IRON AGE: CLANCY ROSS, the King of Bodybuilders and the the masterly regent of the golden era of Bodybuilding.

Hey guys, yes, I'm already back @ it again and this time again something sort of bigger and also again like with the ALMIGHTY LUMBERJACKS OF DEATH marking the return of the "AMERICAN Oi! HISTORY SERIES" up here a few days ago now something (again) already thought dead and, looking at it from another direction or perspective, simply by far too long overdue will here and now be coming for you, yes, and this time it's nothing that's anoyhow 'dealing with music(k)' and instead of this this will be finally again an article of the 'Sports' category up here and, to be (even more) precise, here and now you finally get the next and newest "IRON AGE" article since/in a bit over three years since the "IRON AGE" article to pay tribute to the unforgotten LARRY SCOTT finally saw the light of day up here and so if you are a 'veteran-reader' of this very blog here then you know that right here and right now it's all about true and passionate Old School Bodybuilding and even over the last four to five years my passion for and interest in actual or current Bodybuilding grew very, very slim'n'small and I am in our current days'n'age finally pretty much all into (especially) Olympic Weightlifting, Strongman/Strongmen sports, Powerlifting, and some few Crossfit/Functional Training (but without all that ridiculous Hippster-Bullshit surrounding and polluting it all so much since so many years right now again) my heart still beats incredible strong for the true Old School Bodybuilding from the late 19th century and early 20th century on and especially over the 1930's and 1940's going on through the 1950's and 1960's and evolving into the 1970's and in my book the very best physiques ever developed up to present day had been without a single doubt John Grimek, Bill Pearl, and Arnold Schwarzenegger - and of course the almighty Steve Reeves. And in fact my heart beats as strong as ever before for that decade-spanning golden age of true Bodybuilding, the IRON AGE, that gave this article-series once back then its very name. So, yes, it's really about time that the "IRON AGE" gets revived and can celebrate its rebirth up here finally, yes, and so here and now we and I will do. When I primarly started this posting-series I had a "masterplan" or there was sort of a "grand-scheme" or a "figured-out-schedule" in my mind and I moved on straight ahead through the years and decades paying tribute to by me 'hand-chosen' favorite Bodybuilders of that golden time and I knew where I wanted to stop with finishing the original series in the 1980's with looking at what happened in that decade with Bodybuilding and the training-principles and nutrition and the 'enhancement' and with paying a honourful tribute to the high'n'mighty and unforgettable Lee Haney, probably and in my book for sure the last true IRON AGE Bodybuilding Champion. After this I would do a 'foray' on the 1990's and the early 2000's when Bodybuilding pretty much started to turn more and more into becoming 'Mass-Building' like we knoew it all so well today and with giving respect, showing honour, and paying tribute to Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, too, yes, and then finally closing the "IRON AGE" series as being finished. Over the years my by me hand-down-written schedule got lost somewhere along the way but to settle this one more time again would be no problem, yes, and so be sure that the "IRON AGE" series will from now'n'here on continue going on fnally again (we will see if that mentioned 'old schedule' will still be the order of it or if I will do it differently), sort of in an 'unregular-frequency'. Here and now we will for now move back from the 1950's and 1960's (the era of Larry Scott) into the 1940's and then also a bit into the 1950's with paying tribute to the one and only Clancy Ross, one of the mightiest and most fascinating Bodybuilders to have ever walked our beloved mother earth - and one that I missed out on in my 'old schedule' due to reasons I even by and for myself can't comprehend this days, hell no, and so I thought (and still think) that it is a great way to reanimate this very article-series up here with correcting a big wrong from the past. Yes, and so now by far too much and enough of the introducing smalltalking ongoing rambling(s) and so now finally right'n'straight direct into the action again.

The King of Bodybuilders...

- CLANCY ROSS -

...and the masterly regent of the golden era.

