Every once in a while someone comes along that is just a little bit different.  And when that someone is driven and passionate, they shine brightly.  Bob Zuver was such a man.

Born in 1929 in Akron, Ohio, Bob came in to this world one of 16 brothers and sisters.  As a young man he took an interest in bodybuilding.  In 1948 he joined the Navy and became a frogman while stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.  In 1951, while on leave and in his hometown, he met and soon married his wife Jean and soon had two sons.  After his stint in the Navy he stayed in the Norfolk area working as a painter.  He entered and won the Mr. Norfolk Virginia in 1958. 

In 1959, against all odds, Bob decided to pack up his family and move to Southern California.  Despite knowing no one in California and no job prospects, he found work his second day as a painter and soon settled in to the California lifestyle. It wasn’t long before he would start lifting weights and he began working out at Bill Pearl’s gym.

Not long after the family’s arrival, the Zuvers moved to Costa Mesa. This is where Bob got the bug to own his own gym and converted the garage in the back of their house for the neighborhood kids.  This was the official beginning of the world famous Zuver’s Gym in 1960.  It was located on 443 Hamilton Street, Costa Mesa, California. 

But this was to be no ordinary gym.  Bob wanted his gym to be fun.  He described his vision to be the Disney World of Gyms.  He began devising clever machines and oddities.  From his fire hydrant drinking fountain to his Ferris wheel lat pulldown, his gym became the stuff of legend.  Among other interesting objects were the Zuver one finger dead lift, the 1,000 pound blob, the gorilla door greeter, the 600 pound concrete and stone door with the 300 pound dumbbell attached and of course Big and Little Zuverman, both of which now permanently reside at the Brickyard.  From design to build, all the equipment was home grown as Bob and his sons were self taught welders. 

Out of the Zuver gym also came the world famous Zuver plates.  These plates, cast in a local southern California foundry, have become the Holy Grail to weight lifting collectors.

A pair of 50 pound Zuver plates recently made national news when they sold on Ebay for over 4,000 dollars making them the most expensive weights in history.

Thousands of lifters had passed through Zuver’s Gym’s big door.  Among the notables are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Lou “The Incredible Hulk” Ferrigno, Paul Anderson, Dennis Tinnerino, Dave Draper, and the world famous power lifter Bill “Peanuts” West to name but a few.

Sadly Bob Zuver senior has passed. 

Bob Zuver, Jr. is a close friend of Dr. Tsai, and in May of 2013 he welded an exact replica of the world famous 1 finger dead lift, complete with Zuver plates attached and presented it to the Brickyard as a gift so that the legacy may live on and the Brickyard’s members can honor the Zuvers by attempting a lift done by the old timers in the sport.

The World record for the Zuver 1 finger dead lift stands at 248 pounds.