Joe Roark's IronHistoryArchives.com
The HUGE library of Iron History compiled by Joe Roark.
Welcome to Iron History with Joe Roark!
Joe Roark has been studying the iron game since 1957, and by 1970 began a systematic gathering of information on index cards. By the time his first computer was acquired, there were several hundred thousand references to be typed into it.
For a few years he published his own newsletter called MuscleSearch: The Roark Report. By 1992 he was appointed as the IFBB Men's Bodybuilding Historian, and began writing about history for FLEX in his column Factoids. For ten years he contributed to Iron Game History from the U of Texas at Austin. Recently he also began writing All Our Yesterdays for FLEX.
His passion has always been the period between 1880 and 1920, with particular emphasis on the oldtime strongmen of that era. Joe will be offering bits of history for Cyberpump once per week, and the text will be relevant to the dates of the calendar for those events of yesteryear relevant to the coming week.
In this column, readers will also be able to ask Joe questions or comment on his posts. Note: The comments are solely for interaction between Joe and the readers only -- not reader to reader.
April 30, 2004: Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark Aug 6, 1986
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Dear Joe,
I have just got your letter August 4th and I am hastening to reply before I forget what I have to say. It seems to me that I am becoming more and more absent minded. I'm sure that one of these evenings I will kiss my bed good night and get into my girlfriend.
I got hold of Terry Todd, after a day of trying to phone him at his home. I received Rader's letter letting me know he had sold IM. When I told Terry after finally leaving a message with some secretary, he was so shocked that he actually gasped. His reaction was the same as mine- where in the hell did Balik get the money to buy the mag- I am sure the Raders have charged more for the other facilities and business. I wondered too-out loud- if our Woodland Hills pal wasn't behind it in order to eliminate a potential danger- running it for a few months and then letting it drop- another piece of ground gained for more readers.
But I was most- repeat most- PISSED OFF at a remark the Raders made to me to the effect that they had shown the article that I had submitted to them- AT THEIR REQUEST AND IN RESPONSE TO MY OUTLINE- to the new owner and he said he could 'probably' use it. It was the Raders responsibility to PAY me for the article and I lost no time sending them a letter pointing out that until paid by someone- and that THEY had COMMISSIONED ME to write it, that article was my property and I wanted it back at once and would do, and was capable of doing, my own negotiating with the new owner.
Now, what I am wondering is did the Raders pay Terry Todd for his article on Sid Chimney or Sri Chinmoy or whatever, and if they did then why wasn't I paid too?
Rader himself has always been a cheapskate when it came to money. Mabel however is not like this, but seems to be most generously mind- at least so my wife thought when we were in Alliance. I might, one of these days, tell you a story of what happened when we were at the Raders having dinner one evening. But let that go for the nonce.
As for the Oliva story here's what I was told - I may have told you this over the phone but can't recall now. But it seems that Oliva and his wife had an argument over who was to take out the garbage. Things went as they usually do in such a situation - from worse to wusserer and he slapped her around more than somewhat. Whereat the Mrs. Sergio took her spouse's service revolver - a 357 Magnum and let him have it in the umbilical area. How in the hell the man managed to survive a shot from this gun - which can shove a slug through an engine block - is beyond me, but survive he did and rumor has it that he will be out of dry dock in two or three weeks.
As for the story of Dave XXX. I got it from the same source as the Oliva story. XXX had gone into the hospital with chest problems and the usual expertise of our modern specialist medcos was unable to have a diagnosis made. Then he popped off and they did an autoposy. They discovered a collapsed lung and a wide spread fungus infection- I was told what it was but have forgotten. The one thing that puzzles me is that the collapsed lung wasn't discovered BEFORE HE DIED since this IS something they could have and should have found out.
I knew of Earle's [Liederman] previous marriage- four of them I think - but not the fact that he had kids. If I said I didn't know about his first wedding then I erred. The Miss Alaska - she came from Sweden or Norway- was his second bride. After he got moved to LA, there followed two more, one of them a doctor who just got bored and left him- but he never mentioned he had children. NEVER.
Rick Wayne is a good writer but tries to be too smart for his own good and often resorts to obscenity when it isn't necessary and when better and more apt expressions could have been used.
The Jowett Coulter letters spread over an astonishing span of 46 years- from 1922 when Jowett first wrote Ottley to 1969 and there are more to come. Yippee.
The more I read of them, the more I like and admire Ottley and the less I like George Fuisdale. Ottley wasn't fooled by GFJ. But he was polite, friendly and always helpful keeping in mind that what he did was for the good of weight training.
