My Half-Century In The IRON GAME

part 3

By John Grimek

My first article dealt with my struggles in the Iron Game. Due to space allotment, however, it was cut off at about the time I migrated to York. I found, to my utter surprise, that I got many letters asking for greater detail. I was going to continue the series when, in the interim, an old friend died. Since he played a role in my struggle, I devoted the last segment to him. This month I'd like to tell you about another man who helped me on the tough road in the Iron Game - Sig Klein

DURING the Roaring 20s, one of the most popular figures in the Iron Game was Siegmund Klein. Almost every month something about him appeared in Strength magazine, which was published by the Milo Barbell Company.

He was either trying (usually successfully) to make new records of some kind, or he was featured in some new pose. And, his ability to display himself in poses was inspiring.

Though there were many outstanding men in that era--Otto Arco, Milo Steinborn, Bob Snyder, Anton Matysek and many, many others--it was Klein who seemed to stay on top. I literally "ate up" his activities. His pictures always expressed poise, grace and sheer power. They were an inspiration to all who viewed them.

Like other budding physique enthusiasts, each new picture of Sig and his contemporaries urged me on, and I rarely missed a training session, except, as mentioned in an earlier segment, when it got too cold or too hot...otherwise I zealously worked out.

In 1929 my picture first appeared in Strength. For it I was awarded first prize, and afterwards a few more snapshots of me appeared in the magazine.

Because I followed Sig's activities for so long, I made up my mind to meet him. A friend and I decided to make a special trip to New York to visit him.

His gym was on the 3rd floor of a Seventh Avenue building. I was sort of nervous walking up the stairs that day, and when we reached the gym, the door (as usual) was wide open and the room abounded with activity.

I was enthralled as I entered, for there in the center of the gym I spied the old maestro, coaching some of his clientele. His tight trousers and sleeveless T-shirt made him look outstanding. Though he was shorter than most of the men he was training, he stood out like a giant to me!

He looked up and saw us standing near the doorway. After giving his students some instructions, he came over and extended his hand. "What can I do for you?" he asked. I must have stammered somewhat as I blurted out my name and hometown. I could see his eyebrows raise and then he said, "I remember you from the pictures that appeared in Strength magazine."

Talk about being flattered! Here I come to extol my praise on him, the man I considered to be the greatest...and he was paying compliments to me--a total unknown. I know I blushed and my face turned a scarlet hue, and I acted nervously. Recognizing my discomfort, however, he said, "Come on in and take a workout."

Again I stammered! I said that I didn't bring my trunks along, and then I added, I already had trained the day before. But Sig knew that my protests were only half-hearted excuses by a youngster who was totally in awe of him. He drew out a pair of trunks from a drawer, gave them to me and said, "Here, take these and go back and change."

By this time I was a little more comfortable in his presence and I gladly did his bidding. When I walked back into the gym, everyone stopped what they were doing and watched me. I also overheard Sig and some of his students make some complimentary comments about my physique and again I was embarrassed into nervousness.

I didn't really know what to do but I knew I had to do something. So, I quickly picked up a barbell, pulled it to my chest and pushed it overhead a few times. Then I asked for more weight, not knowing what the barbell weighed. By adding a 10-pound plate to each side I was told that it weighed 230. Again I pulled it up and pressed it several times. There was a lot of whispering among those watching. Later I learned that Sig was the only one in the gym who could press this weight.

Then Sig, noting my legs, asked me how much I could squat with. I admitted that I never tried for any specific mark although I had worked up to about 400 pounds in my training.

He then pointed to a 185-pound barbell. I did a few slow squats, then leaped into the air, and dropped down again into a full squat before leaping up again. I did this for several repetitions and it really surprised everyone. Up until then they had never seen this type of squatting. I then added more weight and again did my jumping squats. In my own training area I usually went to my limit, but here on the 3rd floor, I kept within my ability. Eventually at home, however, I would work up to 290 pounds for eight reps.

Next Sig pointed to a pair of 100s. "Can you lift them?" he asked. I tried but the awkwardness of the unmatched dumbell pair challenged my strength. A couple of more tries, however, and they were at my shoulders for an easy press.

Feeling more comfortable with my new surroundings, I waged a mild complaint about the awkwardness of the bells. Sig commented casually, "A good strongman doesn't complain or make excuses...he goes ahead and lifts!" That little speech became deeply ingrained in my mind. After that, I never complained...at least not in Sig's presence.

After I returned home, I fashioned a pair of dumbell handles and began practicing dumbell cleans. About two weeks later, I returned to Sig's gym, grabbed those two dumbells, cleaned them easily and then see-sawed them for 15 reps each.

Sig was the first to congratulate me, and it really meant a lot to me. He was my inspiration. I knew that whatever he'd ask me to lift under his guidance, I could have done it...anything!

Meeting this man proved to be a highlight in my life and I liked and admired him so much I wanted to train under his tutorship. I daydreamed about the lifts I would do if I had him for an instructor.

With this in mind, I asked Sig if he knew where I could find work. I even offered to clean up the gym and work for just enough money to provide me with food. I even told him I'd be willing to sleep on the gym floor.

But those were Depression days and things were tough all over. We still had time to joke of course. And, one day while we were clowning around he told me that I should seek employment as a bouncer, saying that all I'd have to do would be to roll up my sleeve, or to show them my calf. He said that unless the man was dead drunk, I would never have any trouble. We laughed about this for a long time but I never applied for such a position. I wanted to get my regular rest and sleep so I could continue training...and if possible, under Sig's guidance.

