Rating: 
Summary: I've ordered two of the hardback books!
Review: I must confess, I haven't read Dr. John Fair's book yet ... but I have met John, and we discussed his lifelong passion for weightlifting and Muscletown USA. Years ago, my weightlifting friends and I were avid disciples of Bob Hoffman -- and his two magazines, Strength & Health and Muscular Development -- back in the late '60s and early '70s. One of the highlights OF MY LIFE was when my best friend visited me when I was in the Navy in Philadelphia in 1971. Our wives and we drove to York, Pa, and spent a day with Mr. Hoffman (met Dave Bednarski sp??, and other Olympic lifters!) and sat with Mr. Hoffman in his museum as he talked about his life (his favorite subject!). I cannot wait to read Fair's book and I already highly recommend it to those of you (you know who you are) who cannot imagine barbell Olympic weights with anything but "YORK" on them!
Rating: 
Summary: Grimek vs Reeves
Review: I noticed that at least two reviews have comments about the 1949 Mr. USAContest which was awarded to JohnGrimek with Clarence Ross 2nd andSteve Reeves 3rd.Although I wasn't there and thiscompetition occurred before I waseven born, what's the point ofarguing over a competition that tookplace over 50 years ago?So what if the fans booed Grimek offthe stage...bodybuilding contests area matter of taste and personalpreference.As for the book, it was interestinto get the facts about York Barbelland Bob Hoffman and based on thisbook and in talking to some oldtimers in the sport, Hoffman did doit for "his own ego".Good book if you are into thehistorical aspects of the Iron game.
Rating:
Summary: Info or snesation?
Review: Once, when I was working out in the weight room at UCLA in the early 70's, someone called out, "The weight room is Mother!" And so it was, for those of us for whom working out had become a way of life. And if the weight room was "Mother", then Father was Bob Hoffman, who more than anyone else in my generation, popularized weight training for both athletes and the general public. Having been a disciple of Hoffman through his magazine, I had been thinking that a bio of him needed to be written (about 14 years after his death) when coincidentally Fair produced just such a book. The extent of Dr. Fair's research is impressive, especially about the era from the sixties onward, and his story of the degeneration of the US Olympic weightlifting team due to steroids and recreational drugs is particluarly compelling. Additionally, his debunking of the myth of Hoffman as a person was an eye-opener for me. The story of the Hoffman-Weieder wars is also interesting.With regard to Hoffman however, the balance of the book may be a little off. While the details of Hoffman's sexual activity and his promotional quackery are interesting, I was disapponted not to see more about how Hoffman was as a coach. I have been told by a member of the York team that Hoffman was very good as a coach, but this did not come through for me in the book. Fair attributes the greatness of the post-war team to the socialization at York and the fact that the weightlifters were from immigrant families. He should have gotten more material from the lifters of that era and stuck more to history and biography; his psychologically-based simplifications detract from the book because he puts too much credence in them. All in all, it's a good book; it's not the last word on Hoffman, however.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent historic recounting.
Review: Thoroughly exhaustive research and a placing into context of the iron game in this most useful of historic tomes dedicated to the history of physical culture. This is an invaluable 20th century artefact that describes the development of physical culture and the huge influnce on it of Bob Hoffman and York Barbell. An essential record of a one of the last centuries enduring sporting trends. Incredible if not for the fact that it completely undermines the Weider view of the world of 20th century body building/physical culture.
