odds and ends [bodybuilding related.

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[IroNat]

Great physiques on those men.

Dianabol really works. 

Joe Abbenda is still alive at 85.

Did Harold Poole ever attend Purdue University as mentioned in the article?

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Great physiques on those men.

Dianabol really works. 

Joe Abbenda is still alive at 85.

Did Harold Poole ever attend Purdue University as mentioned in the article?

   I know that when Tinnerino died, Abbenda was all worked up, thinking he was heading for a similar fate. Abbenda was Tinnerino's mentor.

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   https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/indystar/name/harold-poole-obituary?id=8947163

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[6 Reps]

Mr. Universe 1963:

i=h2eDy44IeP1gpp84

[wes]

Abbenda was a damn good bodybuilder for his time period.

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    Don Howorth

1961

Mr Los Angeles - AAU, 2nd

1962

Mr Los Angeles - AAU, Winner

1963

Mr America - AAU, 17th
Mr California - AAU, Winner
Mr California - AAU, Tall, 1st
Mr West Coast - AAU, Winner

1964

Mr America - IFBB, Tall, 3rd
Mr Pacific Coast - AAU, 2nd

1966

Mr America - IFBB, Tall, 2nd

1967

Mr America - IFBB, Overall Winner
Mr America - IFBB, Tall, 1st

Magazines

1963 August       Strength and Health
1963 December   Vol 23, Num 2   IronMan
1964 July   Vol 1, Num 7   Muscular Development
1965 April   Vol 15, Num 2   Muscle Builder
1965 August       Strength and Health
1965 September   Vol 7, Num 9   Mr America
1966 December   Vol 8, Num 9   Mr America
1967 May   Vol 26, Num 4   IronMan
1967 October   Vol 9, Num 7   Muscle Builder
1968 April   Vol 9, Num 12   Mr America
© MuscleMemory   the DUKE of DELTS.

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     Lifters knew Wesley Williams as the guy who could clean & jerk 350lbs when the record was only 250lbs, but historians know him as the 1st black officer in the New York Fire Department, BBing gurus knew him the best built man in the US between WW1 & the Great Depression, while fighters of his era knew him as 1 of the greatest fighters of that era- Wesley Williams was cooler than absolute zero, harder than viburnum, & an example we should all strive to follow.
There is no modern cognate for this man, because he was beyond elite at things in which he didn't compete, a trailblazer in those that he did, & such a badass he seems more like a comic book character than an IRL human. Williams dominated everyone at everything so that even during Segregation no one could deny him the right to say that he was their equal- whether it was academics, athletics, aesthetics, or any heroic deed.
The “Negro Hercules” was about the same size as the American superstar WLer-BBers of WW2, John Grimek & John Davis, though Williams' 5’9″ & 190lbs were leaner & more aesthetic. Williams' C&J was heavier than Grimek's best of 325lbs & Davis's 330lbs at the same weight, & he even had amazing longevity- he lived to 87, Grimek 88, Davis 64.
Williams all of his free time either reading at the library or at the Harlem YMCA, playing sports ranging from basketball to ice skating; learning catch wrestling; or boxing with any 1 of the 4 HOF boxers w/ whom he regularly sparred & lifted:
- Joe Jeanette, 5'10" 190lbs 120W-24L-21D (69KO)
- Sam Langford, 5'6.5" 130-185lbs 210W-43L-53D (126KO)
- Kid Norfolk, 5'8" 165-185lbs 115W-28L-8D (48KO)
- Panama Al Brown, 5'10' 108-115lbs 131W-20L-12D (55KO)
He had to become a badass fighter to work for the FDNY- white, usually larger firefighters would brawl him on rooftops over his race, strand him in dangerous positions, & fought him non-stop in the basement of the firehouse. Williams joined the FDNY in 1918 as 1 of 2 people in history w/perfect scores on the fitness test, & 37th of 2700 on the written test, made lieutenant in 1927, & retired as a battalion chief.

[IroNat]

Interesting stuff, Funk.

Back to Joe Abbenda for a moment...

John Hansen interviewed him Nov 15, 2022 on his podcast Bodybuilding Legends..

