2nd Revised Edition

OLD SCHOOL BODYBUILDING: Training With The Legends& The Legendary Trainers That made Them Champion Mr. Olympia's

(1960 1980)

By

Tony Xhudo

Learn Some of The Secrets of Old School Bodybuilding Champions - Techniques of Training & Dieting Techniques From Some of The Best Legendary Trainers in Bodybuilding History Such as , Rheo H. Blair, Vince Gironda, Dan Duchaine That Made Some of The Old School Bodybuilding Champions Mr. Olympia Winners.

back cover

Trace the evolution of some of the World's elite bodybuilders and discover what it took to get them to the top of their championship status. Learn how they trained to develop their unbelievable muscle mass at a time when training equipment was basic and simple. Discover what type of dietary means and training techniques they employed to build their amazing physiques.

This book is essential for those young and aspiring bodybuilders that are interested in learning the origins of how some of the greatest legends of old started and began their quest for a championship physique. Get a behind the curtain look into some of the greatest training methods that these men used to gain some of the most unheard and unseen muscle mass development in the history of bodybuilding. A detailed and a comprehensive transformation of muscle like the great phenomenal Sergio Olivia the Myth and no other than Arnold Schwarzenegger the Austrian Oak himself who paved the way for bodybuilding to become the great sport as it's known to be today.

This book describes the events, circumstances and personalities responsible for transforming their once average looking body into becoming the world's best built man/bodybuilder. Inside you will get to know some of the old and forgotten methods of special dieting techniques, training systems, favorite exercises, and age old secrets that have been forgotten. Discover how to use these rare and proven secrets that these great legends themselves used to build their amazing looking physique's. Secrets such as nutritional advice, steroid use, secret diet plans on muscle-mass & definition plans. Inside, you will get to know all about some of the great legendary trainers in bodybuilding, along with some of the old school bodybuilding concepts that time has forgotten, such as;

Vince Gironda, The Great Guru of Bodybuilders, Special Diet & Training Techniques, and Underground Bodybuilding Secrets He Shared With His Top Champions.

Rheo Blair, Nutritional Adviser of The Great Bodybuilding Champions Rheo Blair's Nutritional Bodybuilding Formula's For Building Muscle Mass Fast!

Dan Duchaine, the Steroid Guru His original information & advice he shared with some of the great legends of Old School Bodybuilding Champions!

Training Systems of The Golden Era of Bodybuilding Old School Secrets To Building The Perfect Physique.

The Golden Era of Diet & Supplements From The Glory Days Of Bodybuilding

Old School Strength Training & Power Routines, Bulking up plans, Contest Preparations, etc.

Get the historical analysis of some of the heated battles and friendships that these great men shared during their competition days. Discover the era when anabolic steroids became available and how it was used by some of the great legends.

You will be taken back in time during an Era when bodybuilding was simple, training with some of the greatest bodybuilders of all time. Share some of their secrets on training and dietary techniques, and pick up some advice on muscle building that you would normally not learn in many of today's muscle magazines, which may have been forgotten up until now after you finish reading this book.

Preface

The golden age of bodybuilding, was called that because of the changes in the aesthetic for more mass, as well as muscular symmetry and definition, which characterized the early years of bodybuilding. The 1950's 1970's was a time where some of the greatest legends of bodybuilding emerged and developed some of the greatest physiques the world has ever seen. A combination of size, symmetry, and classic lines of muscle that were developed by means of simple weight lifting equipment and good quality wholesome nutrition and clean foods. Take a trip back in time where today's so-called experts in bodybuilding have forgotten some of these original old school muscle building laws, such as Reg Park's 5x5 training program, the German volume training program, or Vince Gironda's meat, egg and water diet, and Rheo H. Blair's famous mother's milk protein formula that has helped many of the top legends achieve greatness in winning the Mr. Olympia title.

For longest time, I've been a big fan of the old school bodybuilders, the bodybuilders of the golden era from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. These men achieved all this without the use of drugs or new hyped hi-tech supplements or fancy weightlifting equipment. Just plain old fashion simple exercises and good eating of clean foods to build muscle mass unseen of during that time and era. They had physiques that women just absolutely loved and many normal men admired and wished they had. But today show a women a cover of a muscle mag from today's bodybuilders and they'll probably turn their heads in disgust at their physiques. And who can blame them, the humongous drug bloated waists of today's pro bodybuilders explains why their development turned into a cartoonish-like physique that looks like it's going to explode if near any sharp objects.

I mean who wouldn't want a lean, muscular physique like these old time bodybuilders had, they had size, symmetry, shape, and a clean look to them that didn't seem too overly developed. But, looking much healthier than those of today's modern monster types of physiques. It is also obvious that drugs have helped to build their body's into some kind of science project with veins bulging out as if they were about to pop in any minute or so. But please, do not misunderstand in what I'm saying comparing the two different era's of bodybuilding. Old school bodybuilders also took steroids back in the early 60's when anabolic steroids were making there way in to the bodybuilding scene. Dianabol and testosterone injections were just starting to emerge and back then the dosage levels weren't anything like they were in today's scheme of things.

Ten milligrams of D-Bol and maybe even twenty milligrams of D-Bol was all that it took to take their body to the next level of muscle size. The rest was done with just clean wholesome foods and lot's of it as well. It is also obvious as the years progressed in the late 70's when Arnold Schwarzenegger reached the Olympia status in which he dominated the title for seven straight years. He even admitted openly that in order to be the best in the world that one may need to seek an alternative way (steroids) to reach the top level in his sport because of the extreme competition of men competing.

But in bodybuilding, results are all that matters, which is everything to these men that compete for a living. And for many of them, they will sacrifice their health and bodies to achieve the top level of bodybuilding, the Mr. Olympia trophy. In the golden age of bodybuilding, bodybuilders were interested in results and only in results, period. That was their philosophy behind their training methods in those days. These men trained and did things that worked simply because they worked. As a result, figuring out what worked and what didn't work was a driving force that pushed their training knowledge forward.

Over the course of months or years, methods, systems, and programs emerged. And if it was interesting enough in an unusual approach, they would try them out if it could possibly yield results, it was then worth testing; but after awhile, their ideas were either incorporated into their overachieving umbrella of philosophy of what was effective or discarded altogether. All that mattered was that it worked. Bodybuilding is a science, of trying out different things like exercises, diets, supplements, metabolism, etc.

It's a science based on one's own body of trying and experimenting different things pertaining to building muscles. Even in today's bodybuilding venue's, still, many of these top athletes look for different ways of training principles, diets, drugs, etc., trying to find the right combination of sets, reps, training tempo, rest and recovery periods, heavy or light movements that will make their muscles grow in a much more efficient way. That's the science of bodybuilding, experimentation with the right sequence and combination of training methods, rest periods, diets, and supplementation. Bodybuilding is here today because of all the years gone by with training procedures, exercise movements, diets, etc., that these great old legends of past have developed for us today.

Back then, most bodybuilders worked out and ate well because they loved it and lived it. But in 1965, when the advent of the prestigious Mr. Olympia began, it brought in a renewed fervor for the top-level bodybuilding champions. They found in themselves a new level of high competition to distinguish themselves as world champion, as thee best bodybuilder in the world period. It was these bodybuilders who emerged in the 60's that pioneered bodybuilding as it's understood today. As the 70's unfolded, the trial and error approach of these new pro's heralded training and nutrition methods that eventually became gospel to bodybuilders, strength athletes and fitness enthusiasts worldwide.

The testing ground for much of the experimentation in bodybuilding where it all began was started in the good old US of A, at the fabled and legendary Gold's Gym, Venice, California, 1006 Pacific Avenue. Arnold Schwarzenegger brought bodybuilding into the mainstream, backed by Joe Weider himself, soared bodybuilding to what it is today.

Together, they made bodybuilding history. Let's not forget the many others that have helped pioneer bodybuilding into becoming the great sport it is today, such as Larry Scott, Dave Draper, Sergio Olivia, Frank Zane, Franco Columbo, Bill Pearl, Serge Nubret, Steve Reeves, Chuck Sipes, Reg Park, Boyer Coe, Bertil Fox, Albert Beckles, Danny Padilla, and so many, many other key players that have shaped today's bodybuilding culture, including the legendary trainers like Vince Gironda, Rheo H. Blair, Dan Duchaine, Vic Tanney, all of which have inspired many of us back in the old school days of bodybuilding to begin training ourselves.

I have had great pleasure in writing this book to bring back some of the old school bodybuilding concepts for those who remember the golden era of bodybuilding and for those who were not brought up during those glory days of bodybuilding history to see what it was all about and maybe bring back some thing old concepts of training, which can become new again to give you some new idea's that have made these great legends of past great bodybuilding champions. I also hope that you will take great pleasure in taking a step back in time to see how the great champions and trainers of old school bodybuilding helped to pioneer bodybuilding to what it is now today.

Thank you for taking the time to buy my book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have in writing it.....

