Strength & Health, Page 26, October 1951
IT WAS February 1940, while working up on a four story hotel building bending a pipe for the electric neon sign, that I fell four floors to the pavement when my foot slipped. In addition to being seriously injured internally, I broke my wrist, four fingers and ribs on the left side. The result of this accident was a period of almost two years of convalescence. My bodyweight following this misfortune was as low as 83 pounds. Back in November 1941 my first physique photo was taken. At this time my measurements were Neck 14, Chest 34, Biceps 10, Waist 25 1/2, Thigh 18, Calf 13 and Bodyweight 101 pounds. This photo was released in Strength & Health in 1945 along with some publicity about me.
After recuperating sufficiently from the accident I went to a gym to train. After several months of calisthenics and wrestling my weight went up to 137. At this time I thought I was about the weakest guy in the world. At home I had a pair of 35 pound trolley wheels. These I could barely lift overhead. It was shortly before Christmas of 1941 that I saw my first Strength & Health magazine in a book store. I bought it and digested the contents over and over. I can't find words to describe my determination and inspiration when I saw Grimek's picture in the magazine.
Through a friend I acquired a homemade set of weights. The first day I trained so hard that I had to be massaged to relieve the sore spots. Eventually I obtained the York courses and found in them all the much needed instruction.
So I started on my career as a weight man. Slowly but surely the improvement started to show. In 1943 I read in a local newspaper of the plans for a novice weight lifting meet. I entered and won. Weighing 149 pounds, I pressed 160, snatched 160 and did a clean & jerk of 240 to establish a South African record. In the physique competition, which was held in conjunction with the lifting, I placed second.
That first contest served to inspire me and urged me to train harder. I followed the York courses exactly as written. Later that same year I was the proud winner of the "Mr South Africa" title. This honor I won for three years successively. My best lifts made in July of 1946 were 245 press, 255 snatch and 321 clean & jerk. They were better than the accomplishments of any amateur in the country at that time, including the heavyweights. I was the first man in South Africa to lift double bodyweight.
I saw my way clear in 1946 to travel abroad. Before coming to America I spent approximately a year in England. During my stay I had the opportunity to become acquainted with their most famous iron game personalities such as the late Ronald Walker, W. A. Pullum, and George Hackenschmidt. I took part in many exhibitions while in England.
In 1948 I arrived in Canada. John Bavington of Toronto welcomed me and provided me with a home. He assisted me greatly in my training and introduced me to many noted personalities. Also made it possible for me to perform in several big shows. My first show in the U.S.A. was at John Terlazzo's display. Here I met Bob Hoffman, Ray Van Cleef, Grimek, Stanko, Davis and other famous iron game personalities. I was invited to come to York for a visit. This was another of my boyhood dreams coming true.
I came to York for a visit and stayed at Ray Van Cleef's home. Year after year I have ben back at "Muscletown" for training and visiting. After concluding my first visit of about two weeks at York I traveled to Detroit and Chicago. While at these cities I took part in shows staged by George Yacos and Norbert Grueber.
Later I migrated to California. Needless to say, I spent considerable time at Santa Monica's famed "Muscle Beach". I trained at Vic Tanny's gym. While living in the physical culture center I of course became well acquainted with many outstanding athletes. my association with them served to inspire me to intensify my own training efforts.
In 1949 I entered my first contest in America, the "Mr. California" event. I placed third in this. I realized that I had to train harder to reach the top. After this experience I consulted my friends in York for recommendations. Grimek prepared some routines based on the York courses. I trained for three months on this program. Then I competed in the "Mr. Pacific Coast" meet at Berkeley, California and was the victor. I knew I was on the right track. Later I entered the "Mr. Northern California" event and won that title.
The following year I felt that I was ready for the 1950 "Mr. America" events so I traveled across the nation to come to York to prepare for these major contests. In the "Junior Mr. America" at Baltimore I was second to John Farbotnik, whom I admire both as an athlete and person. Here I won the "Most Muscular" and "Best Legs" honors. A couple of weeks later came the test of tests, the "Mr. America" contest at Philadelphia. here I placed third with Farbotnik winning the title and Melvin Wells finishing second. I was gratified to have placed so high in this contest.
