In Reply To - BODYBUILDING 1958

EDITOR'S NOTE -- As was to be expected, our readers are eager to express their opinions of an article so strongly worded and presenting such unusual opinions as were to be found in the article by Richard Alan in last issue. We asked for opinions and we received them - a lot of them, and since it is our policy to allow readers to express themselves in Iron Man when space permits we feel that we should present a few of the letters we have received this time.

Some were very much in favor of Mr. Alan's ideas while others were just as radical in their opposition. Right or wrong, we hope that Mr. Alan's article has stimulated enough thinking and perhaps some action towards improvement in our game which everyone agrees is badly needed. Perhaps you don't agree with Mr. Alan. The important thing, however, is that we all DO SOMETHING toward improvement. We will, of course, make mistakes, but we learn by our mistakes and can try again with better - results from our improved knowledge. We are deleting the names from the letters for obvious reasons, since personalities should not be concerned, but the letters are on file and can be produced if necessary.

Dear Editor:

In Richard Alan's article "Bodybuilding 1958" you, the editor, request me, the reader, to give my comments on same. Here they are:

Mr. Alan says body building and weight lifting is a cult because it propagates food supplements and exercise as a dogma. I think he will find any group of people, whether it be a sport or otherwise, interested in one certain thing, propagating their beliefs together as a dogma which will seem absurd to the uninitiated. But this is not a cult - just a group of people's own likes and dislikes which the uninitiated does not understand and thinks absurd. Also most of these "cults" are unscientific (which Mr. Alan believes is the first requisite of being a "cult"). Our society is divided into classes (cults), racial, intellectual and even classes based on financial status. Are all these classes "cults"? They all have their set ideas and beliefs and most are certainly unscientific. To most of us they would be ridiculous until we try to understand them.

Mr. Alan makes mention of the man on the street thinking the Mr. America repulsive. The average man is lazy and if there was a short cut to a Mr. America physique there would be no average man.

Mr. Alan says weight trainers have withdrawn from the world because they think they have something no one else has. That may be true because perhaps they have. I wonder if he has ever spoken to a boxer, football player, baseball player or any other athlete, for that matter. If so, he will find that they all look down on the other sports as being inferior and lacking something that their chosen sport has. I agree that one should train for fitness as well as bodybuilding, but I also think if an individual is going to amount to anything in his chosen field, whether it be in sports or business, he almost has to let everything else alone and concentrate on his objective. It matters not if he expects to be a "Mr. A" or a boxing champion or even a doctor or businessman. This concentration is just AMBITION and not SELFISHNESS as Mr. Alan terms it.

I agree wholeheartedly with him and his section on homosexuals. However, in this article he relates some information about himself, about it taking years for him to realize that people weren't staring at and criticizing him and about his getting back to normal. I don't know how this criticism complex developed and won't concern myself with it, for I don't feel qualified to speak on that subject but perhaps a psychiatrist or psychologist could help Mr. Alan out. But this word "normal" he used is a very complex word such as TRUTH. I think by normal he means to put everyone into one mold, to categorize everyone. This way we would all be the same, having the same likes and dislikes and leading a NORMAL life. This type of living leads to decay. For it is not the NORMAL individual that changes or progresses, but the ambitious specialist who keeps plodding ahead. Mr. Alan would prefer everybody to be like the Good Joe next door. To work, play and be happy - this is fine, but life isn't that simple, as has been called to our attention by the fact that Russia has been forging ahead intellectually because they are developing specialists, not "jacks-of-all trades" and are progressing and developing individuals not mass monopoly as Mr. Alan seems to suggest.

I think his suggestion of discontinuing the "Mr." Contests is ridiculous, as this stimulates boys to train. As for "hero worship" this can be looked upon as an ideal or a goal to reach. This promotes ambition which promotes progression, which leads to a better way of life. Most all great men were hero worshippers, not only of athletic heroes, but politicians, educators and professional men.

He makes mention of lack of science in weight training and tells about recipes he offered. Science is constantly changing and what was considered right before is now termed ridiculous and vice versa. Even medical men disagree on certain diets and foods. Everyone is an individual (this is what you should encourage, Mr. Alan, not conformity) and their bodies react differently to food and exercise. Probably the best diet is the one that suits the individual best. You cannot categorize. I cannot understand why he condemns weight training as an obsession, for at the same time he is constantly plugging science, indicating that this is an obsession to him. I admire him for this, because if this obsession gets strong enough he will probably make a fine doctor if medicine is what he is studying.

