In 1967 I wrote to Mr Park at his gym in South Africa asking for training advice,never thinking he would respond ,but he did with a 2 page hand written letter,photos and 2 copies of the Reg Park Journal.A True Gentleman.RIP
I am so proud that this guy is a cousin to my late father(someone I never ever met..but we were all constantly kept aware of him through his body building books, his film Hercules, and his building of chains of gyms and of South Africa 🇿🇦. Reason we never met...my late father became estranged from his late mother (my grandmother I never met either)and late father left his home location of Leeds where he was born and of my late father whom trained at the same gym as Reg. When I look at this guy it gives me inner strength..long live this Legend ....
Jason H He met Kurt Marnul manager of the Athletic Union Graz in Graz just before he turned 15 in july 1962 and at that time he started lifting. Not long after that in that same summer after he turned 15 he saw his first picture of Reg Park.
I wish bodybuilding was the same today as this era, he was the true drug free bodybuilder, not like today where people are full of a shit ton of steroids. This man inspired generations🙏❤
Dearest Jon Jon- I'm sorry I didn't get to meet your Father, but he lives on in you! I am honored to be a part of your Legacy Team! An Amazing Man, an Amazing Son! You are Blessed!!!
I have met Reg Park back in 1956 when he came over to give an exhibition for the USA show at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. He looked like a giant compared to Steve Reves, Bill Pearl, Clarence Ross and a few others in that show. When he stayed in Whittier with his friend Burt Elliot I had a chance to chat with him and watch his workout. A real gentleman and the greatest bodybuilder of that time.
Reg was the first bodybuilder i looked up to ,i started training at home in 1976 as a 14 yr old with my joe weider's Muscle building cources of the champions which my dad gave me as hed used them 20 years earlier (they were basically gathering dust at the time).The centre fold had a photo of Reg standing doing a Lat spread and he was my first idol on seeing that.Still got the cources stashed away.
Yeah those were the days ,my father had lent his WEIDER barbell and dumbells to a friend of his and i kept on asking if he had finished with them. Then one day my dad pulled up in his work van and started unloading the WEIDER lol barbell set. I used two tool boxes for a bench until one day my dad made me one,and then i got a pair of squat stands for christmas. My dad met this guy who was a temporary landlord of his local pub, he took me to see him one night and this guy was a wrestler a huge guy massive traps and arms .He gave me a recipe for a weight gain drink that consisted of Milk,eggs, black strap molasses, raw cane sugar ,and soya flour. Once blended it was one and a half pints and tasted like Liquorice ,id drink it all just before bed and lay there feeling bloated.But i did gain some weight with it . My dad named it Gunge.LoL.
Reg Park i really feel is the best role model a guy like me could have....he was a master in everything he did and tried. And a complete gentlemen. God bless you Reg...your loved and missed.
i had the pleasure of watching hercules in the sixties,after steve reeves😃.i looked up to him as one of my idols in my own bodybuilding here in the philippines🇵🇭.i remember emulating his one leg kneeling pose.great guy.looking forward to the legend video.thanks for sharing this video,👍👌
Steve Reeves had a much better physique in my opinion. Doubt that Steve Reeves would have approved of Arnold's steroid use so probably would not have mentored him the way Reg Park did. Steve Reeves was a class act!
I remember seeing Reg at the show playing his most iconic role of Hercules.Now I was used to Steve Reeves physique so when I saw Reg come on the screen I said how could anyone be so large just too big not knowing today he would be much smaller than the 300 lb goliaths of today but Reg has symmetry and balance compared to the just huge cumbersome size of today.
i retract my feelings on reg park i believe he was natural i believe it after a close examination of his body and compared to arnold .I believe he was just big and naturally strong.god bless reg park
There is nothing to closely examine. They were no steroïds on this time. The first registered steroïd user was Bill Pearl in 1957. He was beaten by Delinger, who was natural and incredibly big, could not accept that, was searching something else... and found Bolden, a cattle testosterone. He told himself the story. His weight went from 95kg to 105kg.
Thats an interesting bit of info unfortunately theres a tid bit thats inaccurate it was reeves during his short stay in Germany circa 1943 and then in phillipeans that he learned of dianabol an injection that Hitler was using to increase stamina and aggressiveness to improve fighting ability within the third Reich. Although not experimenting until his contracts with cecil b demil.He did in fact suggest to delinger it would increase strength. little did he know the reality and would complain of it being overly used in the early 90s.As far as pearl is concerned there is no way he could have succeeded as much as he did merely by lacto ovo vegetarianism. He was no doubt experimenting.
