Dave Draper In Canada

MuscleMag International, August 1975

By Robert Kennedy. Property of Robert Kennedy, MuscleMag International

Yep! The Mighty "Blond Bomber" of the Musclebuilding world winged up to see us recently. His main appointment was with the television studio in Toronto where he was to make a TV commercial, modeling a Physical Fitness Exercise apparatus.

Dave stayed with me at my home for a week or so and I must say he certainly brightened up what was left of our Canadian Winter. The trip was partly a "break" for Dave so I didn't arrange any spectacular TV Talk shows or "heavy" engagements. In fact very few people indeed even knew that the star of "Don't Make Waves" was visiting our sub-zero climate north of the border. Naturally the girls of our Muscle Mag offices were in the know, and they haven't been the same since. They all had their 'Brownie' cameras at the ready and I don't think any work got done from the moment he stepped in the door.

My friend Alf from Fitness 2 Gym in the heart of Toronto, and Bruce Page one of the world's most prolific bodybuilding writers, came along to the TV studios and met Dave between televisions takes.

After the commercial was over I took him to Niagara Falls, a place where he said his parents had gone on honeymoon a third of a century before. Weatherwise, it was the dullest day imaginable, wet snow fell intermittently throughout the afternoon. However, in spite of the sub-freezing temperatures I persuaded the indomitable Mr. Draper to strip off his shirt and throw a few poses. Always smiling in his good natured way the blond giant never once complained about the cold, and boy I know he was cold because I was freezing and I had a couple of sweaters and a jacket on to keep out the icy winds…..Brrr!

Dave and I naturally spent quite a bit of time together in the ensuing days. He is a quiet-spoken man with a ready smile and a helpful attitude to life. He is the type who will look for the best in people and should he not be able to say something complimentary or halfway decent about somebody, he will remain silent rather than offer verbal condemnation. He has a particular liking for dogs (my nutty mutt "Stray" took a liking to him immediately).

He doesn't particularly like HEAVY talk like politics or economics, and has a definite aversion to being constantly bugged by over-keen bodybuilders. Not that he isn't helpful to those who seek his advice, but so often he is approached during workouts when he is concentrating on working up a sweat, or at other times when he is relaxing trying to forget about the finer points of "sets and reps." Sometimes enough is enough.

Talking with this "Gentle Giant" I found him to be very interested in the Canadian countryside. He is geographically extremely well educated, having been to places like Britain, Australia, France, South Africa, Mexico and so on, always taking an interest in the countryside, wild life and people of each place he visited. He told me several tales of incidents occurring while staying in different countries. I recall, for example him telling me how he and Reg Park were driving along outside Johannesburg when suddenly the vehicle had a flat. Lo! And behold, whereas they had got a spare tire, there was no jack to lift up the car and… you've guessed it. Both Reg and Dave took turns holding up the vehicle, manually. Amazed onlookers gaped in disbelief. And talking of strength. I might add that Draper has an enormous amount of this ingredient. He is to my mind a "natural" strongman. I have known numerous bodybuilders who have built up overall strength by heavy training, but so often, although they may be able to bench 400 or squat with 500 for example, few have the basic inner strength for general purposes. (It can be embarrassing when a bodybuilder with a 50-inch chest and nineteen-inch arm fails to unscrew the top of a ketchup bottle. Especially if, within seconds his wife succeeds…). But Draper HAS this built in power. For starters, he has enormous hands and the power those hands and forearms have is utterly devastating. He could easily open up a can of beans with a casual one-handed squeeze. A trifle messy maybe, but the enormous strength is there. (He does of course use a can opener if he ever needs to open up a can, but no problem if it is lost!).

He supplements his natural forearm and hand strength with specific exercises like wrist curls, both regular and reverse. Also in his job as a self-employed furniture maker, he may have further developed his awesome gripping power because he handles huge pieces of hardwood which he artistically shapes and contours into fine castle-type furniture. Many houses in California have the additional attraction of this unique furniture and decorative woodwork. Arnold Schwarzenegger for example has had his entire Santa Monica office outfitted with Dave's stuff. If you think the Draper workouts are tough, then you should see him at work. Carving those tables, molding those chairs and benches… The man never stops. The sweat flows continuously well into the night.

To my astonishment and "Stray's" delight Dave had a habit of getting up around six in the morning and taking an early run. Not being married (any beauties out there?) I threw a few eggs into a pan to cook up for Dave's breakfast on his return. The man is quite a hand in the kitchen and much to my surprise invariable beat me to doing the dishes after each meal. In fact he insisted, and I'm not one to argue with this mighty Mr. World…. Even though I felt a bit guilty seeing Dave bent over a hot stove, or rather, a steaming sink.