It was in Sig's gym that I also met many other oldtime strongmen, especially such outstanding men as Otto Arco, Sam Cramer, Milo Steinborn, Sam Olmstead, Adolph Nordquest, Clevio Massimo, and Paul Bragg among many others. All these men were sterling examples of fine manhood and personality.

After my first visit to Sig's, he got in touch with Mark Berry, then the editor of Strength. Berry gave me immediate publicity in a small magazine called The Strongman, in addition to that provided by Strength.

Berry then informed Dietrich Wortmann, the National Weightlifting Chairman, of my lifting ability. Wortmann wrote to me and suggested that I tryout for the '32 Olympics. I was thrilled with the idea but I wouldn't dare consider it. After all, I had never lifted officially, and I knew nothing about technique. In fact, up till then I had never even seen a contest.

All my lifts were made by brute strength and without any style. Yet by the end of 1932 I was pressing 250 pounds, which exceeded the national record by nearly 30 pounds. (I made a record in this lift at the 1934 Senior National Weightlifting Championships.) However, in '32 my cleaning and snatching ability was still mediocre. I could "continental clean" over 300 pounds and jerk it overhead but this style was not permitted in a contest. The truth is, I could clean with one hand almost as much as I could with both...this certainly indicated that I needed a lot of practice.

To prove my point, one night some friends and I went to watch a Polish Strongman's strength exhibition. This powerhouse was Wladyslaw Maksymiak. He bent spikes, supported a lot of weight, and also bent pieces of iron into various scrolls.

After the exhibition we gathered up the bent iron and took it to my basement. Days later I straightened them all out and then practiced bending them. However, while the fellows were in the basement I decided to show them my ability to clean with one hand.

I had previously done 270 so I started with 255...but I never used collars. I pulled the weight in easily but one end tipped. The weights slipped off the one end and then the other in rapid, thundering succession.

Quickly we filed out of the basement, certain in the knowledge that I would be reprimanded. Much to my surprise, however, no one upstairs even stirred...at least nothing was said. The next day though, an elderly woman who occupied the 3rd floor flat started telling me of hearing a clash of thunder that shook the house about midnight. She said when she looked out her window, however, the moon was shining. "How could the moon be out during a thunderstorm?" she asked.

I said nothing, knowing that I had created a mysterious weather phenomenon for her.

I also continued to practice straightening out the metal bars and then bending them as the Polish strongman did. The secret, I quickly learned, was that you must complete the bending once you started. If you paused the slightest bit, the metal would "cool" and it would be so much harder to bend.

I straightened and bent this iron so often, it finally crystalized and would no longer bend smoothly. Yet all that practice helped my proficiency in iron bending...and I thought of myself as something of an "amateur strongman" in my own right.

Because I had ample time, due to not working, I spent a lot of time mapping out training schedules. At this point I tried every exercise I ever heard about, and a lot more that I made up myself.

Still, I never "bombed" a particular body section at the expense of another, as is done today. I worked each area, singly and together, with comparable resistance and ample reps in order to congest my muscles fully.

I experimented with every day training and, for a time, I even included three separate training routines in a day. I soon gave that idea up, however, as I began losing ground and started looking haggard.

Eventually I made up a schedule of lifts that I hoped to do, and the poundages that I hoped to lift. I broke the poundages down in such a way as to work up to my goal by adding one pound or less a week.

In the press, for example, I could do a little over 200 pounds but I eventually wanted to press 275 and 300. So, in two years time that meant an increase of one pound a week, and that wasn't really too hard to achieve. Some weeks, of course, I'd increase by five pounds, and then other weeks I'd only add less than a pound. But, in the overall improvement, I was still ahead of my goal.

In this way I achieved most of the lifts and exercises I had set out to accomplish. While I barely made some of my goals, in others I totaled much more than I planned. It all depended on my interest, and on how much effort I put forth.

Naturally, I continued to visit my idol, Sig Klein, every chance I got. Often, some of the other well-known strongmen would be in the gym and I would return home those days with even more enthusiasm to train.

Regardless of how much effort I put forth, however, I never seemed to suffer from any aches or injuries during all that time. Maybe it was because I knew how to train properly...maybe because I was enthused, aches and pains didn't mean a thing to me...as they do today.

And I must admit, my training today is less than half of what it was then...and only half as intense. Yet, I still keep training...and I hope you do too!

PHOTO CAPTIONS

- Working as an artist's model in a life class - Chicago.

- A Dynamic action pose.

- A pose sometimes included when fast, action sketches were required.

- An easy-striding pose with emphasis on the trapezius muscles.

- Preparing to "dive" to execute a one-arm snatch.

- Spring of 1933. Grimek arranged a lifting contest with friends from South River, NJ and his gang on an empty lot. It created a lot of interest. Grimek pressed 250 on that occasion and brought attention to himself as a potential lifter.

- A portrayal of mass taken during an exhibition. The overcrowded place brought spectators right on the dais!

- After his 1949 Mr. USA victory in Santa Monica, CA. Note the thick, massive arms and pectoral development in this photo.

- Isolating the scapulae while going through his muscle control routine.

- Standing atop the roof on the barbell building after a brief sunbath.

- Performing a "flag" on Montrose Beach, Chicago.

- An attempt to portray a shot-putter's stance.

- Sig Klein, about the time that John Grimek first met him. He was considered a master poser, always exemplifying poise, grace and power.

- Two indoor poses taken while trying to arrange good lighting. Center pose was taken in the usual clay pits, where most of his early pictures were taken.