Want more information about the Masters spotlighted in this book? Here is a brief synopsis of how to learn more about these amazing individuals…not all are contactable.
Paul’s legacy is found in books, tapes and old articles. He wrote articles for Strength & Health magazine in the sixties and was the author of a series of homemade books. The best of the lot was Power by Paul. I also liked his little 37 pager called Secrets of My Strength. You can find eleven books by or on Paul by heading to Rickey Dale Crain’s website, www.crainsmuscleworld.com. Further information on Anderson books and tapes can be found by contacting Paul Anderson Youth Ministries. Google up Paul and take it from there. The best single book on Anderson is undoubtedly Randy Strossen’s The Mightiest Minister a beautifully written biography/training treatise available through www.iron-mind.com.
Bill Pearl Enterprises Inc. is the official locale for all things Pearl-related. Highly recommended is his retrospective book, Beyond the Universe, which at times is humorous and other times profound. Bill also created the King of weight training encyclopedias, the elephantine Keys to the Inner Universe. This 640+ page monster describes every weight training exercise known to man and is the last word on resistance possibilities. Bill has dozens of training and instructional DVDs, books, training charts, supplements and all things Old School. www.billpearl.com
If you “Google up” Bob Bednarski you will be able to view a priceless, six minute YouTube black and white filmstrip footage showing Bob going through a Saturday workout in 1967. Shot at the old York gym, Bob Hoffman and other luminaries sit in folding chairs watching. The 9th Wonder is shown lifting at the absolute peak of his awesome capacity. No film commentary is provided as Barski works his way through limit presses, cleans, split snatches, squat snatches and clean & jerks. This footage provides a crystal clear picture of the man’s youthful charisma and buoyant personality. He really was a lifting rock star. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pqWIRoANus
Hugh is retired and living in Maryland.
Mark lives in York, Pennsylvania. He is the founder and president of the International Powerlifting Association and runs a state-of-the-art personal training facility in suburban York. He remains active as a powerlifting promoter. Anyone seeking phone consultations, personal training, or IPA information can reach him at 717-767-6481.
Doug currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Ed Coan recently retired from powerlifting. He still resides in Chicago and his series of tapes on the squat, bench press and deadlift remain the best powerlifting videos ever made. In each tape you are treated to Ed discussing in detail the technical aspects of each lift. His technical demonstrations are pure iron poetry. Ed talks at length about his approach towards assistance exercises and lays out his exact training template and shows you how to customize your own program using Ed Principles. Priceless information presented professionally. In addition, Ed makes staggering lifts in the gym and in competition. My book on Ed, Coan: The Man, The Myth, The Method, along with Ed’s tapes, is available through Quads Gym: www.quadsgym.com
Ken lives in Connecticut and has retired from powerlifting.
The Mighty Diesel is still active, though no longer competing. I unhesitatingly recommend Blood & Guts, the best training video ever made, and his seminal book, A Warrior’s Story, written with muscle super scribe (and Muscle & Fitness editor in chief) Peter McGough. Both documents are as relevant and important as the day they were released. Dorian has a line of supplements, Dorian Yates’ Ultimate Formula, that are no doubt as potent as any supplements available anywhere. For further information contact www.dorianyates.net or www.dorianyates.eu
Kirk is active in his family business in suburban Washington DC. Karwoski spliced together a training and competitive retrospective entitled From Cadet to Captain that is positively awe inspiring. See him squat 900x5, 940x3, 960x2 and 1,000x2 in four successive weeks; watch him dead-stop double 775 in the deadlift; see as he bench presses 560x2. Footage stretches back to his teen lifting years. Dramatic stuff, his world record lifts make for fabulous viewing. www.smpgkirk@hotmail.com
His books are available everywhere. The Krishnamurti Foundation of America website is a treasure trove of books, tapes and DVDs. Go to the local used bookstore and pick up copies of his books. Go online and purchase tapes and videos of The Great One guiding you into mindless alertness. www.kfa.org
Is a fencing coach at Columbia University in New York. See if you can find (on eBay?) either of his two seminal books, Clearing the Path to Victory or Yoga for Every Athlete. Powerful stuff, scientific plain-speak; perfectly worded and textbook-like.
