Interview by Richard Davies
Name: Stanley Howlett
Age: 78
From: Barnet (North London, UK)
Occupation: Retired

I just had to interview Stan for Promusclemag.com, he really is an inspiration to many at Barnet`s Works Gym in the UK.

Richard: Hello Stan. The big question is  how long have you been training?

Stan: I started training in 1946 where I was boxing for the army. I was brought up in Bethnal Green, London. I use to hang around with Charlie Kray the brother of the Kray twins. I worked for Charlie as a wrestler and he would pay me £50 a fight, at the time that was alot of cash when I use to only get £7 for a straight wrestling match. I would fight boxers in the ring for Charlie. They use to bring in the crowds back then. All the fights were done for charity.
I got a lot more interested in the weights game when a German fella introduced me to it. He gave me a lot of confidence saying I had a good physique to work with.
I`ve trained in Dagenham, Essex for around 15 years with a mixture of boxing and bodybuilding. I then got the bodybuilding bug after winning my first competition The Mr Dagenham show run by Jack Bunny at the time.

Richard: I`ve heard you trained with some of the top guy`s back in those days.

Stan: Ya I`ll never forget them, for many of us bodybuilding was our lives we did not want to do anything else. Just sleep, eat and train. I`ve trained with the likes of Reg Park, Tom Platts, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I use to train with Arnold at Wags Gym in Stratford. They were a great bunch of guy`s to train with.

Richard: What shows have you won over the years Stan? (Shouting in his ear!)

: I`m not f**king deaf Richard, well may be a bit, ha, ha! I`ve won a lot of competitions like:
¥ Mr London ¥ Mr Essex
¥ S.E Britian ¥ Mr Nottingham
Came 2nd in the Mr Universe Professionals in 1954 at the London Pladium I`ve entered over 150 competions Richard, how big is your website, ha, ha!

Richard: What was your most memorable Stan?

Stan: I would have to say the S.E. Britian.

Richard: What was the drug use side of the sport like back in the 60`s and 70`s?

Stan: The most used product was the good old D-bol, many of us were trying to workout why some of the new American guys on the scene were getting so big. So the word got around quick.
There was also a lot of test being used. 100 d-bol a day was not unheard of back then if you could afford it. These days a lot of new guys coming into the sport want to use these compounds before they can even train properly cutting out the natural phase. When they stop the gear they end up back at the same weight they started at.

Richard: What was your most memorable and hardest training session you`ve experienced?

Stan: Well that will have to be when I trained leg`s with Tom Platts who use to make me squat bum to the floor. I never trained legs for 4 weeks after that. It certainly shocked the muscle. I remember Tom would always eat within 1 hour after training to help with the recovery process.

Richard: Who most inspired you in the 70`s?

Stan: It would be Steve Reeves, to me he was the classic bodybuilder and excellent poser. He really knew how to portray his awesome physique package to the public. After seeing Steve, I said to myself, that`s the type of physique I want.
Bodybuilding over the years got me into the show business, wrestling and many other great things. It made me who I`am and brought me some good opportunities too.

Richard: Thanks for your time Stan. Take care.