Clancy Ross was born at the 26th of October of 1923 in Oakland, California/U.S.A. to Jeanette and Hershel Ross a son. He had two brothers named Art and Roy, and his respectively their grandfather once was an immigrant from Germany who gave up his shoe-factory when he finally should move over to the States. Still when he was a young boy his parents got divorced and his father moved away while he stayed with his mother who sadly enough soon after this tragically died. So, yes, it's definite to say that life wasn't that good from the get-go to Clancy Ross who had to face a lot of hardships right from the start and had to struggle heavily. After the death of his mother he spend several to many years in an orphanage and different nursing-homes before finally a couple of spouses should come along the way and should show some heart with taking him to them where he stayed and lived in Alameda near Oakland where he visited elementary school before becoming a pupil of/at the Oakland Highschool. He had finally found a home. And you see, Clancy Ross' beginnings had been more than 'just' humble, so to say. This hard biographic facts and the fact that Clancy Ross all his life never had that much of a great genetic for Bodybuilding should in the future lead the also legendary Bodybuilder and later on also coach Leo Stern to say that Clancy Ross was the one guy who made out of the by far less the by far most, if not all, with climbing to the top of/in Bodybuilding without ever backing down and with hard work, pure heart, sheer will, and a clear focus, becoming a true king if not the true king and this inside and outside the gym. A true rolemodel and a guy who never needed 'safe-spaces' and 'anti-mobbing-seminars'... our current time is nothing but weak, sick, and disgusting, period!!! But that's at least maybe sort of another topic, and so back to Clancy Ross: At school he should become a (very) good athlete, and from early on as a teenager and then as a young man he worked hard in several different jobs to make his living on his own and with just being 18 years old/young in 1941 he married his first wife Jackie, and together they should become parents to their daughter Carol Lynn. Like already mentioned, Clancy Ross should become a damn good athlete in highschool and he was pretty much always strongly and enthusiatically interested in several different sports and practising this also, too. When a friend of him then should introduce him finally to Weighttraining one day he should absolutely fell in love with it right from the get-go and especially the Squat-Rack should become his new home and the Squat was from then on his new found love and he did it with heartfelt bruning passion and it was his key to finally get rid of his 'stork-legs' (like his Friends annoyed him with back then regulary). Even with only very limited basic Training Clancy Ross already started to make good progress, not at least due to his untamable will. He should soon later on enter the "United States Air Force" and he was stationed in Las Vegas, Nevada/U.S.A. and also when'n'where at this time the above already mentioned great Leo Stern was stationed and who worked there also as a (or the) physical education trainer and he, Leo Stern soon noticed the hard working mentality and the sheer firy will of him, Clancy Ross and took him under his wings. Clancy Ross trained hard and heavy and gained loads of high quality muscles as well as in general more and more an impressive physique and when in 1945 Leo Stern and he decided it's time to hit the stage at "AAU Mr. America" it was no one else than Clancy Ross himself who supremely reigned and took the unrivaled victory and he also took the awards "Most Muscular Physique" and "Best Chest" with him, too. Then one year later in 1946 he also won the "Pro Mr. America" in San Francisco in a triumphant-way and then he moved on and in 1948 and 1949 he was also one of the very, very few men (in fact there were only two and Clancy Ross was one of them) who were able to beat the maginificient Steve Reeves not just once but twice, in 1948 Clancy Ross won the "Mr. U.S.A." right before Steve Reeves who scored at the 2nd place and at the "Mr. U.S.A." in 1949 Clancy Ross was ranked at the 2nd place right after the unrivaled John Grimek and with Steve Reeves placed on the 3rd rank. (Note: John Grimek and Steve Reeves are also part of the "IRON AGE" article series up here, so maybe just check out the articles about them if you are interested.) The "Mr. U.S.A." of/in 1949 took place in Los Angeles in the "Los Angeles Shrine" in front of 6.000 viewers what was a damn impressive number for that time back then. Still in 1949 Clancy Ross should also win the "Mr. North America" and he was with winning this competition one of the very first few Bodybuilders who grabbed a price of 1.000 Dollar for the victory, and again for that time back then this was something damn impressive to archieve. To make his daily living after the "United States Air Force" he was running from 1946 on several different gyms. The first of his gyms he opened in January of 1946 and he used to run it succesfully for ten years. He had close ties to other Bodybuilders of his era like for example Jack LaLanne and Jack Dellinger with whom he often went surfing at the 'Sunny Cove' in Alameda, California/U.S.A. and he also very often and regulary went swimming. Beside being an active and competing Bodybuilder and running his gym(s) he worked also a model and also as an author for example (and especially) for the early mags of that time of Joe Weider named "Muscle Power" and "Your Physique" and he should also become the most prominent and/or important editor of this magazines right after Joe Weider himself who surely also used the prominent and impressive Clancy Ross quite a bit as his figurehead just like Joe Weiders biggest rival at that time, the "York Barbell Comapny", did so with the almighty John Grimek who was also one of the if not the biggest rival of Clancy Ross himself back then. Some good pairings you see, so to say. In 1951 after ten years of their marriage Clancy Ross and his first wife Jackie got divorced and later on along the way Clancy Ross should meet the very attractive Lois who loved, so they say, especially motorcycles and enjoyed life in general as much as only ever possible and who should then become his second wife. They had a long and happy relationship together and had two kids together, Lance who was born in 1961 and Darcy Lee who was born in 1965. And they had several pets together, with Clancy Ross himself being a huge fan of cats and regulary bringing a stray with hime home that he gleaned somewhere along the way home.