Regards,

Tony Xhudo, M.S./H.N.

Table Of Contents

Copy Right

Disclaimer

Dedication

Preface

PART I

The Golden Age of BodybuildingThe History of Muscle Beach, Venice, CaliforniaOld School Dieting & Supplements 1950's to Late 80'sFull Fat Grass-Fed Dairy CowsStaple Dairy Products of Old School BodybuildersOther Old School Bodybuilding FoodsOld School ProteinRheo H. Blair - Nutritional GeniusRheo Blair's Mother's Milk FormulaHow Top Bodybuilders Followed Rheo's Nutritional ProgramHow To Follow Rheo Blair's Own DietHow To Follow Rheo Blair's Nutritional Diet programRheo Blair's Supplement Recommendations

PART II

The Great Vince Gironda The Guru of BodybuildingThe Classic Old School Ripped PhysiqueVince Gironda's Training PhilosophyVince Gironda's Amino Acid Loading Technique Vince Gironda Take on Nutrition & DietingVince Gironda Maximum Definition Diet PlanVince Gironda Hormone Precursor Diet for Muscle Build-upVince Gironda Meat, Egg, and Water Diet For Muscle Build-upVince Gironda Egg Diet Vince Gironda 10 Commandments of The Bodybuilding Diet Vince's Oxygen Loading Technique Vince's Muscle Sleep Periods For Growth Vince's Training Secrets Vince'sTraining To Failure VS. 60%-80%Vince's Contraction aka Insurance RepetitionsVince's Contraction Method Vince's Tempo Training10 sets of 10: The Forgotten Workout (German Volume Training)8x8, 6x6, 10x10, 6x15, and 15x4 Methods of TrainingVince's Compound TrainingVince's4 Exercise CompoundsVince's Periodization Principle Vince's Isolation Principle Vince's Training Beliefs

Part III

Dan Duchaine The Steroid Guru 1952-2000Dan's Post Cycle Therapy ProgramDan's IsoCaloric Diet How IsoCaloric Diets WorkOld School Low Carbohydrate High Protein DietThe First Clinical Dietary TrialOld School High Protein Low Carb Diet For Definition The Pro's & Con's of Low Carb DietsThe Pro's & Con's of Low Fat/High Carb DietsLesson For The Carbohydrate Bodybuilder Contest DietsLow-Fat/Low Calorie DietThe Golden Era of MealsThe History of Bodybuilding Diets: How Dietary Trends Emerged in Bodybuilding Dietary Trends in Bodybuilding Typical High Carb Diets 1970's

PART IV

Nutrition The Key 85% To Optimal Muscle Growth; The Overlooked Factor in Building Muscles The Evolution of Protein Powders: Types of Protein PowdersBest Protein Powders For Muscle Building Understanding Protein Labels & Sub-Types of Protein Sources Best Time To Take protein Powders During The DayOld School Bulking Up Diets Old School Supplements Used Old School Training Routines 1940's-1970'sThe Golden Era of Anabolic Steroids How it All BeganComparison Steroid Cycles Across Time

Part V

Old School Strength Training Secrets Lost in SightBuilding Rugged Mass & Strength

Relating Muscle Size To StrengthHard Gainers Secrets To Fast Muscle gainsExercises That Produce Results

Part VI

Why Dieting Defines 90% of Your Muscle GainsMaximizing Your Muscle Building Potential With EnzymesHow To Use Enzymes To Your AdvantageEnzymes and Their FunctionWhat Enzymes Should You Take And How Much?

Part VII

Old School Bodybuilding Mentality Plain & Simple

INTRODUCTION

The Golden Age Of Bodybuilding

What ever happened to Bodybuilding ? The golden age of bodybuilding, was an era that produced some of the great legends of bodybuilding, from the great Eugene Sandow, to John Grimek, Reg Park and Steve Reeves. These men, were able to build massive physique's, with hard work, dedication, and perseverance, at a time and era with the basics of equipment and diet when anabolic steroids were not in use.

Stars, like Chuck Sipes, Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves, Bill Pearl, Larry Scott, the list goes on and on. Back then, old school muscle legends did not have the fancy equipment or supplements like they have today. Their supplements back in the day were slim, and consisted of milk powder, protein powder, wheat germ, and liver tablets. Nothing compared to the huge amount of high tech supplements currently sold today. Back then, these old school legends relied on natural foods high in protein, meats, eggs, and milk products. Even though it was the way it was, they managed to build their muscles and make good gains with their training, and based their meals around meats, eggs, and milk products. They did not care what protein powders tasted like, some where horrible tasting and smelly supplement powders that someone today would not consume. In those day you didn't care what protein tasted like and would eat and try anything to grow muscles.

The old timers back then had an approach that was simple and easy. Nothing fancy or complicated as it is today. It's no wonder why beginners today, tend to have a difficult time in building muscle mass. Open up a muscle magazine and you will see for yourself the amount of exercises, training systems, sets and rep schemes to follow, which often leads to over training and no gains in muscular development. Back in the old days, they relied on basic bodybuilding that was more like weightlifting. What did they do right back then compared to now? if you look at some of the old time bodybuilders in terms of their physique, they were thick and massive! This is what this book is about, getting back to the old ways of bodybuilding and seeing what the great legends of past did to build their championship physiques, training methods, diet, sets, reps, routine's, and principle's of bodybuilding.

They used a basic set of exercises to lay the foundation for muscle mass like, squats, bench presses, bent over rowing, military press, dead lifts, and barbell curls.But their training routines were very intense, and very physical. Plus their diets consisted of huge amount of steak, eggs, milk and dairy products, which was part of the reason why they were massive. Old school bodybuilders also were well known for eating wholesome foods high in protein, fats and little carbs. They did not believe in eating fast foods or junk food for that matter either. Fast food restaurants are notorious for adding a great deal of sodium to their foods.

Their training revolved around a strict usage of free weights using heavy compound movements that involved large muscle groups which would also stimulate the smaller muscles indirectly. Most of them incorporated their training around a full body workout done 3 days a week, working each body part one time per week.

These old time bodybuilders may have been on to something. But old school bodybuilding workouts never died, they simply were tinkered with to create different variations. Old school bodybuilding workouts are the wheel of the new generation of bodybuilders attempt to keep reinventing. This book will take us back to the old ways of bodybuilding, that got bodybuilding to where it is today. We will look into how they trained, what type of diets they consumed, what type of supplements they took, and certain techniques or training methods they may have followed.

History of Muscle Beach, Venice California

Let's take a trip back into time as we look into the history of bodybuilding during 1950, the golden era of bodybuilders in Muscle Beach, Venice, California the home of the fitness revolution where it all began. In fact it actually dates back as far as 1930, a few hundred feet from the board walk in Santa Monica, California where the original muscle beach originated from, then moved to Venice, California.

This California landmark still remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in the L.A. Area since its time where people could get a glimpse of some of their favorite bodybuilding stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Frank Zane, Dave Draper, Larry Scott, which have all been seen training right there on the beach since 1959. Even today, Muscle Beach Venice still holds bodybuilding competitions and has completely renovated the public fitness area.

If you visit Muscle Beach today you will find weightlifting equipment, gym and acrobatic bars free to use. The mystic and history of the beach still permeates the air as one can imagine at the time when some of the great bodybuilding champions trained and were seen there during their golden years. Their residual effect of their massively tanned bodies training and sweating still resides there as one can just close their eyes just for a little while, imagining their favorite bodybuilder training there in Muscle Beach as if it were still in the1960's.

This is where America's fitness revolution all began and still continues to this day.

Old School Dieting & Supplements1950's Late 70's

Back in the day of the golden era of bodybuilding, supplements were very slim and eating was basically the supplements of choice. But how did these men get so huge and still make gains of muscle mass? Find out as you read on and take a trip back in time and discover what these great bodybuilders had to endure compared to the easier standards we have available today.

The history of bodybuilding supplements actually starts with Eugen Sandow, the first modern day bodybuilder of his time and era. He was the original advocate of the importance of diet in relation to muscle building to help build his muscles faster. But it was his friend, Earle Liederman, who advocated the use of Beet juice or Beef Extracts as a way to help muscles recovery rapidly from strenuous exercise activity or workouts. These may very well be the first bodybuilding supplements in modern times.

It was in the late 1930's, that one man began making supplements when he processed whey from milk for human consumption. But this was almost 50 years before bodybuilding supplements really came onto the market in the way we know them now. He also experimented with different sources of vitamins and minerals in powdered forms. Then in the 1950's, A genius of a man known back then as Irvin Johnson, also known as Rheo H. Blair that made some of the first powders designed specifically for athletes and bodybuilders. His products was high in quality protein from milk and eggs. Two other pioneers in the field known as Bob Hoffman and Joe Weider decided to jump on the band wagon and would create there own protein powders, which were made from cheaper ingredients such as soy beans, wheat germ, kelp, dextrose and various types of dehydrated plants.

