Plague of Strength

In the modern era it’s pretty common to talk up either the old lifters over the new, or vice versa.  Though I tend to lean on the lifters of yore, it’s simply because I’m a historian and a lifter, not a member of a lifting subculture or a user of tons of PEDS.  As such, the older guys appeal because hell, we could all look as good or better than the bodybuilders of the pre-GH era with nothing more than some can-do attitude and a couple of ccs of test a week.  Plus, the people who were lifting in that era were all about show AND go, and that appeals to my personal sensibilities.

With that, I present to you a lifter of whom you have almost certainly never heard, but of whom you should have- he’s the guy who made me wonder why everyone talked up Zane… Clint Beyerle.  Clint was leaner than Zane and more vascular than any lifter or builder in the pre-diuretics era, and unlike Zane he didn’t look or lift like a fucking ballerina.  Clint Beyerle was 5’10” and 210 at his peak, putting him in class C of the IFBB’s Classic Physique category, and he stands as the best evidence for the supposition I have been repeating since the first article I posted on Chaos and Pain:

if you are weak, small, or fat, it is simply because you do not train enough or train hard enough, and because your diet is idiotic.

It is not your program keeping you weak, program-hopping, glandular issues, or overtraining, and it’s not programs, drugs, or anything magical making the people in the gym stronger and better looking than you- if you are small and fat and weak (or any permutation thereof), it is because you have not put in the effort necessary to make positive change. Period.

When I say none of this shit is difficult to do, I mean just that- no one gives a fuck what your life is like, the troubles you have had, or your stress levels. No person on Earth is interested in your fucking excuses, or your plans for shit you’re “totally gonna do,” your diet, or your program. And I mean no one- if people act interested on the internet it is solely because doing so benefits them in some way- you don’t get shit out of it. And this is why it is important to look at the weirdos who did a hell of a lot more than you have with a hell of a lot less- if Clint Beyerle could put together 210 pounds of sick rip on a 5’10” in a time when gasoline was still leaded, protein powder was almost all inedible soy trash, and the heaviest album of the year was AC/DC’s TNT, you can definitely pull off the same with better food, tons of supplements, all of the rad music that’s been dropping recently (and seriously, if you’re living in the musical past get a gun and kill yourself with it- no one wants to be around you) and moderate amounts of cheap as fuck Chinese gear.

“Clint began working out in 1966, the same year he began a four-year apprentice program as a machinist at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, Californa. He used facilities that the Navy provides for their personnel during his first months of training. ‘That first year I showed good gains with a bench press of 325 and a full squat of 400 at a bodyweight of 180. There was noticeable gain in shape and muscle mass. I measured myself several times that year, but I didn’t get the overnight gains that I had hoped for, so I completely abandoned the idea of measuring before I became disappointed with my progress. Now I go only by appearance.’

Clint kept banging at the weights, but planned to quit when he entered chiropractic school at the university of Pasedena.  That is, until he realized the school was right around the corner from Bill Pearl’s gym.
‘Up to that point I hadn’t done badly in competition, but I never dreamed that the new spark of inspiration I received there would take me to second in the Mr. America and first in the Mr. U.S.A. a year later’” (Pearl).

After receiving his chiropractic license, Dr.Clinton Beyerle quit competing altogether, though he kept lifting.
When Clint was onstage, all anyone could talk about was his vascularity and his shoulders, which dominated the stage irrespective of who was sharing it. As such, I thought it prudent to share both his full body precontest routine, which he used to win the 1975 Mr USA, and his offseason shoulder routine, both of which are the height of insanity. And before you shit on his size, the man benched 430 for 8 in season, three times a week- as such, he is certainly a shitload stronger than you are at least on one of three of the big three.

