total-recoil
Well-Known Member
Just heard a bodybuilder I was familiar with from the eighties called Casey Viator has died. That means, both Mike and Ray Mentzer as well as Casey are no longer with us. I think the question going around muscle building forums lately is whether very intensive training with heavy weights over the years shortens your life? Some doctors believe there is a possibility of arteries hardening.
Perhaps another aspect of the shock is that the Pumping Iron craze made all of us who did it seem immortal. You know, you develop a strong, athletic body through extremely hard workouts and you look so much better than "normal". Hard to imagine those guys finally passing away.
Anyway, the bodybuilder who inspired me the most was a guy called Mike Mentzer who was a good friend of Casey's. Mike was a former med student who began to apply science and logic to bodybuilding and used to teach how to workout effectively with high intensity weight resistance training. Also, there is a journalist called John Little who had made documentaries about Bruce Lee and he later became a fan of Mike Mentzer and did a book about him.
Anyway, I still train a little these days but have cut way back from what I did in the nineties. I now workout just once per week as I think I decided life is kind of short to have to think about eating and resting every day and spending time in the gym. I don't think bodybuilding is bad for you but I do suspect overtraining and overeating over long time periods can pose a risk.
Perhaps another aspect of the shock is that the Pumping Iron craze made all of us who did it seem immortal. You know, you develop a strong, athletic body through extremely hard workouts and you look so much better than "normal". Hard to imagine those guys finally passing away.
Anyway, the bodybuilder who inspired me the most was a guy called Mike Mentzer who was a good friend of Casey's. Mike was a former med student who began to apply science and logic to bodybuilding and used to teach how to workout effectively with high intensity weight resistance training. Also, there is a journalist called John Little who had made documentaries about Bruce Lee and he later became a fan of Mike Mentzer and did a book about him.
Anyway, I still train a little these days but have cut way back from what I did in the nineties. I now workout just once per week as I think I decided life is kind of short to have to think about eating and resting every day and spending time in the gym. I don't think bodybuilding is bad for you but I do suspect overtraining and overeating over long time periods can pose a risk.
