Strength & Health, Page 17, August 1945
THIS story could easily be called, "Unknown Makes Good," or "A Dream Realized." It would have made a good Horatio Alger story. For all the Mr. Americas who have won this much coveted title since the first Mr. America contest in 1939, sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union and conducted in conjunction with the senior national weight lifting championships was held, the winners have been men long famous in the world of strength and muscle. John Grimek in winning the 1940 and 1941 titles had long been proclaimed as the world's best built man. Frank Leight, the New York policeman who won at Cincinnati in 1942 had been runner up in 1940, tied for second in 1941, losing by a slim margin to Jules Bacon for second place after additional posing, had been repeatedly winner of the title, Mr. New York City, which is a great honor in itself for no other district has as many outstanding physical specimens as the greater New York area. Jules Bacon won in 1943, he had been selected as Mr. Philadelphia and had been victor at a host of smaller, but important physique contests, besides being runner up to Grimek in 1941. Steve Stanko the winner in 1944, had six years of fame in the strength world back of him when he won the title. National heavyweight lifting champion year after year, demonstrated himself to be the world's strongest man, with his world's highest lifting total, the first man to score more than 1000 on the three lifts, a man who could press 320 and snatch 320 on first attempts in practice before his present injury manifested itself too severely, a man who established and still holds world's records. But Clarence Ross this year was a complete unknown. Hardly known outside of his own little circle of trainees, of body building pals, and the men he trained at the Army Air Base in Las Vegas, Nevada.
His winning the Mr. America title is just one more proof of how wonderful it is to live in America. In this country no thought is given to a man's family position. He was a poor boy, no thought to his rank, he is a private, in the air force, he experienced no handicap because men in the event had long been famous for their exceptional development, he won simply on his own merits because he had the stuff. While there are usually differences of opinion among the judges, when John Grimek won, Bernarr MacFadden gave John Grimek a perfect score of 15, while other judges rated him higher than any other, two judges voted against him. Dan Parker, New York columnist, wailed long, loud and persistently because John won. Not a dissenting voice was heard when the title was given to Clarence Ross in 1945. He was outstanding in the midst of as great a group of outstanding physical specimens as ever gathered together to vie for the titles in a Mr. America contest.
Who was this man who was unanimously selected the winner, Clarence Ross? "Never heard of him," "where's he from," "how long has he trained ?" "how does he train ?" "He's a private in the air force," said one. In addition to his many other duties in the service he did enough training in his spare time to develop this extraordinary physique.
I was meeting Clarence Ross for the first time at the recent 1945 national weight lifting championships. (Johnny Terpak, the author of this little story, was winning his 10th consecutive national weight lifting title when he first met this year's Mr. America.) Knowing that everyone would be interested in the facts about the life and training of Clarence Ross, I took some photos of him, asked him some questions about his life and training, and owing to his great modesty the material he gave me was little enough to construct a story from to offer to readers of Strength and Health magazine, but we will supply the facts he gave to us.
This year's Mr. America was born in Oakland, California, a thriving city just across the bay from San Francisco, a city that long has been muscle conscious, (Jack Lalanne's splendid gymnasium and the studio of Courtois and King is located there) just a few years ago, October 26, 1923 to be exact. He was a normal boy, healthy and happy as other boys were, athletic too, for he tried out for all the school teams, and built considerable of a reputation for himself. He played basketball, soccer, baseball, football and was a member of the high school track and swimming teams.
Although now he is an inch taller than Grimek, 6 pounds heavier than when John won his title at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1940, he was not a big boy in school, weighing just 140, and in the bodily contact games such as soccer and football he found his physical limitations. He noted that he was handicapped when playing with his larger, sturdier schoolmates, so he decided to do something about it. Fortunately he did not waste time, he started with "the best way," barbell training the York way. He and a school mate got a set of weights and started training at the friend's home.
In the beginning he followed the York courses exactly as they are written and built a foundation, a balanced physique which with the passing years saw him growing into as fine a specimen of manhood as could be found in thousands of miles of travel. As time passed he put a little more emphasis on his favorite exercises, doubling up on those he liked, but never neglecting the good body building movements designed to develop all of the body, to develop internal strength and efficiency.
And after nearly two years of this sort of training, the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor so this young Californian, who grew up along the Pacific Coast, who from earliest boyhood had been conscious of the "yellow peril" and even then constantly heard of the dangers of an invasion, rushed to join the air force. For two years he trained so intensively that barbells seemed only a thing of the past to him. But he had trained wisely and well. His two years of bar bell work had already given him a powerful, well developed body which stood out among his comrades in arms so he was kept at the field in the capacity of a physical instructor. At first his work was to teach calisthenics to the other students, to put them through the motions of the various approved calisthenic exercises used in the services.
He knew that calisthenics went only part way, that there were better methods of training, faster ways to obtain the strength, muscle, endurance, balance and muscular coordination which is often the difference between life and death to an airman, so he seriously went into training with his barbells.
He gathered around him a group of hard training buddies who kept him on his toes, training hard. While there are three hundred men who train weekly with weights in Las Vegas, two particular buddies have helped and encouraged him. These are Cpl. Leo D. Stern who has also been well rewarded for his development and was winner of the 1945 Mr. San Diego contest, finished twelfth in the scoring at this year's Mr. America contest, and Pfc. Henry Fletcher, who placed sixth in the Mr. America contest. Clarence Ross wrote: "I owe a great deal of my success to them both. Without their drive I could never have gained what I have."
