Harold Poole: Bodybuilding Legend
Born on December 25, 1943 in Louisville, Kentucky, Harold Poole was one of the more athletically gifted competitors from the golden age of bodybuilding. At Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, Poole’s athleticism was apparent with his success as a quarterback, placing second in the state in wrestling, running the 440 in 50 seconds, and throwing a twelve pound shot put 55 feet.
Although his high school track coach suggested that Harold start lifting to improve his performance in athletic competition, it was two older bodybuilders who took Poole under their wing. In a pattern we have seen time and again with physical cultural greats, Poole had a mentor, or, in this case, two mentors. Loren Comstock and Dossie San Sing took Poole under their wing, showed him the way to train, and taught him how to pose.
Eventually, Harold became known for popularizing the now famous most muscular pose. More generally and with time, Poole became known for having some of the most dynamic and elegant posing in bodybuilding.
In 1960, Poole made his first appearances on the bodybuilding stage by winning the Junior Mr. Indianapolis title and competing at the AAU Mr. America show. In 1963, he was the runner up at the same show and won the IFBB’s Mr. Universe title. The following year, in 1964, he became the first African American to be named IFBB Mr. America. He was also a three time Mr. Olympia runner up in 1965, 1966, and 1967.
Away from the bodybuilding stage, Poole had some ventures in business and he owned a disco. He was also a bodyguard, including working for the fashion model Twiggy. For many years, Poole was an active martial arts enthusiast and practitioner, preferring to train out of his garage rather than inside of a traditional dojo or academy setting. Curiously, he said that he did not hold a black belt due to a concern of ending up in jail should he hurt someone in a street fight or bar fight. In any case, it is clear that Harold Poole stayed #GASSTATIONREADY
At the start of his bodybuilding career, when he was building his foundation of strength, Poole trained three times per week. Typically, he would hit legs on Monday, upper body on Wednesday, and legs again on Friday. Then, for the following week, he would start with upper body on Monday, do legs on Wednesday, and hit the upper body again on Friday.
For his workout, Harold would do 5 sets of 15 for each exercise. Poole’s favorite exercise was squats, as he explains it: “I used to do many squats because at that time most of the bodybuilders had no legs. And that is because they did not like squats. It’s hard work.” Interestingly, Poole used a lot of running in preparation for bodybuilding competition.
As far as nutrition was concerned, he had an old school approach. He said that “you would eat meat potatoes and you would eat your eggs and drink your milk – anything that would help you put on weight. It was all about trying to get huge.”
He attributes his size, symmetry, and definition to getting on the iron at 12 years old and not missing a workout.
