“What I am about to tell you is very controversial and misunderstood. When I say bodybuilding is 80% nutrition, that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to workout, just take supplements, eat and you’ll gain. What it is means is this.”
“Working out is catabolic. You tear your body down. You break down muscle. You gain while you rest and when you supply yourself with lot’s of good nutrition. ”
“If you just eat a lot of food, you will over stretch your stomach, take in too many calories, be bulky or even fat. You do need to eat good quality foods, 3 times per day. But you can’t get it all with just regular food. That is where supplements come in.”
“When I first started to train, I took the traditional supplements sold through magazines and in health food stores. I did use Weider products, protein powder and actually did take Super Pro 101, Nutra Muscle Build, munched on protein tablets and eat protein candy bars. I believe Weider was the first to provide these.”
“Then one day a man named Rheo H. Blair, real name Irvin Johnson came into the gym and started talking to all of us about his supplement line. He told us the success he had working with hollywood actors and models. They had literally totally transformed themselves physically in record time just by following special diets and using his supplements. Blair told us ‘Think what you could do when you work out as you do. These people did it just with nutrition and supplements.”
“Needless to say, I was excited. Stunned when I heard the cost of his products. The protein powder alone was about 4 times more expensive than the Weider and other products currently on the market. I would find out that the products were much better quality. Blair used milk and egg protein plus it was formulated so it was easy to digest and assimiliate. Weider and the others used cheap soy flour which was much less expensive and also hard to digest.”
“Blair also had dessicated liver and hydrochloric acid which we consumed along with the protein powder. We would mix the powder with heavy thick cream, half & half throw some ice cubes in it, mix it so it was like a pudding and eat, not drink it. It was delicious. We would eat this throughout the day eating perhaps 4-5 servings per day. The idea was to keep our bodies filled with protein all day long.”
“We also consumed dessicated liver, as much as 150 capsules per day. Blair’s product was 100% beef liver, highest quality. This was high protein, zero fat and zero carbs. We would take a handful of these every couple of hours or so. Then we took hydrochloric acid capsules called Peptain HCL to digest all of the protein.”
“Rheo H. Blair also had us take a B complex supplement called Blair B Complex capsules to balance out our nutritional needs. And amino acid capsules also. I used Rheo’s amino acid capsules and took 100 per day. I also took choline pre contest. Some claimed it wouldn’t work. I found it enhanced my muscularity.”
“Just as Vince Gironda was my training mentor, Rheo H. Blair became my nutritional mentor. He was ahead of his time. He believed that eggs were the best source of protein and frequently referred to them as a super food. He also believed that the concern about cholesterol was ridiculous as the human body creates more cholesterol than what you will find in an egg.”
“Eggs also are low fat high in protein, high in Vit A and contain lipotropic (fat burning) properties. Rheo told us that the protein-efficiency of the egg is the highest of any food. The amino acid pattern in the egg comes closest to the needs of your body, closer than any other protein source (meat, fish, fowl etc.) and consequently would result in building muscle faster than any other nutritional source.”
“The egg offers choline, a lipotropic B-complex factor which helps liver function in diabetes, in hypoglycemia, in gall-bladder syndrome and in fat intolerance. Egg also offers tryptophan, the amino acid that helps you go to sleep. Egg contains pyridoxine or Vitamin B-6 which you need to utilize protein, fats and carbohydrates. The egg contains these other B-complex factors: folic acid, which among other things is one of the anti-anemia factors; riboflavin or B-2 without which you would have trouble seeing in dim light and trouble resisting the glare of sunlight; thiamine or Vitamin B-1; pantothenic acid, which supports adrenal function. Also the egg contains the mineral selenium without which Vitamin E doesn’t work, the mineral zinc which you require for healing and for the metabolism of carbohydrates, as well as phosphorus, calcium and sulfur. A pretty good package, that little 2-ounce egg, isn’t it?”
“Even today (in 1978) there is much concern about eating eggs and cholesterol. The fact is everyone should be eating eggs, especially bodybuilders. It is the closest thing to the perfect muscle builder and tissue building food. It is like a natural steriod.
“All of the competing bodybuilding used Rheo H Blairs products back in the day. I went on to win the IFBB Mr. America title after using Rheo H Blair products. Another Vince’s Gym trainee, John Tristam won his height class in the IFBB Mr. America that year and in 1963 took 2nd place in the NABBA Mr. Universe. Don Howorth is a well known bodybuilder, he used the Blair products too and won many titles in California.”
“There were others too. Stan Brice and Gable Paul Bordreaux. These guys made incredible gains. Gable won his height class in the IFBB Mr. Universe on his first shot. He had an incredible physique.”
“Once I started taking the Rheo H. Blair products, I blew up. Gained tremendous size without gaining bulk. My waist stayed the same. This freaked me out. I still had good definition. My skin had improved tremendously. All of us who used these products had a glow about us. Our skin actually glowed. We noticed this in the models and movie stars but assumed it was makeup. Not so. It came from the products. This was a nice side benefit. Another benefit was that my energy soared and I got an incredible pump while working out. These products definitely were different.”
“Even by today’s standards Rheo H. Blair has probably the best products on the market. Many top bodybuilder use them Zane is a regular client. Arnold used them. So did Dave Draper. Zane says he can’t gain without using them. Neither could I. They are the standard of excellence. And I still use them today when I prepare for guest posing exhibitions to get into top shape quickly.”
While I am forever grateful to Vince Gironda for his training wisdom, I am equally grateful to Rheo H. Blair for his nutritional advice and creating the best quality supplements in the world. I could never have made it without the help of these two incredible trainers.
Hi. How you doing? Were do you order for your supplements?
THE great SCOTT in his book , Loaded Guns Talks About Blair.