Tony Pearson – Complete Profile, Workout And Diet Program

Tony Pearson is a retired American professional bodybuilder and fitness trainer. He primarily competed in the 1970s and 1980s era of bodybuilding and won several prestigious professional shows. Pearson was the face of the sport at the peak of his career and appeared on several magazine covers.

The veteran bodybuilder also became the part of first joint male and female guest posing session in 1979 when he appeared alongside Lisa Lyon at the 1979 Los Angeles Bodybuilding Championships. This is his complete profile, biography, workout routine, diet as well as statistics.

Tony Pearson (The Michael Jackson of Bodybuilding)

Birthday: January 11, 1957
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Residence: Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Nickname: The JetMan, The Black Panther, TP, The Michael Jackson of Bodybuilding
Height: 5′ 8″ (175 cm)
On-stage Weight: 200 to 205 lbs (93 kg)
Off-season Weight: 212 to 215 lbs (97 kg)
Biceps: 20,5″ (52 cm)

Tony Pearson Biography

Early Life

Tony Pearson hails from a large family as he was the second youngest of eight children in the family. Pearson has two brothers and five sisters. Their parents Daisy and Sam Pearson felt the brunt of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and they eventually separated from each other. Tony and his sister Caroline were sent to live with their aging aunt, who struggled to make ends meet.

Tony and Caroline moved to St. Louis in 1970 and joined the Normandy Junior and High School. In 1973, the children were taken into custody by the school counselor and the state of Missouri. They were placed in foster homes for the remainder of their teenage/young adulthood.

Pearson was inclined towards sports when he was in school and soon became a part of his school’s wrestling team. He did well in the sport but an unfortunate knee injury kept him on the sidelines for a long time.

He started weight training to strengthen his body and the weaker ligaments in hopes of avoiding such injuries in the future. However, he noticed how quickly his body responded to weights and he was mesmerized by the transformation.

Pearson then decided to take up bodybuilding and soon developed a keen interest in the discipline. His coach saw the potential and took Tony to George Turner’s professional gym in Clayton, Missouri.

Early career

Elite bodybuilders like Samir Bannout trained at the gym and the coach as well as the gym owner were thoroughly impressed with Pearson’s abilities after just one training session. They decided to train the young prospect and transform him into a world-champion bodybuilder.

In the next few months, Tony Pearson trained with the singular goal of becoming a world-class bodybuilder and did not allow himself to get distracted by anything. He packed over 20 pounds of lean muscle mass in a short span of six months and set out to achieve the goal.

The future Mr. Universe traveled to Los Angeles with a burning desire to make it big in the sport of bodybuilding. He had a paltry amount of money and a small bag of clothes with him. Although Pearson struggled to survive in the huge urban landscape, he eventually made it to the Gold’s gym in Venice Beach, California.

His idols and influences were elite bodybuilders of the time and watching them prepare for the 1976 Olympia fuelled him with the desire to become a successful bodybuilder. With just two months of training at the gym, Pearson competed at the Mr. Venice Beach California competition and decimated the competition en route to a win.

Meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger and professional bodybuilding career

Bodybuilding legend and seven-time Mr. Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger noticed Tony Pearson working hard at the Gold’s gym and approached him. Arnold and Pearson went through a workout together and gave the young protege Joe Weider’s address.

Arnold mentioned Pearson in his book (co-written by Bill Dobbins):

“I remember a few years ago seeing a skinny black kid training at the weight pit on Venice Beach. I watched him doing endless sets of squats, with very heavy weight, torturing himself with rep after rep. After a while, his thighs began to grow and soon they were huge, separated and beautifully defined, and only a year and a half later he entered and won the 1978 Mr. America contest.”

Pearson got his nickname “the Michael Jackson of bodybuilding” because of his symmetrical lines and well-honed definition. His competitive career began in 1976 when he won AAU Gold’s Classic in the teenage category.