During the 1950's, there were few vitamins, proteins and other supplements but nothing as advanced as it is today. Even though it was the way it was, these men were still able to build some of the greatest bodies the world has ever seen. Nevertheless, since the 1950's sports supplements steadily increased in popularity, up until the late 1980's when they really took off, possibly related to the rise of one Arnold Schwarzenegger who was well known for his impressive physique and movie roles.

These men back in their day, especially during the late 1950's, based their meals on meat, eggs, milk and cheese as the bulk part of their muscle building diets. Chicken was also on their list of staple bodybuilding foods, but red lean meat was the more popular choice, today chicken is number one. All in all, food was their most anabolic substance of use to pack on the muscle mass they acquired.

Red meat and eggs added size and strength, they did not worry or even think about cholesterol from eating massive amounts of red meat like we do today. Their standard breakfast consisted of hamburger patties, whole eggs, and cottage cheese.

The whole egg was preferred as the fat in the egg (yolk) was used for energy and for their natural hormone production (testosterone). Cottage cheese was also used as a perfect source of protein (casein), calcium, and for its high Glutamine content as well.

Their idea of a muscle building diet was to eat large amounts of protein and fats and small amounts of carbohydrates, which also resulted in them cutting fat as well, and it worked well for most of them. Who would of thought?

Back then fad diets came and went, even the famous Atkins diet, which was thought of and used by bodybuilders before it went into the mainstream. Many of the old school bodybuilders took carbs out of their diets completely. Most of their muscle came from high protein diets with very little or no carbs. This is completely different than today's bodybuilding mentality. We think that in order to gain muscle we need to include carbs into our diets. Back then these men ate clean. In the morning it was 10-12 egg whites with some of the yolks thrown in. Hours later they would consume meat, whether it was a hamburger meat, usually four to five hamburger patties, chicken breast with the skin on or tuna fish.

They would also throw in a few protein shakes into their daily regimen of supplements. Back then their protein shakes didn't consist of the multi-flavors that are here today, chocolate if they were lucky, theirs were pretty awful in taste and texture, difficult to mix with a spoon as well. After their workout they would usually go to an all you can eat buffet for cheap prices making sure they consumed their worth in size. Two to three of these giant muscle heads would destroy a buffet restaurant within an hour or so leaving the tables clean and dry.

Platters and trays of foods that would feed families would be consumed by one bodybuilder himself. It was not uncommon for one bodybuilder to eat over 25 meatballs, so can you imagine what several of these bodybuilders can do to a buffet eatery?

Some of their favorite meals were cheese omelets with maybe 10-12 eggs, yes, a dozen or more would be eaten in one sitting along with maybe half to a whole gallon of milk to wash it down with.

You also have to remember that back then steroids were not available in the late 1950's or early 60's, so their food severed as their anabolic steroids. Their combination of breakfast foods were obviously eggs, egg whites, omelets, cheese, meats with their eggs and cheese, and milk. That was there supplement (steroids) that helped them achieve their great bodies. But despite carbohydrate deficiency, they achieved great looking physiques that are still admired today.

As far as supplementation, liver tabs were one of their mainstay nutritional supplements that many of them would devour by the handful. Bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dave Draper, Frank Zane, and Sergio Olivia lived on liver tablets for their nutritional value and muscle enhancing growth capabilities. Back in the old days, liver was considered by many lifters to be a panacea. Rich in amino acids, iron, B vitamins, nuleic acids, lipotropics, minerals, an (an enzyme involved in steroid production and detoxification), and other important nutrients as well.

Liver, and liver tablets (desiccated liver) has been used by bodybuilders and power lifters for decades to increase strength, enhance appetite, reduce recovery times, support liver function, energy, and to detoxify the body. Plus it is also an effective blood builder helping to increase red blood cells, and is one of the best sources of heme iron. Desiccated liver contains heme iron, one of the most bio-available forms around. That is why liver has been called a natural blood-builder.

All of this is important because blood is what delivers oxygen and nutrients to your working muscles. Studies have clearly shown that even slight deficiency in iron can lead to a reduced work capacity. The nucleic acids in liver are important for when the body is undergoing rapid growth, and is one of the reasons that liver can have a real effect on improving recovery rates.

These old timers knew what they were doing back then taking their liver supplements like crazy. They knew it was rich in nutrients that would help with their hard training and much needed recovery periods. The rich source of B vitamins helped with their energy levels allowing them to train hard. B vitamins play a key role in energy production and are needed in carbohydrate metabolism, fat utilization, cell function, proper enzyme function, regulation of blood sugar, and detoxification reactions as well. So, you might want to get your supply of desiccated liver tablets and get on their bandwagon of old school muscle growth!

Eventually, the introduction of amino acids and protein powder would also supplement their dietary intake along their heavy consumption of foods. Vitamin C, wheat germ, vitamin E, and lecithin also were coming into play in the bodybuilding supplement ranks. Milk & egg protein powders also were a very big part of their supplement regimen.

Thanks to the likes of Bob Hoffman, Rheo Blair, and Joe Weider, who would eventually later on dominate the supplement market with much more listings of his Weider - nutritional bodybuilding supplements like weight gainer powders, hi-protein powder that tasted awful, yuk!

Interesting as it may seem, the use of liver supplements, which is still in existence today, proves that back then, they were on to something that allowed them to build massive bodies with limited resources of nutritional supplements. It may also sound boring, but the proof is in the results that they obtained. But let's not forget, supplements were just a nutritional aid to supplement their food intake with additional nutrients specially designed to support muscular growth. The bulk of their muscle gains came from eating wholesome foods of meats, eggs, and lot's of dairy products.

Today's bodybuilders base the bulk of their diets with egg whites, chicken breasts, turkey, lean cuts of meat, and brown rice and broccoli. While it may remain to be a boring and clean diet, it is most certainly not an optimum one.

Old school bodybuilders had many foods that they used to swear by for gaining muscle mass that the new school bodybuilders seemed to have forgotten or cast aside, mainly due to piss-poor nutritional recommendations and a foolish fear of saturated fats.

So, let's revive some of those foods that have been cast aside, with the hopes of inspiring you to make some changes in your own diet; changes that could result in you adding some mass that may have eluded you on your own ultra clean-diet.

Full Fat Grass-fed Dairy

Dairy products from pasteurized grass-fed and raised cows is an entirely different animal than the conventional dairy due to poor quality, loss of important fatty acids, and high estrogen meat content. Grass-fed cows are actually allowed to eat what they were designed to eat, their milk quality is vastly superior containing more actual nutrition like vitamin A, K or in the more powerful form of K2, omega 3's, and CLA fatty acids. In fact grass-fed cows have been found to contain up to 500% more CLA than their conventionally fed counter parts! (commercial dairy cows).

The difference between these two different cows are incredibly important. CLA fatty acids has been shown to be a powerful ally in the fight of cancer, and has been found to greatly reducetumor growth in animals, and possibly in humans as well. Vitamin K in the form of K2-MK4, is the other best part, which is shown to be an important protector of heart disease. It is also important in the prevention of fetal birth defects as well.

On a final note that I think will speak to many bodybuilders and fitness buffs, beyond the health benefits muscular growth. Researchers compared skim milk to whole milk in the post-training period, to see which would produce greater anabolic effects. They pitted 14oz of skim milk against 8oz of whole milk, to make them calorically equal. Theoretically, the results should be even or in favor of skim milk, since it had six more grams of protein. The research showed that whole milk was more effective than skim, despite lesser protein content and equal total calories. Another notch in favor of whole fat over fat free.

So, for those of you pushing to gain mass and some size, why would you choose low fat or fat free dairy options? Your trying to sneak calories into your diet, not out of it! Full-fat versions, especially from grass-fed cows, are vastly superior for health, and for growth. Today, there are several companies that are available nation wide that provide high quality milk from grass-fed cows, like Organic Valley and Whole Foods 365 brand. To find out about a company near you, or to see if your current organic milk stacks up, check out the report from the Cornucopia Institute.

Staple Dairy Products of Old School Bodybuilders

Whole Milk use to be the staple food of old school bodybuilding crowds, and was used extensively by a innumerable of men in their quest for muscle growth and mass. It provided a lot of easily consumed calories, a nice blend of whey and casein, as well as a good choice of electrolytes calcium, potassium, magnesium, and some sodium. It also offered them a good source of vitamin A, D, and a few of B vitamins as well.

Full fat cheeses Cheddar, Cottage, etc. - Also, all very high in calories, especially cheddar cheese, being one of the best sources of vitamin K2 due to the fermentation process, as well as providing relatively even amounts of protein and fat without any carbohydrates. Cottage cheese is an incredible source of protein, and the full fat versions are again more calorie dense, with a very high Glutamine content.

Cream (especially the whipping kind) is an extremely calorie dense. This can be a great addition to smoothies as it improves mouth-feel, flavor, and just provides a ton of calories.

