I have never done weight training. My sifu today told me to watch this old Pumping Iron movie though, and said there are a lot of great lessons in it. "Pumping Iron? That old Schwarzenegger thing? Huh?" I thought he was joking. Anyway, hello 1977 haircuts and pants. The drive these guys have, amazing. Simply to keep going when things are difficult. I keep cracking up at the crowd, how much some of the chunky slobs get into it. Is this like the TUF-noobs? The guys who are "all about Ultimate Fighter" but who have never actually spent a single day in the gym? They might read a book to "learn all the moves", but have never rolled with a real blue belt? These crowd guys seem so out of place, juxtaposed vs. the guys sweating in the gym. But these bodybuilders in the movie. It's like this strange 70s cult, like they were all about to drink the Kool-Aid (if that Kool-Aid was made of success and winning). Like they enjoy the struggle of their life, because they are defeating it with every rep. "The king of the hill... the king of the hill can only go down." "Or stay up." Freaking wisdom, right there. Wisdom, John Matrix. I find it very interesting how Ferrigno seems to HATE every second, but he keeps going. Detective John Kimble, however, seems to love every minute of his training. He says every rep is like cumming. The Hulk seems to be hating everything, even as the cheetah is licking his leg. And Harry Tasker seems to walk around like he's already won everything, like he knows everything he is working for is going to come to fruition. Even when he's scheming and planning to mess people up, Dr. Victor Fries simply seems like he loves every second of his life. "The last repetitions... divides the champion from the one who is not the champion.... I have no fear of feinting in a gym. It doesn't matter 'cause it's all worth it." And these guys are competing... competing in something that is completely intangible. A judged event, but they compete as if every maneuver is an ippon waiting to happen. "If you want to be champion you cannot have any outside force come in and effect you... If someone steals my car outside of the tour right now, I don't care. I can't be bothered with that." Dutch then talks about not even going to his dad's funeral, because that may have set him off of his path to victory. He just said he was busy. And then moved on to win. In the end, the Incredibly Hulk gets third, and Douglas Quaid gets the title. Poor poor Bruce Banner.
I enjoyed the movie when I first saw it and it did provide me with some inspiration, but over time the revelations of all the steroid abuse pretty much clouded their words of wisdom for me.
One of my favorites, even if Arnie uses shitty squat form. The line about "Franco is a child..." is my favorite in the film. On a side note, Franco used to be the chiropractor for my whole powerlifting team.
Man, you think they'd have shown Chael Sonnen how to cover up his bacne then. That was 35 years ago Chael! Hide your roids better!
A guy who lives 5 or so houses up the street from me is one of Chael's boxing coaches. I'll be sure to mention it to him.
BTW, if you plan on starting, I suggest you pick up the book "Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe. WAAAAAAAAY better than any of the bodybuilding weight training resources out there, including anything by Arnie. Rip was coached by the great Bill Starr whose old out of print book, "The Strongest Shall Survive: Strength Training for Football" (with applications WELL beyond football) is an absolute gem if you can find it.
There were only three men that were a legitimate threat to Arnold. Sergio Oliva Lou Ferrigno Mike Mentzer
You are forgetting one... his best friend, Franco Columbo. Lou was never really a threat to Arnie. They sorta tried to make it look that way in "Pumping Iron" so there would be some conflict. It really wasn't a pure documentary, as admitted by Arnie and others. Many things were staged for the camera to make a more compelling documentary. It was actually Arnie's idea that he become the "villain" of the documentary and to pump up Lou as the challenger. Everyone knew that Lou posed no threat to Arnie, but he was someone you could root for.
Man, you've seen pictures of Lou in his prime. That's one massive, massive, bloke. I couldn't imagine anyone being much more of a threat than him. I'm google'ing pictures of him now. I actually didn't think Franco was any more of a threat than Frank Zane was, tbh. I always figured him as 2/3 power or competitive lifter, and 1/3 bodybuilder. What do you think of the HIT system?
Legal, yes, but even back then they had their suspicions about what their long-term effects were, and even once they were banned they continued using them on the sly in many cases. It was the only way to stay competitive - yet another reason to shun competition.
If I remember rightly it is legal in Germany too, I may be wrong. I remember a guy posting on Ebay that he was looking for a human volunteer to eat them. Some deranged shmuck actually volunteered.
I wasn't sure to be honest I saw it on the news in the UK and not long after there was a documentary about it. If I remember they were in two minds about convicting him as it was 2 consenting adults however it was later decided to convict him of murder. Reading the news reports it doesn't say it's illegal either that was the problem (dilemma) for prosecuting him. Link provided below. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/dec/04/germany.lukeharding
