In working on a variety of projects I have of late been mired in the 1940s, picking up dribs and drabs of how modern lifting culture came to be.  I often investigate the shit out of little stuff in an effort to avoid missing out on the opportunity to write about a 4’10” competitor at that time whose name I finally rediscovered in the last article (Joe DiPietro).  As the name of that diminutive man eluded me in my research, I uncovered bunches of other lifters of note, and given the time period it’s shocking we don’t know more about the people who built the culture we currently enjoy.

TLDR: LIFTERS OF THE 1940S ARE PROOF THAT IF YOU ARE FAT OR WEAK IT IS BECAUSE YOU CHOOSE TO BE.

Also, doing triples on snatches three times a week seems to somehow build insane shoulders and an equally outlandish press.

After reading the following quote, I could hardly avoid looking the dude up and working to find out about his shoulder workout, and what I found was too weird to share. 

“Keevil Daly, of New York City. Originally from British Guiana, a region noted for producing outstanding physiques, Daly exhibited great promise, winning the Mr. Metropolitan and Mr. New York City titles in 1947. Even Gord Venables was impressed. “I never saw better muscular separation in the shoulders,’ he wrote. And ‘Keevil may well lay claim to being the strongest man in the Mr. America contest for in the weightlifting he snatched 245 at a bodyweight of 170.’ If, as was widely assumed, height discrimination was part of the idealistic conception of American manhood, was it not as likely that there was also racial discrimination” in Daly’s placing (Fair)?

Well, if Gord Venables said it in 1947, then it must be true, right?  Except, who the fuck is Gord Venables?  This is the problem I face all day, every day, and how these articles arise.  To resolve the last bit, Gord Venables (1911-1974) was a member of the York Barbell club who competed in both bodybuilding and Olympic weightlifting and was most famous for being a journalist of strength.  “Venables also had a monthly column in Strength and Health Magazine entitled ‘Incredible But True!’ which highlighted amazing feats of strength throughout history and the world (Wood).  Having learned that, we can take the comment about Keevil Daly as fucking gospel and really respect the man for his strength.

Unlike the guys in the pic above, Keevil wasn’t a York insider, nor was he even American- born in British Guiana (one of those three insanely impoverished nations on the north coast of South America, he competed for both that country and Canada in Olympic weightlifting at 181 and 198 pounds along with bodybuilding. Weirdly, the man seemed to refuse to cut weight, as he was near the bottom of both weight classes in which he competed, but he managed to snag a silver at the 1947 World Weightlifting championships, behind gold medalist and 1950 Mr America John Terpak. In spite of that fact, he hit some absolutely silly numbers at 170 pounds- a 230lb press, a 260lb snatch, and a 325lb clean and jerk, putting up heavier numbers than the heavyweights at the NY State Weightlifting Championships in 1947.

Did I mention that he put those numbers up in successive attempts (because you follow yourself in meets when you’re stronger than the rest of the field) just before doffing his singlet for posing trunks and nabbing the Mr New York State bodybuilding title? His two-sport status was seriously legit, and what makes it even more rad to know about is the fact that his training system is perhaps the most unique I’ve ever seen. Making it even more unique is the fact that this man is a graduate of Cambridge University, making him arguably the most intelligent lifter of that era this side of Westside Barbell, which boasted the most eminent neurologist in history and a rocket scientist. As such, you can hold your criticism of his training methodology behind your teeth, as you are likely not even capable of framing even the barest modicum of a logical critique set against his academic and lifting credentials.

I’d assume this full body program is done three or four times a week, but for all we know it was done daily- lifters in that era usually did three long workouts per week, and then lighter, quick workouts a couple of times a week on some “off” days. Daly, however, didn’t do any of the bodybuilding stuff guys like John Terpak and John Grimek did, so it’s hard to know how in the hell his shoulders and arms were some of the best on the planet with only three workouts a week.

Keevil Daly’s Workout

Warmup (this was 15-20 minutes of bodyweight shit like pullups and dips for most lifters of the era)

Snatches– 6x3x180; 1x2x205

Cleans– 10x3x280; 3x3x280; 2x3x305; 1x3x325

Stiff Legged Deads– 1x10x350-400

ATG Squats– 7x1x320; 350; 370 (I’d assume a couple singles at each weight, but I have no way of knowing for certain)

Competition Depth Squats (aka half squats)- 15x1x450

Using that routine, a man who grew up in the poorest country in the British Empire, racked with riots and social unrest as that poorest country went through two world wars and a massive global recession, before the advent of steroids and refrigeration became stronger than most of the people in your gym at a bodyweight of only 170 pounds. When he competed in 1954 in the 198 pound class he was still in the 180s and he won gold in the Commonwealth Games, all from banging away at compound movements hard and heavy nonstop.

And was John Fair right about the racism bit? It’s possible, but those ultra-oily beefcake jock strap pics taken by Quintance blur Daly’s definition in the sole pics of him I can find, so we can neither see his shoulder definition nor his abs. That makes assessing his physique fairly difficult, but we do know his placing in the Mr America as 10th rightfully behind the ultra-closely-contested Steve Reeves and Eric Pederson, two other Mr Americas, the OG Quadzilla Kimon Voyages, and suspiciously behind three relative nobodies. Having looked a bit, I’d say at worst his ethnicity cost him three place points- it was nothing like the brutal racist fistings of Melvin Wells, George Paine, or Harold Poole.

Any excuse you have for being small, fat, or weak is just that. An excuse… and a weak one at that.

Level the fuck up.

SUPPORT THE STRENGTH SPORTS UNDERGROUND AND A ROGUE ACADEMIC HELLBENT ON FORCIBLY EDUCATING EVERY PERSON WHO’S EVER LOOKED ASKANCE AT A BARBELL.

Sources:

Fair, John D. Mr. America. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015.

Wood, John.  Gord Venables- the overhead squat.  Oldtime Strongman.  20 Feb 2019.  Web.  28 Feb 2021.  https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/tag/gord-venables/

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