Your Physique, Vol 8, No 4, Page 10, Jaunary 1948
A FEW short years ago a Montreal taxi driver named Paquette picked up a passenger who had just returned from Canada's northern bush-lands. The passenger was tanned as brown as leather and wore the typical clothes of a lumber-jack. Paquette was interested and asked his passenger how he had liked working in the bush. The latter stated that it was hard work but that he liked doing things which needed plenty of muscle and was afraid that soft city life would soon destroy the health and vitality that he had built up. Now it so happened that Paquette was a weightlifter and at these words from his passenger his interest became even greater.
"Have you ever done any weightlifting for exercise ?" Paquette asked "No," replied Rene, "but I have read a few magazines on the subject and it sure looks interesting."
"Do you know Joe Weider?" asked Paquette.
"No," said his passenger, "not personally but of course I have read his wonderful magazines more than once."
"How would you like to meet him and train with him ?" asked Paquette.
"That would be terrific," replied the passenger, "but he is a big shot and probably wouldn't want to bother with some ordinary guy like me."
By now you have probably guessed the rest, the passenger was none other than Rene Leger and the taxi driver was a personal friend of Joe Weider. The upshot of the story was that the taxi driver turned his taxi around, and instead of heading for the original destination, took Rene Leger to Weider's private gym where Joe Weider was right in the middle of one of his tough routines. Introductions were made and Rene Leger immediately wanted to try to push up every piece of weight in the gym.
At the time Joe was very busy and as he had many other fly-by-night weightlifters he was not too interested in wasting his time on another. However, he decided to test Rene Leger to see if he had the stuff which it takes to become a real bodybuilder. He told me that he liked Rene the first time he saw him and because he was so darned keen just couldn't ignore him even though he was working close to fifteen hours every day. Therefore he gave Rene Leger a stiff two-hour workout and then told him to come back two days later for another work-out. Joe figured that after that first workout the chances of Rene showing up again were pretty slim.
Just imagine his surprise when on the day in question he arrived at his gym to find Rene waiting patiently there for him. Joe decided then and there that this lad had plenty of stuff in him and decided to see just how far he could go. He examined Rene carefully, noted his weak points, his lack of muscular definition, his unbalanced bodily proportions and so forth. He then worked out a scientific routine to correct all the faults and overcome the weak points.
Rene took to the routine like a duck takes to water. Joe made arrangements for him to train as frequently as he wanted to and Rene really went to town. At the time Joe never dreamed of Rene being in the big competitions until perhaps a year or two later. You can imagine his pleasant surprise when he found that Rene's body responded like magic to his system of training. You could almost see the muscles growing and within one month Rene had made as much progress as most bodybuilders would in half a year or more. It was then that Joe decided to groom him for competition and enlisted the assistance of Tony Lanza, famous photographer. Tony looked Rene over, took dozens of photos of him and started teaching him how to pose. Thus with Joe Weider handling the development of muscles and muscular definition and Tony Lanza looking after the art of posing, Rene really began to go places.
It was about this time that the first photos of Rene Leger appeared in the Weider magazines with a story about Joe's newest discovery. Readers were told to watch the development of Rene Leger for Joe Weider predicted that he would be up with the best of them in six months' time.
Readers will recall the stories and photos which appeared on Rene Leger at that time. Then, true to Joe Weider's prediction, Rene Leger won his first title just a few months after he started to train. The contest was the Mr. Montreal show conducted and organized by Sante et Force Magazine. Rene Leger took top honors winning a beautiful Mr. Montreal trophy. His photos and story appeared in many newspapers and magazines including even the famous "Time" magazine.
Then followed the appearance of Rene Leger at Physique Contests in various cities of the Province of Quebec, spreading his fame far and wide. Ben Weider took over during the periods that Joe Weider was away on business and saw to it that Rene Leger appeared in contests everywhere. More titles fell to the rapidly improving physique of Rene Leger. Joe Weider continued to watch Rene's routines carefully and each month re-organized his system of exercising to keep pace with his phenomenal development.
Having won all the local contests Joe thought it was time that Rene looked for bigger fields to conquer. Then came rumors of a Mr. Canada contest. This was just what Joe had been looking for.
When the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada issued its announcement that a Mr. Canada contest had been organized, Rene put in a week or two of really tough training and entered. The results everyone knows. Rene Leger was chosen by the Judges as the best built man in Canada. The judges were all from the U.S.A. and accompanied the U.S. Weightlifting Team which was entered in the International Weight Lifting Meet held at the same time in Montreal, Quebec. It was thus that a Weider pupil rose from the ranks of the unknown to the highest position in a nation-wide physique contest.
To give you some idea of how rapidly Rene developed here are his measurements as they were when he started training and as they were four months after Joe Weider took charge of his program of exercising. Since then, of course, Rene's measurements have increased even more but most of his improvement has been in developing muscular definition and better symmetry.
| Before | 4 Months After | |
|---|---|---|
| Arms | 15 | 16¾ |
| Chest | 42 | 47½ |
| Waist | 29 | 30 |
| Thighs | 21½ | 24 |
| Calves | 14½ | 15½ |
| Forearms | 12½ | 13½ |
| Weight | 170 lbs. | 185 lbs. |
His routine is an all-round one with special stress on the curls, prone presses and the bent-arm pullovers. When training for a competition he has as many as five work-outs per week and works hard for two to three hours at a time.
I have talked to Rene many times and have seen him in action at Jerry LeMay's Studio in Montreal. He told me how as a youngster he had always liked hard work and went up to the bush when still in his teens. He told me that working as a lumberjack made him tough and wiry and kept him very healthy but that he did not develop any bulk or definition until he met Joe Weider. He said that he owed Joe a great deal and except for him would never have had the tremendous success which has befallen him. More than once Joe Weider, Jerry LeMay, Rene Leger and I used to meet at LeMay's Studio and talk about the first day that Rene, just back from the bush, accidentally happened to get into a cab driven by a taxi-driver who was also a weightlifter. Rene remarked how remarkably fate works and that but for this chance happening he might still be up in the bush hacking down some of Canada's giant trees.
Such is the success story of a young French-Canadian, who If he continues to train along the scientific lines planned for him, might one of these days enter the Hall of Fame with such immortals as the great Louis Cyr.
- This photo was taken immediately after René won his first event, "Mr. Montreal". Theriault appeared in this contest, only competing for Most Muscular honors, which he won. (both are Weider pupils) Photo by Lanza
- The above three photos were taken just prior to the Mr. Canada event. His phenomenal arms, back and chest development are very much evident in the above three photos by Lanza.
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