
Clarence Bass (courtesy of Clarence Bass, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
Clarence Bass is a bodybuilding legend and a prolific health and fitness writer. He wrote regularly for Muscle & Fitness magazine and authored 10 books on nutrition and exercise, including the widely-known Ripped series of fitness books and DVDs. A lifelong athlete, Clarence excelled in wrestling and Olympic weightlifting, garnering championships and collecting numerous trophies for athletic accomplishments early on in his life. He entered his first bodybuilding competition in 1976, and would later go on to win a number of contests and awards, including the Past-40 Mr. America contest in 1978, the Past-40 Mr. U.S.A. the following year, and the “Most Muscular Man” award in the U.S.A. competition, just to name some of his achievements.
To this day, Clarence continues to be recognized for his impressive body of work: in 2003 he received the Vic Boff award for lifetime achievement, the Association of Oldetime Barbell & Strongmen’s highest award; In 2011, The Stark Center for Physical Culture & Sports at the University of Texas in Austin included a series of photos of Clarence as part of a ten-gallery photography exhibit celebrating the opening of The Joe & Betty Weider Museum; and in 2013 the Stark Center held a gathering of experts in exercise physiology to celebrate Clarence’s long list of achievements over the span of his life and career in bodybuilding, fitness, and exercise.
Contact Clarence Bass:
- Official Website: www.cbass.com
- Email: cncbass[@]aol.com
In this episode, we cover:
- How Clarence got – and maintained – his impressive physique
- What worked best and what worked against him, based on experience
- His thoughts on low-carb diets, intermittent fasting, training frequency, and steroid use
- How to optimize your health and fitness – for life
- … and much more!
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Show Notes
- Clarence talks about his early training routines, and about moving from a high-volume to a high-intensity protocol [6:10]
- Clarence Bass on his peak physical condition and form [9:55]
- Looking back, is there anything that Clarence would have preferred to leave out of his catalog of published works? [13:22]
- Clarence talks about carbohydrates (and milk) [14:46]
- What were some of the biggest mistakes Clarence made in terms of training and nutrition? [17:36]
- How does Clarence measure his body composition? [21:45]
- Clarence talks about steroid use [26:47]
- Clarence’s thoughts on his setbacks, injuries, and other training-related issues he’s had [30:43]
- Are there any health and fitness experts that Clarence admires and follows? [35:49]
- What are the most important and interesting things on training that Clarence has learned over the years? [38:47]
- Clarence talks about his training routines [44:27]
- Clarence goes into detail about his training protocols [50:29]
- I ask Clarence for his thoughts on Brad Schoenfeld’s higher-volume approach to training [53:08]
- Clarence talks about why he doesn’t run anymore [56:14]
- What did Clarence’s diet look like when he was in his prime at 60 years of age and now? [57:13]
- Clarence’s thoughts on intermittent fasting [1:08:41]
- Clarence and I go on a tangent about the demonization of fat [1:13:26]
- Clarence on the supplements he takes and the importance of getting tested for nutritional optimization [1:15:06]
- Has Clarence changed his mind on anything about health, fitness, and nutrition in the last year? [1:24:56]
- What to eat to maximize muscle gain [1:25:46]
- Clarence’s thoughts on raw milk versus pasteurized milk [1:27:18]
Selected Links from the Episode
- The Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen (AOBS)
- Ripped: The Sensible Way To Achieve Ultimate Muscularity by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Ripped 2: Lose Fat! Stay Lean! Gain Muscle! by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Ripped 3: The Recipes, The Routines and The Reasons by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Lovelace Medical Center
- Peaking for Competition: Waterlogged in Atlanta—Full Bloom 18 Years Later by Clarence Bass
- Milk in the Middle by Clarence Bass
- Swanson Omega-3 Fish Oil (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, also known as DEXA)
- BodPod
- Cooper Clinic
- Great Expectations: Health Fitness Leanness Without Suffering by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Miracle in Houston by Clarence Bass
- Mr. America (bodybuilding competition started by the Amateur Athletic Union)
- Keys to the INNER Universe by Bill Pearl (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Legends of the Iron Game by Bill Pearl
- Beyond the Universe by Bill Pearl (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Lean for Life: Stay Motivated and Lean Forever by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Bass & Winett Compare Views on Age Factor by Richard Winett (via Clarence Bass’ website)
- Concept 2 Indoor Rowing Machine (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Nautilus Pullover Machine – Nitro Evo (Amazon US)
- Nautilus Lat Pulldown Machine – Nitro Evo (Amazon US)
- Keiser Commercial and Home Fitness Equipment
- Challenge Yourself – Leanness, Fitness & Health – At Any Age by Clarence Bass (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Clarence’s thoughts on Intermittent Fasting (as it appears on an FAQ page from his website; scroll down to find the appropriate section)
- Runner’s World
- LiveSmart
- 23andMe
- Clarence’s Left Hip to be Replaced–In Albuquerque / Search for Surgeon Doing the Anterior Approach
People Mentioned
- Vic Boff
- Bill Pearl
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Richard Winett (check out my interviews with Richard here: part 1, and part 2)
- Brad Schoenfeld (see my interview with Brad here)
- Mike Mentzer
- Dorian Yates
- Frank Zane
- Laszlo Bencze
- Alex Fergus (see my interview with Alex by clicking here)
- W. Lynn McFarlin, MD
- Dr. George Sheehan, the Philosopher of Running
- Kenneth H. Cooper, MD
- Arno L. Jensen, MD
Clarence is great. What a gentleman and a great interviewee. Full of knowledge and experience. He’s right, at 60 he was in incredible shape. It’s all in his book “Challenge Yourself”.
Wow this is amazing and shame on me. Im so lazy when it comes to fitness thus the need for me to always look for inspiration and motivation so I can keep up with my fitness goals. Now there is no excuse to be lazy when a 60 year old man can be as twice or thrice as strong as me who is only at 30s.