Steve Reeves `Building The Classic Physique'

An EXCELLENT book! Very inspirational. I purchased this book
in July of 2000. It was a Friday afternoon, and I was heading to the
gym after work. I stopped off in Barnes & Noble and found the book –
their only copy - lying face-up on the bottom shelf of the `Sports'
section. I read it from cover-to-cover that night and began using
some of Steve's routine the very next day. (Like most guys, I was
reluctant to change my successful workout routine for something so
drastic – despite how great Steve looked.) This book goes into great
detail regarding Steve's workouts, diet, and principles regarding
health & life. The photos of Steve at 16 years of age clearly show
that this man was destined for the sport of bodybuilding. As I read
the book I was pleased to find similarities (to my own philosophy) in
regards to working out: Spending as little time in the gym as
possible, Concentrating solely on the workout and not yakking with
others, Performing no more than 3 good sets of any exercise, Positive
attitude, No steroids. I've read this book numerous times.....easily
one of my favorite books.

Steve Reeves workout:
Eventually I performed Steve's routine for (approx.) a month.
It can be somewhat tiring, but I did see good results. However, for
whatever reason, I switched back to my own routine: I've always
gotten good results and put on size fast with my workout, so I
decided to stick with it.

My routine:
Monday & Thursday – Chest, Back, Shoulders
Tuesday & Friday – Arms & Legs
Treadmill every time I work out, Abs every other day.


`Worlds To Conquer' – Chris LeClaire book:
Not a bad book. A must if you're a fan of Steve's. It goes
into more detail regarding Steve's childhood & path
towards `Hercules' and his ensuing stardom. And there are plenty of
pics, as well as stories & anecdotes from friends and acquaintances.
And in this book we discover what a DOPE Cecil B. Demille was. (No
offense to Victor Mature….) A slightly heavy book (just over an inch
thick) that could've been compressed into a smaller format. I also
spoke w/Chris LeClaire on the phone. He sent me a 2nd copy of the
book when mine failed to arrive in the mail. A nice guy.

Steve Reeves `Hercules' videos/films:
I'd purchased the `Hercules' boxed-set (Hercules & Hercules
Unchained) and looked forward to watching them. Aside from Steve's
great classic physique – and the numerous babes in each flick –
they're both pretty bad. Remember, they're over 40+ years old…Cheesy
dubbed dialog abounds! In one scene Steve (Hercules) tells his
crewmen on the ship he'll signal them by using a torch. We see Steve
enter the bad guy's palace, grab this pathetic torch from the wall,
and wave it in front of the window. (The torch is barely lit and
looks as if it will blow out if Steve waves it too fast!) Yet from
the boat we see the crewmen observing a now-blazing torch waving back
& forth in the window. So much for continuity! Hilarious! And I don't
understand why they dubbed Steve's voice! Unlike Tom Selleck (Sorry,
Tom…), Steve guy had a fine baritone that fit his physique. Not
great flicks, but they're cinematic milestones compared to "Hercules
Goes Bananas!" starring Arnie from Austria, or that Hercules/Ferrigno
abortion....

`Steve Reeves – The Man, The Legend' video….
I watched it this past Friday night. Hmmmmmmmmm……… Somewhat
disappointing. I expected it to be of a higher quality. The audio of
Steve's interview was seriously muffled and should have been cleaned-
up. The technology does exist. The film clips – especially of Steve
appearing on the classic TV show `Topper' - were blurry & muffled.
The clip from the movie `Athena' was somewhat better, and showed
Steve in a scene with Jane Powell & Debbie Reynolds, flexing his
bicep, and doing a clean & jerk. The man looks great! There's also a
short film clip of Steve flexing his bicep while standing outside his
gym. Jeeeeez! That was impressive! Much of this video consists of
clips from his movies (Chelo Alonso…..DAMN! Wotta rack!), and I
didn't really need to see the entire Primo Carnera scene from
Hercules. There are no interviews with anyone (bodybuilders, actors,
etc.) that were influenced by (or knew) Steve. When they mention how
actors Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, and Burt Lancaster did not want to
work with the amazingly handsome and muscular Reeves, they mistakenly
show actor Clint Walker's photo instead of Gregory Peck. And they get
his wedding info wrong. They state that he & his 1st wife
were "..married in 1945, but the marriage was short-lived and the
couple divorced in 1956." A minor point but it should have been
caught & corrected.
I was disappointed in what I felt was the over-use of clips
from his films, and the lack of film/video that (surely) must exist.
Where are the clips from the numerous TV shows, interviews,
ceremonies, etc., where Steve appeared….? But then again, from what I
saw it's quite possible that new clips would've been just as
blurry/unfocused as those that were included. (The clips that were
included were great to see, but they really should've been cleaned-
up.) It's also possible that such footage is either: 1) misplaced… 2)
lost forever…. 3) too expensive to obtain rights. I don't regret
purchasing the video, but I was hoping for more. We're talking about
a good man and a great role model.


Mike