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Vince's Gym
Vince's Gym Studio City, California
Vince's Gym was the home training site for one of the most innovative and eccentric trainers in the country. Vince Gironda was a muscle building pioneer in every possible way. Vince was himself a physique champion who set the standard for a super trim mid-section with a wide upper body. He came in second in the 1951 AAU Mr. America and competed later when he was close to 50 years old and still had a fantastic physique.Vince started his own gym with his own unique training philosophy. He was one of the first trainers to put the majority of the health and fitness emphasis on the diet, claiming that bodybuilding is "85 percent nutrition". He stated he could get a physique in shape faster than anyone else and the stars flocked to his gym. He trained virtually all of the big Hollywood stars and was a pioneer in putting together training programs for women.
The gym on Ventura Boulevard was ideally located for the muscle building scene and mix of actors, bodybuilders and athletes. It was a rustic old gym – no chrome plated facade here. And the training at Vince's Gym was unique. Vince would actually build his own equipment to suit the specific and unique training needs. He especially specialized in getting the angles just right to put the constant pressure on the muscles.
Vince didn't tolerate much, being quick to kick out anyone deviating from his training guidance. And it was great guidance. Most people don't realize it but Vince'’s Gym produced the first multi-Mr. Olympia winner (bodybuilding's ultimate prize) when Larry Scott, the pupil most closely associated with Vince, took the 1965 and 1966 crowns.
Vince was one of the most intelligent trainers of all time, all about authenticity in training and he focused on why something worked rather than just the issue of whether it worked.
Vince almost pulled it off again in the 80's when pupil Mohamed Makkawy came close to winning the Olympia. Writer and photographer Chris Lund noted of Vince's Gym at the time "Vince’s Gym by today’s standards is certainly no Gold’s or World Gym. In fact I doubt whether the building or even the equipment has changed much since the Great Larry Scott built his famous biceps on that now equally famous Scott bench or Preacher bench as some would call it." But the equipment worked incredibly well and produced incredible physique after incredible physique for those who would train as Vince directed.
Vince kept his famous gym open for decades and it is one of the legendary training sites of bodybuilding's history.
Official site WhoWasVinceGironda.com
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