John Grimek was undoubtedly one of the most impressive bodybuilders of his day. He was lean and muscular. So why did they call him “El Puerco”? We’ll get to that in a bit, but if you’ve never heard of John Grimek, he was a bodybuilder and powerlifter from the golden age of bodybuilding. The 1940s.
Back then, they didn’t have steroids or creatine. But these trainers of yore STILL managed to build impressive physiques. And John Grimek was without a doubt one of the most impressive bodybuilders of his day. Grimek once CURLED a staggering 280 pounds and could military press 300 pounds over his head.
What was Grimek’s secret to building muscle and strength? Great genetics? Well, that was certainly part of it. He had the ideal bone structure and frame to pack on blocks of muscle pretty quickly. But Grimek enjoyed another advantage that few people know about. His family called Grimek “The Pig” because he could eat and eat and eat and still be muscular.
So perhaps Grimek’s superior digestive abilities are part of the reason for his success. Many bodybuilders of yesteryear believed that improving digestion was the key to gaining muscle and losing weight.
The legendary trainer of yesteryear, Vince Gironda, believed that digestion was so important that he would make his students put their feet up after a meal. He believed that this would help pool blood around the stomach and aid digestion. That might be overkill, but give it a try and see what happens.
It makes sense when you think about it.
If you eat 300 grams of protein per day but only end up absorbing 100 grams of protein from your food, the other 200 grams goes to waste, and your body won’t have enough protein available to help you recover from your workouts and build muscle.
But if your digestive system works like clockwork and you can digest and assimilate more protein from your diet, you’ll make faster gains in the gym.
This could be one of the biggest secrets in bodybuilding. Because no one talks about the importance of digestion and assimilation. But the trainers of yore knew how important it was, and many of them built incredible physiques without steroids as a result.
Another bodybuilder of yesteryear, Marvin Eder, actually had a little pineapple with every meal to aid digestion. It turns out that pineapple contains an enzyme called bromelain that helps the body break down and assimilate protein.
So if you can’t seem to gain muscle or burn fat, maybe more protein isn’t the answer. Maybe you just need to help your body digest the protein you’re already eating.
