Good Read Brothers of Iron

Hi Guys, I doubt that this post qualifies as  it might for those of us into strength training. I'd like to recommend the book Brothers of Iron by Joe and Ben Weider. It's about the Weider brothers roles in creating interest in weightlifting, bodybuilding, nutrition, supplements, barbells, and such. If you're my age, you might be interested in bits of history that pop-up, stuff about Benjamin Jowett, Eugen Sandow, Charles Atlas, and the early sellers of get-strong booklets, equipment, and courses. I still have some Jowett stuff and the entire Charles Atlas course--which I bought in the late 1950s for $5. After I kept turning down the original cost (too much for me), the Atlas corp. kept dropping the cost until they made me an offer even I couldn't refuse. Instead of mailing me weekly lessons, I could get the whole enchillada at once for 5 bucks. (Needless to add, since I posting on OBESITY help, I mostly perused the exercises--while snacking. So, if you like this sort of stuff, you might enjoy this story (even if you don't like all of the Weider hype).

the weiders built an empire that's for sure. joe along with what he did for arnold revolutionized the sport and took it to new levels as well. his publishing was pure genius. i believe he said he started the mags just as a way to pay his bodybuilders while they trained for his contests and then of course the mags just took off. i remember in the 80's his mags started taking off and then muscle and fitnees was too girly and lost its way, so he spun off flex and that was for us lifters. more about lifting than about facial creams!

of course there is always distractors and those who say they monopolized the system but hell, it was his ball game. i'll look for the book, sounds interesting.....carbonblob

hey carbonblob, Even though I took a long, long hiatus from weightlifting--as I got fatter and "busier"--the Weiders did a lot for me too. There was a time when I gobbled up their mags. They planted a seed that's finally coming back to the surface. It seems that my WLS did more than re-route my innards. It changed my psyche and got me back to pursuing goals that I thought I'd given up on. Good stuff. I think you'll like the book. It contains many lessons/reminders about not giving up and about giving back. To repeat myself, good stuff.

hey Doug, gonna tell the g/f to pick it up today for me while she's out. you know, when i got back into it i did it for toning and to help heal my back. little by little i got the itch again to get serious. i swore i wouldn't but once a lifter always a lifter i guess. so now i'm knee deep in it. i used to devour all the mags and even worked part time in several gyms. i was that into it. i even had a roomate who worked at nautalus gyms! he and i would hit the iron at my free weight gym and then go to his job and pick up the girls! of course we believed there was no way a nautalus work out could be beneficial but after all this time, i guess it does work.

so even at our age, the bug can come back. i tried a few times to join gyms and i stayed with for about three months at a time but saw no progress, got frustrated and gave up. with me, it's all about the diet. so when i got the surgery everything came together. all i was planing on doing for exercise was swimming. i didn't want to be big again because i knew the commitment and pain it would take to get my body back. well, i guess it's just in me. i have my body back albeit a little smaller but much more defined and vascular. i have to admit, it's kinda cool to be lifting and have a killer bod again. i get compliments all the time on how good i look. something i'm really not used to. i work out for my head nowadays but it doesn't hurt to look good too! take care.....carbonblob

Hey CB, I know just what you mean, although I never stuck to the weights as consistently as you did. Strange thing though, lifting was always in the back of my mind. I read stuff about i****ched the Olympic lifting events on TV, etc. Every few years I'd join a gym for a few months and then . . . Having a sedentary job, I got bigger but softer until I had bird arms. I looked like a grapefruit with a couple of toothpicks sticking out (oh, and a huge dill pickle of course). Through the MO years, I never gave up on getting back into lifting, really getting into it. The positive effect of WLS on my psyche caught me off guard. I'm getting smaller but stronger and hints of definition are showing up. As Joe Weider stresses in his book, properly motivated strength-training and bodybuilding improve our lives far beyond the physical benefits. Let me know what you think of the book and thanks for your other post about the basics of weightlifting. I've downloaded it.

Thanks for the post.  I like reading that kind of stuff too.   It might get me more motivated to get lifting now that I got the stuff at home to get started with. I enjoyed your post on the gaining muscle post also.

Hey Joe, One thing that helped me is that in my immediate post-op period I became obsessed with reading Men's Health and other fitness, style mags. I guess I had given up on certain considerations at my heaviest. Anyway, the reading did add to my motivation and desire for change and health, not just slimness. I bet once you get started, you'll take off like a rocket. Just start slowly and rest, rest, rest as Carbonblob says. Regularity and progressively increased reps and weight, even in modest doses, work wonders. Our post-op bodies are eager for "work" and respect--something we, or I at least, gave up on for too long,