Whole Eggs eggs have always been a main bodybuilding ingredient even in the old school days and now in the new school days. With the only difference being today, they strictly use the egg whites, back in the day, it was the whole entire egg. Bodybuilders, in the golden era of bodybuilding would devour carton's of eggs on a daily level, the whole egg, yolk and the whites.

Two whole eggs with six egg whites don't even compare or come close to the caloric or nutritional powerhouse of five whole eggs. Whole eggs contain the brain boosting and anti-inflammatory choline, lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health, vitamin A, vitamin D, B vitamins, selenium, iodine for proper thyroid function and more. Whole eggs are on of nature's greatest foods, so why are so many of you eating only the damn egg whites? If you still think that saturated fat and cholesterol contribute to heart disease wait no more, because no one still believes that, or do they? Well, for one, the high lecithin content in the yolk of the egg acts as a natural emulsifier negating the bad cholesterol build up. And lecithin today, is even being used as a dietary supplement to lower excessive cholesterol levels, which science has shown it to be effective in that regard.

If you remember the old Rocky movies when Rocky was shown waking up early morning hours before his morning jog, he would crack open 3 to 4 eggs and down them in one gulp before his running around Philadelphia. I'm not saying for you to do that as well before your workouts, which Im sure, when the movie came out, that many individuals thought it to be a great motivation booster. Raw eggs were known to be unsafe, because of salmonella poisoning and it would not be safe or logical in doing so. Back in the very old days it was done by many health enthusiasts and had no ill-health effects what so ever.

If you can get access to pasture-raised eggs, get them, because their nutritional content is vastly superior to the normal commercial eggs. They have 4-6 times the vitamin D content, 3 times the omega 3 content, and 8 times the beta-carotene content. Of course they are also much more expensive but well worth the health benefits they offer you!

Other Old School Bodybuilding Foods

White Potatoes recently, white potatoes have gotten a bad rap, mainly due to their high glycemic index, which is higher than the more celebrated sweet potato. But really, who cares? You aren't eating a white potato all by its lonesome, so that T-bone and steamed veggies with it, along with the pastured butter inside it, will slow its digestion anyway, making that point rather irrelevant.

Sweet potatoes may be awesome for bodybuilding needs, but white potatoes have more iron in it, magnesium and potassium than sweet potatoes do, and they're one of the most satiating foods on the plant. They pack a lot of calories into a small package, they were also a staple old school crowd favorite that have helped a thousand lifters pack on some muscle building and serious amount of mass. Plus, they are also a good source of 12 vitamins and minerals, and provide 7 grams of both fiber and complete protein in each large white potato.

Wild Rice has been recently forgotten in bodybuilding circles and even in the health conscious circles as well these days. Is brown rice any better? Well, they're both equally good sources of 8 vitamins and minerals; wild rice has 3 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein in 1 cooked cup, while brown rice has 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein. Do you really see any significant difference here? Personally, I would say that wild rice is every bit as good, plus it offers a nice change to the palate for your much-neglected taste buds. And really, did a little variety ever hurt anyone?Old School Protein

Let's be honest with this one, do you really enjoy eating boneless, and skinless chicken breasts every single day with multiple meals per day, every day? Not me!While a fine food, there are still so many other great protein sources of choice out there that have been completely forgotten with the explosion in consumption of said chicken breasts. These sources have micronutrients, fatty acids, and more than chicken breasts have to offer. And they also bring some more flavor and variety, as well as calories to help spur growth, which you might even enjoy eating meat again.

Whole Chicken one of the favorites of old school bodybuilders, in which many of them used to absolutely crush and devour in eating huge amounts of. Whole chickens, whole milk, and potatoes were the name of the game back then, and they certainly worked. So why do we just eat plain boneless, skinless chicken breasts today?

I will bet you that whole chickens back then were easy to prepare, convenient, and go with just about anything and can last for several days in the fridge pre-cooked. But in terms of price per calories, whole chickens are crazy cheap, provide more total calories and taste loads better, so what's not to love compared to boring boneless and skinless chicken breasts?

Turkey Breasts, thighs or the whole dam thing, turkey is vastly under-appreciated meat that arrives in spades come Thanksgiving time, but then goes virtually unnoticed the rest of the year. Turkey is a fantastic protein meat source, a good source of 11 vitamins and minerals, including being an excellent source of the cancer-fighting selenium. Plus, it's just a nice change of pace from eating chicken all of the time.

Tuna once a dietary staple, although it seems it has gone the way of the dodo lately. No one talks about it anymore, and even less seem to eat it. It's no longer the pretty girl at the dance, having been replaced by the sexier salmon. Though salmon does have more omega 3's, and that powerful anti-oxidant astaxanthin, tuna is still no slouch. For one, it's a better source of protein, containing over 1 gram of omega 3's per can (amount varies by type), and is a good source of 7 vitamins and minerals. It's also an incredible source of selenium, containing over 3 times the amount in turkey!

Plus, it's one of the cheapest sources of protein around, though I would recommend the light variety, due to the marked decrease in its mercury content.

Pork Chops also having to disappear from the American diet, probably due to the late 80's early 90's for the fear of fat. While pork chops do contain more fat than chicken or turkey, again, who cares? The majority of the fat is in the form of the monounsatured oleic acid, just like in olive oil, and they're a good source of 10 vitamins and minerals. Pork chops are also an excellent source of several B vitamins, as well as the brain boosting and anti-inflammatory choline. Plus they're tasty, which isn't a crime, no matter what the guys eating 6 meals a day of Tupperware of skinless chicken breasts might tell you.

The key to a successful bodybuilding plan is consistency, back in the old school days of bodybuilding, they enjoyed a variety of meals consisting of high protein sources and low carbs. They were tasty and nutritious that helped them pack on some serious calories providing some much needed variety to their palates.

Chicken breasts, egg whites, broccoli, and brown rice are all fine foods, but they aren't your only choices especially day in and day out. So give some of these old school foods a shot; what do you have to got to lose? It worked for them back in their day and it will work for you as well.

But the real genius of bodybuilding supplements was non-other than a young and aspiring bodybuilder/nutritionist by the name of Rheo H. Blair, who came along with his take on a muscle building diet for bodybuilding with his famous milk & egg protein, which dominated the market based on mother's milk formula.

Rheo Blair Nutritional Genius

His theory was to mix milk, eggs and cream to get your protein and fats to build muscle mass. Some of the great bodybuilders back then like Mr. Olympia winner Larry Scott and up and coming Don Howarth followed some of Rheo Blair's products and recommendations and built awesome physiques. Rheo also came out with his own line of supplements like vitamins and digestive pills, which were little round balls of hydrochloric acid. They were also a little strong and could actually burn a hole in your stomach if you didn't consume enough food with them.

Rheo Blair was a nutritional genius back in his day who actually was ahead of his time and era. He did extensive research on weight training and nutrition and gave advice to people all around the world, especially to movie stars and bodybuilders. He was an expert in high quality protein products and he created the original milk and egg protein powder that filled the shelves of health food stores. He believed the perfect food for muscle growth was a combination of milk and whole egg. It was also said that his protein products turned weaklings into musclemen and made sick people healthy. His protein formula's were based on the highest quality protein in terms of supporting human growth and well-being and would be found in mother's milk colostrum.

His preferred liquid for mixing protein was half and half, his reason was that nature seems to indicate that protein and fat should be taken in even balance, with milk and an equal amount of fat (half and half or cream) mixed together. And likewise with eggs and meat.

Rheo's instant protein formula was extracted from milk and eggs without normally occurring fat; both milk and eggs were defatted in the processing. Rheo's concept was, by mixing the protein with half whole milk and half heavy cream you restore some of the fat removed during the processing and you then achieve a product more normally balanced as to the proportions of protein and fat.

Rheo would also state, during his processing of protein formula's for building muscle that the half and half sold by most dairies is not true one-half plus one-half but can be used. He prefers to mix his own by using one half whole milk and one half heavy whipping cream. He also would recommend for his bodybuilding clients to use raw milk and raw cream for a much better natural effect, when it was available. Today only certain states in the country sell certified raw milk products.

Rheo would also advise when training his bodybuilders to refrain from a diet in high carbohydrates, which were those that were high in starch and sugar because the body uses fats for a superior source of energy. Plus fats in the diet tend to burn off accumulated body fat much easier.

His home made protein drinks made with half & half were delicious and tasty, especially if the milk and cream were very cold. You could also add vanilla extract for flavoring or you may add a raw egg or two to the shake for an even higher biological value and protein effect.

He had a special way that he recommended when drinking his protein shake which he considered very important. The protein shake was to be sipped very slowly and not gulped down fast, because when one puts food into the stomach slowly it helps the digestion absorb the nutrients more efficiently. Plus he would recommend for them to take along one or two hydrochloric acid pills with the protein shake.

One of his weight gain recipes was sipping whole milk down with Peptain between meals instead of water. Plus eat more smaller meals and learn to take them often with at least 3 protein shakes a day. This tends to encourage a more efficient handling of food. With this sort of discipline it is possible for you to eat less in volume and still receive more real nourishment.

