Old School Eating Approaches

[BendtheBar]

We all know most modern eating approaches are OCD. They create a paranoid mindset, and the fear of eating one micro-ounce of pizza grease.

I want everyone to share any old school eating approaches that they've stumbled across. This thread is not to imply that one is better then the other. I say, to each his own.

What I want to accomplish in this thread is to gain some perspective. To look at how naturals ate before the Weider era, so that it may help some of us eat today, with maybe a tad less OCD.

[BendtheBar]

Doug Hepburn

Doug was a buzzsaw. He pretty much ate every that was within arm's length. I remember many quotes from his book where he mentions eating many bananas, and downing them with milk.

Doug ate primarily healthy. But it should be noted that Doug lived in an era without 24/7 Quickie Marts or McDonalds. I'm sure he didn't avoid butter, or many things we consider "evil."

And I would wager that, were he young today, Doug would frequent McDonald's dollar menu.

[Grim83]

Golden era bodybuilders ate according to the competitive seasons, but they rarely "bulked up" like guys do today, they were more like the figure athletes of today where they didn't get more than 10-15ibs above their competitive weight. Today things like alchohol are taboo for bodybuilders, but reg park was known to drink guiness (milk stout) to help gain weight. It was more of an exercise in moderation than tightly controlled macro nutrients, if it was time to gain muscle they ate more often, up to 6 times a day, and when they were getting ready for a competition they normally ate 3 meals a day. To get ready for competition they would just reduce "fattening" foods instead of eating 290g of protein 50g of carbs etc.

[kitarpyar]

The Steve Reeves diet
(from his book - Building the Classic Physique: the natural way)

8:00AM - Breakfast
Blend of orange juice, gelatin and honey + 2 tbsp protein powder
Banana
2-4 whole eggs

or, alternately
apples, carrots, oatmeal, bran
bee pollen, wheat germ
almonds, honey and milk
all mixed together

Noon - Lunch
Cottage cheese + nuts, raisins
Fresh fruits

Early evening - Dinner
HUGE salad
Steak

No fancy stuff, no 6 meals a day stuff, not overtly high on proteins, or fats, and fairly high carb.

The protein powder was homemade stuff as well. Here's what Reeves used as protein powder -
2 parts powdered egg whites
2 parts powdered milk
1 part powdered soy protein

As you can see, this was by no means a very high calorie diet; yet it was good enough to produce a 210-215 lbs physique with reasonably low bodyfat. May be not a good diet for powerlifters and strongmen (the get big and strong at all cost guys), but still good enough for a recreational lifter who wants to build a decent physique.

Reeves was not as strong as Hepburn or Parks, but he was still strong enough to plate pinch deadlift 400 lbs. (Here's how the pinch deadlift or Steve Reeves deadlift as it is commonly known executed):

[BendtheBar]

Steve appears to have been more of a night eater like me. And a 400 pinch deadlift is pretty darn strong. I imagine he would have been competitive as a powerlifter.

[kitarpyar]

Originally Posted by MuscleandBrawn

Steve appears to have been more of a night eater like me. And a 400 pinch deadlift is pretty darn strong. I imagine he would have been competitive as a powerlifter.

I believe he would have been a winner at an amateur level at just about any physical sport he chose. Can't forget the quote by Reeves before the 400 lb pinch DL.

Apparently, some dude in his gym commented on his BB style training and that he lacked true strength (those were the days of Grimek and Park, so it wasn't just about looking strong but being strong). Reeves response was classic. All he said was "I can be as strong as I choose to be", and proceeded to load the bar to 400 lbs, and pinch deadlifted it.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by kitarpyar

I believe he would have been a winner at an amateur level at just about any physical sport he chose. Can't forget the quote by Reeves before the 400 lb pinch DL.

Apparently, some dude in his gym commented on his BB style training and that he lacked true strength (those were the days of Grimek and Park, so it wasn't just about looking strong but being strong). Reeves response was classic. All he said was "I can be as strong as I choose to be", and proceeded to load the bar to 400 lbs, and pinch deadlifted it.

Good quote. With that strength, his deadlift must have been over 500. And his 3 lift total was surely over 1300.

This so called myth that bodybuilders aren't strong still lingers on many powerlifting-only forums. I'm really not sure why. I rarely ever see pro natural and non-natural lifters with numbers that couldn't compete as powerlifters.

[glwanabe]

When I was 15, and caught the bug to be a BB, it meant that I needed to be strong. The muscles you had were powerful, and not just for show.

I still believe that is how it should be today. I've read many people's comments on other forums, where they say,

"I don't want to be able to lift 500lbs, only look like I can".

That comment just sits wrong with me. First and foremost I better be able to back up the show, with some serious go. Pumped up ballon muscles just don't have the same look as muscles built form heavy hard work.

[BendtheBar]

To your point...I have yet to see a good looking bodybuilder that was relatively weak. If such a creature does exist, he is most likely a genetic mutant.

[glwanabe]

To address more directly the original point of the thread.

EAT!! eat big to grow. Eat mainly healthy foods, and get the amounts of protein, fat, and carbs that you need. Don't be afraid to eat so called junk when you really need the cals, and your trying to build.

There are plenty of times that I have a whey shake with some fish oil, and some dessicated liver, and then have some pizza to go with it. This is especially true after a heavy deads or squats day.

When it comes time for me to lose some weight, then the stroy will change. At that point I will become a bit more OCD about what goes in. However, with proper planning and the right choices it will not have to be drastic, and require that I starve.