No pain no gain!!

PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY!

Sir "RAM JAM"

Totally training unrelated,
Growing up in south London during the eighties reggae was a big part of our audio influence artists like Cocoa Tee, Nitty Gritty, Tenor saw, King Kong, Barrington Levy, Pinchers, Frankie paul, along with electro and early hip hop, 
And having a large amount of friends from Jamaican and Caribbean descent you could not help but develop a love for the roots style tunes of our childhood!
For those people around the world who do not know Sir David "Ram Jam" Rodigan he is a legend in the Reggae world, a radio DJ on some of Londons most respected stations, well respected by major artists and soundboys alike, a real testament to the multiculturalism of London town, how a middle aged white man can become so respected within black music culture! he looks like he should be in some accountants office, but liquid Reggae is running through Rodigans veins!
Here are some videos of the legendary David "Ram Jam" Rodigan


Ram Jam a you a deh Supa Bout ya! SEEN!

This is why we train! not to fit in, not to follow others, not for any team, not for any prize, not because we should, but because it's part of who we are! and who we will always be! because we are built that way! we push ourselves because we can! we suffer and struggle because we love it! and nothing is ever good enough, we can always push harder, longer, faster, higher, heavier!


                PLEDGE YOUR ALLEGIANCE!

                  WELCOME TO OUR CHURCH

Hero Figure Arnold The Austrian Oak Schwarzenegger

No series of posts on old time bodybuilding would be complete without the BIG DADDY of the bodybuilding world! Arnold the name is synonymous with the world of bodybuilding, mention anything to do with muscle to anyone young or old and the first response is Arnie!
Hard to believe that he retired from competitive bodybuilding over forty years ago but is still its most outstanding icon,
Many great champions have come and gone since Arnold's retirement Lee Haney. Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Vince Taylor, too name a few but none have ever nor will ever reach the level of fame that Arnold achieved from his personality and physique.

Schwarzenegger was born in Thal, Austria, a small village bordering the Styrian capital Graz, and was christened Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger His parents were the local police chief, Gustav Schwarzenegger (1907–1972), and Aurelia (née Jadrny; 1922–1998). His father served in World War II, after he voluntarily applied to join the Nazi Party in 1938. He served with the German Army as a Hauptfeldwebel of the Feldgendarmerie and was discharged in 1943 after contracting malaria. They were married on October 20, 1945 – Gustav was 38, and Aurelia was a 23-year-old widow with a son, Meinhard. According to Schwarzenegger, both of his parents were very strict: "Back then in Austria it was a very different world, if we did something bad or we disobeyed our parents, the rod was not spared."He grew up in a Roman Catholic family who attended mass every Sunday.

Gustav had a preference for his stepson Meinhard, over his son, Arnold. His favoritism was "strong and blatant," which stemmed from unfounded suspicion that Arnold was not his child. Schwarzenegger has said his father had "no patience for listening or understanding your problems... there was a wall; a real wall." Schwarzenegger had a good relationship with his mother and kept in touch with her until her death. In later life, Schwarzenegger commissioned the Simon Wiesenthal Center to research his father's wartime record, which came up with no evidence of atrocities despite Gustav's membership in the Nazi Party and SA. Schwarzenneger's father's background received wide press attention during the 2003 California recall campaign, in contrast to the absence, ever, of press reporting of Schwarzenneger's opponent's family history during, or since the gubernatorial recall election in 2003, that the then Governor, Gray Davis's grandfather, William Rhodes Davis, was described in the press after WWII to have been a Nazi Abwehr agent accused of funding republican presidential candidate, Wendell Wilkie in the 1940 U.S. presidential election campaign.

At school, Schwarzenegger was apparently in the middle but stood out for his "cheerful, good-humored and exuberant" character.Money was a problem in their household; Schwarzenegger recalled that one of the highlights of his youth was when the family bought a refrigerator.

As a boy, Schwarzenegger played several sports, heavily influenced by his father. He picked up his first barbell in 1960, when his football coach took his team to a local gym. At the age of 14, he chose bodybuilding over football (soccer) as a career. Schwarzenegger has responded to a question asking if he was 13 when he started weightlifting: "I actually started weight training when I was 15, but I'd been participating in sports, like soccer, for years, so I felt that although I was slim, I was well-developed, at least enough so that I could start going to the gym and start Olympic lifting." However, his official website biography claims: "At 14, he started an intensive training program with Dan Farmer, studied psychology at 15 (to learn more about the power of mind over body) and at 17, officially started his competitive career." During a speech in 2001, he said, "My own plan formed when I was 14 years old. My father had wanted me to be a police officer like he was. My mother wanted me to go to trade school." 

