Reg Park Quotes

In weeks that followed, I refined this vision until it was very specific. I was going to go for the Mr. Universe title; I was going to break records in power lifting; I was going to Hollywood; I was going to be like Reg Park. The vision became so clear in my mind that I felt like it had to happen. There was no alternative; it was this or nothing. My mother noticed right away that something was different. I was coming home with a big smile. I told her that I was training, and she could see I found joy in becoming stronger.

He saw Hercules in the movie theater time after time, hour after hour, examining Park, judging him, admiring him, and, ultimately, promising himself that one day he, Arnold Schwarzenegger, then thirteen years old and poor as he was, would be like him, would even surpass Reg Park.

From the beginning, I was a believer in the basic movements, because that was Reg Park’s preference. At the times Reg hadn’t accelerated his workouts for some major competition, he would stay with the basic exercises—bench presses, chin-ups, squats, rowing, barbell curls, wrist curls, pullovers, leg extensions, calf raises. These were the movements that worked most directly on all the body parts. I was following his example to the letter. And as it turned out, I could hardly have chosen more wisely. The basic exercises were creating for me a rugged foundation, a core of muscle I could later build upon for a winning body. Reg Park’s theory was that first you have to build the mass and then chisel it down to get the quality; you work on your body the way a sculptor would work on a piece of clay or wood or steel. You rough it out—the more carefully, the more thoroughly, the better—then you start to cut and define. You work it down gradually until it’s ready to be rubbed and polished. And that’s when you really know about the foundation. Then all the faults of poor early training stand out as hopeless, almost irreparable flaws.

If Reg Park, a kid from a small factory town in En-gland, can become Mr. Universe and then a movie star, why couldn't I? If millions of European immigrants can come to America with nothing but a suitcase and a dream and make a life for themselves, why couldn't I' If Ronald Reagan, an actor, can become governor of California, why couldn't I? And if I can do what I did, why can't you?