The Veteran bodybuilder worked his way through the professional bodybuilding ranks in the 1970s, winning several competitions like Junior Mr. USA, Mr. Los Angeles Junior, Mr. America, and Mr. California, among others.

He soon became a popular figure in the fitness and bodybuilding community on the back of excellent performances and impeccable physique. Tony Pearson appeared on several magazine covers at the time and became a well-known face in the bodybuilding world.

Joe Gold, the owner of Gold’s gym asked Pearson to guest pose with women’s bodybuilding pioneer Lisa Lyon at the 1979 LA Bodybuilding Championships. Pearson resisted the move initially but eventually agreed to pose alongside Lyon.

This was the first time in history that male and female bodybuilders posed with each other on stage and both of them received large-scale appreciation. Pearson and Lyon also kicked off the women’s and couple’s categories.

During his professional bodybuilding career that spanned a full 18 years, Tony Pearson won several pro shows. He participated in the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition twice – in 1984 and 1985 – finishing twelfth on both occasions.

Pearson was included in “Muscle Beach Bodybuilding Hall of Fame” in Venice Beach, CA with other bodybuilding legends Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, and Joe Weider. He also appeared in many TV shows and featured in many fitness and lifestyle magazines. In his 20 years of bodybuilding career, he was known to have the best shoulder-to-waist ratio.

Coaching career

After retiring from the sport in 1994, Tony Pearson decided to pursue a career in bodybuilding training and became a coach. He has trained several celebrities, professional bodybuilders, and fitness enthusiasts to achieve their goals.

Competition History

• 1976 AAU Gold’s Classic Teen – Overall winner
• 1976 AAU Gold’s Classic Teen, Short – 1st place
• 1977 AAU Junior Mr. USA, short – 3rd place
• 1977 AAU Mr. Los Angeles Junior – 1st place
• 1977 AAU Mr. Southern California Junior – 1st place
• 1978 AAU Mr. America – Overall winner
• 1978 AAU Mr. America, medium – 1st place
• 1978 AAU Mr. California, short – 1st place
• 1978 AAU Junior Mr. America, medium – 1st place
• 1978 AAU Junior Mr. America – Overall winner
• 1978 AAU Junior Mr. USA – Overall winner
• 1978 AAU Junior Mr. USA, medium – 1st place
• 1979 WBBG Olympus – 1st place
• 1979 NABBA Mr. Universe, medium – 2nd place
• 1979 WBBG Pro Mr. World – 1st place
• 1979 WABBA World Championships, medium – 1st place
• 1979 WABBA World Championships – Overall winner
• 1980 NABBA Universe Pro – 1st place
• 1980 WABBA World Championships, Professional – 3rd place
• 1980 WABBA Pro World Cup – 5th place
• 1981 IFBB Canada Pro Cup – 4th place
• 1981 IFBB Grand Prix Belgium – 6th place
• 1981 IFBB Grand Prix Wales – 5th place
• 1981 IFBB Universe Pro – 3rd place
• 1981 WABBA Pro World Cup – 7th place
• 1981 IFBB World Grand Prix – 4th place
• 1981 IFBB World Pro Championships – 3rd place
• 1982 IFBB Night of Championships – 6th place
• 1982 IFBB World Pro Championships – 6th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Denver – 1st place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix England – 4th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Las Vegas – 6th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Portland – 2nd place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Sweden – 6th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Switzerland – 6th place
• 1983 IFBB World Pro Championships – 8th place
• 1984 IFBB Canada Pro Cup – 3rd place
• 1984 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 12th place
• 1984 IFBB World Grand Prix – 3rd place
• 1985 IFBB Night of Champions – 9th place
• 1985 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 12th place
• 1986 IFBB Los Angeles Pro Championships – 5th place
• 1986 IFBB Night of Champions – 4th place
• 1986 IFBB World Pro Championships – 9th place
• 1987 IFBB Night of Champions – Did not place
• 1987 IFBB World Pro Championships – 8th place
• 1988 IFBB Grand Prix US Pro – 6th place
• 1988 IFBB Niagara Falls Pro Invitational – 5th place
• 1988 IFBB Night of Champions – 8th place
• 1988 IFBB World Pro Championships – 8th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix France – 11th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 9th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Spain – 9th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Spain (2) – 9th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Sweden – 11th place
• 1990 IFBB Arnold Classic – 6th place
• 1990 IFBB Houston Pro Invitational – 6th place
• 1990 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 8th place
• 1990 WBF Grand Prix – 11th place
• 1993 IFBB Chicago Pro Invitational – 13th place
• 1993 IFBB Night of Champions – Did not place
• 1993 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Invitational – 16th place
• 1994 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 14th place
• 1994 IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational – 16th place