Workout time really opened up my peepers. I know many of you want to know the exact sets and reps Dave does for his body so I took some pictures during a couple of his workouts and I'll be giving you the entire routine with all these photographs in the NEXT issue of Muscle Mag. Believe me they are food for thought. Also, I have persuaded Dave to find time to write his own training courses. He has so many unique thoughts on bodybuilding and as many of you know he was one of the few somewhat overweight bodybuilders who actually CHANGED his metabolism entirely and is now superbly muscles with no fat on his body whatsoever. You will see these courses first advertised within the pages of Muscle Mag.

The first thing I notice about Dave Draper's way of training is that he never stops his workout until it's finished. There are NO rest periods. He just keeps on and on, going from one exercise to the next. This has a triple effect. (a) He gets a terrific pump from his exercises. (b) His internal organs, respiratory system, stamina and metabolism benefit enormously. (c) He gets an immense amount of work done in the shortest possible time.

Dave's favorite exercises are pulling motions. He does a large variety of bent over rows, lat machine pulley work, curls and chins. Undoubtedly, he has one of the most impressive backs of any top bodybuilder. His biceps too have a unique high crest appearance, which is the envy of his bodybuilding peers. He has enormous strength in pulling and curling. Not that he isn't strong at chest, leg and shoulder work, but he has a particular skill at pulling movements as opposed to pushing exercises such as the bench press which he seldom performs. He has a preference of flying motions and pulley work for chest, and a variety of lateral raises for his deltoids. Earlier in his bodybuilding career he was a great believer in heavy bench pressing. But now he is more concerned with shape and definition rather than size. His modestly sized "armor-plate" pectorals are most pleasing. There is no awesome heaviness there, which any so-called champion bodybuilders possess. The massively built pecs of today's bodybuilders are definitely one "thing" we can do without. Men like Draper, Gironda, Zane lead the way. In fact none of the accepted Greats of the past have ever had HUGE pectoral development.

Men like Sandow, Grimek and Reeves all looked superb yet none was overdeveloped in the chest area. Hanging, feminine looking chest muscles are superfluous. They are among the most unnecessary muscles in the body and although huge pecs may appeal to the young enthusiastic bodybuilder when he first starts making muscle building progress, these same fellows soon learn the error of their ways and train them more for shape and definition as the years go by. Draper learned his lesson as did Eiferman, Ross and Park before him. Each chose to concentrate more on a balanced appearance rather than size for the sake of size.

You may have read in the various muscle periodicals that many of the top stars in Muscledom do a great deal of running as part of their training. Actually this is often exaggerated. Draper is most definitely the exception. He runs three to five times a week because he says, as well as contributing to the respiratory functioning of the body it "hypers the metabolism" and this folks, is most definitely one of the secrets of this star bodybuilder's physical transformation program. Curiously, he does not run on the golden California sands. He says he prefers to run on the pavement and sidewalks.

And what does Dave Draper eat to sustain his energy and splendid muscles? That should interest every one of you. He likes meat whenever he can get it at a reasonable price, but tells me that fish is more often eaten when he's at home in Del Rey, California. Fish is probably preferable to meat because of the high, potentially dangerous cholesterol level of most red meats. I was not over surprised when during one of our meandering tours of the Bramalea Indoor Shopping center, Dave purchased a pound of ground beef, but when he got home and proceeded to eat it raw, I was completely speechless!

There have been times when our subject has stayed completely away from all carbohydrates. I believe he did not savour either bread, sugar or potatoes for an 18-month period when he was trying to change his entire appearance. It worked! Now he seems to have mastered the art of partaking of these ingredients very occasionally. For example, he may allow himself a small piece of bread every couple of days. Or perhaps a baked potato once a week. This, as many of you know, is the hardest thing of all, to OCCASIONALLY allow yourself those tasty goodies. It is of course a matter of priorities. Dave's interest in holding on to his fabulous definition is greater than his interest in satisfying his longing to dig those satisfying "high carb" foods. Most people of course have their priorities the other way around. And their bodies unfortunately reflect this attitude.

Another Draper secret if you can all it that is his ever awareness of his condition at any particular time. He knows if he "feels heavy" or if his "arms need a little more work" or perhaps it's time he "returned to some heavy leg work to bring up the thighs". This ever-aware attitude has nothing to do with narcissistic self-glorification. It's just a severe critical analysis which he subjects himself to most days. Virtually all the big names in the physical culture world have this critical view of themselves. They regard their bodies as an art form, a piece of sculpture, which must be constantly hacked, hued and honed into shape. Just as the painter will half close his eyes and squint at his canvas to find where he can improve his potential masterpiece, so the bodybuilder will analyze his image in the mirror or pinch his waist area to check for surplus fat. Dave Draper is no different. He is a perfectionist. And his body mirrors this idealist trait!