Henry Downs was born in Jery (Channel Islands). In the 1960 he won the title Mr. Universe. This oldschool bodybuilder combined weightlifting with parallel bar and ring work to build his physique. Here’s Henry Downs’s story and training!
Henry Downs was an athlete before he began to train with weights in January 1950. He was Bomber Command Champion of the Royal Air Force in the shot put (48 feet) and reached a creditable record of 145 feet in the discus throw. He was better than average in all track events. Most importantly, however, Henry was a hard worker on the parallel bars and Roman rings and this work was instrumental in developing his exceptionally powerful shoulders and upper back. Though Henry was then muscular and strong he was no superman, as his measurements at that time (1950) will attest: chest 37, waist 29, upper arm 12 1/2, thigh 21, weight 140lb.
From the very beginning Henry took weights seriously, working out four times a week at four hour sessions each time. This was too strenuous a schedule for the ordinary man and it was only his natural strength and previous athletic experience that saw him safely through it. But he did develop rapidly and that is what he wanted.
From an 80 pound benchpress he reached, in one year, the point where he could do 10 reps with 200 pounds. At the end of his first year Henry entered his first contest in Wales, placing third. In 1952 Henry left the Air Force and his concentrated training began.
The parallel bar and ring work built a good base for Henry’s shoulder girdle, which was notable for one of the most fantastically powerful upper arm, latissimus, trapezius and deltoid tie-ins on record.
When Henry raises his arms above his head he reveals a most remarkable thickness in the convergence of the muscles under and behind his arms – muscles which bore the brunt of bar and ring work. A side view of his body under flexion shows an astounding development of the upper pectorals, deltoid and terres major muscles, making his chest extremely deep and thick. His trapezius muscles lie in a broad thick layer that thickens not only his shoulders but also his neck all the way to the point where it joins the skull base. All this development gives Henry incalculabe pulling power that enables him to handle top poundages for reps in his training and it another insurance of his ability to maintain the strength to handle the heavy weights he needs to use to further his development.
You may wonder what inspired Henry to start training, well it was a photograph of John Grimek, Steve Reeves and Eric Pedersen were his favorites. His favorite exercises are benchpress, bent arm pullover, back squat, lying triceps and kickbacks, because he has received more benefit from them than any other exercise. His hobbies were cerpentry and metal work and he used to spend a lot of time designing gadgets for his own training purposes.
To test his own endurance he once did 75 parallel bar dips NON STOP and 300 with breaks in 10 minutes. On the strength side he has done a 180lb curl, dips between benches with 200lb extra weight and dumbbell pullovers with 200lb on which he specialised for quite a while. He has never done any real power training as yet but he did receive some hints from Reg Park at the Mr. Britain contest.
His measurements were at the age of 24, height: 5 ft 10 inches, weight 200lb, neck 18 inches, chest 50 inches, waist 30 inches, upper arm 18 inches, forearm 14 inches, wrist 7 3/4 inches, thighs 25 inches, calf 16 1/4 inches and ankle 9 1/2 inches.
Accomplishments
1951 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 11th |
1952 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 5th |
1954 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 3rd |
1955 Mr Britain – HSL, Tall, 2nd Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 4th |
1956 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 5th |
1957 Mr Britain – NABBA, Winner Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 5th |
1958 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 2nd |
1959 Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 2nd |
1960 Mr Universe – NABBA, Overall Winner Mr Universe – NABBA, Tall, 1st |
HENRY IS MY ELDER BROTHER AND HAS JUST CELEBRATED HIS 89TH BIRTHDAY . REGRETFULLY HE IS IN VERY POOR HEALTH BUT AS ALWAYS NEVER GIVES UP ON ANYTHING. SHOULD ANYONE WISH FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HENRY THEN PLEASE SEND ME AN E MAIL . BRIAN DOWNS
Brian,
I met Henry when I was a junior competitor. It was in Sheffield in 1960 or 61.
Any info you can send will be appreciated .
Dave Taylor, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Hi Brian sorry ro here about Henry .I am interested in how he trained and what routines he used .I have just seen his 1957 MR Britain routine and will give it a try .I prefer the way the old school Bodybuilders used to train . Martin
Hi
I knew Henry when he worked at Keller Hudson. My name is Bryan Goozee and was in the print. Has he still got his Rover. If so would he like to sell it. I am a Rover enthusiast.
bryangoozee@gmail.com
All the best
Give him my regards.
Hello Brian,
How is Henry doing? I see that a lot more info could be added to his Wikipedia page, and would like to do that if you’re able to get in touch?
Best wishes,
Jo
I HAVE JUST SEEN YOUR RESPONSE . LET ME KNOW WHAT INFO YOU NEED AND I WILL DO WHAT I CAN MANY THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN HENRY.
did henry downs live in bermondsey jamaica /southwark park road
YES HE DID FOR MANY YEARS AND HIS GYM WAS IN SOUTHWARK PARK ROAD .
Bodybuilder’s physiques back then were far more athletic looking and far more appealing to the general public or at least those type of physiques are far more appealing to people living in 2021. Back then the idea of someone lifting weights to improve their physique was not the norm by any stretch.
Bodybuilder’s back then at least had some regards for the health aspect of a bodybuilding lifestyle. Nowadays not many people out there lift for health reasons or fitness.