Jowett was, for my money, a liar, a cheat and a flim flamner of the first water. I do NOT believe anything he says in his letters and he spreads some horrible lies. And I'll give you some for instances.
He claims in one letter that Weider tried to get D. Johnson former editor of HEALTH AND STRENGTH to place him 2nd or 3rd in the 1951 Mr. Universe contest and Johnson compromised by placing him 4th. This is an outright lie. I was there- on the scene- present and accounted for and saw what was and wasn't done. [Roark: Weider placed 5th in tall class]
At no time did Weider EVER approach Johnson. Joe asked ME if I thought he should enter. I said I could see him doing no harm and even some good, that he stood no chance of winning since he hadn't trained. But I DID WARN HIM against any heavy lifting demonstration, telling him to do a few snatches or a bent press with 145- a weight well within his bounds. However he chose to try to press 200 and FAILED, then took three tries before he could JERK IT OVER HIS HEAD.
The story of Lurie beating up Weider came from Jowett and as a result should be taken grano salis or whatever. Jowett claimed Lurie chased Joe down the street to beat him up.
In another instance Jowett tells Ottley that Hoffman had gone to London and was supposed to be at a certain meeting at a certain time with Johnson, editor of H&S. Jowett had gone over to London in the sixties and had met Johnson, who, allegedly told Jowett the tale that Hoffman failed to appear on time and Johnson sent someone out to find him and the guy had come back saying that Hoffman was screwing a prostitute in a near by alley. Hogwash.
I guess I have banged your ear sufficient. If I haven't answered any questions- holler.
Best to you, Geni and Meg,
Chas
Posted by TheEditor @ 08:54 PM CST
4/23/04: The Declined Bench Press, by Joe Roark
Thursday, April 22, 2004
An individual has a right to lift in any manner he chooses. He does not have a right to re-name long standing (or long lying) exercises, nor the right to maintain the traditional name for the movement but so change the components of that lift that only the name has remained constant.
The Declining Bench Press: Exercises and lifts evolve over time, and invariably to make the movements easier, not harder. In the old days when the Press on Back on the Floor was done (because no one had yet invented an exercise bench for the purpose), the performer was on the floor facing upward with the barbell behind his head. He could either have the bell handed to him by a spotter, or lift the bell over his face to begin the Floor Press or if the radius of the globes or plates would allow, could roll the bell into the starting position above his face to the chest and push upward.
The floor was a hindrance to full range of course when the elbows and triceps touched it.
Later, when benches became available, the movement was renamed the bench press, and this was proper because no longer was it performed on the floor. Now the elbows could be lowered past the bench for full range of motion. Early models for the bench did not include uprights upon which the bell could rest, so the lifter again, employed a buddy to hand him the weight, or placed the barbell on the floor behind his head, stretched back to pick it up off the floor to arch it over his head to begin the bench press. (See Pullover and Press on Bench, S&H July 1952 p 12)
York began advertising a three position incline bench in the April 1950 issue of Strength & Health.
Soon uprights were attached to the benches offered for sale- though for shipping purposes, one supposes, the uprights were only about as wide as the bench itself and balancing the barbell was as important as trying to not pinch the hands when replacing the bell. York began advertising benches with attached supports in the February issue 1953, though a photo of a similar setup had appeared in March 1951 when a story on Irvin Johnson's Chicago gym was shown [Johnson later changed his name to Rheo H. Blair]
By September 1953 the first ad for York's 'Inclined and Declined Bench' was presented.
Ironman magazine, in it's Make It Yourself series had offered specs in 7:3 p 26 on how to construct a round bench, and in December 1948 how to make your own incline bench, and in May 1957 offered plans for a combo flat/incline bench. By March 1961 there was an article on a rack for bench pressing.
Health & Strength in the May 28, 1953 issue called this a 'press on bench' and further informed readers that 'This is a very new lift- it was introduced officially in 1951�' In October of that year the same mag printed 'Youngest of the Bench Family- the Declined bench press' by Don Dorans. Two months later an ad appeared in H&S for a bench with attached uprights.
By 1958 H&S was offering a statement from Hubert Grills that the bench press began gaining in popularity as World War II was ending.
So, once the press on back got off the floor and onto a bench to become the bench press, whether flat, or rounded, or incline or decline, the only variable seemed to be how to get the bar into position to begin the bench press itself. When on the floor, the press began at the chest; when on a bench, the press began at the chest if a pullover was involved, or with straighter arms if a spotter handed the bell off higher to the lifter. When uprights entered the scene, obviously they were homemade to the lifter's arm length, or were made to be adjustable. Of course, wider stands came into the product line to decrease the chances of a barbell tipping over to the side after an off balance replacement.