Mr. Alan says science may prove some of weightlifting theories wrong. Again he uses a relative term "wrong". Newton's scientific ideas were a marvel and were accepted until they were surpassed by Einstein, who is presently being challenged. Science may come along and challenge the sport of weightlifting but if weight training continues to put out healthy strong bodies science will have no leg to stand on.

Mr. Alan should also realize that science is very uncertain. Medical men do not know why some tumors become malignant; physicists do not know why electrons act the way they do, etc. I could go on listing numerous uncertainties to show that science is not what the science faddist thinks it is. But then, they live in their own little world as do the weight lifters and other '"cultists".

In his closing two paragraphs Mr. Alan sounds as if he is making a bid for some financial aid to help run through college. I hope he gets it.

I think if his article were taken seriously by everyone this world would become static. Everyone would be trying to live a NORMAL life and no great men would develop. Great men are made, not born. How are they made? By concentration on one objective. Yes, being obsessed with their ideas and beliefs no matter how ridiculous the man on the street thinks they are. More power to the individual who sets his goal to be a "Mr. A" or to accomplish anything and puts everything else aside to do it.

The United States would be in an awful predicament now if Einstein would have enjoyed a full social life and did not devote most of his time to work.

You are trying to create a stagnant, lazy America, Mr. Alan, not a powerful, progressive one.

Good luck on your educational career, Mr. Alan, but before you condemn anything, THINK!

R.H.R., New Orleans

Dear Sirs:

I just read the article Bodybuilding 1958 by Richard Alan. This article is very good; well written, and might hurt a few feelings, but there is an old saying "The truth hurts". So I feel that this article is true because it brought to light a few of my own faults and those of a few other weightlifters in the rest of the United States.

Have more articles of this order in your magazine.

-W.G.

Dear Peary:

Today the latest copy of Iron Man arrived and, after reading Reader's Roundup, I took as my first article the one Richard Alan wrote with conviction.

Here, without a doubt, is the true story of the Iron game and these very things I learned years ago. I question any sane and intelligent barbell man to disagree with young Mr. Alan who, in my opinion, deserves an award for this great and truthful story of Bodybuilding 1958. You, as editor, deserve an award for having the heart to publish this.

This excellent article should be printed up in leaflets and sent or given to every young kid who considers training with weights. If there was a Nobel or Pulitzer Award for the greatest piece of writing and the most helpful, true-to-facts, the article by Richard Alan would surely receive the votes of any clear thinking man.

I'm pleased to see this article appear, and it will shatter many an ego but what TRUTH doesn't? You asked for opinions and here's mine, who knows from 28 years' experience in the physical culture life and I defy any man to prove Richard Alan wrong, as I am an old-timer who can back up Alan's statements from my own experiences.

In closing, I want to say that most every news stand I visit in Philadelphia or larger towns of New Jersey IRON MAN is always prominently displayed.

Again, my thanks for one of the finest articles I have had the pleasure to read in Iron Man or any magazine, and I do mean the one by ALAN.

Best wishes, J.G.

P.S. The solution to our game is in Alan's article.

Dear Editor:

Was much interested in the article written by Richard Alan and would very much like to make a few comments. Generally speaking, I think Mr. Alan has the right idea -- we do need some improvement in the game, and to make this improvement some changes must be made. Obviously this cannot be done overnight but must be a long term affair and many problems must be overcome. This will take years and years -- perhaps in 50 years we will see a tremendous change and much improvement, for I believe that eventually this activity of bodybuilding will become a recognized profession and that in order to operate a studio or clinic one will have to go to college and obtain a degree and special training for it. However, as I said, this is far in the future judging by past progress.

As for the game being a "cult" -- I believe it is, and I also feel that this is good for the game, for to progress an activity must have men who are so deeply immersed in it that they find no time for other activities. No major activity or industry has ever shown great growth without so-called "fanatics" who seemed a little queer to their fellow men. We must have many fanatics in our game who are willing and eager to give their whole lives and all their time to it and make any necessary sacrifice gladly if the game is to grow as Mr. Alan thinks it should, so I must disagree with him when he says we cannot have a cult or that fanatics are bad for the game. They may seem "queer" and a little "off the beam" to the average public but then the average public seldom contributes great progress to science. We want "Mr. Average" man interested, of course, but he can only be interested through the efforts of fanatics and cultists.

