John Grimek

John Carroll Grimek (June 17, 1910 – November 20, 1998) was an American bodybuilder and weightlifter active in the 1930s and 1940s. Grimek was Mr. America in 1940 and 1941, and Mr. Universe in 1948. Throughout his career he carried the nicknames "the Monarch of Muscledom" and "the Glow."

Life

Grimek was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the son of Slovak immigrants George and Maria Grimek, peasants from the village Ústie nad Oravou in northern Slovakia.

Grimek moved to York, Pennsylvania, in 1935 to join Bob Hoffman, the founder of York Barbell. Besides his bodybuilding exploits, Grimek also represented the United States in weightlifting at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, where he took 9th place in the men's heavyweight category.

Grimek was Mr. America in 1940 and 1941, and Mr. Universe in 1948. Grimek died on November 20, 1998, in York, Pennsylvania, at the age of 88.

Grimek trained three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). His routine made use of the common 3×10 training protocol, of which Grimek was one of the first-ever proponents. Grimek advised that lifters take between 45 seconds and 1 minute rest between sets and between 2 and 3 minutes rest between exercises. For good form, all reps were to be slow and controlled.

Posthumous tributes

Grimek was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 1999.

He is depicted as part of a mural located at 37 West Philadelphia Street in York, Pennsylvania, which was finished in 2000.