If you want to gain weight and build super-human strength, then it only makes sense to study the habits of one of history’s most famous strongmen, the late Doug Hepburn.
Way back in the early 1950’s — before steroids and before modern bench shirts — Doug Hepburn bench pressed 500lbs.
He could squat and deadlift 800lbs. And did a standing shoulder press with 450lbs.
Not bad for a guy born with a clubfoot and fused ankle.
How did a man build so much size and strength way back in the 1950’s, before creatine, whey powders and steroids?
The answer is surprisingly simple:
Eggs.
Lots and lots of eggs.
After high school, Doug went to work on a chicken farm.
Part of his meager salary was all of the eggs he could eat.
And Hepburn took full-advantage of this “perk:” He ate 58 eggs and drank a 1/2 gallon of whole milk EVERY DAY.
That’s over 500 grams of protein per day.
In hindsight, it’s clear that eggs were a big part of Doug Hepburn’s success.
And it’s no wonder why. Eggs are one of ultimate muscle-building foods.
Just one extra-large egg contains 7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat.
You already know how important protein is for muscle-growth, but fat is crucial.
Dietary fat provides energy and boost testosterone.
Plus, perhaps best of all, there are so many ways to eat eggs.
You can swallow them raw (quick), cook ‘em up (tasty) or hardboil them
and have a take them on the road (portable).
So if you’re having trouble building muscle and putting on weight, start eating more eggs.
If it worked for Doug Hepburn, it can work for you.
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Wonderful tip. Send more tips
Great idea– except for the enormous amount of cholesterol in eggs. Heart attack waiting to happen…
What age did he live to? Surely that many eggs is bad for you though??!?!
Interesting tid-bit, but what about it raising your blood cholesterol too much?
Ah, I was waiting for someone to bring up the cholesterol factor.
Conventional wisdom dictates that eating foods high in cholesterol raises the cholesterol in your blood stream, right?
But that’s not true.
New research is showing that it’s not the high fat foods that raise your cholesterol. It’s the carbohydrates and sugar.
Consider this quote from Dr. James Howenstine:
“In England during the 1800’s, persons ate lots of saturated fats like butter, lard, meat, milk and eggs and there were almost no heart attacks discovered by reviewing London hospital records”
I also recommend you check out this article by Anthony Colpo, titled, “Why the Low-Fat Diet Is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous.”
http://www.anthonycolpo.com/low_fat_diet_dangerous.html
(Anthony also sells a book called “The Great Cholosterol Con” if you really want to dive into the subject.)
Also, I was waiting for someone to say, “But Doug Hepburn was fat!” Yes, he was fat. But probably not from the eggs. Hepburn admitted he had an addiction to chocolate cake.
And remember, when trying to become the strongest man in the world any additional weight helps.
Hepburn died of a perforated ulcer at age 74.
The cholesterol issue will probably pop up over and over again on this blog because many of the old timers ate copious amounts of fat while today’s modern doctors still believe that fat is the devil.
But I urge you to start doing your own research on the subject because you’d be amazed how often the “conventional wisdom” is dead wrong.
how about separating the eggs and just using the whites, like the two Barbarian brothers used to promote ? They didn’t look like they had a weight gain problem.
Because then you would miss out on all the good qualities from the yolk.
And I don’t think you can attribute the success of the Barbarian brothers to egg whites alone.
Remember, they trained during the 1980’s when almost everybody in bodybuilding was juiced to the gills.
Not saying that they did or did not use steroids, there’s no way to tell for sure. But Hepburn made his gains before steroids came on the scene so I think his advice is more valuable for the natural trainer.
Matt is right, fats are not our enemy. I read on the high fat content, an article written by Dr. Ruth horrine.le the high fat content, gives you more muscle mass at the same time it burns body fat.
Matt,
You are right on about the egg issue and the relationship to cholesterol. I have belived for years that this was nothing but a myth and it is! Also the crap about the yellow in egg whites. That is the best part about the egg!
I at one time fell for the thing of the egg white only and it was the worse thing I ever did. The dam egg whites tore up my stomach and I would go running to the bathroom not long after I ate them! So my advice would be, eat the whole egg
and enjoy the benefits it has!