I will skip over the Homosexual phase because this condition is not confined to this game only, but prevails in every activity of man, even to infesting our government. It is a condition that must have general public attention and not just the concern of a minority group.

Physique contests, while having been rather overdone and perhaps having gone to extremes are not as bad as Mr. Alan pictures them and I feel that they are of great value in educating the public to the possibilities of the human body in a manner they would never have the opportunity to see otherwise. While I agree that not everyone can become a physique contestant or develop such an outstanding physique, still I think that physique contests have perhaps done more to develop an interest in bodybuilding than any other single thing. While Russia brags of her five million weightlifters we could probably claim ten million bodybuilders and I firmly believe that the great future lies not in weightlifting but in applied bodybuilding with weight resistance.

People must have ideals to aim at and to inspire them and physique contests and contestants provide these physical ideals. I do not feel that the average public objects to these men of big muscles. My experience has been that they greatly admire them while at the same time being amazed. If any of them feel this fine physical development is abnormal then perhaps they need some education in what a man should look like when properly developed. Mr. Alan seems to ignore the fact that people's ideas of what is "normal" may be distorted.

As for a lack of science in the game -- I again cannot completely agree with Mr. Alan. While we do not have the "test tube" science in expensive laboratories, which seems to be his idea of science, we do have much careful study and experimentation being carried on all the time. Many health studios have contributed a great deal from their experiments. If Mr. Alan has followed articles in Iron Man for the past 15 years he will note instances of many experiments being carried out in a scientific manner and which have contributed a great deal to our present training knowledge. One man, Mr. Charles Ross, did a great deal of medical research and experimentation (until he almost went blind from overwork and had to slow up) and made great contributions to our present training methods. Others have done similar things. I can well remember 20 years ago when training was a hit-and-miss affair and about 60 per cent of barbell men obtained good results. Today we have advanced to a point of the science of exercise and diet where we can almost guarantee results in every instance if a person will follow instructions as to exercise, rest and proper nutrition. The latter is very important and is perhaps where the greatest research is yet to be done. Perhaps Mr. Alan is not aware of the tremendous amount of scientific laboratory research which is now going on in this field and its great contributions to bodybuilding. I'm sure that he is not aware of this from his slighting remarks about food supplements. Surely he must be aware of the deficiencies our modern highly processed foods bring about. This can only be combatted through the use of supplemental feeding and veritable miracles have been wrought through this use of food supplements.

Of course, it is to be expected that when anything with profit possibilities like food supplements comes along there will be certain unscrupulous individuals who will come along and use it dishonestly. This happens in any field, though, and is no reason to condemn a cause. Let's just ride along and allow these things to work themselves out. We can't do everything overnight.

As for the big organizations now dominating the game not contributing to the game -- I'd again like to disagree. While some of them do send teams around the world, this is important to the progress of the game as well as sending people to college. We know of very few of them who ride in cadillacs. Most of them live simple lives. Peary Rader drives a '56 Plymouth. Bob Hoffman drives a Pontiac. We don't know what Weider drives but it doesn't matter a great deal. We know that while some of these men make a great deal of money they also spend a great deal and have tremendous expenses. We also know that most of the time they are on the verge of going broke. Publishing a magazine is and always has been a money losing proposition and we will be surprised if many do not leave the field in this coming year -- not because they got rich and don't need to work but because they have given so much to make the game what it is today and this game has failed to support them in their efforts as it should.

I could go on and on about many of these things but will not take more of your time. It is a credit to Iron Man that it always tries to publish different viewpoints on any subject and I, for one, am glad this is so. I was happy to read Mr. Alan's article even though I do not agree with him in every way. I would not want to live in a country where free expression of ideas was restricted and I do not care to read a publication which will publish only one viewpoint (their own).

Sincerely, M.K.

EDITOR'S NOTE-This is all we have room for this issue. Many more both pro and con are on our desk. We hope that while we may disagree with each other we can all work together for a common cause.

PHOTO CAPTION

- Some readers feel that there is a definite place and purpose for the physique contests as represented by the Mr. California contest, winners of which are pictured above with Earle Clark, often a cover man in Iron Man taking first place and Ray Routledge, on the right, taking second. Sam Martin, on the left, was third. Photo by Bruce.