RX-MUSCLE Magazine
INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
JERRY SCALESSE
Rx: What is your full name? Jerry Scalesse
Rx: Where were you born? Brooklyn, NY
Rx: How did you get started in bodybuilding? Who was
the biggest influence on you in the gym?
I played baseball in high school and started lifting
to get a little stronger and I kinda liked the look
so I went out and bought Muscle Builder Magazine (Arnold
was on the cover hitting a side chest pose). From that
point on, I gave up baseball and just started training.
One of the biggest influences on me, at the gym, was
Steve Michalik. He was one of the first Pro Bodybuilders
I met. He taught me how to train every angle of the
body and also the showed me the intensity needed to
get big.
Rx: Who is Bob Gruskin and how did he affect your life
as a bodybuilder?
Bob Gruskin was like my second dad. I met Bob in 1978
at the Colonial America in Orange, New Jersey, YMCA.
He came up to me and said that a friend of his told
him to watch out for me on stage. That friend happened
to be John Defendis. Bob was the reason for all the
success I had in bodybuilding. The turning point in
my career was when he came up to me in a show I was
guest posing at. I was fat and out of shape. He said
to me “Look, your wasting my time and yours. We’ll
always be friends, but you decide what you want to do.”
I sat in my car devastated for about an hour. That moment
turned my career around. Bob was always straightforward
and I respected that. He was loyal to people unlike
some of the guys he helped out.
Rx: Who were some of your training partners over the
years?
Some of the well known guys I trained with were: Steve
Michalik (Mr. America), John Defendis (IFBB Pro), Joe
Fulco (Teen USA), Mike Quinn (IFBB Pro), Johnny Moya
(IFBB Pro), Victor Terra ( Mr. Universe), Jimmy Quinn
(IFBB Pro), Rob Russo (Jr. National Champion), Jose
Figuroa (Runner Up, Nationals Middleweight). One of
my best friends, Sal Princiotta won the Muscle Mania
back in the 1990’s. Some Athletes I trained with:
Lyle Alzado, Al Oerto (4 time gold medallist in discus),and
Jimmy Pellecia (Strong Man).
Rx: What gyms did you train at back in the 1980’s?
I trained at Olympic Health Club, East Coast Gym, Bev
Francis’ Gym, Ultimate Gym, Gold’s California,
Physique 2000 in England, and Walter O’Malley’s
Gym in England.
Rx: What bodybuilders did you admire as you were coming
up in the ranks?
Rich Gaspari for his perseverance and drive to get to
the top. John Defendis for bringing awesome intensity
into the gym.
Rx: What were some of the titles you won? Which title
are you proudest of?
Northeastern America, Jr. USA Light Heavyweight Class,
Mr. Universe, Mr. World, and runner-up to Pro Mr. Universe.
I am most proud of the Mr. Universe. It was the hardest
I ever trained and dedicated myself to one show. Also,
after reading about all the former NABBA Universe winners,
it was a great thrill going over to England and winning
that contest.
Rx: Did you ever train with the notorious Steve Michalik?
Was he really as intense as all the stories?
The first time I walked into Mr. America’s Gym,
I met Steve Michalik. I was 19 at the time. We started
talking about training and he told me to come back tomorrow
so he could put me through a workout. Little did I know
what I was in store for? I walked in and it was a leg
day. All I know is we started training legs and we were
up to about the 50th or 60th set and Steve said “Get
on the leg extension machine”. The next thing
I know, after the set of leg extensions he said, “Get
up, you’re going to run around the building”.
Here I was, running around the building on Hempstead
Turnpike then going back into the gym to do another
set of leg extensions (this went on for 3 more cycles).
From that time on, I realized this is what you have
to do to be great. That should answer your question.
Rx: Do you think if you had competed against today’s
bodybuilders you would have been just as successful?
Yes, I think I would be just as successful. I would
still have the same shape. I really don’t have
that many weak points. My weight was still 220lb back
then. When I was ripped up (with my shape), I looked
about 20 pounds heavier. Even though today’s guys
are much bigger, it still has to do with shape and muscle
quality.
Rx: Are you upset that you never competed in the IFBB
and, instead, chose to remain in NABBA?
No, I’m not one to look back and regret what I
have done. As much as the IFBB had more opportunity,
I made a commitment and I was loyal to NABBA the years
I was there. When I was competing with NABBA, I had
the opportunity to guest pose at two NPC shows which
no one from other organizations did. Thanks to Jim Manion,
President of the NPC, in 1989, I guest posed at the
national qualifier in North Carolina. The guy running
the show was the North Carolina District Chairman and
I knew I was going to be under the spotlight (with this
guest posing) so I trained for that guest posing like
I was training for a contest. After I came off stage,
he asked me if I was going to hit the 1990 USA, which
was an IFBB Pro qualifier. I told him I was sitting
out all of 1989 so I could hit the 1990 NPC USA. While
I was preparing for that show, they announced that they
would be drug testing the show that year so I didn’t
bother continue training for the show. 1989 was the
last time I got on stage again-- I was only 29 then.