Rheo Blair helped many his star athletes in training with his advanced nutritional recommendations. He would explain to many of his clients how to be able to better handle food when dieting for muscle mass like never try to fill the stomach when more than 2/3rds full with too much food intake. But use smaller amounts at a given time and gradually increase your daily intake over several weeks.

Because this gives the body a chance to increase its efficiency in digestion and assimilation, so it can handle greater amounts of nutrition more efficiently. Rheo Blair also realized that when one increases his protein intake he may want to decrease the amount of potatoes and vegetables, breads and cereals, as well as salads and vegetables in the diet.

These other foods take a secondary place to protein and should not be allowed to displace in the digestive tract. He found out as well that people can handle more protein efficiently when they include an appropriate amount of a protein digestant Peptain HCL with each serving.

He states strongly that never an hour should go by without consuming protein in the AM hours, very important to start the day with, because small amounts taken often, is a viable secret!

Blair's students soon learn the wisdom of using no grains, flours, cakes, pastries or the like. They use very little fruits or vegetables. For an evening meal they should be including a piece of lamb, beef, or poultry with a slice of tomato or raw onion for seasoning purposes. Some cottage cheese, natural Swiss, cheddar, so as to include some calcium bearing food to off set the phosphorus in the meat, also with that include some deviled eggs soft boiled, butter milk fats help slow down the digestion process.

On exercise days, one may use the protein with whole milk or with some half & half, adjusting it to your taste and needs. Bedtime mix should be with whole milk, and AM morning hours can be used with half milk and half cream. Other times you may use half and half or reduce the amount of cream in your home made half & half mixture in order to help speed up the digestion process of proteins. Fats in the stomach tend to slow down the digestion. Skim milk also can be used for a more lean look if desired.

Rheo Blair, found out that bodybuilders gained more muscle on milk & egg than beef proteins. Milk and egg has a higher biological value and would place his students on a milk and egg diet for greater muscle growth. He also claimed that milk and egg proteins kept the body in a natural calcium-phosphorus balance, which he believed was important in building muscle. Meat proteins in his opinion had too much phosphorus in ratio to calcium.

Blair also concluded that this could cause phosphorus jitters, bringing with it anxiety, fatigue, insomnia and restlessness. He believed the correct ratio was 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus, and the other ingredient missing from most of todays more advanced protein powders- was Lactose.

Lactose, was the one carb essential to muscular growth. Blair's protein contained 7 grams of carbs per cup serving and the carb was lactose, or natural milk sugar. Being an animal carbohydrate, lactose is chemically different than other carbs, it digests more slowly than carbs from fruits, grains, veggies and other plant sources.

Blair believed milk sugar allowed the body to produce B vitamins and helped intestinal bacteria to flourish and also calcium was best absorbed in the presence of lactose. But lactose's most important role was as a protein sparer. It helped the body from converting into carbs, thereby allowing protein to do what it was meant to do build lean muscle!

The lactose content made Blair's protein hard to digest, so his students took digestive supplements of hydrochloric acid and Peptain HCL (5-6 capsules with each meal) to aid digestion. The digestibility factor is why virtually all protein powders available today have almost no lactose. Lactose may be one of the most important ingredients that made Blair's program so successful.

Rheo Blair's Mother's Milk Formula

Rheo knew that muscle required protein to grow, and protein was the foundation of his philosophy. As he would put - You are made of protein, so a protein diet builds you better! In a nutshell, he proposed the following rules:

Take protein in small feedings.

Eat often, and never skip meals.

Balance protein and fat intake.

Eliminate starches and sugars.

Take supplements with foods.

Rheo Blair was adamant that the ultimate food steroid was mother's milk nothing more, nothing less. Making and devising a protein based formula similar to mother's milk first feeding, which nature provides in her breast milk to sustain a baby's first stage of life consisting of amino acids, essential fats, growth factors (colostrum), vitamins, minerals, and natural enzymes. With that, Rheo set out to create the very next best thing by combining animal proteins with supplements, or as he called them, food concentrates.

Rheo's perfect man made anabolic meal consisted of milk, cream, eggs, and of course, some of Blair's own brand of protein powder. Blair called it protein pudding and suggested that it be eaten throughout the day in many small meals, so that the stomach was never over loaded. The reason for all that fat, he stated in his book Protein Way of Life was to try and replicate the protein/fat balance of milk in its natural state. He wrote in his book - Nature seems to indicate that protein and fat should be taken in even balance. By mixing the protein (powder) with half whole milk and half heavy cream, we restore some of the fat removed during processing, and we achieve a product more normally balanced as to proportions of protein and fat. And one may use the protein in pure cream, with no milk at all!

You can also mix a similar concoction to Blair's protein pudding that includes:

Full fat ricotta (whey)

Cottage cheese (casein)

Colostrum

Raw pasture-raised eggs

Organic heavy whipping cream

You can also add some protein powder to the mix, but its not really required, because there's already a lot of protein in there. This meal is really more like a dessert, it sits well in the stomach. Plus, it builds muscle, and makes for a great bedtime snack. Blair was also big on supplement use, especially on Calcium, which he advocated to be taken with meals always when consuming red meat to improve the calcium to phosphorus balance (Ca:P) ratio. He believed that the high phosphorus content of meat could disrupt an ideal ratio of two parts calcium to one part phosphorus, and could cause phosphorus jitters in the form of anxiety, fatigue, and restlessness.

The calcium supplements that Rheo sold, Calcium Plus and Calcium P-F, listed servings of 2-5 pills per day, but Blair and his pupils were known to pop handfuls of the stuff. Rheo Blair was also noted while eating out at restaurants having his hydrochloric acid tablets and some of his calcium tablets handy while having his meals.

His belief in the importance of calcium supplements for muscle growth was also backed by other noted authorities in the muscle fitness field. This was further illustrated in the October issue of Muscle Builder magazine, 1959, and in the Muscle Training illustrated, September-October 1966, and Bob Hoffman's Muscular Development, August 1969 issues as well. But that was then, and this is now! They've been a number of recent studies showing serious health risks from excessive calcium supplementation. Current internet searches reveal the dangers of calcium supplementation, stating that it could cause a potential cardiac risk.

Writer and health investigator Chris Kresser provides a great review of the literature, suffice it to say, the burst of calcium from a large supplement dose has been linked to drastic increases in cardiovascular disease, prostate cancer, kidney stones, and general mortality rates. Although, smaller doses of calcium dose seem to pose less risk in studies, but the science definitely seems to indicate that this one nutrient is best left to your diet.

Also, it makes you wonder if the popping of all those calcium pills had something to do with the untimely death of Rheo Blair at the age of 62. But up until now, there's only been speculation which some say hepatitis? And some say heart disease? But we'll never know the real answer.

Blair was right in many of his take's on nutrient balancing and deficiencies, but may have gotten a little too carried away with calcium. Getting adequate calcium levels from diet alone is usually not a problem, especially if you eat fairly clean and consume foods rich in dark green leafy vegetables spinach, kale, collards, bok choy, broccoli, seeds , and nuts sesame seeds, quinoa, almonds, and fish sardines, salmon, perch, rainbow trout. Bone broth is probably the best source of calcium around, but only in you add a splash of vinegar to to the stock before cooking to pull the minerals out of the bone. And if you're worried about bone density, routine weight training should keep you in a positive calcium balance.

In my own opinion, magnesium, not calcium, may be the missing nutrient for bone and cardiac health and muscle growth along with zinc, is perhaps the most common nutrient deficiency, especially among athletes. Excesses sweating and stress, our filtered water and depleted farm soils have been known to lead to deplete magnesium, a critical nutrient. Today is estimated that 68% of America's population have a magnesium deficiency according to the National Health Institutes of Health. Other health experts put that number above 80%.

Rheo Blair knew about magnesium and prescribed it to his clients when they went on his nutrition program, but he did not include it as part of his retail line, because, he said, the dosage was so high, the FDA would probably not have passed it!

The bottom line is that too much or two little of any important nutritional mineral is not ideal. There are optimal ratios that should exist among minerals, and they often work in a seesaw fashion: one that goes up, another goes down. Balance is the key. In practice, this means that supplementation may be fine for a period of time one month, two months, possibly even three months depending on the level of deficiency but staying on any particular mineral for an extending period of time may be detrimental to your health and longevity in ways that you're not qualified to diagnose. If that doesn't scare you there's this: it may negatively impact your muscle size and strength!

Rheo Blair was right on track when it came to many nutritional concepts, but he may have been dead wrong about others. The lesson for the rest of us is not to go over board with particular nutrients, but rather to stay open-minded, abreast of research, and well rounded in our diets. Just think about Blair's perfect food, mother's breast milk: it isn't one thing; but many of the wonderful things mixed together into an elixir for life and growth.

