Depressing! Mike and Ray Mentzer. Look at Mike drag on that cig...

[pellius]

He registered on June 20, 2011.  Guess which gimmick. 

Who? I'm just becoming aware of him and that other tool, average gym rat. And it cracks me up when he's trying to make a point, like Arnold was the best in 1980, he always ends with something like "And if you don't agree you're a blah, blah, blah."

That pretty much ends the debate right there. And not because of convincing debate or arguments, just "agree with me or you're a .... (usually something gay related). That's always the sign of a tiny, tiny mind.

[dyslexic]

I bet you have some great stories to tell, Vince.


Did you ever get to meet Mickey Hartigay, or see Arnold try to portray him in the Jayne Mansfield story

How about George Eiferman? I've always been curious about him and his workouts?

Vince Gironda... did you ever get to workout at his gym and deal with his so called *attitude*?

Leo Robert, Freddy Ortiz, Reeves, Edinger, Jack Delinger... any of those guys?

I know you got to workout with Larry Scott.


Curiousity killed the cat, you know?

[pellius]

The photo of Ray was from 1988 I believe. I was in LA briefly in 1967. I returned for a month in October 1968. Then I returned for my honeymoon in June 69. 1980 was the next visit but this time I brought by two youngest children, Lani and Zorba, with me. Golds Gym was in Santa Monica then. I wasn't there again until April 1991 when I stayed at Ray's place in Torrance/Redondo Beach. I was in Orange County in September 2000 for a few days then visited again in September 2004 for a week. I visited Golds Gym, Venice on every occasion since 68.

I started training at Gold's Venice in 1991. I remember you now. You gave me that look of utter contempt when I was doing tricep pushdowns with a rope. You bastard!

They even had that Keiser equipment in the back. I loved that equipment because it was air pressured and easy on the joints. And you could manipulate the resistance while training. I use to do the chest flys where I could barely get one rep to full contraction and then just hold it as I kept increasing the resistance with the foot pedal. It was like prying my chest apart. I could get about 6 reps before I was done but still hit a few quick partials. I'd do the same with the leg press, pull down and shoulder press. Not all the time. Just when I really wanted to turn it up.

God, I was such a bad ass back in the day.

Do you remember seeing Mike Mentzer training people there. It was Don Ross that introduced me when I told Don he was my bodybuilding mentor. It was quite a thrill at the time meeting Mike. He always called me by my name after that. I just remember being shock at the sound of his voice. Not what I pictured at all. Very squeaky and dorky.

[pellius]

I bet you have some great stories to tell, Vince.


Did you ever get to meet Mickey Hartigay, or see Arnold try to portray him in the Jayne Mansfield story

How about George Eiferman? I've always been curious about him and his workouts?

Vince Gironda... did you ever get to workout at his gym and deal with his so called *attitude*?

Leo Robert, Freddy Ortiz, Reeves, Edinger, Jack Delinger... any of those guys?

I know you got to workout with Larry Scott.


Curiousity killed the cat, you know?

Why do you think I put up with this cantankerous old codger?

[dyslexic]

Why do you think I put up with this cantankerous old codger?

I may be a bit slow, but I'm catching up. He may go into some diatribes from time to time, but he's also holding back. Maybe he should write a book... could be interesting.


Still waiting for the "before and after" stuff though (which could also go in his book) 

[Vince B]

Yes, of course I went to Vince's Gym in Studio City. Did that in October 1968. I just had my photos of Arnold developed that I took a few days before. When I met Vince I told him I had some photos of Arnold. He told me to fetch them from my car. So I zipped out and got them. He started thumbing through them and then said out real loud, "Here's a guy who carries photos of guys in his wallet!" Encouraged by the guys standing around his counter he thought he could do better so repeated what he had said but louder this time. From that instant I knew he was a dickhead. How embarrassing. I looked around his gym and it seemed spartan to me. Simple and basic equipment, many benches made of wood. I had a workout, of course, and even sipped water between sets like Larry Scott used to do. While doing triceps pressdowns I noticed a round steel beam close by. It gave me an idea about having a back support for that exercise and I eventually built several variations of that pressdown station.

Gironda had heaps of old photos on the walls of his gym. Funny thing was that he was in almost everyone of them! Now that guy had an ego. To this day I have not put up a photo of myself in my gym. My family put up a couple but there still isn't a big photo of my winning the Mr Canada title.

[unrageable]

no one gives a shit about Mr Canada that's why.

[Vince B]

I met Leo Robert in Montreal in 1965. He was running a small gym in the French section. He was pleasant to me and showed me a new routine for biceps.

I took a couple of photos outside his gym. Leo won Mr Canada and Mr Universe. He had perfect rows of abs. Nice guy. Joe used to feature Leo when he ran his magazines from Montreal.