Rating:
Summary: York Barbell - Bob Hoffman
Review: Today you hardly hear anything about York Barbell. Strength & Health (a ripoff from Health & Strength published in England) stopped publishing many years ago. Muscular Development was bought by Twin Lab and now looks like a bodybuilding magazine. While Bob Hoffman with his York Barbell Company did much to start the weightlifting movement in 40's, what frequently is not said is how much damage the York group ala Hoffman did to hold back the Iron Game, bodybuilding in particular.Bob Hoffmans sole interest (aside from making money) was Olympic Weightlifting. Bodybuilding contests were used to draw audiences and defray from the costs of promoting weightlifting contests which were always held in conjunction with bodybuiding shows. If you wanted to promote a AAU Bodybuilding contest, you had to run a weightlifting contest with it. There was no getting around it. The problem was that aside from being about as exciting as watching paint dry, weightlifting contests would run all day and were expensive to promote. Consequently, promoters and contests were few.Then there was the athletic points thing in the AAU Mr. America contest. Like Bob Hoffman did anything to promote these guys other than in his magazine. So a lot of great bodybuilders would lose to lesser developed men (usually York Barbell/Hoffman employees) because they didn't score the mandatory athletic points. What a ripoff!And there was the 1949 Mr.U.S.A.--The Mr. Olympia Contest of it's time. A great idea ruined thanks to the Central Pa influence. This competition attracted more than 6,000 fans and the greats of the day, Ross, Reeves, Grimek, Stephans, Eiferman and others. Most felt that this contest was between Clancy Ross and Steve Reeves. Who won? John Grimek, a great champion to be sure but a very unpopular decision. By the way, Grimek was a Hoffman employee. The Mr. U.S.A. was a great contest that got messed up thanks to York. Grimek retired for obvious reasons, Reeves never competed in this show again (but would come back to guest pose in 1957 and brought the house down), Ross came back in '55, Eiferman came back in 1950 to lose to Armand Tanny and Al Stephans won the first IFBB Mr. America in 1949. The next IFBB Mr. America wasn't held untill 10 years later in 1959.The Mr U.S.A. Contest never attracted either the overall caliber of contestants or audience of the 1949 event. A great idea that went wrong. Simularly, in the 1948 NABBA Mr. Universe, Grimek and Reeves were supposedly deadlocked for first place. Both men came out to pose again. Grimek added muscle control, a back flip and then went into a split. The audience erupted. Grimek was announced as the winner with Reeves second. The audience booed. Rumor was that Hoffman told the promoters to make sure that Grimek won. There was no NABBA Mr. Universe the following year. In the 1950s, a dummy was made up to look like Bob Hoffman and conspicous at Southern California contests with a noose around it's neck and a sign saying; "Hang Bob Hoffman." Hoffman was not pro bodybuilding, he just used bodybuiding. People in the sport knew it and were trying to get the message across.His products, particularly Hoffmans Hi Pertein (as he pronounced it) was a joke. Powdered skim milk was a better source of protein.In the 60's when powerlifting was created, Hoffman used the powerlifters the same way he used the bodybuilders. He produced a new magazine Muscular Development. At one point it was discovered that sanction fees from AAU Bodybuilding and Powerlifting contests and registration fees from AAU registered powerlifters and bodybuilders were used to promote olympic style weightlifting and none of it ever got back to powerlifting or bodybuilding.Even the Mr America contest was started by a independent organization and later became the AAU Mr. America and always held along with the AAU Sr. National Weightlifting Championships. The Mr. America was used to help support the AAU Sr. National Weightlifting Championships, not to support bodybuilding. Ditto for the AAU Jr. Mr. America and AAU Mr. North America at the time.Bob Hoffman and York Barbell may have been instrumental in starting bodybuilding, but did little to support it. In fact, if it wasn't for the Hoffman/York influence, we could have seen bodybuilding as it is today come a whole lot sooner. John C. Grimek was a great champion and a gentleman. It's regretable how York used and abused him and then tossed him aside in his senior years. But then what they did to Grimek was not much different than what they were doing to bodybuilding as a whole from 1940s to 1980s.York Barbell, goodbye and good riddance.
Rating:
Summary: York Barbell - Bob Hoffman
Review: Today you hardly hear anything about York Barbell. Strength & Health (a ripoff from Health & Strength published in England) stopped publishing many years ago. Muscular Development was bought by Twin Lab and now looks like a bodybuilding magazine. While Bob Hoffman with his York Barbell Company did much to start the weightlifting movement in 40's, what frequently is not said is how much damage the York group ala Hoffman did to hold back the Iron Game, bodybuilding in particular.Bob Hoffmans sole interest (aside from making money) was Olympic Weightlifting. Bodybuilding contests were used to draw audiences and defray from the costs of promoting weightlifting contests which were always held in conjunction with bodybuiding shows. If you wanted to promote a AAU Bodybuilding contest, you had to run a weightlifting contest with it. There was no getting around it. The problem was that aside from being about as exciting as watching paint dry, weightlifting contests would run all day and were expensive to promote. Consequently, promoters and contests were few.Then there was the athletic points thing in the AAU Mr. America contest. Like Bob Hoffman did anything to promote these guys other than in his magazine. So a lot of great bodybuilders would lose to lesser developed men (usually York Barbell/Hoffman employees) because they didn't score the mandatory athletic points. What a ripoff!And there was the 1949 Mr.U.S.A.