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Eugene Sandow
invented the system of sets and reps that most people still
use today. He developed this system around the turn of the
century and was effective for its time, but has been
outdated by better methods for quite some time now.
Sandow performed many feats
of strength that are still mind-boggling even by today's
standards. He suffered an unfortunate death however, from a
stroke while lifting up and holding the back end of a car
for his friend to change a flat tire. He may have been
better advised to let the two women out of the rear seat
first because not only was that extra weight, but mapped the
demise of his fortune after his death. His wife, after
learning of the girls in the back seat (who were strippers)
spent the fortune he left her on all the Sandow memorabilia
she could find, only to burn it anger and contempt.
For a fun old film of
Eugene Sandow's posing routine click here.
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Robert J.
Roberts coined the term "Bodybuilding" and started
strength training classes using dumbbells. His methods were
a combination of Sandow's ideas and gymnastics movements.
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Along came a
publisher named Joe Weider in the 30's who put names to the
techniques developed by Sandow and took Robert's term
"bodybuilding" mainstream. He
formalized bodybuilding and turned it into an actual sport.
He still hosts the most prestigious contest in bodybuilding
to this day, called "Mr. Olympia".
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Bill Pearl is
the original grandfather of bodybuilding and strength
training. He holds numerous titles including four Mr.
Universe championships which was the top contest for that
day (before the Mr. Olympia contest was invented). His feats of
strength were as amazing as his career with some that stand
unchallenged even today. PJ had the honor of meeting him
both in Vegas and Spokane. Bill is one of the most humble,
elegant, and gracious men PJ has ever met.
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Tudor O.
Bompa, PhD,
innovated Western training methods when he introduced
his groundbreaking theory of periodization in Romania in
1963. After adopting his training system, the Eastern Bloc
countries dominated international sports through the 1970s
and 1980s. In 1988, Dr. Bompa applied his principle of
periodization to the sport of bodybuilding. This
was the first significant innovation to strength training
since Sandow's introduction of sets and reps in 1891. While
still employing sets and reps, periodization introduced the
concept of changing workout styles to combat plateaus.
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Arnold
Schwarzenegger made bodybuilding great with his wonderful
charismatic personality and unparalleled physique. His build
was so far ahead of its time, it even rivals some of today's
top competitors. For a separate history lesson on Arnold, go
to click here. |
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Ronnie Coleman
is the current Mr. Olympia. 2003 was his 6th win in a row! |
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Bill Kazmaier is
a living strength legend. PJ had the pleasure of meeting him
in 2000 at an expo in Vegas and again in 2001 at a
conference in Spokane. He is hands down the worlds strongest
man with many strength records that still stand to this day
and gives all the credit to God. |
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THE
NEW ERA
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It wasn't until
after WWII that exercise even became popular on a large
scale. It was then that people began the quest to find a
better or more efficient way to exercise. There was still no
research to support anyone's innovations and the momentum
Joe Weider created was just too strong to get anything new
started without the research to back it up.
Research in exercise wasn't
considered worthwhile until the 80's exercise boom. Funding
was finally available because of its growing popularity.
Studies began coming out with alarming and fascinating
results. These results spawned more funding and it
snowballed into the 90's. Now we have many studies to draw
from but the newly defined era is still young-barely 20
years old.
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In 1989 PJ
Glassey, armed with his new university degree in Exercise
Science, set out to develop a better way. With the technical
knowledge earned at SPU, he devoured the research journals
and periodicals. For 7 years he experimented with his
personal training clients and over time developed the Triple
Sevens protocols. In 1998 he bought the X Gym with his wife
Sharmon and introduced the methods to the masses.
This is now the better way.
No more turn-of-the-century techniques! Traditional sets and
reps are a thing of the past at the X Gym. The results X Gym
clients enjoy are more than double those of conventional
methods in less than 1/4 of the time! X Gym yields more
strength and better muscle density instead of bulky,
inefficient muscles typically produced through conventional
methods and bodybuilding.
The protocols are only
getting better as well. As time goes on newer and better
research comes out. X Gym changes and updates its methods as
superior ideas are developed by the X Gym based on this
research. Of the 7 protocols presently used at X Gym, 4 of
the 7 have already been changed in the last 3 years! Indeed,
X Gym is more than just at the front of the wave, X Gym IS
the wave!
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