Four years later, I got the bug again to train I got
my weight up to 270 and I was going to hit the 1993
IFBB North America. One night I was out partying and
got fucked up driving home and I totaled my car on the
expressway. It put a dent in my training, so I just
figured it wasn’t in the cards to get back on
stage again.
Rx: What well-known bodybuilders did you compete against
in NABBA? Which ones did you beat?
I competed against Sammy Iouniddes (I beat him in the
short class in the Mr. Universe). He later went on to
become an IFBB Pro. I also beat the Jeff King in the
Pro Mr.Universe.
Rx: Did you ever consider moving out to Venice, CA?
In 1987, after the Mr. Universe, I went out to Gold’s
in California to do some photo shoots. My good friend
Ed Conners told me that I should move out there. He
told me it would be good for my career. I even had an
opportunity to buy into a Gold’s Gym in North
Ridge, California. I was ready to pack all my stuff
up in 1988 thinking the deal was going to go good, and
then the whole thing fell through. I ended up staying
here. I went to England to guest pose for a couple of
months and then came back and started training for the
Pro Universe.
Rx: Someone told me that you only did squats to build
those massive legs? Is that true?
Yeah, the first time I ever walked in the gym I had
never done legs before. Someone put me on the squat
rack and I ended up knocking out 185 for 20 reps. To
me, you need to squat to build massive legs. Squats
were also one of my favorite exercises. One of my most
insane workouts was squatting for an hour straight.
I ended up doing 27 sets of squats in an hour. Most
people don’t wanna do legs with me because they
know they will be crawling out of the gym after the
workout.
Rx: I also heard that, like myself, you believe that
you need to eat lots of protein and fat to get huge.
Tell me why you never embraced the tuna and rice diet?
Back when I was training, I ate a lot of protein and
ate almost as many carbs and fats pre-contest as I did
off-season. Also, off-season, I ate tons of red meat,
pizza, McDonalds, Burger King, and anything else I could
get my hands on. To me, if you’re training hard
enough, you can eat whatever you want and burn it off.
Today, you try to explain to these kids that you have
to eat “everything” to grow and they look
at you like you have 3 heads. Then, I tell them if they
think that Dorian Yates or Ronnie Coleman got that big
by eating tuna and rice, they’re out of their
mind. The reason why some of these kids don’t
eat fats or carbs is because their training is so pathetic
that they don’t need any energy for the workouts
they do. I remember when training for the contests,
I used to train to such exhaustion that I was looking
for a Big Mac and fries when I left the gym.
Rx: I heard that you did a seminar at Dorian Yates’s
gym before he even won A Night of Champions. What did
you think of him back then?
After the 1987 Universe, I stayed in England for 3 months
touring. I was doing a seminar at a gym, and after I
was done, this huge guy came up to me and introduced
himself as Dorian Yates. We started talking about what
stuff was good to take and just bullshitted about different
things. When I came back to the U.S., Dorian was training
for the Mr. Britain (which he won) and I told a lot
of people,” Wait till you see this guy coming
over from England; he is probably going to win the Night
of the Champions and the Mr. Olympia (one day)”.
That was even before he hit his peak.
Rx: How did you book so many appearances throughout
Europe? Most bodybuilders today never even get to visit
the European countries.
After the Universe show in 1987, I started getting seminars
and guest posings right after the contest. My good friend,
Walter O’Mally, who was a long time NABBA competitor
put me up in his house for 3 months and my other friends,
Hazel and Brian Robison, put me up in a house as well.
Walter and Brian knew a lot of the gyms and contests
in England. People would contact me, directly, at their
house to guest pose and do seminars. After I finished,
I guess I made a good impression on the English people.
I went back there in1988 for 3 more months. I personally
think I got a lot of appearances because I was straight
up front with seminars in the gyms and I was in good
shape for the guest posing. I also did a commercial
in England and an ad for a trucking company that was
on a poster.
Rx: Which bodybuilders did you meet when you traveled
through Europe?
One of my closest friends in Europe was Charles Clairmont.
I met Charlie at Bob Cross’s Physique 2000 Gym.
We ended up becoming good friends and I trained with
Charlie for 3 months before I went back to the states.
