Actor Peter Lupus Trains at Vince Gironda's Gym.

I discovered Vince back in 1978 when I sent away for one of his courses that I had seen advertised in the back of one of the muscle magazines.

I wasn't even a bodybuilder or a weightlifter - I was just tired of being fat.

Anyway I started reading "Blueprint for the Bodybuilder" and became so engrossed in his teachings that I couldn't put the book down.

I followed everything he said to the best of my understanding at that time. I even found a farmer who supplied me with raw eggs and raw milk for $2 a gallon since those unpasteurized products could not be sold legally here in upstate NY.

Anyway, I trained hard - mostly for definition rather than bulk.

I also trained alone - no music - no conversation - every day at 5 AM before work. It became almost like meditation, four days a week. The gym was nearly always vacant at that time of day.

I never had any kind of one on one live coaching, but on one occasion Vince answered a couple of questions I had- in his own handwriting! I never forgot that.

From then on I never paid attention to any other training philosophies other than the ones Vince outlined in that book. Afterwards I sent for a couple of other publications from him. I never got really big, but I achieved incredible results for my efforts nevertheless.

This is the only picture I have of myself taken in 1984 at 30 years of age and 192 pounds. Just about the time the Rocky III movie came out. As I look back now I think, "Jeeezzz,  I could have been a contender!"

When people asked me how I did it I tell them, "eggs, butter and beef".

I was in the best shape of my life because I listened to Vince.

One such place was Vince Gironda’s gym in the San Fernando Valley. Of all the training gurus of the day, Gironda remains one of the most respected, as so many of his theories about exercise and nutrition have been proven true.

He knew that ab exercises didn’t automatically trim the waistline and that fat intake supported testosterone.

"Vince helped me win titles when I was in my 40s," says Bill Howard, who took home the Mr. America title in 1974. "He was more into the aesthetic look of muscle," he says.

It was this change in thinking and training - a move from functional athletic skill to the idea of transforming muscle into art - that ultimately gave rise to the bodybuilding of today.

Vince Gironda, along with other great bodybuilders, will be inducted into the Muscle Beach Hall of Fame on September 5th 2016.

I trained at Golds and Worlds Gym in Santa Monica from 1977 on.

Trained with Arnold for his last Olympia. Barbarians were training partners.

Having followed the muscle beach guys, I had to train at Vinces at least once. So I drove down there one afternoon to train arms.

Vince was in the gym by himself and I asked to pay for the day. He hardly acknowledged me as I went thru my routine.

While I was doing preacher curls out of nowhere Vince grabbed the back of my shoulders and somewhat shouted at me to keep my body pressed into the bench.

I took that as a complete compliment that he felt I was worth his energy.

I trained that day and tried to absorb as much of the nostalgia that I could.

What a great experience ... I wish would have gone more often.