Clint Beyerle’s Precontest Routine

Mon-Wed-Fri

Bench Press– 8-12 x 2-10 x 135-430lbs

Incline Dumbbell Press– 5 x 10 x 100

Dumbbell Flyes– 5 x 8-10 x 60

Behind the Neck Press– 8 x 8 x 135-225

DB Laterals– 5 x 8 x 35

Bent Laterals– 5 x 8 x 35

Skullcrushers– 8 x 8 x 8-10 x 100-175

Lat Pulldowns– 5 x 8-12 x 100-130

Standing Overhead Tricep Extension– 5 x 8-10 x 90-130

Nautilus Triceps Extension– 5 x 10-12

Tue-Thur-Sat

Leg Presses– 8 x 15

Leg Extensions– 14-20 x 15

Leg Curl– 10-15 x 15

Various Calves– 15-20 x 35-45

* note- extensions, curls, and calves DONE EVERY DAY

Nautilus Pullover– 8 x10

Nautilus Rotary Torso Machine supersetted with Chins– 8 x 8

Standing EX Bar Curls– 8 x 8

Preacher Bench Curls– 5 x 10-12

Single Arm Concentration Curls– 5-8 x 8-10

Hanging Leg Raises– 5 30-40

Incline Situps– 2 x 50

Side Bends– 2 x 20

Clint Beyerle’s Off-Season Shoulder Routine

Behind the Neck Press– 6-8 x 8-2 (up to 270lbs)

Side Lateral– 4-5 x 8-10

Dumbbell Press– 4-5 x 8-10

Cable Bent Laterals– 5-6 x 8-10

And as to diet, Clint seems to have eaten exactly like Serge Nubret, going almost zero carb and super low fat on a diet of chicken and beef (as opposed to Serge’s horsemeat diet) for four to six weeks precontest. Like Nubret and Zane, Beyerle avoided dairy due to the fact that 70s bodybuilders believed it made you hold subcutaneous water, and he stuck to leafy green veggies and some fruit for his carbs. In the offseason, Beyerle had Sunday as a cheat day, but in season his diet was borderline mentally ill. His resulting vascularity led to all sorts of accusations of blood doping and diuretic use, but Beyerle steadfastly denied them and history is on his side- diuretic use wasn’t insane and common until the 80s, a decade after Beyerle quit competing.

Per the Los Angeles Times,

“Unlike the myriad growth hormones and diuretics used in the underground of today’s bodybuilding scene, the handful of substances used in Schwarzenegger’s day were easily obtained through friendly doctors.

Dianabol was passed around like Rolaids, according to the champion bodybuilders of that era. Everyone knew who was popping Winstrol to harden the muscles and injecting themselves with Deca-Durabolin to bulk up before a contest. They could tell by the puffiness of the muscles and the changes in the skin, including telltale acne” (Arax).

So there you have it- just because you don’t know their name doesn’t mean they’re not important, and following the leader will likely lead you directly into mediocrity, unlike Clint Beyerle. The answers to your training questions are not found on a spreadsheet- they’re found while busting your fucking ass in the gym.

Sources:

Arax, Mark.  An ethos developed in the gym.  Los Angeles Times.  29 Sep 2003.  Web.  2 Jun 2021. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-29-fi-arnold29-story.html

Grymkowski, Peter, Edward Connors, Tim Kimber, and Bill Reynolds. The Gold’s Gym Training Encyclopedia. Chicago: Contemporary Books Inc, 1984.

Pearl, Bill.  Facebook post.  Facebook.  28 May 2018.  Web.  2 Jun 2021.  https://www.facebook.com/116733248412758/posts/clint-beyerle-mr-usa-a-portion-of-this-article-was-written-in-1975-by-bill-reyno/1706878859398181/

Retro Muscle. “Clint Beyerle’s Mr. USA Training Routine.” YouTube. 26 Feb. 2020. Web. 2 Jun 2021. www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_5X1N8T1qg.

Sprague, Ken and Bill Reynolds. The Gold’s Gym Book of Bodybuilding (Gold’s Gym Series).  Chicago: Contemporary Books Inc, 1983.

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