Another positive thinker, whose middleweight and light-heavyweight lifting records are almost as impressive as those of heavyweight Schemansky, is Tommy Kono (next page), a soft-spoken Japanese-American with cat-quick reflexes and the title of The Most Beautiful Athlete in the World.

Concentration, to Kono, is the essence, although he admits to greater awareness of muscle than Schemansky.

SILENT ROOM

"While you're walking up there to the bar, you try to think of what you have to do. You try to concentrate to eliminate any noise going on. When I get there, I try to have a positive attitude. I try to think of myself lifting it—whether my back breaks or not.

"If I concentrate hard enough, it's actually like being in a room all by myself. There's darkness all around, and all I have is the weight before me. If I'm nerved up for the effort, I feel the weight for the first three or four inches. After that, I don't feel the weight at all."

That, apparently, is all there is to it. Concentration, darkness; then think—and lift, just a little.