Thomas don't believe these things!!Steve Reeves never went in Germany in 1943, he was at school in 1943, being seventeen and a humble beginner in bb, and the son of a modest cook (Mrs Reeves, having lost her husband in Montana years before, i guess in 1930, went in California and became a cook, and survived cooking; se was remarried and sent Stephen as an intern in a school). When he was 18, he went in the army, was trained in camps for months, lost most muscles, and fought the Japanese, and the informations on this time were very weak. The story of Philipeans who learnt him of dianabol injections is the best story I have heard, what a fiction, better than "Star Wars"!!! Dianabol was created in 1956 by the Ciba laboratories. And the first steroid was not in injections but in pills. It is easier to say that Steve Reeves used a time machine, being friend with HG Wells, went with the time machine in 1960 to buy Dianabol, returned in 1945, thanked HG Wells and began to use these products of the future to prepare his contests.ah! That's a good story.
Reg Park was one of my father's high school friends. My dad used to go to his house and lift weights with him. I still have some weights that Reg gave to my dad. There were some funny stories about their high school days. I think my dad regretted never getting in contact with him again.
RF Johns, agreed that both Park and Reeves were Hercules and the general public got to know them......but it is also true that both became Hercules because they were the best bodybuilders!
Kevin the answer is: no. Steve Reeves was chosen because the Italians directors of Cinecitta were looking for an Hercules. Cottafavi did not even know what was bodybulding, and was looking in the direction of Jean Marais, a french actor very proportionated but muscled more like a swimmer or a decathlete. One day, his daughter went to see a comedy, Athena, where Steve Reeves played a part, and coming home she said to her father: "I have found your Hercules." He was chosen because he had the muscles, the face, the acting, everything. Him in the place, the trend of bodybuilders began. Reg Park did I guess five movies, two goods and three bad, but perhaps the "best" one out of Steve Reeves was Lou Degni, who finished 10et or 14th at Mr America, lacked calves but had a pretty face and body, a good voice (he became an opera singer) and became a very decent Maciste. Reg Park was chosen, yes, because he was a bodybuilder (and what bodybuilder) but because Reeves gave the idea to Italian filmmakers. And when tested at Cinecitta, was very natural, very relax... A sort of natural talent. And you note that nobody asked for John Grimek and Bill Pearl who were icons in bodybuilding but could not attract moviemakers.
If you guys do your research, you will discover that steroids have been around since the 40's when they use to administer them to people suffering from malnutrition, mainly POW's. By the 50's athletes were using them to increase their strength. This is all in research books and academic journals. Reg Park Competed for over 30 years and stood next to Arnold and match him size for size. Much bigger than his early days. Steroids are not new, but over fifty years old.
Glad the caption comes up at 2:08 informing us the dude is Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'd never have known otherwise. Reg Park had a great physique, without looking like something alien. Much respect to him.
Reg Park was the prototype of the mass monsters we have today, but he had symmetry as well as size. And the guy was just as strong as he looked. First bodybuilder (I believe) to bench 500 pounds, could squat over 600 for reps, and could deadlift over 700 for reps. Probably weighed around 240 or so when he did those lifts in the off-season. I can see why Arnold chose him as his training/role model. Pretty much the same structure and propensity for putting on muscle, but Reg was natural. By the time Arnold started seriously competing, he was using 'roids and so were many other lifters.
yes erich metandienone is its chemical definition and although tested in Germany as early as 1940 was not introduced here until somewhere around 63.Its been around for a while.
Photo @ 1:34 displays Reg competing with Bill Pearl at the NABBA Mr. Universe in 1971, and NOT Reg's win in 1958. Pearl won the title in '71 and defeated Reg, Oliva and Zane.
Never met Reg, Steve or Arnold but I always felt they would have been people to know.I also remember that something Lou said in the "Facing Arnold" documentary about his father hit very close to home.
when i met logan franklin in 2005 i just won the anbc nationals .He was generous and eager to inform me of all he knew .reeves was well into his competitive era by nineteen meaning after returning from the Philippines he was around 18 you just need to recheck your memory
Steve Reeves made photos at 18 (fantastic). He did not return from the war before 1946, at twenty. He was in not so bad shape, having trained in the last six months of his military service, with a bar of 100 pounds, and weighed 200-203' I guess. He returned to the Ed Yarick gym, in Portland. In Philippines, he was a private in barracks during the war, and not searching during his permissions if these poor Philippinos peasants and villagers had the secret of bodybuilding!! In these times, bodybuilding was a very little thing and 90% US!!
Steve Reeves was born in january 1926. He was more than 20 returning from the Pacific war. Reeves did not enter a competition before the fall of 1946, being 20 years old. BUT, he could have been better than Steve Stanko in 1944 and Clarence Ross in 1945 when he went to fight.