The 1945 Mr. America continues. "I am 21 years old. I have been lifting weights for over a period of five years. During two of these years I was unable to train with weights. This being during the time I was in the air force and was not stationed permanently for long at any station. I am a York barbell man and in the beginning followed the York courses exactly as they are written. I corrected my round shoulders through barbell training and overcame the effects of shoulder injuries which I contracted playing football in high school.
"I had completed high school, and gone to work first in a wire factory, then as a machine rigger in the shipyards until I enlisted at the age of 18. I have been married 2½ years, and we have a baby daughter 4½ months of age. My wife's name is Jacqueline. She is also from Oakland. Without her encouragement, inspiration and patience, not only permitting me but encouraging me to train hard and long, being a weight lifting widow while doing so, I could not have succeeded in building my body as I have. She's been wonderful. My daughter's name is Carol.
"My measurements are as follows: Weight 190, height 5-9½, wrist 7½, neck. 16¾, chest, normal 47¼, waist 32, ankle 9, arms 17 3/8, thighs 25 3/8, calves 16 1/8, forearm 13½." (Editor's note: Of these measurements only the arm is truly extraordinary, it is most unusual for the arm to be so much larger than the neck and the calf. Although many artists and sculptors have considered that all three, neck, flexed arm and calf should be the same size, usually the neck is the largest, the calf next in size and the arm the smallest of the three. Clarence Ross just has the muscles in the right places, and in the proper proportions to build the well balanced physique which won such a great national honor for him.)
Editor's note: Johnny Terpak has not been able to offer you a great deal of information for this is all that the 1945 Mr. America supplied to him. But as it has been said that a picture is worth ten thousand words, you can surely see that Ross received most excellent results from his training. He was kind enough to write me the following letter. I have not had the pleasure of meeting him, as my work precludes the opportunity and the pleasure to take cross country trips to California even for so important an event, at present. Letter follows.
Dear Mr. Hoffman:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the swell trophies you had presented to me for winning best back, best chest and most muscular titles, they are sure all swell and I sure treasure them. Well sir, I guess you don't know me, very few people do. I was born in Oakland, California, started training with your equipment and your system at 16 years of age. I am now 21, I am a weight lifting instructor at the air base and I sure love my work. I saw all your men at the contest and I want to say they are a swell bunch of fellows. Winning the "Mr. America" title is a dream come true for me, I trained hard for it, but I never thought that I would win. I am the happiest man in the world, Again, Mr. Hoffman, I want to thank you for the trophies. I remain Clarence Ross.
To this I could add, I am glad that you like the trophies, Clarence, but you don't need to thank me, you won them fairly and squarely.
Now a comment on the training schedule of Clarence Ross, before closing this little story. He performs all the good standard exercises such as are found in York courses No. 1 and No. 2. He says nothing about practice of weight lifting so it is presumed that he is purely a body builder. Although at present he does not practice many leg exercises, he uses quite heavy weights 10 repetitions with 320 pounds in the deep knee bend, 400 for 20 repetitions and 600 for 20 repetitions in the leg press. He practices many lying down exercises a la Steve Stanko, these being lateral raises, flying exercises, pull over; as a bent arm muscle developing movement he does ten with 120 pounds. As a breathing exercise, straight arms he performs 15 with 75. For his mid section he practices abdominal raises flat on the floor, 20 with a 100 pound barbell, or 12 with 110. He does 10 repetitions with the leg raise using the York Iron boots and as much weight as he can handle. A favorite exercise is the upright rowing motion, also a favorite in the York barbell gym, an exercise that Jules Bacon and I include in our numerous contests. He performs ten with 110, later ten with 130 and still later another ten with 150. This movement undoubtedly played an important part in developing his wonderful shoulders, and the back and chest and muscularity which won for him the special awards.
In closing I wish to congratulate Pfc. Clarence Ross for his wonderful victory, which will bring him undying fame. Once again it was proved that no other type of athlete, certainly not the dynamic tension trainee, has the slightest chance in a best built man contest, in which barbell men and weight lifters are competing. Years ago gymnasts, boxers, wrestlers, football players, and the followers of some highly advertised courses in which weights are not the training medium, appeared in best built man contests but they made such a sorry showing, that long ago they ceased to compete. All the winners, the place winners and those who show up best in the special events are weight trained men, and we are proud and pleased to say that all the winners of Mr. America contests have been either York barbell men, members of the York team or at least weight lifters except Frank leight who trained for years at the Siegmund Klein studio in New York City.
- Four of the finalists in the 1945 "Mr. America" contest. Left to right: CLIFF BYERS of Santa Monica, runner-up in the lightweight lifting and also judged to have the best arms in the contest. JOE LAURIANO, formerly of Hawaii now in York, Pa., winner of the best abdominals. The champion and new "Mr. America" CLARENCE ROSS and at extreme right, KIMON VOYAGES of the Bronx, N.Y. who was judged to have the best legs.
- MRS. ROSS and daughter CAROL, who did much to inspire Clarence to win the "Mr. America" title.
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