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"I think that John Grimek is the greatest bodybuilder who ever lived!" |
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One of the finest body's of all time belonged to John Grimek. He was born in New Jersey in 1909. He started training on his older brother Georges fitness equipment and was hooked. In 1929 at the tender age of 20 Grimek sent of pictures of himself, dressed in a loin cloth and headband, to the muscle magazines of the day and was an instant hit. He not only had the body, but he knew how to present it. The editor of Strength Magazine, Mark Berry, saw the potential in the young Grimek. John moved in with Berry and the results of the two men working together spoke for themselves. Grimek was now even larger than before but with more definition! Mark Berry was one of the pioneers of what was later called Set Point Theory. The act of putting on excess bodyweight, stripping it off and therefore allowing more muscle to grow in its place due to support systems being developed at the higher (mostly fatter) bodyweight. He tested this and his other theories on the young Grimek. He ballooned put o 250lbs, outrageously massive for the day, but it worked and Grimek packed on more quality muscle than before eventually evening out at around 230lbs solid. There was little to do in Bodybuilding in the 1930s so Grimek entered, and won, many weightlifting competitions, becoming the USA heavyweight lifting champion in 1936, as well as advertising barbells. In 1939 he moved to Pennsylvania and worked under Bob Hoffman. His fortunes in weightlifting was in decline as he continued to fail to win. He eventually decided to stick to bodybuilding and in the following year finally got his chance to shine in the Mr.America competition. He didn't really plan to compete in that bodybuilding show of May 25 1940 ,but in the weightlifting that followed it . However he was talked into it and he wiped away the competition and also won the best arms trophy.
From that moment everyone wanted a piece of Grimek. For advertising, for film roles - the works. He couldn't enter the 1941 Mr.America due to red tape from the organizers but he was busy with his job as senior editor of Strength and Health Magazine, marriage and the outbreak of world war 2 which meant that there were limited competitions which were on. In 1947 he planned to enter the Mr.Universe competition but was not allowed to enter because he was already a 'Professional bodybuilder'. However the following year he entered (at the last minute) and fought (and won) for the title against the excellent Steve Reeves. His routine included handstands , roll-overs and the full splits! He won the Mr.USA in 1949 and then retired. He was, after all, over 40 years of age by now. From then on he kept himself busy as an editor and contributor of bodybuilding magazines such as Muscular Development in 1964 and his column in Musclemag International. John Grimek was ahead of his time and an excellent ambassador for bodybuilding sharing his experience with everyone. He truly deserves his place as one of the legends of bodybuilding.
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