Interesting that many sports are located today in Leeds where Reg was born. When I first saw him in the 60s "Hercules in the Hunted World" I said to myself too big how can anyone be so big.Many of the bodybuilders at the time were short but Reg stood out and also he was very strong with 500 bench. Today we have monsters with heights under 6 feet but plus 300 lbs.
one of the greatest tragedies of modern sport that the strength champion who bench pressed 500 lbs. back in the 1950's before anyone was that strong could die a painful death of melanoma
Reg park wasn't just a bodybuilder. He was what we call now a power bodybuilder..his strength and shape set him aside from all the others. You could even sau he was the first to bring bodybuilding shape to the the sport.
I'm going to try his 5x5 routine once I dial down my MMA training; if I have 3 days to do it I'll do the 5x5 his Grandson wrote about but if I have only 2 days I'll do his 5x5
Reg and Steve Reeves stand out to many bodybuilders because both played Hercules. One aspect of this video that is wrong is saying this era was drug free when in fact steroids were around in mid 1930's and the old Strength & Health wrote about them in 1938.
Can you show me this infamous piece of Strength & Health? It was written by a "journalist" who did not even know of what he was speaking! And even if, what that means?? Nobody knew steroids, it was the discovery of testosterone, and they were very far to produce it industrially; the capacities of the molecule were quite unknown at this time, they were intended to enhance masculinity and sexuality, not to develop the muscles. The first potential clients for these products were old people (as today), not young bodybuilders who could not imagine to take a product 1) for impotence; 2) not even existing in the market!!!What is incredible is this way to rebuild the past according the représentations of today. In 1940, a letter was sent in five, ten, fifteen days, now and email in three seconds, and everything went at that speed.
Maybe it's me but I have been in the gym scene for quite a number of years. I was a "natural" competitive BB (now I'm 54 and just train to train). I do not "respect" those that HAVE to use steroids. For crying out loud use what GOD gave you...your natural foundation and work with it to your best ability naturally. If you can't then you are a wimp...end of story. Brooklyn NY
Reg Park. Great bodybuilder.. I. Think though Sergio Oliva. No wonder they called him the myth. He was. How could anyone have a better physique then he? He was absolutely mind blowing.
@steveninthematrix maybe you are right, 20 sets for a beginner can be bad, but for advanced training this is quite ok. i do very intense workouts, averaging about 20 sets per part, except arms which i do 12. my last chest workout i did 24 sets, and 29 sets on my legs. yea it is hard, but i can do it because i have the drive to, i understand most people dont, but i do. keep in mind, at the moment i train each muscle once a week directly. and im growing. also, i am a pure mesomorph. this helps me
You mention nothing about Arnold's steroid use. Reg did what he did steroid free. He may not have been as big as arnold, but he was stronger. With a 700 lb deadlift a 600 lb squat, and a 500 lb bench. Arnold had a 710 deadlift and around 450 squat and bench. So I have more respect for Reg Park, because he did what he did, steroid free.
One of the main side effects of roids is baldness effects everyone even if you have a great head of hair, he kept the same head of hair the whole time he competed , no bald patches etc . I would say he wasn't juicing it .
These Guys did anabolics too. If you compare their photos when they first started training to later in their life when they actually competed against Arnold or Sergio, you can the anabolic look.
Idk, but i think Arnold's body is "sleeker and cut better" than Reg Parker. I don't know IF it's because of height differences and or weight differences. It's just that, i have been IN LOVE with Arnold's physique, since i first heard about and watched, Pumping Iron. I'm 62 now. So. I mean, "YES", NO DOUBTS and NO QUESTIONS that Lou Ferrigno and Steve Revees had 💯% GORGEOUS, SEXY physiques, but, i don't know WHAT it is about Arnold's body, that i could stare and gaze at, for hr's and hr's on end. "And", 😍Dwayne Johnson!😍💖💝!! I think, personally, for me, it's THE DESIGN/THE CUT, of their bodies."💝💯💖"
I swear every time I come across a video like this there is so much misinformation about the beginning of testosterone and Dbol availability in different countries and how they spread lmao.
Read the words i wrote. Not everybody WANTS TO/CAN DO compound exercises. I hope that's clear. Oh it's not - let me explain. Not everybody is able to. You can infer from that statement that some people can, some people can't. Is that clear enough now? Great.
@HITpadawan I disagree, Arnold took body building the this whole new world. Reg Park is the second greatest body builder in my eyes yet he's really the undisputed greatest. He made it what it is.
+Kasey Ovens Have you tried looking on www.amazon.com? :) Just Google the DVD's. I never knew Reg Park played Hercules back in the day. I though it was ONLY Steve Reeves. Love to buy all the Hercules films starring either of them. I'm familiar with Steve Reeves in the role. Loved him...in that role. I think he "owned" the character. Just as I think Sean Connery WAS "Bond" and Christopher Reeve "Superman". :) They said Reg Park was the last of the "natural bodybuilders". Some claim even RP used a little. Others disagree. Just as most believe Steve Reeves also didn't use. I think since he was promoting drug free bodybuilding. Be a bit hypocritical for him to say one thing and do another.