Rheo Blair was trying to make his protein powder formula more like mother's first milk as similar as possible. He believed this was the best growth food of all. Mother's milk contained high amounts of saturated fats. Blair felt cream and egg yolks provided the best and most palatable source of fat close to mother's first milk. He believed that saturated fat wrapped the protein, slowing down the digestion and making it more usable to the body over the course of the day.

A 1997 study confirmed that those who consumed the most saturated fat and monounsaturated fats had the highest testosterone levels. Blair's protein mix was high in saturated fats from the cream and egg yolks and also included a good amount of monounsaturated fats from Soybro capsules which contained crude rice, wheat, and soy germ oils. Rheo Blair's diet was Anabolic before the term ever came into common use as it is today.

How Top Bodybuilders Followed Rheo Blair's Nutrition Program

The most common method that most bodybuilders followed in using Rheo's protein formula was to mix to cup of protein with cup of cream, with a few bits of canned dietetic fruit or a couple of drops of vanilla extract for flavoring which produced a pudding like protein meal that was eaten with a spoon. A bodybuilder would normally have 3 to 5 of these a day, depending on his caloric needs. Some bodybuilders preferred to have their protein as a drink and so would often add half & half or whole milk with cream.

Rheo's Own Diet

Rheo's own typical meal would be to 1/3 cup of his protein mixed with cream and milk, having it 5 times a day, with 4 eggs a day prepared in a special manner; Four or Five regular meals each week consisting of turkey (his favorite), lamb, or beef. He did not eat fruits or veggies, except for one or two slices of tomato.

Blair's special method for cooking his raw eggs were prepared in this manner a lot heat method that kills bacteria and cooks the eggs but does not destroy its nutritional value, heating the water to 180 -185 degrees and staying in this range cooking for 25 minutes. The eggs then are ready to eat or add to your protein shake.

One of his star pupils, the great Larry Scott, would take a lesson from Rheo Blair's nutritional advice and would prepare his own formula consisting of 2/3 cup of protein powder, 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of whole milk, which he would consume 3 times a day along with having 3 regular meals of lean meats and cottage cheese with almost no carbs, and he would also take 3 eggs a day Rheo Blair style.

Larry Scott was normally not a big eater when it came down to dieting for muscle size. He would rely a lot on Rheo's protein formula's that he would include at times as ac substitute for his regular meals. Larry was known as a picky eater during his competitive years in bodybuilding and it was amazing how he packed on so much muscle mass during his years in bodybuilding. I think with the help of Rheo Blair and Vince Gironda, the famous Guru of many bodybuilding stars, Larry made due with the best that he had.

Summary

Reason Rheo Blair's nutritional program was so successful, it was a properly made non-denatured protein supplement from milk & eggs (casein, whey, and eggs).

He used Lactose

He used saturated fats from cream and egg yolks

Monounsaturated fats from rice germ oil or other sources, such as nuts, seeds and better still, Olive Oil.

His formula contained very few carbs (other than lactose).

How To Follow Blair's Nutritional Program

His basic program consisted of a cup of protein powder, 8 oz cream, 2 oz milk mixed to a pudding like consistency and eaten with a spoon. Flavoring can be added with dietetic fruit or vanilla.

Considering how protein powders are made today, additional 1 cup of milk (raw) if you can. But also adds the essential lactose in about the same ratio as Blair's protein. Specifically add a cup milk to each cup protein powder. Add also monounsaturated fat, 1 teaspoon to 1 table spoon of Olive Oil which should fine ( a max of 2 table spoons should just about fine) other fats you can use flax seed oil or Udo's oil, also add raw eggs or eggs prepared in Blair's way.

Start with having 3 drinks/shakes per day and 3 meals per day of lean meats chicken, beef, fish, pork or lamb. You can add small salad with 2 of the 3 meals but make sure the dressing has no carbs. And try to consume not too much liquids with meals as not to slow down absorption.

As you progress you can add more protein shakes and drop some meals if you wish. Advanced Blair students often took in no more than 3-5 meals per week, living on his protein/cream mixture and supplements the rest of the time. One thing to consider and remember Blair's program was not set in stone, he would often experiment with his mixture, as well as with different nutritional supplements customized to individual bodybuilders.

Many bodybuilders of the 60's often also customized their programs to suit their needs. But always used Blair's basic protein/cream mix as a base. You may also do some experimenting yourself to find out how to best suit your needs as well. Blair's students took in no more than 1 gram protein per pound of body weight, so workout what works best for your needs but use the 1 gram per pound as a base minimum.

But do pay attention to your intake of calcium to phosphorus. Read your protein powder labels to make sure your getting the 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus and adjust with supplements as necessary.

Rheo Blair's Supplement Recommendations

Peptain HCL used to digest high lactose protein

Liver Extract contains 500mg of liver fractions in free available form that he considers it to be far superior to desiccated liver extract.

B Complex Vitamins to maintain nutritional balance

SoyBro used as a lipo-tropic

Choline Plus used as a lipo-tropic

Iron Plus supplies iron in a natural form, along with zinc, copper, maganese in proper proportion.

Calcium Plus contains vitamin C, D, HCL for proper digestion

Bioflavinoids with vitamin C

Cod Liver Oil

(see www.rheoblair.com for Blair's protein)

Sergio Olivia, Larry Scott, and Casey Viator were all heavy into Blair's milk and egg protein mixed with heavy cream or half & half.

Blair's whey cream mother's milk contained high amounts of saturated fats. Blair felt cream and eggs provided the best and most palatable source of fat which wrapped the protein, slowing it down for digestion and making it more usable for the body over the course of the day. He considered lactose, the one carbohydrate essential for muscle growth. His protein formula contained 7 grams of carbs per cup serving and the carb was lactose or natural milk sugar. He believed lactose was essential to muscular growth.

As an animal carbohydrate, lactose is chemically different from other carbs it digests much more slowly than carbs from fruits, grains, or veggie sources. Blair believed that milk sugar was vital as it allowed the body to produce a host of B vitamins and helps good bacteria to grow and flourish. He also believed calcium was best absorbed in the presence of lactose. But lactose's most important role was in protein sparing. In the absence of plant source carbohydrates, the body converts protein into carbohydrates to meet energy needs. He was a firm believer that lactose made many of those energy needs and helps to keep the body from converting protein into carbs, thereby allowing protein to do what it was allowed to do Build Muscle.

The lactose made the protein hard to digest, so digestive capsules were employed hydrochloric acid and pepsin with each meal to aid digestion. The digestibility factor is why virtually all protein powders today have almost no lactose. Lactose may be one of the most important ingredients that made Blair's formula so successful.

Rheo Blair helped the bodybuilding community during his era make strides in their muscle development when many of them longed for alternative ways to increase their muscle mass. His products and supplements dominated the sports supplement market of his time by offering bodybuilders with a logical an effective means of supplementing their daily meals with high tech nutritional nutrients.

Rheo Blair's nutritional ideas were revolutionary for his time, and maybe advanced for ours. His views on protein and fat were visionary, and he was also one of the original low carb diet advocates. He was also the first to push a milk and egg protein supplement for building muscle, during a time when cheap and inferior soy-based powders were the only retail option. There a countless number of individuals from bodybuilders, movie stars, celebrities to extremely ill people that experienced the success of Rheo's formula's.

There were important nutritional ideas that we know well now, but that were still far beyond the horizon when he died in 1983. As such, he advocated some supplement approaches that modern science contradicts. In other words, he was a man; a complex mixture of timeless wisdom and cautionary tale. He was a man back from the future that enjoyed widespread success between the early 50's and late 70's, but the name Rheo H. Blair is hardly recognized today by even the most experienced bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. He left us a taste of nutrition in the highest order for science to finish off and improve on. Sad to say that it never happened to this day. But still, the old school days did just well enough with his help in nutritional bodybuilding to build super physiques that many today still talk about.

In those days bodybuilders did not care what their protein powders tasted like as long as they were getting in their protein requirements. These men needed to grow muscles and would take anything even if it tasted horrible, it did not matter to them as long as it worked!

Some bodybuilders would even take raw liver and put it in a blender and drink it down. Some would drink pure quarts of cream or milk at the beach during their training sessions. Liver extracts were their main source of iron and B vitamins, taking as much as 50 pills a day. Eventually as the supplement market grew, Joe Weider came out with his own line of bodybuilding supplements like his weight gainer powder that would pack on the pounds. The liver extract tablets were eventually replaced with amino acid tablets as well.

As more and more nutritional bodybuilding supplements came into effect, they were all advertising that bodybuilders would pack on muscle quickly if they took these particular supplements. But still, most bodybuilders would consider their meals the number one priority, like cheese omelets and cottage cheese were always a favorite among bodybuilders as a good protein source and snack. The cheese again was considered good for fat burning and energy.

The key to their training and diet back then was being consistent with both, but always experimenting on different ways of eating until they found what worked for them best. Many of these great legends back then each had to find their own metabolic rate and find a system that works for them. For them, it was really a trial and error way of what worked best till they found the correct recipe.

