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Vince Gironda Bodybuilder Biography
Vince Gironda The Iron Guru Trainer of The Stars
Vincent "Vince" Anselmo Gironda was born on November 9, 1917 in Bronx, NY. His father was a stuntman so the family moved to Los Angeles where his father got work in classic movies like Ben Hur and a few other great movies of the time.When Vince turned 21 he saw a photo of John Grimek and decided he wanted to build muscle, which he started at 22 years old and began changing his life. Although never very successful at winning bodybuilding titles he did come in 4th at the Mr.USA in 1950 and 2nd at the AAU Mr America in 1951.
Vince first started training at the local YMCA and 8 months later he managed to get a job as an instructor at The Easton Brothers Gym where he experimented with various training protocols. He finally managed to raise the capital to start his own gym in North Hollywood, California, which he opened in 1948.
Vince Gironda developed some unusual methods of training in those days and was often quoted as saying that bodybuilding is 85% nutrition. He was one of the first personal trainers who advised his clients on low carb dieting for fast fat-loss.
His approach to dieting correctly was very scientific and he recommended digestive enzymes and liver tablets including things like kelp and gladulars, which was unusual in those days. His whole approach to getting results and losing fat was all scientifically validated by the latest studies done.
He believed in quality protein and was known to recommend up to 3 dozen fertile eggs every day for some clients, together with raw and completely unpasteurized milk. He is on record as saying that eating fertile eggs is the same as taking the anabolic steroid Dianabol.
In his training he was also very unorthodox and disagreed with men doing squats as a result there were no squat racks in his gym. He would recommend sissy squats or hack lifts, as well as front squats and what he called the "thigh squat" specifically for development of the quads.
That was not only the strange recommendation from a man known as the Iron Guru. He also did not recommend the regular bench press for developing the chest. He was very specific in his explanation that the bench-press should be replaced with the "neck press" where the bar is lowered using a wide grip touching the neck and not the chest.
Some other strange or unconventional thinking that he did was also using sets and reps of 5 X 5 and he was the first to promote this type of training. He also said the now famous Gironda dips done on a "V-bar" will give the best overall pectorali development.
Official site WhoWasVinceGironda.com
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