Schwarzenegger took to visiting a gym in Graz, where he also frequented the local movie theaters to see bodybuilding idols such as Reg Park, Steve Reeves and Johnny Weissmuller on the big screen. "I was inspired by individuals like Reg Park and Steve Reeves." When Reeves died in 2000, Schwarzenegger fondly remembered him: "As a teenager, I grew up with Steve Reeves. His remarkable accomplishments allowed me a sense of what was possible, when others around me didn't always understand my dreams ... Steve Reeves has been part of everything I've ever been fortunate enough to achieve." In 1961, Schwarzenegger met former Mr. Austria Kurt Marnul, who invited him to train at the gym in Graz. He was so dedicated as a youngster that he broke into the local gym on weekends, when it was usually closed, so that he could train. "It would make me sick to miss a workout ... I knew I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next morning if I didn't do it." When Schwarzenegger was asked about his first movie experience as a boy, he replied, "I was very young, but I remember my father taking me to the Austrian theaters and seeing some newsreels. The first real movie I saw, that I distinctly remember, was a John Wayne movie.

In 1971, his brother Meinhard died in a car accident. Meinhard had been drinking and was killed instantly. Schwarzenegger did not attend his funeral. Meinhard was due to marry Erika Knapp, and the couple had a three-year-old son, Patrick. Schwarzenegger would pay for Patrick's education and help him to immigrate to the United States.Gustav died the following year from a stroke. In Pumping Iron, Schwarzenegger claimed that he did not attend his father's funeral because he was training for a bodybuilding contest. Later, he and the film's producer said this story was taken from another bodybuilder for the purpose of showing the extremes that some would go to for their sport and to make Schwarzenegger's image more cold and machine-like in order to fan controversy for the film. Barbara Baker, his first serious girlfriend, has said he informed her of his father's death without emotion and that he never spoke of his brother. Over time, he has given at least three versions of why he was absent from his father's funeral.

In an interview with Fortune in 2004, Schwarzenegger told how he suffered what "would now be called child abuse" at the hands of his father:

"My hair was pulled. I was hit with belts. So was the kid next door. It was just the way it was. Many of the children I've seen were broken by their parents, which was the German-Austrian mentality. They didn't want to create an individual. It was all about conforming. I was one who did not conform, and whose will could not be broken. Therefore, I became a rebel. Every time I got hit, and every time someone said, 'you can't do this,' I said, 'this is not going to be for much longer, because I'm going to move out of here. I want to be rich. I want to be somebody.'

Schwarzenegger is considered among the most important figures in the history of bodybuilding, and his legacy is commemorated in the Arnold Classic annual bodybuilding competition. Schwarzenegger has remained a prominent face in the bodybuilding sport long after his retirement, in part because of his ownership of gyms and fitness magazines. He has presided over numerous contests and awards shows.

For many years, he wrote a monthly column for the bodybuilding magazines Muscle & Fitness and Flex. Shortly after being elected Governor, he was appointed executive editor of both magazines, in a largely symbolic capacity. The magazines agreed to donate $250,000 a year to the Governor's various physical fitness initiatives. The magazine MuscleMag International has a monthly two-page article on him, and refers to him as "The King".

One of the first competitions he won was the Junior Mr. Europe contest in 1965. He won Mr. Europe the following year, at age 19. He would go on to compete in, and win, many bodybuilding contests, as well as some weightlifting contests, including five Mr. Universe (4 – NABBA [England], 1 – IFBB [USA]) wins, and seven Mr. Olympia wins, a record which would stand until Lee Haney won his eighth consecutive Mr. Olympia title in 1991.

Schwarzenegger continues to work out even today. When asked about his personal training during the 2011 Arnold Classic he said that he was still working out a half an hour with weights every day.

• Competition Weight: 240 lb (110 kg) (top 250 lb [113 kg])

• Off Season Weight: 260 lb (120 kg)

Strongman

In 1967, Schwarzenegger competed in and won the Munich stone-lifting contest, in which a stone weighing 508 German pounds (254 kg/560 lbs.) is lifted between the legs while standing on two foot rests.

Schwarzenegger's goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant becoming Mr. Olympia. His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion Sergio Oliva. However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition, making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record he holds to this day.

He continued his winning streak in the 1971–74 competitions. In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time, beating Franco Columbu. After the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional bodybuilding.

Months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded Schwarzenegger to compete, in order to film his training in the bodybuilding documentary called Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing significant weight to appear in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges. Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia.