Back I came to California to resume my intensive training at Trona where I was working at my trade as an electrician. I continued to work-out at my home gym for months. then I decided I must make a change to make possible better training conditions. I realized that I must strive to be at my best in order to have good prospects of fulfilling my big ambition, the winning of the "Mr. America" title.
I decided to locate at Oakland, California so that I could train with Ed Yarick and profit by his expert guidance and encouragement. yarick, as you know, trained two of the previous "Mr. America" winners, Steve Reeves and Jack Delinger, at his gym. Ed Yarick and I worked out my special training program for the "Mr. America" contest. We decided to prove to the world that an athlete can successfully train for body building and lifting at the same time.
After three weeks of training at Yarick's gym I entered Walt Baptiste's "Mr. San Francisco" contest and won that title. Two weeks later I entered the Pacific Coast Weightlifting Championships. Here I won the middle-heavyweight crown with a press of 235, snatch of 235 and clean & jerk of 335.
Now I was ready to concentrate on the "Mr. America" competition and National Weightlifting Championships. I trained arduously 6 days a week; 3 for lifting and 3 for bodybuilding. During the two months of training prior to the big meet at Los Angeles in June, I averaged 155 hours of training per month. Steadily my lifts were improving and my measurements were increasing. The Yaricks played an indispensable role in this progress. Both Ed and Alyce cooperated with me to the fullest. I lived at their home during the weeks I was preparing for the big test at Los Angles.
In my last complete workout at Yarick's gym prior to the Nationals I pressed 255, snatched 250 and cleaned & jerked 350. Almost succeeded with 360. now I was really ready for the competition. My plans and efforts nearly were wiped out when I had the misfortune to fall just four days prior to the meet at Los Angeles. I had badly strained both writs as a result of the fall experienced while practicing form with a comparatively light weight. For the next three days I lived at a doctor's home. he worked on my injured wrists over and over again each day and night. Gave me sedatives to relieve the pain.
The night of the lifting at Los Angeles my writs were in such a state that it felt like an impossibility to clean even 135 pounds. I felt terribly disappointed in myself. But I was determined to make a do or die attempt to fulfill my training ambitions. With this "where there's a will, there's a way" philosophy, I succeeded in making an impressive showing in the middle-heavyweight class competition. Finished second with a total of 815; pressed 240, snatched 245, cleaned & jerked 330. Made nine successful lifts. Incidentally, in order to make the weight limit for this class I had to fill up on bananas and milk for I was about 5 pounds below the required minimum poundage.
The same night that I lifted they staged the sub-divisios for the "Mr. America" contest. I was awarded the "Most Muscular" and "Best Legs" titles on this occasion. Since no one previously had won both the "Most Muscular" and "Mr. America" titles, I became somewhat dubious as to whether I would have this distinction. Ed Yarick was ever present to give me encouragement and keep my hopes up.
On June 16th, I attained the goal I had been striving for, the "Mr. America" title. This was my biggest dream come true. Ed Yarick had trained his third "Mr. America" and his cooperation and expert guidance made it possible for me to achieve this pinnacle of success.
Here is an outline of the intensive training program I adhered to at Yarick's gym for weeks prior to the competition at Los Angeles. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I concentrated on body building. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were devoted to lifting. The first part of the training would commence at 10 A.M. and last until 3 P.M. Then I would go home for lunch, take a nap for about an hour and return to the gym for the second portion of the training. This would start at 5:30 and would last for three hours. By 11 o'clock I would be in bed ready for 10 hours of sleep. Sundays, my only day of rest, was a day of relaxation.