To many bodybuilders out there today and back in the old school days, you could ask any of them today what training system and diet plan worked best for you? And the majority of them would say, bodybuilding is a science, everything is a trial and error bases according to your specific body type and metabolism. What works for you may not work for the next individual. You constantly have to experiment with certain training routines and diet plans till you discover exactly how your body responds to what the best.

It would be interesting if the old school bodybuilders back in their era would have what we have available for us today, with all of the high tech sports supplements we have available now.I could only imagine how much they would have improved considering with the food supply back then being much more richer in nutrients than they are by today's standards. But Im sure that most of these great legends would rather not change a thing of what they had back then and wouldn't trade it for the world. It was an era that you had to live and be part of to feel what it was all about. Simple, clean, pure, and natural as it gets!

Those were definitely the times top be in, to enjoy a life free from annoying pollution, cell phones, computers, lousy junk foods, etc., and no wonder it was called The Golden Age of Bodybuilding.

Part II

THE GREAT VINCE GIRONDA: THE GURU OF BODYBUILDING

Born Vincent Vince Anselmo Gironda November 9, 1917 October 18, 1997 was bodybuilding's Guru of Muscle Beach Venice, California and bodybuilder himself and trainer/owner of the celebrity frequented Vince's Gym. His nickname was the Iron Guru of bodybuilding.

Vince was born in the Bronx, NY. While fairly still young as a child, Vince and his family decided to head out to Los Angeles, California when his father, a stuntman, got offered a job in the up and coming movie classic Ben Hur. During Vince's teenage years he also tried his hand at becoming a stuntman just like his dad but when he saw a picture of John Grimek, he realized that he would need to develop his body in more muscularity to endure the physical hardship and ruggedness of becoming a stuntman. He began lifting weights at the age of 22, and enlisted in a membership at the local YMCA to begin his training.

Vince trained at the YMCA for 8 months till he decided to train at a different location and gym called the Easton Brothers Gym. It was there that the Easton brothers taught him to be one of their instructors. Vince would get the pleasure of training there while teaching others how to weight lift and develop their body's. He worked there and experimented often with different training protocols before he decided to open up his own gym in North Hollywood, California in 1948.

The Classic Old School Bodybuilder of Physiques

Vince Gironda was one of the first bodybuilders ever to build a ripped physique. In fact, in his early days of bodybuilding contests the judges actually placed him lower because he was Too Ripped and they weren't used to seeing that level of shredded muscularity on any one. His secret was in the combination of proper exercises, strict diet, and the strict adherence to exercise form. He used to say that the more you know about training, the less complicated the equipment you'll need. And the more you about nutrition, the faster your results will be.

Now while Vince had some very unique methods with training and nutrition, he knew there were exceptions to everything and said that:

Rules are made to be challenged, questioned, changed or completely broken. There is no absolute right way, or wrong way, to work out.

Vince expressed what he felt and showed things his way, but he was also open to alternatives for anything that didn't work well for a particular individual. Vince was the first guy that knew the extreme importance that good nutrition and dieting clearly defined the results and efforts you put in the gym during your training sessions.

Vince's Training Philosophy

Vince Gironda was the original Iron Guru. While Joe Weider was touting himself as being the trainer of champions it was actually Vince who had one of the most successful followings of bodybuilding champs. Gironda was the one who brought Larry Scott up from being an average guy with no genetics to a 207 pound winner of the famed Mr. Olympia contest. Vince also worked with many other bodybuilding champions that went on to win many prestigious bodybuilding contests such as the Mr. Universe, Mr. America, and Mr. World.

He was also known to be the trainer of the stars, movie celebrities when they needed to get in shape fast for a role, they went to see Vince. This was all during the 1950's when he was well known as a trainer of both champions and movie and television stars. His claim to fame was being able to get a person into shape faster than anyone else. And that the movie studios would send their actors and actresses to him for that reason. Some of the well known celebrities were Clint Eastwood, Robert Blake (Barreta), Cher, Denzel Washington, James Garner, Brian Keith, Tommy Chong (of cheech and chong), and Erik Estrada.

He never really marketed himself selling his services to people, but instead he remained more of an underground guru type of a guy. But he would be somewhat harsh to bodybuilders with big egos. Vince had the type of personalty that was straight bold and honest when it came down to in evaluating your physique. In fact, when the great Austrian Oak Arnold Schwarzenegger came to America, he went to Vince's gym and presented himself in a somewhat cocky Arnold sort of way, Vince told him, Well, you sure look like a fat fuck to me!

That was classic Vince Gironda, he didn't appear to be exactly a public relations sort of fellow but flat out told you what he thought based on your ego. When the 60's rolled around, Vince's reputation grew as a personal trainer due to his pupils winning all the important bodybuilding events, with the most well known being Larry Scott winning the first IFBB Mr. Olympia in 1965. Bodybuilders that have trained at Vince's gym over the years include Body by Jake Steinfeld, Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Frank Zane, Don Howorth and even Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gironda eventually came to be known as the Iron Guru, a name given to him by former magazine editor and photo journalist Denie Walter.

Vince Gironda was often quoted as saying that bodybuilding is 85% nutrition. He was a firm believer that nutrition clearly defined your training results. And he also believed that with the right combination of dietary techniques proteins, fats, carbs, and calories food can be as close to anabolic steroids as possible. Vince was the first to recommend amino acids for muscular development and glandular extracts to break past a sticking point.

Vince was a firm believer in low carb dieting, and recommended the use of supplements, including desiccated liver tablets, kelp, digestive enzymes and glandulars such as adrenal and orchic. Often in certain circumstances he would recommend up to 3 dozen fertile hen eggs a day, along with (unhomogenized, unpasteurized) milk. Large amounts of fertile eggs, he would claim to equal the anabolic steroid Dianabol or D-Bol in effectiveness. Although he never did provide supporting evidence for his theories.

Some of Vince's nutritional beliefs were eating liver and using liver extract tablets for a potent training session. He would state that if you separate the white and the yolk of the egg, you would get an isolated protein. And anytime you separate the white and the yolk, you get an isolated protein. Anytime you separate protein from fat you're left with an incomplete food.

Vince promoted the weight loss and muscle building benefits of high fat diets long before the Atkins and Zone diets were popular. He could shape up movie stars in record time and help bodybuilders attain their best ever size, condition and presentation. He invented and popularized many techniques and training accessories that we take for granted today and its no exaggeration to say that Vince Gironda was years a head of his time. Some of Vince Gironda's idea's and concepts were:

How to precurse natural hormones and increase the anabolic environment of your bodybuilder.

The proper intensity and duration of the optimum workout

How to overwork and avoid hormone loss

Why you should avoid excess abdominal training

How to increase your arm size by 1'' in two weeks

Winner training routines for beginners, intermediates, and advanced trainers.

The benefits of specific diets and what effect they have, high protein, low protein, high carb, low carb, high fat, and low fat.

How to naturally increase your metabolic rate

How to improve muscular weak points in your body.

What supplements you should take, how often, and how much.

What are the most powerful foods available today which can quickly provide muscle gain and fat loss.

Saturated fat, unsaturated fat and cholesterol what part should it play in your diet.

Vince's famous steak and egg diet.

And many others.

Meals and supplements that Vince would recommended were meats, milk, eggs, fish, cheese, protein powders, fowl, amino acids. Supplements mineral tablets, kelp, vitamins A, B-complex, C, E, F (folic acid), digestive enzymes, HCL, Fats, and oils. Metabolic stimulators kelp, fats and oils, and minerals.

Vince's Amino Acid Loading

When it came to nutritional advice Vince Gironda was way ahead of his time, that was one of his strong skills that he specialized in. He knew the in's and out's of muscle growth, he knew that muscles needed proteins to grow, and the key to muscle growth was to keep the body in a constant positive nitrogen state. Realizing that as long as there was amino acids freely available in the body, the muscles then wouldn't enter in a catabolic state.

During his time and era, he was limited by the supply of supplements available, using low quality amino acid tablets. But despite the rather crude supplements used, this method worked amazingly well! The difference with Vince's preference of choice, he would use the branch chain amino acids, which were responsible for sending the protein synthesis signal. Vince already knew back then when the ratio of BCAA's to regular amino acids is elevated in the body, we turn the switch to anabolic mode. He would suggest to his clients to take five feedings per day, between meals of BCAA's making it an ideal situation for positive nitrogen retention. He scheduled it during the AM morning hours upon awaking before breakfast, between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and supper (or pre-workout), early evening hours, and before bedtime.

Today, it is not impossible to say that most bodybuilders and gym rats would take anywhere from 20 to 50 grams of BCAA's per day three to five times a day. The whole point and message that Vince was trying to deliver was making sure that you had a constant flux of BCAA's in your blood stream, so the more frequent your intake is, the better off you'll be.

Vince always felt that the use of supplements combined with good quality foods was a way to get effects close to what could be achieved with anabolic drugs (keeping in mind that in his day, taking 20-25 mg of Dianabol per day and 200mg of Deca per week was considered a lot).

