Page 36 - Fire Your Personal Trainer and Kick Your Own Damn Ass

Fire Your Personal Trainer 33
And Kick Your Own Damn Ass

I had some weights, a slant board, some courses, and a growing collection
of magazines. My public library didn’t have any books on weight training
and I was constantly on the lookout for them. My father didn’t know
much. I was pretty much on my own, and it was those magazines that
gave me an education on how to work out.

The first issue of Joe Weider’s MUSCLE BUILDER/POWER that I owned
was the July 1971 issue with Frank Zane on the cover. He had a very

refined symmetrical physique, but he was dwarfed by this monster
from Austria named Schwarzenegger. And there was another guy who
trained with Schwarzenegger – Dave Draper – who I remembered from
an episode of Beverly Hillbillies, and a giant named Mike Katz - who
were equally big.

Weider’s magazine had a totally different feel than York’s STRENGTH
& HEALTH, and MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT magazines. The content,

the layout, the photos - especially the photography – were all way better
than what appeared in York’s magazine.

The other magazines of the day were all very different from one
another. Dan Lurie’s magazine, MUSCLE TRAINING ILLUSTRATED, had
a homemade feel to it because it actually was a family enterprise. Since
every issue had the promise of something fantastic, there was a time
when I bought them all and I struck gold when I read about Arthur Jones

and his Nautilus machines. Holy crap! It expanded my mind dramatically.

Bob Kennedy’s startup, MUSCLEMAG INTERNATIONAL, had an odd
feel to it in the beginning. But as he continued publishing, Bob offered
in-depth coverage of the way the champs actually trained and articles
by a great writer named Greg Zulak.