[unrageable]

he pleasured you? LOL     

[pellius]

no one gives a shit about Mr Canada that's why.

Nobody gives a shit about you. You are the absolute classic pussy who gets bullied in real life and suddenly grows some balls when hiding behind a computer screen. I can only imagine what you look like.

I love slapping around little bitches like you.

[jwb]

Kinda weird that Vince would have only equipment made from metal in his gym in the early 60's then have a lot of wooden equipment in the late 60's and beyond.

[unrageable]

Nobody gives a shit about you. You are the absolute classic pussy who gets bullied in real life and suddenly grows some balls when hiding behind a computer screen. I can only imagine what you look like.

I love slapping around little bitches like you.

[Primemuscle]

 

[Vince B]

Gironda was outspoken and outrageous but he was an independent thinker. I guess he was smarter than the average Joe who came to train there. I visited his gym in 1980 but he wasn't there. I got his staff to call him on the phone. I told him I called my gym Vince's Gym in Sydney and he didn't mind a bit. He was working on writing articles for the magazines.

He installed a women's gym upstairs but it was basic and dark up there. That is what everyone did in those days because gyms offered aerobics and women were flocking to gyms. In the sixties only the health spas had women members. He didn't change downstairs much and I thought he should upgrade the equipment to keep up with the times. It was sad to see him close after being the best known gym in the world for a time. He sold Vince's Gym T-shirts and courses long before anyone else was making money out of it. One year he got flooded out and that took the wind out of his sails. He died a month of so before his 80th birthday when some friends were going to hold a big party for him.

[dyslexic]

I actually think that the photo you have posted (often  ) is very reminiscent of a combo between Reeves and Zane.


BTW, what was it that created so much trauma for Vince? It had something to do with his son. I can't help but think his son's problems must have distracted his business a bit more than he could handle. Maybe his boy died?

Was Vince single? Wasn't the son's mother around... siblings?

The other thing I was curious about with him is that he has always looked like a smoker and possibly a hard alcohol drinker. Not that he "partied" the way we look at it (context) these days, but more of like *vices* ~ but the kind that didn't keep him from still hitting the weights. He appeared to have maintained good shape right up to the end.

In other words, there are guys at my gym that smoke dope and drink a six pack every night after work, but are at the gym religiously at 6AM in the morning, and then off to work. It's a mentality that I can't quite understand; nonetheless, it does exist in some folks. Maybe the kind of people that don't stress out all the time?

[Vince B]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Gironda

[WillGrant]

In his later years Vince G married a young blonde lady , Madeline I think , not 100% sure on the name.. but she featured in a few of the articles written about him in MMI in the 90s.

[_bruce_]

Cool pics Vince. 

[Straw Man]

I viewed that video with a lot of interest because Ray stayed at my place for about a year in 87-88. I stayed at Ray's place for a couple of weeks in 1991. Jusup Wilkosz was the German bodybuilder who defeated Ray at the IFBB World championships in 1979 and denied Ray that title. Ray won the AAU Mr America in 1979. I guess Ray is relating this story about Jusup because he knew him. Ray was a serious guy and you can see it in the video. It was sad to hear him say he couldn't get any women. That wasn't the Ray I knew. He still carried himself with dignity but Mike looked high. Mike did use a word I never heard before so his mind wasn't gone. Mike was 49 and Ray was 47 but they both looked frail and much older. They both died not long after that video was taken. Those videos were supposed to make Mike a lot of money. Ray was on dialysis so his health was shot. When Mike died of some sort of heart failure it impacted on Ray because now he couldn't get a kidney transplant and regain his health. The shock was so great it ended up killing Ray. He died two days after Mike.

the article you posted with this link says they both died from an overdose of morphine

[hipolito mejia]

SAD>>>>>


And to think that Ronnie Coleman at 47 its about just 2 or 3 years younger than this two when that video was taped (filmed).

[Straw Man]

SAD>>>>>


And to think that Ronnie Coleman at 47 its about just 2 or 3 years younger than this two when that video was taped (filmed).

I think Ray was 47 in that video

they both look old and tired and Mike seems to be "medicated"

[Primemuscle]

These brothers are a couple of really sad messed up dudes in this video. Hopefully, they are not an accurate representation of the people of bodybuilding. Both dudes seemed really stoned in the video.

[Steve Namat]

Fuck off, Mr. 150mg prop/150mg winstrol.    

Still more than my current "cycle"...  

[dyslexic]

Still more than my current "cycle"...  

Which is...?

[Steve Namat]

Which is...?

4 workouts a week, 4 meals a day, working in 3 jobs at 5 places, hard sex for cardio...