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| John Grimek hitting a heavy press at an exhibition in the early 1940's. |
Hail to the Dinosaurs!
There was a time, back in the 1930's,
40's and 50's, when the old York Bar-
bell Club gym was probably the most
famous gym in the entire world.
It was on the second floor of the old
Strength and Health building at 51
N. Broad Street in York.
It was the home of the York Barbell
Club, the perennial winner of the team
title at the Senior National Weightlifting
Championships each year.
Every Mr. America winner, every USA
World and Olympic champion, and
every USA World record holder had
trained there at one time or another.
The bars, benches, squat stands and
platforms carried the DNA of the
greatest strength athletes in the
history of the United States.
John Grimek had trained there since
the 1930's. He loved the place.
But one day, he overheard a couple
of top-name, visiting bodybuilders
talking about the gym after they
finished their workout.
They said it was a dump.
Old-fashioned.
Out-dated.
Dark.
Dirty.
Gritty.
Nasty.
"It's a s--t house," said one of them.
"Who would want to train here all
the time?" asked the other man.
"Not me!" the first replied, and the
two men laughed.
That got Grimek thinking - and he
decided to raise the issue with Bob
Hoffman.
So he did.
Told him that visitors were complaining
about the old gym. Saying it was old-
fashioned. Even laughing about it.
"It's bad for business, Bob," Grimek
concluded.
Hoffman didn't agree - not at first. But
Grimek was persistent, and over time,
he wore Hoffman down.
They built a new gym in a modern
building, and and stocked it with all
new equipment.
It was bright and shiny and well-lit. A
thoroughly modern, up to the minute
sort of place.
Grimek went over and took his first
workout in the new gym.
He didn't like it.
He tried again.
Still didn't like it.
The new gym lacked something.
It lacked memories - and it lacked
character.
So Grimek did the only rational thing.
He snuck back to the office building
when no one else was there, and
trained by himself in the old gym.
Of course, Hoffman found out - and
made Grimek stop.
So Grimek ended up training in the
new gym that he had pestered
Hoffman to build - and probably
kicked himself for ever raising the
idea of a new gym.
If you're a Dinosaur, you probably
know exactly how he felt - and you
understand that a place with good
memories and plenty of character
is the best possible place to train.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. You can learn lots more about
John Grimek and how he trained in
my John Grimek training course. It's
available in your choice of hard-copy
or Kindle editions:
Hard-copy
http://www.brookskubik.com/johngrimek_course.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/grimektraining_kindle.html
P.S. 2. My other books and courses
are right here at Dino Headquarters:
Hard-copy and PDF
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
Kindle
http://www.brookskubik.com/kindle.html
P.S. 2. Thought for the Day
"Treasure your equipment, your
training quarters, and the memories
they bring you."
-Brooks Kubik
BEFORE YOU LEAVE . . .
We have more than 25 Dinosaur Training books and courses in the Kindle
bookstore - here are several of them - head on over and take a look at the others:
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