Schwarzenegger came out of retirement, however, to compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Schwarzenegger was training for his role in Conan, and he got into such good shape because of the running, horseback riding and sword training, that he decided he wanted to win the Mr. Olympia contest one last time. He kept this plan a secret, in the event that a training accident would prevent his entry and cause him to lose face. Schwarzenegger had been hired to provide color commentary for network television, when he announced at the eleventh hour that while he was there: "Why not compete?" Schwarzenegger ended up winning the event with only seven weeks of preparation. After being declared Mr. Olympia for a seventh time, Schwarzenegger then officially retired from competition.

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Hero Figure Franco Columbu

Bodybuilding

Columbu was born in Ollolai, Sardinia (Italy). Starting out his athletic career as a boxer, Columbu progressed into the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, powerlifting and later bodybuilding, winning the title of Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981. At 5 feet and 5 inches in height (some magazines reported as short as 5'3"), Columbu is shorter than most of his bodybuilding competitors, but that did not prevent him from achieving widespread success.

Columbu competed in the 1977 World's Strongest Man competition and was actually in first place in total points during the competition; a remarkable outing, considering that Franco weighed much less than all his competitors. Then came the refrigerator race, which called for a downhill race in which a heavy, bulky, unwieldy refrigerator is strapped to the racer's back. While actually ahead, Franco stumbled, and was shown on national television collapsing with a grotesquely dislocated leg. This ended his participation in the World's Strongest Man contest (in the end, he finished in fifth place). After a court settlement, he received a reported $1 million in compensation for his injury. It took six hours of surgery to remove all the muscle and fix his leg. Doctors told him he would never walk again, but Columbu fully recovered in three years. After Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback victory in the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Franco followed suit and won the 1981 

Mr. Olympia.

Columbu is a long time friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he met in Munich in 1965 and against whom he competed in several international-level bodybuilding competitions. For the Mr. Olympia competitions however, he competed in the under 200 lb (90.7 kg) category, whereas Schwarzenegger was in the over 200 lb category. The final champion was determined by a pose down between the two class winners. The IFBB has since abandoned weight classes. Arnold and Franco were inseparable during the early to mid-1970s and frequently trained together. Columbu served as the best man at the wedding of Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver in 1986. Columbu and Schwarzenegger had been encouraged to come to America by bodybuilding guru Joe Weider in 1969; Weider sponsored them with an $80/week stipend and the two European bodybuilders began a bricklaying and patio business called European Brick Worksin 1969, according to a report in The New York Times.

From the time he arrived in America in 1969, Franco Columbu was considered one of the world's strongest men. He held a number of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting world records. He also performed a strongman act in which he routinely blew up a hot water bottle by inflating it orally, lifted vehicles on stage (while someone else was changing a tire) and deadlifted over 700 lbs for repetitions. He designed a comprehensive workout for men in 1988 to flatten the stomach, narrow the waist, and eliminate love handles. He is both a chiropractor and a weightlifter and his career parallels that of American weightlifting champion Karyn Marshall, who has used chiropractic therapy to train for competitions and who became a chiropractor herself.

Bodybuilding titles

• 1966 Mr. Europe, 4th
• 1968 NABBA Mr. Universe (Most Muscular)
• 1969 IFBB Mr. Europe (Medium)
• 1969 NABBA Mr. Universe (Most Muscular)
• 1969 NABBA Mr. Universe (Short)
• 1969 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short)
• 1970 IFBB Mr. Europe (Short & Overall)
• 1970 AAU Mr. World (Pro Short)
• 1970 IFBB Mr. World (Short)
• 1970 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short & Overall)
• 1971 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short & Overall) *Disqualified for selling bodybuilding booklets - considered as a professional*
• 1971 IFBB Mr. World (Short & Overall)
• 1974 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight)
• 1975 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight)
• 1976 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight & Overall)
• 1981 Mr. Olympia

Powerlifting Titles

• Champion of Italy
• Champion of Germany
• Champion of Europe

STRONGMAN

• 1977 World strongest man, 5th

Powerlifting Best Lifts

• Bench press 525 Lbs / 238,35 kg
• Squat (exercise) 665 Lbs / 301,91 kg
• Deadlift 750 Lbs / 340,5 kg (in some training sessions, he was reported to have lifted over 780 Lbs / 354,12 kg, all at a bodyweight of less than 190 Lbs / 86,26 kg)

Boxing

• Amateur Boxing Champion of Italy

Extra

• 2009 Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award