KNIFE, FORK, MUSCLE_ Book I_ DI - Brooks D. Kubik (1)

Grimek went on to win the title of Most Muscular Man in America, the Mr.
Universe title (where he defeated Steve Reeves in a legendary contest), and
the Mr. USA contest (where he defeated Reeves, Clarence Ross, and a host of
other Mr. America winners and top title winners). Grimek retired from
bodybuilding competition with an undefeated record, having won every
bodybuilding contest he ever entered. He was hailed around the world as the
“Monarch of Muscledom” and if any man deserved the title, it was John
Grimek.
But Grimek was more than a man who looked good under the posing lights.
He was also a weightlifter, and a very good one. In 1936, Grimek won the
Heavyweight class at the USA Senior National Weightlifting Championships,
and set an American record in the military press. He represented the USA in
weightlifting at the 1936 Olympic Games, making him the only Mr. America
winner to compete in the Olympic Games. In 1938, he won the 181-pound
class at the North American Weightlifting Championships, defeating John
Davis, who went on to win the World Championship later that year. A severe
case of food poisoning almost kept Grimek from lifting at the World
Championships, but at the last minute he dragged himself out of bed and
competed – and took fourth place, close behind Davis and not one but two
former Olympic and World champions. His victory over Davis at the 1938
North American Championships made him one of only two men in history to
defeat Davis in weightlifting in international competition (the other being
Doug Hepburn).
Several years later, while focusing on winning the Mr. America title rather
than on lifting titles, Grimek set an unofficial World record in the military
press. He could military press 100 pounds over his bodyweight. If that doesn’t
sound impressive, load up the bar sometime and give it a try. And remember,
this is a strict military press, not a bench press, a clean and jerk or a push
press. You clean the bar to your shoulders, pause, and then press it overhead
from a dead-stop, with no heave, no knee kick, no leg drive, no hip thrust, no
drop and slump, and no movement of your upper body. It’s nothing but arm
and shoulder power – combined with the total body strength required to
maintain a military position while pressing a heavy barbell.
And then there was Steve Stanko, the legendary “Big Champ.” Stanko won
the United States Senior National weightlifting title three years in a row, set
American and World records, placed second in the World Weightlifting
Championships of 1938, and was the first man in history to total over 1,000
pounds in the three Olympic lifts. (When Grimek and Stanko competed – and
until 1972 – Olympic weightlifting consisted of three lifts in competition: the