Lifting News May 1962 page 1: "The first official ruling about Power Lift records came at the December 5th, 1958 meeting of the National Weightlifting Committee."
Then the rules for the official bench press performance:
"The lifter may elect to assume one of the following two supine positions on the bench, which must be maintained during the lift. (1) With head, trunk and legs extended on the bench, knees locked, heels on the bench. (2) With head, trunk (including buttocks) extended on the bench, feet flat on the platform. "The bar must rest on the chest for two seconds before the start of the uplifting movement. The referee's signal shall indicate the time. "At the referee's signal the bar is pressed vertically to straight arm's (sic) length and held for two seconds. The referee's signal shall indicate the time."
Of course, only very short persons could possibly have their legs straight with heels ON the bench considering the length of most benches at that time.
The article continues: "Important Remarks: "1. The lifter may use any method to bring the bar to the chest preparatory to the uplifting movement. "2. The width of the bench shall not be less than 10 inches nor more than 12 inches. The height of the bench shall not be less than 14 inches nor more than 18 inches. "3. If the lifter's trunks and the bench top are not of sufficient color contrast to enable the officials to detect a possible raising of the buttocks, the bench top shall be covered accordingly. "4. In this lift, the judges and the referee shall station themselves at the best points of vantage.
"Cause for Disqualification: During the uplifting, any change on the elected lifting position; any raising of the lifter's head, shoulders, buttocks or legs from the bench; any shifting of same; bridging in any form; any heaving or bouncing of the bar from the chest; any uneven extension of the arms; any touching of the bar by spotters before the referee's signal; failure to wait for the referee's signals, will be a cause for disqualifying the lifter on that attempt."
Then this announcement. "These are the Official Rules. Now here is the important point, only bench presses performed in this manner can be considered as being performed correctly. Many areas on the West Coast, particularly San Francisco and Central California (Fresno) districts have not adopted the official rules; they still use the no-pause, 'touch and go' style of bench press which is illegal. Many other areas throughout the country have been neglecting to enforce the official rules, consequently depriving their lifters from setting official records."
Modern Declines in the Bench Press: As in any other competitive lift, only the lifter was allowed to touch the barbell after the starting position was achieved. Obviously, spotters with hands-on touching could be helping in the lift, so only the lifter could come into contact with the barbell during the actual performance of the attempt.
Clothing was a non-issue; a singlet, a tee shirt, whatever, was worn for no purpose other than to retain body heat or control sweat and to prevent slipping on the bench's upholstery, and of course, with females, for modesty.
Plying Their Trade: In more recent years bench shirts have undergone several steps of 'improvement'. Not worn for modesty or sweat control, and indeed not worn at all except during the actual bench press attempt, these shirts are designed to aid in the potential poundage. Estimates on how much weight can be added to a given lifter's bench press achievement vary according to shirt manufacturer or athlete or how much cloth thickness is involved or how skilled the lifter is in learning to 'use' the shirt's groove to aid during the bench press.
One point of unanimous agreement seems to be that every lifter, having learned the groove of a given shirt, will lift more than he can lift without that shirt- which form of lifting has now come to be known as 'raw' or non-bench-shirt. Some lifters apparently gain 30 lbs- others as much as 150 or more pounds by wearing and skillfully using such shirts. Some of these shirts are so strong in their rebounds that it is not possible to even bring a heavy barbell down to the chest without pulling it downward against gravity. So bench pressing an empty bar with these shirts is literally impossible.
As in any other lift, your raw amount is YOUR raw amount. Any factor that helps add weight to that total (other than increased strength or motor skills) is an artificial increase. Is this a bad thing? To the purists, yes. To the bench shirt enthusiasts, no.
My problem is in the name, bench press, which has been retained by the bench shirt proponents. Just as it would have been unfair to those performing the Press on Back on the Floor to have their records compared to those lifters who performed the press on a bench , because of the added advantages of the bench as opposed to the floor, so it is unfair to compare the lifts of the bench press shirt proponents to those of the raw lifters, without making the distinction, which is not made by the name of the movement alone (bench press). Now, the bench has remained a constant, though now stronger of construction of course, what happens and how it happens on that bench is now a dichotomy of achievement.