Clancy Ross was beside being an enthusiastic athelete and a formidable and more than just great Bodybuilder also a huge music-lover and especially Jazz in all its different forms was his absolute favourite and he and his second wife Lois shared this passion and interest and they loved to dance and to party and they truly led a rich social life. Beside all this he also worked as a teacher for the(ir) local community at the Sunday-School, to give something back. And, of course, also Hollywood was/got attracted by Clancy Ross, his personality and his physique and so he had several movie-performances like for example already in 1949 in "The Piano Mover" and "So you want to be a Muscleman". Also for roles like "Tarzan" and even "Superman" and also as the private-detective "Sam Spade" the guys in/of Hollywood wanted to sign him up for but Clancy Ross turned that offers down because he refused to be that long away from home so often, and also because his heart still was completly signed to Bodybuilding. He should sell his own gym "Clarence Ross P.C. Gym" to work further on for the "American Health" 'gym-chain'. He was anyhow anywhere a much loved and highly respected and a through-and-through sympathic guy with lots of fans and Friends everywhere he went and came along. And he was a Bodybuilder through-and-through. He worked hard and gave it all he had to give and when we keep in mind that he lived and worked and trained and pumped in a time long ago where modern training-principles like sets and splits and such stuff and not to talk about 'fancy shit' like "FST-7", "Dogcrapp", etc. pp. weren't formulated and defined like we know and have it for example today and where of no training-equipment was to talk about and where 'things' about nutrition and especially supplementation were only of rudimentary knowldege (compared with later decades to come) and when there was no enhancement via drugs and hormons to talk of, yes, when it all was natural, yes, then you should see what an truly impressive physique he damn fucking build and how damn strong he really was. He was famous for his massive chest and did dumbbell bench-press with 60kg+ dumbbells regulary, squatted with 205kg for 10+ reps and when deadlifting he lifted 295kg+. Also his Olympic Weightlifting was damn impressive with for example 142kg+ at the strict frontpress. He also did 'deflected' culrs with 90kg+. And on the incline bench press with dumbbells he did 10+ reps with the 80kg+ dumbbells. Damn impressive!!! In 1955 then he won the "NABBA Pro Mr. Universe" in London, but due to a heavy (in)flu(enza) or a massive 'gripal-infect' he wasn't at his bestform and he did not take the Overall-Victory with him. This enlighted the fire in him one more time even stronger and led him to take the 2nd place at the 1956 "Mr. U.S.A.", only beaten by the larger-than-life Bill Pearl himself. (Note: Also Bill Pearl is already part of this "IRON AGE" article series up here, so why not check out his article as well?!) Somehwere along the road to come he and his second wife should got divorced as well, because Clancy Ross focussed more and more again and again on his training and Lois simply felt too heavily left behind and she draw her consequences. But at least both should stay close friends even after their divorce. His last years Clancy Ross, the "King of Bodybuilders", spend together with his close friends Auben and Margorie in a retirement-home where he finally died at the 30. of April of 2008 at the age of 84 years. Shortly before his death he planned together with his old friend Joe Weider to install a 'health-fitness-studio' in the retirement-home where he lived for all the residents of it, yes, but this dream he sadly could not fullfill anymore. But in the memories of all of us true IRON AGE and IRON SPORTS enthusiasts the unforgotten and larger-than-life Clancy Ross, the "King of Bodybuilders" will live forever on as one of the best, most impressive, strongest, and biggest and most (be)loved and respected Natural Bodybuilders of all time. Rest in Power!!!

Some of his impressive 'strength-stats' and or (much) better and (much) more precise sort of an impressive 'training-routine' of the almighty Clancy Ross I now still want to show you before I will finally close this article; so let's go:

(1.) Legs:

Squats 6 x 10 reps
Calf raises 4 x 25
(2.) Arms:
Seated dumbbell curls 3 x 8
Preacher curls 3 x 8
Triceps pushdowns 3 x 103
(3.) Chest:
Pushups on parallel bars 3 x 15
Chest Incline bench press 3 x 10
Bent arm laterals on bench 3 x 8
(4.) Abdominals:
Leg raises on ab bench 200 reps
Situps on ab bench 200 reps
Side bends 100 reps each side
(5.) Shoulders:
Lateral raises standing 3 x 8
Upright rowing 3 x 8
(6.) General Conditioning:
Pulldowns all the way down to legs on lat machine 3 x 10

(Copyright of/for this which means this training-plan or workout-schedule, is by: https://www.greatestphysiques.com/clarence-ross/ - check them out, great site, great work, big inspiration, and why not also like them up on Facebook @greatestphysiques.)

So, yes, that's it for now again already, and the "IRON AGE" finally is back again up here as well. I hope you enjoyed it, maybe at least as much as I enjoyed it putting this all together for you. And if you enjoyed it, yes, then make sure to stay tuned for more of this to come up here again one sooner or later day. And now, yes, have a great day and enjoy the weather, like I am about to do it now. I'm off and out for now, we'll read us (soon) again. Bye.