Naturalwonder83... thank you.
Bruce... a lot of people on here know my story. I was an amateur bodybuilder first way before I was a mod or a writer for Iron Man. I write from my experiences and not from a book (although I’ve read many). I was the training partner of several Pro's in the late 70's through the end of the 80's. That happened because I love to train hard and trust me I had to make up for my lack of genetic gifts. I have interviewed 2-3 dozen Pro's for Iron Man Magazine. Now at 56 I still love to train but am now clean and doing what I can at this age. I still train 4 days a week come hell or high water. Trust me I have about the worst genetics for bodybuilding of anyone who ever picked up a weight. Whatever little success I’ve had comes from passion and heart. I have never, ever, ever given up.
Flexingtonsteele. Ken Waller was a big eater as was his buddy Tony Nowak. There was a place all the bodybuilders went on Lincoln Ave in Westchester, CA. It was about 20 minutes from Gold's Gym and across the street from Loyola Marymount University. It was an all you can eat Smorgasbord place called the Swedish Inn. According to Danny Padilla, Ken and Tony got banned from the place for eating too much food.
Then there was Dinah’s on Sepulveda in Culver City. Every Monday night the place was packed with bodybuilders because it was all you can eat Fried Chicken night. We’d be waiting outside talking to Roger Collard, Dave Dupree, Larry Jackson and many others.
Then there was “The Omelet Parlor” on Main St., in Santa Monica just down the street in between Gold’s Gym and World Gym. They had an Omelet called “Arnold’s Favorite”. I don’t remember what was in it because I chose something different.
So get to the point Max_Rep!
Okay, okay… here’s my point. off-season many of the guys just ate a well balanced diet of Protien, complex carbs and vegetables. They’d limit bread and sugar consumption and eat pretty clean. They knew to eat 4-5-6 times a day. Some like Larry Scott, Sergio and Casey were heavily into Blair’s Milk and Egg Protein mixed with Heavy Cream or Half and Half. Rheo Blair had people sipping this all day long even during workouts with good results. I used it myself and got good results. Scott often said he used 2 full cups of the powder every day.
My guess is that with the exception of the added heavy cream for those who used it, most of the bigger Pro’s were in the 4000 to 4,500 calorie a day range. If they needed more calories they’d add in natural peanut butter.
The diet I listed was one that I found to be effective for me just out of lots of trial and error. Guy’s back then did it backwards from what is practiced today. They experimented, found what worked and then let someone figure out the science involved in what they were doing. Let’s call it “empirical evidence’.
When I trained under Rory’s guidance he wanted me to eat like 7000 calories a day. By the need of the day I’d be stuffed and still have two large meals to go when I was ready for bed. I couldn’t do it. Off-season Rory was real puffy but somehow still managed to have a small waist. The guy was a freak.
Today they seem to look for the science to tell them what to do before they do it. I guess they feel that’s more efficient. The problem is that theory doesn’t always translate into reality.
Max_Rep – the Nonsensical Ranting of a Warped Mind
