“I can’t believe you’re this size, and you DON’T use anabolics!”

Former Westside Barbell Club member

Not bad for someone who began lifting weights at age 17, standing 6’2”, and weighing 147 pounds.

I gained 63 pounds of muscle in my first year of lifting and 30 pounds in my second year. Before another year had passed, I had 19 ½” biceps. My best muscular bodyweight (no belly) was 265 pounds, and my peak weight was 287—those final 10 kilos were not muscle. And yes, drug-free.

I indeed had several advantages. As I said, I began lifting when I was 17 and entering the peak testosterone years. I not only began lifting barbells, but for the first time in my life, I began purposeful eating. This was 1981, when we spent all day, outside of school, playing ball. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all horsed down in a rush to get back outside to play more ball.

And I can’t lie to you, there’s the matter of genetics. I hail from 2000 years of laborers, and if I’d never touched a barbell in my life, my adult bodyweight would have been 250 pounds.

I also had the dubious benefit of growing up surrounded by drug abuse. In August 1969, I lived within walking distance of the Woodstock Festival. I may have been five years old, but my eyes were open, and what I saw turned me off drugs forever.

READ: A Bodybuilding Diet for Powerlifters: How to Eat to Build Muscle and Get Strong

So when I decided to lift weights, I went to a newsstand and bought a copy of MuscleMag International. Inside, I saw an ad for Bob Kennedy’s Non-Steroid Routine. I knew that if I didn’t want smack, I sure as hell didn’t want the juice. Kennedy explained the dangers of steroids, how drug-free athletes require relatively limited training, and the benefits of barbell squats.

Howard Menkes pulling an 1160 pound anchor chain 25 feet.

Another advantage I had was that in 1981 my choices of lifting apparatus were limited to barbells and dumbbells. Personal trainers and other self-declared experts, let alone the Internet, were unknown in Queens. A disadvantage was being naïve enough to believe the ads for 1981 food supplements.

You do not want to know what Dan Lurie’s strawberry protein powder did to my plumbing.

So, putting this all together, mostly through trial and error, I trained three times a week and focused on squats, pulls, and presses for sets of three to five reps. I put away three squares every day. Meat, fish, pasta, whole grain bread, and I drank my share of milk. Very simple and effective, as the basics in any endeavor always are.

Two years later, a former training partner whispered to a mutual friend, “No way Howard got that big that fast without taking something.”

Indisputable proof that you can grow big and strong drug-free.

SUGGESTED EATING

Where I don’t list measures, I go by taste.

NON-STEROID FRENCH TOAST

  • 3 slices whole-wheat bread
  • Batter: 3 jumbo eggs, whole milk, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract
  • Fry in butter
  • Top with blueberries, strawberries, and pure maple syrup

DRUG-FREE FISH STEW

  • 2 pounds cubed fish fillet (any white meat fish)
  • Cubed red potatoes (leave the skin on)
  • Chopped carrots and celery
  • Lima beans (thickens stew)
  • Navy beans (highest in fiber)
  • Water or fish stock for liquid

LIFETIME PURE GAIN WEIGHT SHAKE

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 50 grams whey protein powder
  • 1 banana
  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 2 scoops of ice cream
  • 9 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2100 of the most enjoyable calories you’ll ever drink

SUPPLEMENTS

  • Pizza

Howard Menkes ate 20 scrambled eggs at the Forest Hills, NY TGIF breakfast buffet. When a member of his party returned later that week, the waiter asked, “Where’s Lou Ferrigno?” Howard was the President of The CHEER Foundation, a Not For Profit that produced programs for hospitalized children. His work is now part of the Library of Congress collection.