Post by TexasRanger on Oct 28, 2017 14:41:51 GMT
In some ways I think the old-timers knew more about what worked for their bodies than today's stars. Always surprised by how many good physiques show up from 1950's film and TV, with Charlie's obviously at the forefront (and still there 20 years later).
It's generally acknowledged that steroids didn't hit California until the late 1950's in the form of Dianabol, and that it was only used initially in small doses by bodybuilders although the results were immediate. Actor William Smith has said in interviews that his training partner at the time was Larry Scott, who went on to become the first Mr. Olympia in bodybulding competition in 1965. Scott made huge gains training with Smith at Vince Gironda's Studio City gym and Smith was perplexed as his own gains were marginal. Scott finally admitted that he was using Dianabol.
Vince Gironda was known as the Iron Guru and was vehemently against steroids, thinking they resulted in puffy, overblown muscles. He trained a bunch of Hollywood stars in diet and nutrition. His methods were sometimes unorthodox but way ahead of their time. I don't know that Charlie ever crossed paths with Gironda, but his physique has the look Gironda favored (broad shoulders, flat muscled chest, small waist, functional legs). Terry Robinson was another "trainer to the stars" from that era.
Interestingly a lot of the weight trainers back then trained the whole body in a workout and did weights about 3 times a week and freehand exercise the rest of the time. Mr. Universe Steve Reeves did this routine for years. The more steroids came into play in the 1960's the faster the recovery time and the more days spent lifting. By Arnold Schwarzenegger's era in the 1970's it was common to work out the body with weights 6 to 7 days a week and often twice a day, although body parts were split into different workouts. The steroids allowed that routine.
Today's stars certainly have all the shortcuts available in the form of supplements, advanced training, and information at their fingertips. The old guys were arguably more in tune with their bodies and often had just as good if not better physiques.
It's generally acknowledged that steroids didn't hit California until the late 1950's in the form of Dianabol, and that it was only used initially in small doses by bodybuilders although the results were immediate. Actor William Smith has said in interviews that his training partner at the time was Larry Scott, who went on to become the first Mr. Olympia in bodybulding competition in 1965. Scott made huge gains training with Smith at Vince Gironda's Studio City gym and Smith was perplexed as his own gains were marginal. Scott finally admitted that he was using Dianabol.
Vince Gironda was known as the Iron Guru and was vehemently against steroids, thinking they resulted in puffy, overblown muscles. He trained a bunch of Hollywood stars in diet and nutrition. His methods were sometimes unorthodox but way ahead of their time. I don't know that Charlie ever crossed paths with Gironda, but his physique has the look Gironda favored (broad shoulders, flat muscled chest, small waist, functional legs). Terry Robinson was another "trainer to the stars" from that era.
Interestingly a lot of the weight trainers back then trained the whole body in a workout and did weights about 3 times a week and freehand exercise the rest of the time. Mr. Universe Steve Reeves did this routine for years. The more steroids came into play in the 1960's the faster the recovery time and the more days spent lifting. By Arnold Schwarzenegger's era in the 1970's it was common to work out the body with weights 6 to 7 days a week and often twice a day, although body parts were split into different workouts. The steroids allowed that routine.
Today's stars certainly have all the shortcuts available in the form of supplements, advanced training, and information at their fingertips. The old guys were arguably more in tune with their bodies and often had just as good if not better physiques.
Hate to point this out, but Bronson may have had a mild case of gyno by the around 1970. It certainly looks that way in one of the films he made in France. Can't remember the name of it, but he's putting on a white shirt. First he faces the camera, then turns to the side. You see it when he turns. I was in the gym business for many years, and I think I know what I was looking at. His nipples were swollen and pointed. A competitive bodybuilder friend had a video tape, and he stopped the action to show me. I saw the video about twenty years ago, but I remember what I saw. So I'm pretty sure he used roids around that time. But I doubt if he was using them ten years earlier. But who can say? At any rate, he had a good natural build with long muscles. If you have short muscles, nothing you do will give you arms like his. Franco took tons of roids and his arm muscles never grew.
And as Bronson trained at Vince's, he was around all kinds of people juicing and it was suspected Vince used them, though not in the amounts Larry Scott, Don Howorth, Makkaway and others at his gym did. So, the possibility Bronson could have used them in small discrete amounts is a small possibility.
charlesbronsoncom.proboards.com/thread/221/bronsons-physique-todays-action-stars