Marvin Eder “Biceps From The Bronx” dies at the age of 90

Marvin Eder “Biceps From The Bronx” dies at the age of 90.

Golden era bodybuilding legend Marvin Eder or better known as “The Biceps From The Bronx” passed away at the age of 90.

Marvin Eder (Born October 22, 1931) was known for bench pressing 500lbs at a body weight under 200lbs.

Many legendary bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Reg Park were inspired by Marvin, at the beginning of their careers.

As the majority of every bodybuilder, at a very young age, Marvin was a small, scrawny, little kid. Weighing only 120lbs and with a height of only 5’2″, he was a short kid.

Frustrated from being picked on by bigger boys, Marvin thought if he is going to be short, he might as well get bigger.

Weight training was the only solution for Marvin, and he expressed his desire to start weight training to his parent. With the little knowledge about weight training back in the 50’s, his parents objected as they were scared weight training would stunt his growth.

Not being able to afford a weight set, since his parents objected, Marvin was determined and started doing chinning and dipping exercises at a local park.

This two exercises started to have an effect and Marvin started to show some gains.

Finally, Marvin learned about a gym i New York called the East Side Barbell Club. Marvin was like a kid in a toy store, seeing all the equipment and was impressed with how kind all the members were.

Marvin Eder starts weight training

Marvin finally started going to a gym and he made the mistake, every new athlete does when they enter a gym, he performed 10 sets of every exercise he read about in bodybuilding magazines.

After months of training, Marvin unfortunately did not notice any sufficient gains, until he met Abe Goldberg.

Goldberg noticed how Marvin was training and guided him, showing what he was doing wrong. After a proper weight and diet training regime, Marvin started to see incredible results.

Marvin’s chest and arms increased in size, and he gained approx 30lbs in weight.

Marvin would notice that he would have a special gift, he had incredible strength performing the bench press.

Marvin’s drug-free pre-steroid strength feats remain world level to this day. He turned his disadvantages, a lack of strength equipment and a lack of choices, to his advantage.

As it turns out, doing fewer things better is the optimal way in which to build muscle and strength. Marvin’s era was so primitive that the lat-pulldown/tricep pushdown machine was being hailed as a breakthrough device. The incline bench press had yet to be invented.

Marvin Eder – One of the strongest bodybuilders ever

At the start, and with very little experience, Marvin was already bench pressing over 200lbs. On his 18th birthday, Marvin benched an incredible weight of 400lbs.

Marvin started to be known as the bench press king and he started to perfect the way he performs the exercise. Marvin went on to bench press an incredible 500lbs putting him in a league of his own.

Eder was the greatest overhead presser in the world: he exceeded the world record in the overhead barbell press by 15-pounds when he pushed a jaw-dropping 345 in the clean and overhead press. His clean limited his press. Weighing 190 he could press 360 when taking the barbell out of the squat racks, avoiding the clean.

He was the first man under 200 pounds body weight to bench press 500 lbs. Marvin Eder used a collar-to-collar bench grip that was all pec. His ultra-wide grip technique built pectoral muscles that were four inches thick when flexed.

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He coupled his pec power with some of the strongest triceps of all time. His dipping power was extraordinary: he could strap on an additional 200 pounds and blast out eight 10-rep sets. He once did a single rep in the dip with two men hanging from his feet for a combined weight of 434-pounds.

He could curl a pair of 100-pound dumbbells for 8 reps and then, without setting them down, blast out ten reps in the overhead press. Marvin Eder had a world class physique and was lean, athletic and functional.

Marvin and his contemporaries developed a system for building muscle power and size that serves as the foundation for our modern strength systems.

Marvin Eder: The competitive bodybuilder

Marvin did not have a long bodybuilding career, he competed between 1949 to 1951. According to sources, Marvin stopped competing due to politics in the sport.

Marvin won three contests during his short career, the Junior Mr. New York and the Junior Northern American Championships in 1949 and Mr. Eastern America in 1950.

Marvin placed third at the AAU Mr. America in 1951.

1949
Mr America – IFBB, Junior, 2nd
Mr New York City – IFBB, Junior Overall Winner
Mr New York City – IFBB, Junior Most Muscular, 1st
North American Championships – IFBB, Junior, 1st

1950
Mr America – AAU, 6th
Mr Eastern America – IFBB, Winner

1951
Mr America – AAU, 3rd
Junior Mr America – AAU, 2nd

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