Of course, the performances have changed over the years. Now it is not uncommon to see the buttocks completely off the bench, with much upper back bridging- but hey, the feet are flat on the floor!
The rate of progress of heavier bench presses using raw methods is of course much slower than the rate of progress for those using ever quickly changing shirt technology. One positive side result I see is that some may use the shirt as a training aid and then perform a raw bench, beating their personal raw bests. Apparently, this is discouraged in some quarters-as though ascertaining raw strength is no longer important, or perhaps because the widening gap of what a man can bench press raw compared to his ability with the shirt is becoming so obvious and perhaps so embarrassing that the subject, like the lifter, is best kept under wraps. Indeed, will be see the day when the bench shirt can double a lifter's raw bench press amount? If so, one wonders if insight will finally arrive at certain doorsteps.
I propose that the traditional bench press- the one in which a, non-reinforced top is worn, be simply called the bench press, or if we must, the raw bench press, and that the shirted bench press be so called, or perhaps the Bench Shirt Bench Press, or the BS Bench Press for short.
Posted by TheEditor @ 09:17 PM CST
4/16/04: Letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark Jul 29, 1986
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Dear Joe,
Thanks for your letter dated July 18th and forgive me for not replying more promptly, but I have been in a real bad mood, not wanting to do anything that remotely resembles work- mainly because of the horrible heat wave we have been having- over 100 � and the luverly case of heat rash it has given me- making sleep somewhat difficult due to the itching. As a result I am in foul humor and don�t let anyone near me or he�ll have a problem.
The pile of correspondence twixt Jowett and Coulter grows apace and all sorts of skeletons are leaping out of the cupboards. In one letter George says that Liederman was so reduced by the 1939 [stock market] Crash that he was reduced to stealing bottles of milk from doorsteps for nourishment. In the very next paragraph he ells how Liederman has a job at thirty bucks a week- a considerable sum in those days- in a radio station.
But one thing really startled me and that was that Earle had been married before Miss Alaska. And had a DAUGHTER by that wife who proved to be a terrible disappointment to Earle in his later years, coming to his home with several kids and saddling herself on Earle who was already in straightened circumstances.
Another eye opener was when working for Hoffman- he got fired from there- and that was that Hoffman�s wife was hauled into court for drunk driving after hitting a woman. Whether this is so or not- but one of the tales George was wont to tell, one doesn�t know.
What he has to say about XXX blisters the paper and in fact one would be well advised to have a fire extinguisher and wear flame protective clothing during perusal. He obviously hated the guts of XXX- indeed �I often wonder how it is that no one has knocked XXX off long since. He, Jowett claims XXX [to be] totally without scruples and a coward to boot. That while XXX claims he beat Lurie up, it was the otherwise with the Flash chasing XXX down the street in an effort to have his guts for garters.
He also claims that Hoffman used WOODEN discs on his bent press, that once he barely managed to bent press 140 and had it appear in the papers next day as 300. Taxed by Harry Good- very religious- he ha ha�d it off. And so on and so on ad nauseam.
There is a terrible tragedy in that XXX affair. I understand that when the child was born, the XXX�s were still married. In that case XXX would be regarded LEGALLY as the father of the child and there was nothing he could have done about it- as many a husband has found to his sorrow after being away in the armed forces for four years= abroad already yet, come home and found his wife cradling a three months old infant. No wonder there was extreme bitterness on the part of XXX- also one has to take into account the climate of those times when it was not as liberally minded as it is today.
Don�t forget to give my very best to Pete [George] when you write him. Nice kid. One of the gentlemen in the Game � and there were so very few.
Kennedy tells me my piece on Weider is due out soon and he will send me a copy. To get a copy of IM containing my article on the Old Timers bash I had to send the Raders $2.50. No further comment.
I saw the copy of your pics of the [Todd-McLean] Collection. Why couldn�t I have sat up instead of slumping and looking older than I am. I was surprised that no nasty words were penned about me in the caption. Hate lingers long and spreads too and, like tar, sticks.
Illegitimus non carborundum,
ChasPosted by TheEditor @ 08:40 PM CST
4/9/2004: Various Magazine References Regarding John Grimek (Part 2 of 2) by Joe Roark
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Note, this file is in plain text format to preserve Joe's formatting.
Posted by TheEditor @ 09:34 PM CST
4/2/2004: Various Magazine References Regarding John Grimek (Part 1 of 2) by Joe Roark
Friday, April 2, 2004
Note, this file is in plain text format to preserve Joe's formatting.
Posted by TheEditor @ 07:07 AM CST