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  Rasa von Werder is the GOATiest of GOATs- she was the 1st female BBer & GF of Arnold & Franco in their prime, but she gets very little attention because she's a god-tier feminist who started a feminist cult funded by feminine domination porn. Werder's overt sexuality, love of lifting, & bonkers measurements (44DD-21-38) made her a mainstay of the LA bodybuilding scene in the 1960s & 70s, & although her attempt at a triad relationship with Arnold & Franco fell flat (Arnold refused but Franco was enthused), she became the face of women's BB by appearing in Playboy &  Esquire & doing multiple rounds of publicity on TV & radio.
Werder, a German-born Lithuanian who moved to the US as a child, competed in the "bathing beauty" contests that predated women's BB under the pseudonym Kellie Everts. According to 3x Most Muscular Man in America winner Dan Lurie, who was asked by the editor of Esquire in 1975 about women's BBing "the ONLY female BBer is Kellie Everts." Under that name, she:
- was 1967 Miss Nude Universe
- shared the stage w/ Arnold when taking 2nd in the Miss Americana & Best Body contest in 1972, 1973, & 1974 (an early figure comp)
- was the 1st female BBer featured in a major mainstream magazine, & had a massive 5pg spread in the July 1975 Esquire. That & her subsequent tour of talk show circuit is what began female BB.
- was the 1st female BBer featured in Playboy (1977), which happened the same year as the 1st female BB contest
- built a significant fortune producing female domination & wrestling videos, much of which was used to found a feminist religious convent. Her religion has become extremely matriarchal but was initially a much more fun vibe that included 1000+ strip & burlesque club tour she called "Stripping for God."
Arnold & Franco were able to vie for the hand of this amazingly zany woman only because they looked like the type of demigods who deserved her. Bang that link in my profile to blast your abs the way Arnold, Franco, & Rasa von Werder did with Cold War Core! It's got a 5-phase plan to take you from a keg to a 6-pack & preps you for the insanity of 1970s-style 7-day-a-week ab training so you can have a god-body of your own!

[IroNat]

More on Rasa (Kelly Everts) and where she ended up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasa_von_Werder

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   Henry Lenz did 5000 sit-ups in the 4 days before winning the 1952 Mr Muscle Beach & was so serious about his abs he set an alarm to do sit-ups in the middle of the night. That's not something you'd expect from a wrestler of that era, but Lenz wrestled in the Northwest Wrestling Alliance (NWA), which was the 1950s predecessor to the WWE of the 1980s.
Lenz won the NWA tag team title a couple of times, with similarly jacked pre-steroid dudes. Lenz stood around 5'10" & 200lbs (he dieted down to 190lbs in the pic) & won the Tag Team Title with:
- Eric Pederson, the 1947 Most Muscular Man in America. Pederson lost the overall in the Mr A to Steve Reeves over a pimple, but won the BB portion for superior muscularity. Pederson was 5'10" 200lbs, & a legit hard man- he was trained by Lou Thesz & became a leg breaker for the mob when he realized wrestling didn't pay well & travel in the era before highways was awful
- Bud Curtis, the Masked Marvel, a Military WL champ who was 5'11" 235lbs & loved spearfishing & fitness so much he canoed 2000mi in a summer
Insanely, they weren't even the biggest or hardest dudes in that federation, because it included:
- ultra-humongous & jacked guys like 6'6" 270lb Sailor Art Thomas & 6'5" 270lb Hans Mortier
- Luther Lindsay- 5'8" 235lbs & the best submission fighter of that era
- Oly silver medalist wrestler Danny Hodge- 6'1" 185lbs & so strong he could still crush an apple with 1 hand in his 80s
- 5'9" 220lb Pepper Gomez, 1950 Mr Muscle Beach & strongman who could support a VW Beetle w/ his abs
Pederson & Lenz came up lifting together in LA & eventually trained alongside other NWA BBer-wrestlers, Hollywood stars, & BB champs like Steve Reeves in Bert Goodrich's gym, which was the 1st modern chrome, leather upholstery, & mirrors gym (& women, unlike most gyms!).
They used the same workout routine everyone did at the time- the VERY misunderstood York Mr America course. 3x/week they did 1-3 sets of 12-36 exercises using their 6RM & a drop set to hit 12-15 reps, w/ body part training on off days, & sports, gymnastics, & abs almost every day. Bang this link  (https://plagueofstrength.com/.../building-your-ideal.../)  & grab Building Your Ideal Physique to read all about it! 

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   Alan Mead was a master of muscle control who was more shredded than barbacoa tacos, the WR holder in the straight-arm pullover & weighted sit-ups, & an adaptive athlete who contemporary strength historians believed was also the all-time greatest at pull-ups & dips.
Mead towered over the average Brit born in 1894- he was 183cm (6') when the average Brit was only 169cm (5'7") & weighed 83kg (182lbs) when the average Brit was a skinny-fat 64kg (140lbs). He was from an aristocratic family, which meant that it was customary for men to be exceedingly slim, but Mead defied standards with pretty much every breath he drew.
Mead came to be known as the “Human Anatomy Chart" in the 1920s after having his leg blown off during WW1 & training on wartime rations of 1600 calories a day from 1918-1921. Instead of worrying about losing his gains or bemoaning the difficulties he was facing as an adaptive athlete during wartime & a global economic Depression, Mead got busy setting records instead ( plus, training takes your mind off how hungry you are).
His 2 WRs are amusingly matchy-matchy- he did 70 reps w/ a 70lb barbell in the straight-arm pullover & 70 reps on weighted sit-ups with the same 70lb BB. Strength historian David Willoughby estimated his missing lower leg would have weighed 10-12lbs, & determined that even if his records were set with both legs, his strength to BW ratio would still be unmatched.
Though he'd been a lawyer prior to the war, Mead became a gym owner after extensive rehab work with Monte Saldo & Max Sick, the BBers who pioneered muscle control & modern posing. At that point, Mead became the world's most jacked attorney (his practice was apparently immensely successful) & one of the UK's most successful strength coaches, w/ a mail-order training program that rivalled the popularity of Maxick, Saldo, & Sandow.
Bang this link to grab Building Your Ideal Physique to read about pre-steroid BB champs like Alan Mead & the methods they used to build their badass pre-steroid physiques! It's got stats on over 100 male & female champs, as well as an update of the program they all used to dominate their opposition! https://plagueofstrength.com/.../building-your-ideal.../

