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Reg Park Bodybuilder Biography
Reg Park The Legend of Bodybuilding
Roy "Reg" Park was born on 7 June 1928 in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Reg was first motivated to train when at 16 years old he went to visit a friend who was training in his garage. After doing a bit of training with his friend for a few years he then went to the army where he served as a Physical Training Instructor in Singapore.It was during his first leave that he saw his first bodybuilding competition at the NABBA Mr. Universe contest where John Grimek beat Steve reeves in a controversial competition. Reg was hooked and decided to start training seriously in order to compete as a bodybuilder.
After only a year of hard training he wanted to compete and entered the Mr.Britain competition, which he won. His parents gave him a gift of a ticket to the USA where he met the publisher Joe Weider who featured him in many of his magazines and the UK hope.
That was only his first year of training so after another full year of hard training Reg Park broke the American hold on bodybuilding titles by winning the 1951 National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA) Amateur Mr. Universe. Reg continued to train hard using his now famous 5 X 5 training that he invented.
He then managed to cement his superstar status and won the 1958 AND 1965 NABBA Pro Mr. Universe titles. Reg was the forerunner of big muscular bodybuilders that we see onstage today. Standing at 6'1" and weighing around 250 pounds Reg was impressive to see onstage.
Reg also did strongman exhibitions and was the second man ever to bench-press 500 pounds after the famous Doug Hepburn. Just like Arnold did Reg also decided to become actors and make movies at about the same time. Reg has made an enormous contribution to bodybuilding and his biggest legacy has been his 5 X 5 training system.
Although most bodybuilders attribute the 5 X 5 training system to Vince Gironda it was actually Reg Park who started it many years before Vince brought it to the public eye. When anyone does 5 sets of 5 reps doing compound exercises it is something that guarantees to put on muscle.
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