mr. universe Archives

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 259: Arnold Swims With Hercules

After a protein shake, Arnold becomes a human bubble machine, as movie Hercules Reg Park looks puzzled by the sound of toy motorboats. [Read more…]

Mass Mantra #48

This quote is from Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole, who passed away a year ago at age 63… [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 192: Zane vs. Arnold

Here’s a vintage shot of Arnold and Frank Zane during Tank Top Week at the original Gold’s Gym. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed at the gym during Tiara Week. [Read more…]

Best-Chest Building Tip from Hercules

A few newsletters back I praised the aesthetic physique of Steve Reeves, movie Hercules who won the 1947 Mr. America and the 1950 Mr. Universe… [Read more…]

Your Ideal Muscular Bodyweight Is…

While competitive bodybuilding has gotten somewhat out of hand in my opinion, some of us still strive for an aesthetic-muscle look…

That is, a physique with proportioned muscle that doesn’t force you to waddle down the beach or require a tailored circus tent for a suit. [Read more…]

Moment of Bodybuilding Zen 182: Dave Draper’s Shock at McArdle’s Triceps

Here’s a rare shot of Mr. America/Mr. Universe Dave Draper’s reaction to Bill McArdle’s massive arm: “Aye, your trrricep looks like a wee thick Irrrrish lass straddling yourrrr upper-arm bone.” [Read more…]

Mr. America’s New Workout

Mr. America/Mr. Universe and biomechanics expert Doug Brignole is doing a guest-posing exhibition in Las Vegas October 22. It’s at the AAU Mr. Universe that he won in 2019 (location: Plaza Hotel and Casino).

That means Doug is in contest-prep mode because he does not want to guest pose looking like a glazed doughnut. No chance of that. He’s a ripped 185 right now and very close to stage ready, as you can see here… [Read more…]

Mass Workouts: Mr. America vs. Mr. Pan American

You already know the Mr. America/Mr. Universe to which I’m referring: Doug Brignole. Here he is winning the 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe at age 59 (Lance Kincaid photo)… [Read more…]

Watching Mr. America’s Mass Workouts

I was more than pleased to see that Mr. America/Mr. Universe Doug Brignole filmed his workouts and has them all on video. You can check them out HERE.

While he has invited me to come and train with him—or maybe I invited myself—he lives about an hour away, which is three hours if L.A. traffic is in full swing. So I’ve opted for back-and-forth discussions. And now I’ve got these videos to clarify some things… [Read more…]

Mr. America Disagrees, Calls Me Out

My recent newsletter, “Ideal Lat-Mass Moves,” got under the skin of biomechanics expert and 2019 Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole. He disagrees with my assessment of the one-arm cable lat pull-in as having a less-than-ideal resistance curve. [Read more…]