Although Vince was limited to what he can use as far as the quality of supplements that were available during his time. For example, he was keen on trying to increase testosterone levels. So, to do so he recommended a high fat diet and supplementing with glandulars (which basically were dried testes, orhic). While the high fat diet is indeed proven to increase testosterone levels, he may have been right on track with the raw glandulars to increase testosterone production. He considered them (glandulars) too be a valid alternative to anabolic steroids.

Vince was also big on kelp (a source of iodine) to increase thyroid hormone production. He always had specific formulas of certain supplements to assist and increase the body's own natural production of the necessary hormones to build lean muscle mass. Vince Gironda would always make it a point in regarding bodybuilding, if you don't have your diet down first, the rest of it, training, is moot. Meaning that bodybuilding is 85% diet. We are what we eat period!Most of the champion bodybuilders know this and are very vain about their dietary plan and structure.

Vince Gironda's Take on Nutrition & Dieting

Muscle gains and growth of muscle are based on your diet and metabolism, once you get that complete understood, then gains in muscular growth are forth coming. In Arnold Schwarzenegger's book The Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding most of Arnold's diet plans and recommendations were based on what he learned and received from Vince himself. Arnold started receiving some of his best gains in muscular growth after what he learned from Vice Gironda, like whole eggs and steak as complete protein sources.

One of Vince's techniques, his famous Steak & Eggs diet in which was eaten for several meals of the and per day with the goal of keeping a high protein low carb mentality. Vince believed that fat was an important part along with high protein, utilizing fat for hormone production and as a clean source of energy. Back then they did not believe in wasting the yolk part of the egg and just consuming the white part of the egg. Today's bodybuilders devour egg whites by the pounds making it a daily requirement for muscle growth.

Vince also use to recommend to his clients to have two large servings of leafy green salads and olive oil with two of their steak and egg meals. The idea was to stick to a low sodium diet with a high quality protein source to achieve maximum definition during competition time. Plus he was very big on liver meals and his desiccated liver tablets taken several times of the day as well. Around the 60's it wasn't very uncommon for many of the bodybuilders to be on Vince's steak & egg diet, protein powder mixed with half & half, etc.

It was a healthy moderate fat, high protein, low carb diet with plenty of green vegetables. The balance of it was on things that could be eaten in its raw state such as vegetables, berries, some fruits, and nuts.

It has only been recently that bodybuilders today employ a lot of high carbs, moderate protein, and moderate fats. There should be no doubt that dietary fat does not make people fat. It is the combination of fat and excessive carbohydrates (and excessive caloric intake) along with a sedentary lifestyle that make people fat.

Vince Gironda was the first guy to advocate that your bodybuilding success is 80% nutrition. Now whether or not you actually agree with number, you can't argue with the fact that what you eat, when you eat it, and what supplements you take and when you take it is much more effective than most bodybuilders imagine.

Vince's unorthodox eating strategies that he followed and taught to his students. Like do NOT combine carbohydrates with protein in the same meal. Because proper digestion of protein requires a higher level of an acidic base in the stomach. Where as proper starchy carbohydrate digestion requires an alkaline medium. If you consume both together you'll only get partial digestion and the residue will result in severe discomfort, gas, bloat, heartburn, and hyper acidity. And not to mention the dreaded bodybuilder farts.....LOL.

Vince was often asked about gaining weight and/or building muscle and he would reply with a question of his own: Do you want an increased body weight, or is it an increase in muscle size you are after?

Of course the response would usually be size.

Vince claimed that muscle size is desirable, but not simply adding body weight, which will only smooth out your definition and increase the size of your waist and hips while causing a loss of symmetry.Vince Gironda's Maximum Definition Diet Plan

Vince Gironda loved the protein and fat diet, which he called the maximum definition diet. Basically one was to eat/drink a dozen eggs a day (any where from 1-3 dozen depending on what else you ate during the day). Whole eggs are a perfect food (and are also cheap) according to Vince. You should have 3 to 4 meals a day, but between meals you would take a handful of liver tabs. With the most important supplements being digestive enzymes, liver tabs, and essential fatty acids (EFA's). Those will help with digestion and food cravings.

He recommends that you take in only protein and fat, as there are carbs hidden through out the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). Also while you try to limit your processed food intake (i.e. use butter not margarine), and drink plenty of water - hyperhydration. Every 3-4 (sometimes 5) days have ONE carb only meal. Don't make it too big, and don't eat crap, or as he would state - you will feel like crap.

His diet definition plan is recommended for 12 weeks. Despite other noted nutritional experts beliefs, quality research does show no problems using this type of diet long term, (research the Eskimo or Inuit Diet, or read Will Brinks info' on this). Vince knew this nutritional concept years ago and used it effectively for many of his students.

Vince's idea and beliefs on this diet plan was that raw eggs stimulated the endocrine system and therefore naturally increased growth related hormones. He would also recommend raw egg protein shakes throughout the day for a couple of months (8wks) and then switch to another more moderate diet (i.e. mass or maintenance). These shakes consisted of raw eggs (12), cream, sometimes wheat germ, banana, and milk/egg protein.

The results according to those who have followed this plan were mind blowing! And noticeable. First recovery and growth happens more readily after just the first week on this diet. Second, little aches and pains (low back, etc.) seem to diminish. And finally, you will experience a stronger pump during and after training. Thus, your body will appear to lose fat and gain muscle, but nothing too dramatic (its not magic). And barring injury, your weight and reps should increase steadily afterward.

Vince Gironda's Hormone Precursor Diet For Muscle Build Up

Vince was ahead of his time by decades with many of his ideas. Almost 20 years before Dr. Atkins was promoting the merits of a carbohydrate restricted diet, Vince was writing about a diet of steak and eggs for maximum definition. While some of his ideas are out dated (ie., bench pressing to the neck), he was right about the role that a high in egg protein plays in maximizing natural hormone levels since cholesterol is an essential building block of testosterone. For his famous hormone precursor diet he recommended this diet for four to six weeks, followed by a mostly vegetarian alkalizing diet to help restore the body's acid/alkaline level.

Breakfast

Vince's special protein drink made of 12 oz half & half, 12 raw eggs, 1/3rotein powder, 1 banana. Make one to three mixtures of this formula and drink throughout the day, between meals, and before retiring.

Supplements

1 multi vitamin tablet 3 vitamin A and D tablets or 3 halibut oil capsules 1 vitamin B complex. 1 vitamin B-15 tablet, 1 vitamin C complex (300mg) 2 vitamin E capsules (800iu) 1 zinc tablet 1 chelated mineral tablet 5 alfalfa tablets. 10 kelp tablets 3 tri-germ and wheat germ oil capsules 1 RNA/DNA tablet 3 lysine tablets (400mg) 1 hydrochloric acid tablet before a meal 3 digestive tablets (after a meal) 3 multi glandular tablets (nucleo glan male or female).

Lunch

1 pound hamburger or other meat, mixed green salad or raw vegetables.

Supplements

1 iron tablet 4 calcium tablet Repeat of breakfast vitamins with omission of vitamin E, tri-germ, wheat germ, halibut oil.

Dinner

1 to 2 pounds steak or roast meat raw or steamed vegetables or sald and cottage cheese

Supplements

Same as Lunch.

Special Supplements

10 amino acid tablets and desiccated liver tablets (every 3-4 hours) 5 yeast tablets with the protein drink, 4 raw orchic tissue tablets (before and after workouts) 6 each of the following before retiring: arginine, ornithine, tryptophan, calcium tablets.

Vince Gironda's Meat, Egg, and Water diet

During Vince's forty years of bodybuilding he would always look for greater definition and muscle size, and has experimented with so imaginable diet combinations. It was during his training year that he was focusing on competing and winning the World's Most Muscular Man title that he devised a diet that would give him maximum size with almost zero body fat. He called it the steak-and -eggs diet.

Steak and eggs have always been an athlete's favorite meal, because no other food combination gives you the same powerful feeling of power and energy. Beef and eggs sustain a high normal blood sugar level for up to 6 hours, which makes lunch unnecessary when you're dieting and training for muscular definition. And three quarter pounds of steak and three eggs provide over 100 grams of first class protein.

Hamburger meat isn't considered a good substitute for the steak, as Vince claims. The grinding of the meat destroys the enzymes and other important nutrients. As a result, ground beef simply doesn't measure up to other cuts of meat for building muscle tissue. Surprisingly, some of the less expensive cuts of meat like chuck and round steak are higher in protein and lower in fat content than sirloin steak or fillet mignon.

Vince would stay on this diet of steak and eggs for 9 months eating two meals of it per day, each consisting of three-quarter pounds of steak and three eggs. In his evening meal he would have a small mixed green salad, and used no supplements during this diet. Vince achieved some of the best gains and body condition of his career by following this diet. And after 9 months of this contest diet of steak and eggs he noticed that he was actually growin