Bodybuilding has had a lot to teach human beings about their own bodies. For example, it has been known for thousands of years that training with weights can make you bigger and stronger. But nobody ever predicted the kind of muscle size and muscularity that you see nowadays in top pro bodybuilding competitors. This is even more true when it comes to women. Until very recently, the mass, definition, and muscularity of Ms. Olympia champions like Andrea Shaw would have been unthinkable.
Another revelation has been Robby Robinson. Those knowledgeable about the effects of weight training on staying fit as you age have always pointed out how this kind of exercise helps the body stay strong and fit as you get older, but in the past, there have not been examples like seventy-seven-year-old Robby Robinson to demonstrate the degree to which this is possible.
Known as the “Black Prince,” Robby Robinson was an important part of the Golden Age of bodybuilding.Bill Dobbins
Robby Robinson trained at Gold’s Gym, Venice in the 1970s and still does today.Bill Dobbins
Robby is a wonder. He has obviously aged, and his muscles no longer have the fullness and density they did years ago, but the basic muscular development is still there, and his muscularity and definition are incredible. Other champion bodybuilders of his era don’t look anything like this. How has Robby managed to do what none of his contemporaries have equaled?
“When I was young and just getting into bodybuilding,” says Robby, “I was told that to look like a bodybuilder you must live like one. That is, bodybuilding is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle.
Over the years, I have never abandoned that way of life. The way I live, train and diet has stayed almost the same as it was when I was a 20-year-old would-be bodybuilding champion with my sights set on being on the cover of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines.”
Although we still have several champions with us, many of whom are much younger than Robby, why is it that there are few other examples of veteran bodybuilders who can still pose, flex, and impress? The reason, Robby thinks, is mostly that it is difficult to keep pursuing this kind of lifestyle in the face of the many distractions you are faced with as you mature.
“This is not just true in bodybuilding,” Robby points out. “The same is true of other athletes who get married and have families, create businesses and are offered so many other opportunities to capitalize on their success in sports. Plus, as you get older, the physical effort and the problem of injuries continue to increase. Combined with the reality that, as you age, you are not going to maintain the level of excellence you had when younger, motivating yourself to put in the effort and make the necessary sacrifices becomes increasingly difficult.”
All the above are what make the longevity of football quarterback Tom Brady more remarkable. No athlete has had more potential distractions or opportunities than “Tom Terrific.” This also explains why the great and celebrated Arnold Schwarzenegger, although he continues to work out and make movies, does not have the kind of youthful definition and muscularity as Robby. Arnold has and has had even more distractions and opportunities than Tom Brady has even thought of.
Robby does take his hat off to fellow “Golden Age” bodybuilder Tony Pearson. Robby and Tony used to both work out in the 1970s at the original Gold’s Gym and although Tony is younger, Robby is impressed with how good he was able to look in recent photos.
Robby and Tony Pearson both trained at Gold’s Gym in the 1970s and both have stayed in remarkable shape as they age.Bill Dobbins
“Tony works as a personal trainer,” Robby says, “and has kept his life simple and streamlined. So, he has been able to maintain a way of life much like we both did training in the gym decades ago.”
Robby does personal training himself. He also now has a sponsor who has created a new website for him at www.strongerthanme.org. He is also coming out with a special skin cream, details of which are on his website. But Robby is adamant that personal training or getting involved with business enterprises is not going to distract him from having the best possible physique for his age that is humanly possible.
It all boils down, according to Robby, to whether you are willing to pay the price and make the sacrifices that make being a bodybuilder the number one focus of your life – to make training and necessary dieting the primary focus of your reason for being.
Very few can summon up this kind of motivation. Which is why Robby Robinson remains pretty much in a class by himself.
At the age of 77, Robby Robinson is in a class by himself.Bill Dobbins
In addition to being a personal trainer, Robby is also producing a special skin cream and has a brand-new website.Bill Dobbins
