gym
Doug Brignole and I arrived at the third-level parking structure for our 11:30 a.m. appointment at the Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena, California, at the same time. We gazed down to the street level, where the restaurant Brix 42 occupies the space at 42 S. De Lacey Ave.
I wouldn’t have blamed the former AAU Mr. Universe if he winced a bit at the view. Twenty-five years earlier, at the age of 24, he went from waiter to gym owner when he opened the doors of Brignole Fitness in October 1984 in that very space.
It was a first-of-its-kind facility in Southern California, a converted turn-of-the-century red-brick livery stable with exposed beams, gray leather, beveled-glass windows and brass ceiling fans. Old meets new; retro with a modern twist.
It quickly became one of the most notable gyms in the region. With business booming, Brignole was ready for his next challenge: In 1986 the 5’10”, 196-pounder, who four years earlier had captured the Mr. California overall crown, won his height class at both the Mr. America and Mr. Universe competitions. The Pasadena-native bodybuilder-entrepreneur became the toast of the town.
In the early ’90s, however, the very thing that made the gym such a grand attraction—its location—proved to be its undoing. The revitalization of Old Town in Pasadena as a commercial center brought higher rents, overcrowding, a lack of parking and other consequences of prolific growth. As Brignole says, the city outgrew the gym.
The original location closed, and Doug eventually reopened a mile south. About a year later, with Doug saddled by huge debt, Brignole Fitness became a memory. A deeply depressed Brignole also lost his condo to foreclosure and moved to West Los Angeles. He says he is still haunted by the gym’s collapse.
Fast-forward to the present. Brignole, after a two-year stint in Nicaragua exporting lumber, is back in California and is putting all of his energy into the fitness industry. He’s turning 50 in December but is still at his fighting weight of about 190 pounds, and his bodyfat hovers around the 6-to-7-percent mark. Yes, he’s been down—but he’s definitely not out. Welcome back, Douglas.
LT: You were the typical 98-pound weakling as a kid. So you joined the famous Bill Pearl’s Gym at 15 to try to change that.
DB: Actually, I tried to join Pearl’s at 14—at a weight of 111—but Bill said I wasn’t old enough. So I went back a year later, at 15, but I couldn’t afford the membership of $185. Bill was kind enough to let me earn my membership by coming in on Saturdays and doing cleanup work—I scrubbed the showers, vacuumed the gym, swept the parking lot, whatever he needed me to do. Ironically, when I won the Mr. Universe title 11 years later, Bill was one of the judges. I think Bill and I were both surprised to discover that the day of the contest.
LT: Is it true that you entered your first contest only one year after joining the gym?
DB: Yes, it was the Teenage Mr. Compton—at the age of 16. A couple of my buddies at the gym saw the poster promoting the show on the gym wall and pushed me to compete. I was about 5’8” and 135 pounds then. I asked Bill whether I should enter the contest, and he said, “Why not?” So I entered it and placed second—beating out several guys who were bigger than me. I had a little bit of muscle, but mostly I was very lean.
There was a reporter at that contest from a magazine called New West [which later became California]. He was there to do a story on this new phenomenon called “teenage bodybuilding.” For whatever reason, he picked me. He came over to my house, interviewed my mom and my brother, and wrote this really long, seven-page article about me—at 16! That motivated me even more.
LT: How did you put together your posing routine?
DB: Well, in part from looking at magazines; the poses of Ed Corney and Frank Zane inspired me, in that they were dramatic and graceful. Plus, when I was 15, I went to the 1975 Mr. America contest, which was held in Santa Monica that year, and I saw Dale Adrian, Robby Robinson and a bunch of the other greats do their routines. So I learned from watching and also by just experimenting in front of the mirror. Posing was really fun for me.
I wouldn’t have blamed the former AAU Mr. Universe if he winced a bit at the view. Twenty-five years earlier, at the age of 24, he went from waiter to gym owner when he opened the doors of Brignole Fitness in October 1984 in that very space.
It was a first-of-its-kind facility in Southern California, a converted turn-of-the-century red-brick livery stable with exposed beams, gray leather, beveled-glass windows and brass ceiling fans. Old meets new; retro with a modern twist.
It quickly became one of the most notable gyms in the region. With business booming, Brignole was ready for his next challenge: In 1986 the 5’10”, 196-pounder, who four years earlier had captured the Mr. California overall crown, won his height class at both the Mr. America and Mr. Universe competitions. The Pasadena-native bodybuilder-entrepreneur became the toast of the town.
In the early ’90s, however, the very thing that made the gym such a grand attraction—its location—proved to be its undoing. The revitalization of Old Town in Pasadena as a commercial center brought higher rents, overcrowding, a lack of parking and other consequences of prolific growth. As Brignole says, the city outgrew the gym.
The original location closed, and Doug eventually reopened a mile south. About a year later, with Doug saddled by huge debt, Brignole Fitness became a memory. A deeply depressed Brignole also lost his condo to foreclosure and moved to West Los Angeles. He says he is still haunted by the gym’s collapse.
Fast-forward to the present. Brignole, after a two-year stint in Nicaragua exporting lumber, is back in California and is putting all of his energy into the fitness industry. He’s turning 50 in December but is still at his fighting weight of about 190 pounds, and his bodyfat hovers around the 6-to-7-percent mark. Yes, he’s been down—but he’s definitely not out. Welcome back, Douglas.
LT: You were the typical 98-pound weakling as a kid. So you joined the famous Bill Pearl’s Gym at 15 to try to change that.
DB: Actually, I tried to join Pearl’s at 14—at a weight of 111—but Bill said I wasn’t old enough. So I went back a year later, at 15, but I couldn’t afford the membership of $185. Bill was kind enough to let me earn my membership by coming in on Saturdays and doing cleanup work—I scrubbed the showers, vacuumed the gym, swept the parking lot, whatever he needed me to do. Ironically, when I won the Mr. Universe title 11 years later, Bill was one of the judges. I think Bill and I were both surprised to discover that the day of the contest.
LT: Is it true that you entered your first contest only one year after joining the gym?
DB: Yes, it was the Teenage Mr. Compton—at the age of 16. A couple of my buddies at the gym saw the poster promoting the show on the gym wall and pushed me to compete. I was about 5’8” and 135 pounds then. I asked Bill whether I should enter the contest, and he said, “Why not?” So I entered it and placed second—beating out several guys who were bigger than me. I had a little bit of muscle, but mostly I was very lean.
There was a reporter at that contest from a magazine called New West [which later became California]. He was there to do a story on this new phenomenon called “teenage bodybuilding.” For whatever reason, he picked me. He came over to my house, interviewed my mom and my brother, and wrote this really long, seven-page article about me—at 16! That motivated me even more.
LT: How did you put together your posing routine?
DB: Well, in part from looking at magazines; the poses of Ed Corney and Frank Zane inspired me, in that they were dramatic and graceful. Plus, when I was 15, I went to the 1975 Mr. America contest, which was held in Santa Monica that year, and I saw Dale Adrian, Robby Robinson and a bunch of the other greats do their routines. So I learned from watching and also by just experimenting in front of the mirror. Posing was really fun for me.
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12:35 AM
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