i better get a happy ending.
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$225hr...i better get a happy ending.
I don't think I want that from him..
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Charles Glass was an engineer
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Charles Glass was an engineer
So he once drove the Choo Choo at Knott's Berry Farm?
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$225/hour - get the fuck out of here.
There are only so many ways to work out any muscle on the body. For this guy to expect to get paid $225/hour is absolute bullshit.
Professional bodybuilders aren't rich, most are barely making it through and some have to even resort to illegal and sexually explicit activities just to compete in hopes of a plastic trophy.
For this guy to charge that much is insane. I know a few guys in the circuit that try to charge people that much.
That said, a fool is born every day. If you want Glass to train you, go ahead and waste your money.
"1"
Or those bodybuilders can like, get a job. Or go to school and learn a trade or get a degree. Jon Delarosa was making 100k being an elevator repairman. Ron Love and Ronnie Coleman were cops.
A gymnast turned bodybuilder, turned trainer, has a more interesting story, plus the word of mouth that he has trained elite bodybuilders and athletes, as well as Calvin Klein is his edge that he has on other people.
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I don't think I want that from him..
i knkw...he looks like some random alky down by Penn station
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Charles Glass was an engineer
Charles Glass was a Glass man and a damn good one.
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I'd rather hire Mills, those giant sets look brutal, plus probably smells better than Glass.
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very very good, but he could never beat this
Agree with you all the way. That pic of Nubret is one of the best physiques ever.
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Close... Glass lives in a $625k Townhouse in the Alta Vista Area
Always thought he lived right next to golds near the dumpster
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Always thought he lived right next to golds near the dumpster
Never judge Yoda by his rags. Because he ended up in a better place than his star pupil (you know who that is).
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He charges 225 an hour but what cut of that does the gym get?
Half? I would say at least 1/3 of that...
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We bill our Indian paralegals out at $250 an hour. Then we charge $350-$1K an hour to "analyze" the doc review they already did.
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(http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=641596.0;attach=754553;image)
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(http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=641596.0;attach=754553;image)
Goes better with the music played below
(http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=641596.0;attach=754553;image)
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Always thought he lived right next to golds near the dumpster
No that's Robbie Robinson. Racist comment mate saying they all look the same :P :D ;)