--The Mr. Olympia Contest of it's time. A great idea ruined thanks to the Central Pa influence. This competition attracted more than 6,000 fans and the greats of the day, Ross, Reeves, Grimek, Stephans, Eiferman and others. Most felt that this contest was between Clancy Ross and Steve Reeves. Who won? John Grimek, a great champion to be sure but a very unpopular decision. By the way, Grimek was a Hoffman employee. The Mr. U.S.A. was a great contest that got messed up thanks to York. Grimek retired for obvious reasons, Reeves never competed in this show again (but would come back to guest pose in 1957 and brought the house down), Ross came back in '55, Eiferman came back in 1950 to lose to Armand Tanny and Al Stephans won the first IFBB Mr. America in 1949. The next IFBB Mr. America wasn't held untill 10 years later in 1959.The Mr U.S.A. Contest never attracted either the overall caliber of contestants or audience of the 1949 event. A great idea that went wrong. Simularly, in the 1948 NABBA Mr. Universe, Grimek and Reeves were supposedly deadlocked for first place. Both men came out to pose again. Grimek added muscle control, a back flip and then went into a split. The audience erupted. Grimek was announced as the winner with Reeves second. The audience booed. Rumor was that Hoffman told the promoters to make sure that Grimek won. There was no NABBA Mr. Universe the following year. In the 1950s, a dummy was made up to look like Bob Hoffman and conspicous at Southern California contests with a noose around it's neck and a sign saying; "Hang Bob Hoffman." Hoffman was not pro bodybuilding, he just used bodybuiding. People in the sport knew it and were trying to get the message across.His products, particularly Hoffmans Hi Pertein (as he pronounced it) was a joke. Powdered skim milk was a better source of protein.In the 60's when powerlifting was created, Hoffman used the powerlifters the same way he used the bodybuilders. He produced a new magazine Muscular Development. At one point it was discovered that sanction fees from AAU Bodybuilding and Powerlifting contests and registration fees from AAU registered powerlifters and bodybuilders were used to promote olympic style weightlifting and none of it ever got back to powerlifting or bodybuilding.Even the Mr America contest was started by a independent organization and later became the AAU Mr. America and always held along with the AAU Sr. National Weightlifting Championships. The Mr. America was used to help support the AAU Sr. National Weightlifting Championships, not to support bodybuilding. Ditto for the AAU Jr. Mr. America and AAU Mr. North America at the time.Bob Hoffman and York Barbell may have been instrumental in starting bodybuilding, but did little to support it. In fact, if it wasn't for the Hoffman/York influence, we could have seen bodybuilding as it is today come a whole lot sooner. John C. Grimek was a great champion and a gentleman. It's regretable how York used and abused him and then tossed him aside in his senior years. But then what they did to Grimek was not much different than what they were doing to bodybuilding as a whole from 1940s to 1980s.York Barbell, goodbye and good riddance.
Rating: 
Summary: Bobby Puffman and the York Dumbell Company
Review: Weight training in the 50's came down to two factions; YORK Barbell and Joe Weider. Those who were interested in bodybuilding, went the Weider way and actually made gains.In addition to other comments made here about how Hoffman tried to hold back bodybuilding because it would hurt olympic lifitng, Hoffmans training system for bodybuilding was a joke i.e. 2 hand dumbell swings, 1 arm snatch, dumbell clean and jerk etc. were okay to add variety to a training program but are no means muscle building exercises.In addition to his war with Weider, Hoffman also launched a war against Angelo Iuspa aka Charles Atlas and called his training system dynamic phooey instead of dynamic action which Atlas called it.Hoffman controlled the Iron game back in those days which is why a blocky, unsymetrical Grimek could score wins over polished bodybuilders like Reeves, Ross, Eiferman and Tanny. Hoffman and his York Dumbell company was crystal clear to me too and to anyone who was serious about bodybuilding.Weightlfters went with York. Bodybuilders went to another direction.A good example of the ineptitude of the AAU judging system back in the 50s was Mickey Hargitay who could never break through the top five in the AAU Mr. America or even the AAU Jr. Mr. America but won the NABBA Mr. Universe over AAU Mr. America Dick Dubois shortly after placing behind Dubois in AAU contests! Go figure.Thank God that the Iron game is in better hands today.
Rating:
Summary: What exactly did Hoffman do for the Iron Game???
Review: While this book does dispel the image of Bob Hoffman as some sort of saint not to mention the fact that Fair dispels the notion that Hoffman was a strongman or superhealthy. In reality, Hoffman used aluminium weights for his "strongman exhibitions" and was quite unhealthy. And he was no saint.
Hoffmans main source of income was from his Oil Burner business. He saw weightlifting as a business opportunity and his primary interest was olympic weightlifting with bodybuilding as a sidethought.
Indeed, Hoffman found that by promoting bodybuilding events along with olympic weightlifting he could increase the attendance at the ole so boring olympic weightlifting contests.
Hoffman also saw an opportunity to sell weights, vitamins, protein powders and other supplements via weightlifting contests and his magazine Strength & Health which in fact was nothing more than a catalogue promoting his products.
Through the efforts of Hoffman, the AAU Mr. America was more or less a "who is the best built York BBC Man of the year." Poor Dan lurie would win every subdivision and place second repeatedly during the early 40's and had to wonder when York would run out of employees that he had to be second to.
In 1947 Steve Stanko, a York employee would win the AAU/FIHC Mr. Universe contest in Phildelphia. In all fairness, this being the time when legends like Clancy Ross, Steve Reeves, George Eiferman, Lud Shusterick, Andre Drapp and Oscar Heidenstam not to mention York Barbells very own John Carl Grimek walked the earth, Steve Stanko Mr. Universe? C'mon!
