Dave Draper
It was the mellow mid-1950s when Dave Draper was just a kid, and he lifted his first set of barbells. Virtually nobody was doing that sort of thing. Weightlifting and muscle building wasn’t popular like it is today, and 99 out of 100 athletic coaches gave it a thumbs down. Imagine that! It was an era of meat and potatoes, makeshift weights, and gnarly, heavy weightlifting. By the age of twelve, barbells and dumbbells had become his best friends. They spoke his language. He had fallen in love with the basic oneness, where he controlled. He says, “I wrestled with those little monsters for hours on end, pushing and pulling randomly to exhaustion until patterns of exercises formed.”
Slowly and surely, his body took shape, and his muscles and strength became evident. He knew of no muscle magazines nor sought any reward, only the pleasure of pressing metal and the exclusiveness and aloneness of the adventure. In high school, he pressed on and landed a job with Weider Barbell Company after winning Mr. New Jersey, and that lured him to Santa Monica, California. There at Muscle Beach, he lifted with the cornerstones and heroes of bodybuilding such as Joe Gold, George Eifferman, Bill Pearl, Armond Tanny, Clancy Ross, and Steve Reeves, Hercules.
These were men of instinct around the weight room. The 60s’ were the Golden Years of Bodybuilding when these big men pressed methodically and with intense concentration. They lifted more and intellectualized less. The various training principals were set down and stand today. It is to these men that Dave Draper attributes his creativity and fundamentals in the weight room. Dave Draper went on to win Mr. America in 1965, Mr. Universe in 1966, and Mr. World in 1970. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of Bodybuilders and is considered today one of the great teachers and voices in fitness.
Q&A with Dave Draper
Joseph Grassadonia
Can you give our OnFitness readers a thumbnail sketch of your career in fitness and bodybuilding? When and how did it all begin?
Dave Draper A small boy in a small New Jersey town outside New York City wants to be bigger and stronger and more significant doesn’t necessarily like baseball and the usual team sports offered up like mash potatoes. Chins and dips and pushups became my favorite pastimes when I was 10 years old and I bought a pair of slightly used dumbbells at 12. For five dollars my future was molded in steel.
I played with these disagreeable objects as most kids played football, stick ball and tag in empty lots during their vigorous and formative years. I could tackle the next guy, but when they weren’t looking I was lifting weights in the corner of my crowded basement. “Dave, your supper’s getting cold.” “Be right there, Ma.”
One day at Weehawken High the coach began calling me “Arms” and aimed to recruit me for the wrestling team and football squad. What? Spend another second longer in school than I absolutely have to? I don’t think so. I have overhead presses, standing barbell curls and bent-over rows today. See ya.
The basement gave way to the Elizabeth, NJ YMCA to be followed by a Vic Tanny’s in Jersey City, which led to a job for Joe Weider at Weider Barbell Company in Union City. I won Mr. New Jersey in 1963. I was 21 when I moved to Santa Monica, California to join George Eifferman at Joe’s new West Coast office and train to the beat of Muscle Beach champs. There I learned “what it was” and “what it took”. Train hard, eat right and be strong.
I won Mr. America in 1965, Mr. Universe in 1966 and Mr. World in 1970.
Over the past 15 years I have owned and managed two World Gyms, Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, and continued my training like a hound dog on a hunt. My wife, Laree, and I are committed to a website, davedraper.com, which we began in January of 1999. The themes are weight training, muscle building, health and fitness straight talk for all ages. The IronOnline newsletter and discussion group are the highlights of the 1,500-page website.
I write books on muscle building and fitness and Laree publishes books on related subject matter.