Go to Heavyhands website and contact the good doctor directly. He will answer questions and queries about how best to use his amazing system. Still vibrant and engaged at age 82, he remains an anti-aging role model and the best possible example of the terrific benefits of his amazing exercise system. www.heavyhandsfitness.com
John runs an expansive empire and is located in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio. Parrillo Performance Products has a huge corporate headquarters and manufactures potent nutritional supplements onsite. Parrillo conducts nutrition workshops and certifies personal trainers. John custom constructs training equipment and puts out a monthly magazine: The Parrillo Performance Press. At age 60 Parrillo remains as innovative and physically fit as he was twenty years ago. www.parrillo.com
Ori’s website is the meeting place for followers of his iconic approach towards nutrition and training. Highly recommended are his two revolutionary books, The Warrior Diet and The Anti-estrogenic Diet. Ori produces a complete line of all natural supplements; these are designed to augment and amplify his unique approach towards health and fitness. Ori has a militaristic approach and the goal is to develop “survival skills.” www.warriordiet.com
Make sure to purchase a copy of Justa’s amazing book, Rock, Iron, Steel…The Book of Strength. This is the most iconic strength book I have read in ten years. The prose, approach and subject matter is deceptively profound. Justa predicted, personified and predated the “sustained strength” revolution by a decade: I give this 105 page booklet my highest recommendation. www.ironmind.com
Journal for Serious Strength Athletes: This is the classiest publication in all of muscledom, MILO is published quarterly and features any and all things strength related. Devoid of hyperbole and flash, MILO is a must. Randy Strossen is the hands-down finest Olympic lift/weightlifting photographer to ever strap on a Nikon. Strossen’s uncompromisingly noncommercial stance serves as a foundation of saneness in an insane world. www.ironmind
Mike Lambert is powerlifting’s stoic, stolid, steadfast backbone. Ours is a sport intent on eternal suicide and Lambert’s immutability and responsibility have served as the safe haven for all things powerlifting-related for three decades. Mike is the finest powerlift photographer of all time. Mike is powerlifting. It is impossible to imagine the sport without Powerlifting USA…not that he’s planning on going anywhere…www.usapowerlifting.com
Jeff Everson, PhD, is the personification of all things Iron…a nationally ranked collegiate track & field athlete, a collegiate national weightlifting champion with a 340 pound snatch, national master bodybuilding champion, runner up at the Masters Mr. Universe, (Damn you Roy Duval!) ex-husband and mentor to the greatest Ms. Olympia in history, Corey Everson, inventor of the innovative Planet Muscle, Jeff was, is and shall remain the sharpest tool in the muscle magazine toolbox. www.planetmuscle.com
If stranded on a desert island and allowed one weightlifting reference guide, I would pick Art Drechsler’s Weight Lifting Encyclopedia, 550 pages of meat and potatoes without a hint of fluff or filler. Purchase a copy at www.atomicathletic.com
Chuck Miller: A lawyer with a degree in journalism, AAU national powerlifting champion, master of rest and recovery, Chuck graciously posed for the exercise photos.
Dean Turner: The Dean of Magic took the superb outdoor photos and converted my incoherent babblings into photogenic reality.
John Goodie: Friend and bench presser extraordinary, John was instrumental in preserving my sanity during this grueling, extended project.
Pavel Tsatsouline: True friend, trusted advisor, his heart is huge, his aim is true.
John Du Cane: The man who made it all possible and put up with my periodic temperamental tantrums straight out of Spinal Tap, (“I’m an artist – I’ll rise above it!”) He successfully kept the Mad Irish from flying completely off the rails at several critical junctures.
The Prototypical Purposefully Primitive Man is a pencil sketch by internationally famous satirical artist Ori Hofmekler. Ori is also one of our fifteen featured Masters. His scathing political portraits of major world political leaders have been published in The New York Times, Newsweek, US News & World Report, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, der Spiegel, The London Times and Time Magazine to name just a few. Ori was so moved upon reading this book that he created our Prototypical Purposefully Primitive Man expressly for this book. He and author Marty Gallagher have been fast friends for many years.