The body building program was as follows. 3 sets of dumbell rowing alternately 10 reps with 115 to 135 pounds, 3 sets of front rowing on the lat. pulley machine 12 reps. 180 pounds. 3 sets of behind the neck on the overhead pulley machine. 3sets of pulley pulling standing on knees with overhead pulley, pulling down to the floor with straight arms. here I did 12 reps. with 100 pounds. Two arm dumbell press together 3 sets with 70 to 90 pounds 10 reps. 3 set of dumbell alternate press sitting down with 75 to 95 pounds 10 reps. Sitting down lateral raises front alternate and sideways together to above head. here I used 30 pounds and performed 6 sets. Incline bench press under leg press machine for front deltoids 3 sets 15 reps. Dislocates for shoulders with pulleys 2 sets 60 reps. Dislocates on narrow bench with 30 pounds dumbells 3 sets 25 reps. Incline bench press 3 set 10 reps using 255 to 250 pounds. Flat bench lateral flying exercise 3 sets 15 reps using 40 to 50 pounds. Pectoral exercises with pulley 25 reps 3 sets with 60 pounds. Curls sitting on bench 2 sets 12 reps with 60 pounds. Incline curl 1 set 12 reps with 50 pounds. Concentrating curl one arm at a time using 45 pound dumbell 4 sets 10 reps. Curling on overhead pulley while lying down on back 3 sets 15 reps. Triceps press behind neck with dumbell 115 to 135 pounds 15 reps. 3 sets. Triceps on overhead pulley 3 sets 12 reps. Dipping on parallel bars with 50 pounds 3 sets of 20 reps. Sit-ups 3 sets 20 reps. with 60 pound dumbell. Leg raises 3 sets 20 reps. with 25 dumbell held between feet.
The above exercises were accomplished during the first portion of the workout and consumed five hours time. During the second part of the training I would concentrate on leg exercises. After a little warm-up I would do flat foot squats 4 sets of 10 reps. with 350 to 420 pounds. Did a single rep with 490 pounds on serval occasions. Squat on low bench 3 sets of 10 reps. with 300 to 360 pounds. Hack squats 3 sets of 12 reps. with 240 to 300 pounds. Squats with weights on chest, heels on block 5 sets of 3 reps with 320 to 405 pounds. Partial squats for strength using 500 to 700 pounds 4 sets of 15 to 20 reps. This would be followed with one set of wide squats with 320 pounds 12 reps. Leg curls on incline bench with barbell 4 sets 15 reps. with 130 pounds. Standing leg curls alternate 5 sets of 15 reps. with 25 pounds loaded on boots. Calf raises 5 sets of 30 reps using calf machine. Leg extension with iron boots 4 sets.
The lifting days would involve the following exercises, reps. and poundages. Military press 3 reps. 135-155-175-205-215-225. Single reps. with 235 and 240. Then I would work down again. Single with 230-235-220-215. Double reps. with 210-205. Three reps with 200. Snatching I would use the same reps, and same weights as I did in pressing. Cleaning I would do 3 reps. with 225-255-275, 2 reps with 300 and singles with 310-320-325-3304. Jerks off squat rack 3 reps. with 225-255-275-300, 2 reps. with 310-320-330 and singles with 340-350. heavy pulls to the chest with snatch grip 5 reps. with 300-400 pounds. Pulls to chest with clean & jerk 3 reps. with 350 to 500 pounds.
Ed Yarick was ever present during my training and gave me an abundance of encouragement and personal coaching. Ed's personality rates 100%. His gym at Oakland is always busy with body builders and lifters benefiting by his expert guidance.
My present measurements are: - Neck, 17 1/2; Chest 48 1/2; Waist, 31; Upper Arm ("cold") 17 3/4; Forearm, 14 1/2; Wrist, 7 1/2; Ankle, 8; Thigh 24 1/2; Calf, 16 1/2; Weight 178 pounds; Height 5 ft. 6 ins.
- Roy Hilligenn soared to the heights of success in physique circles with his popular victory in the 1951 "Mr. Ameirca" contest. Achieved the distinction of being the only athlete in the history of this competition to also win the "Most Muscular Man" title at the same time. Roy represented Yarick's Gym. (Cecil Charles photo)
- This early snap of Roy shows that he was not exceptional when he strted to train. His remarkable gains are the product of years of intensive training.
- Roy's great lifting performace at the Senior Nationals, where he placed second to Schemansky, rates him as one of the nation's best lifters. (Cecil Charles photo)
- Since the start of his physical culture career Roy Hilligenn has been identified with York and Strength and Health. This photo was taken of this York Champion at "Muscletown" last year. Roy has spent considerable time training and visiting here. (Photo by Johnny Terpak)
If you find these articles interesting and useful, please
MuscleMemory