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  Piotr Krylov (Пётр Крылов) built his natty limits-shattering 5'5" 193lbs, 18" cold-measured biceps, 13" straight- & cold-measured forearms, & 47cm/18.5" neck before the era of steroids, in massively impoverished imperial Russia. If it can be done under those conditions, that body could be built under any & all conditions, by any one- all it takes is tons of effort.
Krylov is best known as a circus strongman, but he wasn't merely a bender of iron bars & horseshoes, or a carrier of horses. This dude moved weights you can't, natty AF, without even having electric lighting in his gym.
Not just that- he built more muscle than almost anyone reading this you carry in a time before steroids, the paved road, & refrigeration. This is a man from whom we can all learn.
His best lifts were berserk, especially considering Krylov was the King of the Kettlebells, not the king of the barbells.
- Crucifix with 100lb/45kg kettlebells
- Bent press 280lbs/127kg
- Clean & jerk 320lbs/145kg
Although the average Russian born in that era didn't live to 40, Peter Krylov was in his prime at age 43. By that time, he'd cut back his heavy lifting sessions to 3x a week instead of 5 (something most people seemed to agree on at that time), & he did those in the evening, alternating days with wrestling in the medium sessions.
He began every day with a light workout of chest expander work, calisthenics, & light dumbbells. He'd perform during the day, and then in the evening would do the following.
Press/Push Press- 5x10x80kg
Bench Press (in a wrestlers bridge)- 5x10x80kg
Double KB Press- 5x10x32kg
Squat- 10x10x80kg
Various BBing exercises with 20lb DBs
These workouts usually took 2hr, after which he'd get a massage.
That adds up to 10-12 workouts/wk, plus strength performances, cycling, running, & walking (& wrestlers of that era would squeeze a rubber ball as they walked to get extra grip work. Krylov's not the only dude with massive pre-steroid arms!
Bang this link (https://plagueofstrength.com/downloads/huge-natty-arms/) & read about Leroy Colbert, William Bankier, John McWilliams, Charmion, & more in Huge Natty Arms, my ebook filled w/ the training methods to build 16", 17", 18", 19", & even 20"+" arms in the pre-steroid era!

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  Tarzan actor Frank Merrill had the grip strength of a rabid chimp, held & still holds lifting & calisthenics records, & had 16" cold-measured arms that stretched the tape well over 17" while filming stunts as Tarzan. He was Hollywood's most jacked Silent-Era actor & remains 1 of the P4P strongest actors to ever be captured on film.
Merrill wasn't considered the best-built man in the US at his peak- he was 3rd best. Merrill's friend entered him in the 1st modern BB contest without Merrill's knowledge because the preliminary rounds were done by mail. He later discovered his 5'10" 165lb physique nabbed him 3rd & added that a trophy cabinet already holding 3 US National Champs trophies for gymnastic rings, as well as 56 other LA, California, & US titles in the rings, high bar, & rope climbing.
Merrill was the stunt double for Elmo Lincoln, the 1st Tarzan, & the 5th person to play the title role, probably already seen him swing on a rope 1-handed while holding a 122lb woman. There were no supports or safety harnesses in those days- just a knot in the rope just under his hand from sliding while supporting a total one-hand grip weight of 287lbs. He'd also hung by one hand from a vertically fixed belaying pin while holding a 100lb DB in the other hand, which was a 265lb one-hand support w/out a knot or pommel.
Merrill's greatest feat of grip strength was choking out a leopard who'd attacked him on-set w/ 1 hand while prying its teeth off his leg w/ the other.
There's no longer a world championships in rope climbing, probably because no one was ever going to beat Frank Merrill at it- he once climbed 45 feet (14m) in 10 seconds from a sitting start. The Czechs made the 8m climb their national sport & the WR sits at 4.87s, so it's safe to say Frank Merrill is the GOATiest rope climber of all time.
Merrill also held the WR in the chest lift everyone contested before the BP- the Lateral Lying Raise. It's a straight arm fly done on the floor, & Merrill held the rep max WR w/ 16 reps w/ a pair of 48lb DBs.
Get yourself a rope & start climbing, & grab Building Your Ideal Physique to get old school using the kind of calisthenics/weights combo Merrill did! https://plagueofstrength.com/.../building-your-ideal.../

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[Rambone]

https://www.tmz.com/2025/04/26/man-crashing-through-window-tmz-caption-contest/

^For Funk