I knew Charlie was going to be the main competition
when I came back in September to compete in the Pro
Universe in England. One of the biggest thrills in England
was meeting Dianne and Wag Bennit. Dianne had interviewed
me for a magazine. These two were the ones that took
Arnold in when he went to England. They also have this
famous church that they turned into a gym and when I
went inside, it still had most of the remains of the
church. On the altar, they had a big Cardboard Cut-Out
of Arnold. The gym was filled with old-time weights
and machines.
Rx: Have you helped train or advise any well-known
bodybuilders?
Probably the best bodybuilder I trained was IFBB Pro
Johnny Moya. Here was a guy that was a middleweight
and his shoulders were the width of a heavyweight. When
I first met John, he came up to me and told me that
he wanted to get big. The first thing I told him was
that he had to eat a lot of food, train really hard,
and take some anabolics. I also helped Rob Russo who
was a top National caliber bodybuilder. I also helped
Milos Sarcev with his posing a few weeks before the
Night of the Champions (while he was training at my
gym.
Rx: What do you think about the current state of affairs
in the world of bodybuilding? What would you do to fix
it?
It seems that bodybuilding has come along way and I
guess that its good that guys are getting contracts
from supplement companies. Also, the prize money in
the shows is a lot more money. The bodybuilders can
thank Arnold for creating the Arnold Classic and bringing
more money into the sport. Arnold forced the Weider’s
to have to bring in more money to the Mr. Olympia. I
know it will never happen, but I think if everybody
got together and formed some type of union years ago,
a lot more guys could have stayed in the sport for a
long time. If bodybuilding had union reps like baseball
it would be a lot more rewarding for the pro competitors.
Rx: I understand that you used to (or still do) own
part of GOLD’S GYM (in Deer Park, NY). Tell us
a little bit about the gym and some of the bodybuilding
stars that have trained there?
Yes I am still part owner of the Gold’s Gym in
Deer Park with one of my best friends, Mike D’Modio.
Also, there is a Gold’s Gym in Smithtown and there
should be another 3 or 4 gyms in the next years to come.
The gym is probably one of the best-equipped gyms on
Long Island. Other than bodybuilders, we had WWE Wrestling
star Taz training here. In the summer a lot of NY Jets
train here. In the 90’s we had WBF stars train
here, we had IFBB Pro Jim Quinn, Jimmy Pellecia, Rob
Russo, Johnny Moya, and Sal Princiotta.
Rx: Jerry, I’ve heard you tell some pretty insane
stories about all the crazy things that you’ve
been witness to. What is the best bodybuilding “story”
you can think of to tell our eager readers?
I was training a friend for a big completion and he
called me up and said, “Something is going on
with my shoulder here, you have to come over my house
and check it out.” When I get to his house, he
takes his shirt off and there is this big gigantic,
purple, discolored, abscess on his shoulder. I got on
the phone and called a friend of mine who was in med
school and told him to come over and take a look at
it. When he came over, he took a look at the shoulder
and told him it was full of pus (it must have got contaminated
from whatever stuff he took). My friend and the med
student went to the bathroom and they yelled for me
to get them a plastic bag. The next thing I know, he’s
lacerating my friend’s shoulder and a stream of
blood shot out like a bullet. He ended up pulling out
3 syringes full of pus and blood from the shoulder and
put it in the plastic bag. He sewed up the shoulder
and the kid was able to get to the gym two days later.
He ended up winning the show 6 weeks later. Things you
do to win a show!
Rx: Do you have a website or an email address for people
to contact you?
You can contact me at MrU87@hotmail.com
Rx: Would you like to “plug” anything?
I’m in the process of creating a website which
should be done in a couple months. It I will have my
Phase Training System that I used in the 1980’s.
Rx: What do you think of the current crop of top bodybuilders?
I can’t really comment on some of the top bodybuilders
but on the looks of some of the physiques, there is
no question they are huge. It just seems there is not
a lot of hard trained muscle. It seems that the same
winners are winning the big shows every year and they’re
the ones that are doing the work in the gym where it
counts.
Rx: Jerry, I’m going to say one name. Respond
with whatever comes to mind:
Lee Haney? The Best
Dorian Yates? Unbeatable
Arnold Schwarzenegger? The greatest, my idol.
Charles Clairmont? Great Friend
Bob Gruskin? Most trusted friend in bodybuilding
John Defendis? Insanity
Steve Michalik? The master of insanity.
Ronnie Coleman? From another world.
Dan Duchaine? The master of designer ‘roids
JERRY SCALESSE can be reached at (631) 586-4653 (DEER
PARK GOLD’S GYM) for personal training. He also
specializes in strength and conditioning for high school
and NCAA college athletics. Jerry has trained many individuals
that have gone on to achieve Allstate honors in high
school and All-American status in college.
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