Tony Pearson Workout

Tony Pearson believes in maintaining training discipline and he emphasizes creating mind-muscle connections for optimum growth and performance longevity. He incorporates isolation and compound movements to develop different attributes like functional strength and endurance while achieving muscle hypertrophy.

He does not advise training mindlessly in hopes of building a muscular physique because he advocates performance longevity and long-term health as the ultimate goal.

“Listen to your body. Because you want longevity.”

On the technique front, Pearson suggests doing exercises with slow eccentric reps. He firmly believes that growth is directly proportional to the time spent by the muscle under tension. The 67-year-old feels that most people focus on the concentric/positive phase of the rep. However, it is a big mistake as a movement’s eccentric/negative phase is equally important for inducing muscle hypertrophy.

“It’s about the negative. I Control the weight down, no matter what exercise I’m doing. That’s exhausting because the whole workout you’re thinking about that second part of it right? It’s not just getting the weight up. The most important part is controlling the weight down.”

The veteran bodybuilder avoids pausing at the end of the concentric phase to keep the muscles moving without allowing the tension to vanish or reduce even momentarily.

Tony Pearson trains with heavy weights but he always lifts weights that he can control and perform the exercise without breaking the form.

Training Philosophy

Pearson does not follow a rigid training routine. The muscles can quickly get accustomed to a specific movement pattern and the returns on exercises may diminish over time as a result. The veteran bodybuilder keeps adding and subtracting exercises from his training routines to shock the muscles. This habit keeps them in an uncomfortable position and helps maintain an upward growth trajectory.

One of the worst things one can do to their physique is not working the muscles from different angles and positions. Working the muscles with different variations like overhead or neutral position, decline or incline, etc. emphasizes different parts of the muscles and helps achieve complete overall development.

According to Tony Pearson, one of the most crucial things to achieving the goal is to have a clear vision of how a person desires their physique to look. The next thing is to formulate a correct training regimen that can enable sculpting the look.

Training Split

Tony Pearson’s exact training split is not available. However, the following are some exercises that he recommends for achieving the bodybuilding goals.

Chest

• Pec Deck Flyes – 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps
• Bench Press – 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Machine Chest Dips – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Back

• T-Bar Rows – 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• Deadlifts – 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps
• One Arm Dumbbell Rows – 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Arms

• Dumbbell Curls – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Barbell Preacher Curls – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Rope Triceps Pushdowns – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Bench Dips – 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Shoulders

• Dumbbell Arnold Press – 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Legs

• Barbell Squats – 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps
• Weighted Lateral Squat Walks

Tony Pearson Diet

Like most of the yesteryear bodybuilders, Tony Pearson followed a high protein, moderate carbohydrates, and low-fat diet to fuel his bodybuilding journey. He got most of the protein from lean sources like chicken breast, fish, and lean cuts of beef as well as eggs.

Pearson consumed healthy amounts of green vegetables for vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients. He avoided consuming protein shakes or other supplements as far as possible and tried to consume most of his calories through a whole-food diet.

At the peak of his bodybuilding career, Pearson ate six meals eerie day and reduced his carbohydrate intake significantly during competition preps.

Tony Pearson Images

Tony Pearson Videos

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