The problems with Hoffman controlling the AAU bodybuilding movement continued through the 40's, 50's, 60's and even the 70's. Black and Puertican bodybuilders had no chance to win the coveted AAU Mr. America title and would frequently place lower than what they deserved in lower level contests as well. As a result, many of the top names just left the sport in disgust. The IFBB tried to launch in America but met with incredible opposition from Hoffman. It would be a decade later untill the IFBB would make a major impact on bodybuilding and give bodybuilders a fair alternative.
For years Hoffman was concerned about the popularity of bodybuilding and felt that too many in the Iron Game were focusing on the muscle contests in lieu of his precious olympic lifting. For the same reason, Hoffman tried to hold back powerlifting, initially referring to the sport as "Odd Lifting."
I guess it was "odd" to Hoffman. The first National Powerlifting Championships were held in 1965 in York, Pa. and were incredibly successful. Hoffman even launched a new magazine called "Muscular Development" which would cover both bodybuilding and powerlifting while Strength & Health, Hoffmans flagship magazine (catalogue) would cover mostly olympic weightlifting with some health articles which were really intended to sell Hoffmans products. Sort of like an early version of informercials.
To Hoffmans dismay, powerlifting grew tremendously. Participants found that powerlifting was far easier on the body and joints that heavy squat cleans, split cleans, overhead presses, snatches and clean and jerks. Powerlifting also drew larger audiences than olympic lifting and once again Hoffman was concerned about taking away from olymic weightlifting. When it was discovered that England, Australia, Germany, Canada and many other countries had powerlifting advocates, powerlifters were after the AAU to organize a World Championships. But alas, Hoffman via the AAU claimed it could not be done.
In 1970, George Frenn who was an associate editor for Weiders magazine Muscle Builder/Power beseiged Joe Weider to organize a international powerlifting competition and Mr. Weider did. It was held along with the IFBB Mr. Western America in Los Angeles and was incredibly successful. This was despite attempts by the York group to stop the contest. According to the York magazines, "any AAU registered athlete who competes in this competition will be banned for life by the AAU." Reality was that York was just blowing smoke. The competition was extremely successfu. So successful that now Hoffman saw the possibilities (via competition with Joe Weider??) to organize the first World Powerlifting Championships in York, Pa. in 1971. Interesting how the impossible became possible. It was most obvious that the only reason that Hoffman organized the first World Powerlifting Championships was in fact to even the score with Joe Weider...but the good news is what came out of it....powerlifting surged in popularity, formed their own federation leaving the AAU which as far as most people were concerned, stood for Amateur Archiac Union, at least as far as the Iron Game was concerned.
Also during the 1970's, the IFBB gained acceptance with the General Assembly of General Sports Assembly giving the IFBB superiority over the AAU and establishing the IFBB as the official governing body for the sport of bodybuilding! Slowly, bodybulders in the USA began to switch over from the AAU to the IFBB and bodybuilders finally had a viable alternative. Today, the AAU no longer sanctions bodybuilding contests. The NPC, the american affiliate to the IFBB squelched the AAU and bodybuilders are far better off as result.
Strength & Health went the way of the stagecoach. Muscular Development was bought by Twin Labs. York Barbell still sells weights but you won't find York Barbell running any national level bodybuilding or powerlifting competitions anymore or even local events.
Getting back to my initial question, what exactly did Bobby Hoffman do for the Iron Game? I guess the best thing he did was plant the seeds for better promoters to take the sport where Hoffman couldn't or wouldn't. Bodybuilding shows are now held in large convention centers ins tead of YMCA's and High School Auditoriums and professional contests resemble rock concerts with special effects and large audiences. Olympic lifting and power lifting are both in better hands now as well.
Protein products now actually have protein rather than white sugar and white flour, the two main ingredients in Hoffmans products.
The other thing that Hoffman did was to infuriate members of the Iron Game to take the ball from Hoffman and run with it. To make The Iron Game the great sport that it is today. Hoffman may have initiated some of the things that we love about the sport today, but in fact, The Iron Game is far better off without Hoffman and York Barbell than it ever was with the York gang.
One other thing. In the early 60's, York Barbell were the first to exploit anabolic steriod use. A certain Dr. Zeigler administered them to York Olympic lifters in an attempt to compete on a world level in Olympic Weigthlifting. Soon steriod use exploded to bodybuilders and weightlifters were taking steriods like they use to take vitamin supplements and eating them like candy. Interesting too that even without steriods, the Japanese, Russians and the Germans still stayed ahead of our Drug Taking Americans! If it wasn't for York Barbell and Bob Hoffman perhaps steriod use would not be so prevelent today.
Gee--thanks Bob!
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