Funny you should ask. I was just working on a little video about the history of Beefcake. I hope to get that video finished sometime soon, but I’ll write what I know here just in case that never happens.
I created the Beefcake mod in 1999. At the time, yo-yoing was evolving toward longer spins and less responsive yo-yos. Some yo-yos, like the Henry’s Viper, had an adjustable gap, meaning you could untwist the yo-yo to make the gap wider and the yo-yo less responsive. This was great at first, but we kept wanting wider and wider gaps.
I don’t know the exact size of the original Henry’s bearing, but I think it was under 3mm wide. So even with the gap fully widened and shims added to the sides of the bearing to push it out as far as possible, the gap just wasn’t big enough. If you opened the gap any further, the string would simply slide off the bearing and onto the axle.
Out of desperation, I tried adding a second bearing to the gap, and I was blown away at how well it worked. It still spun as well as usual, but now there was roughly twice as much room for the string. Not only that, but the small gap between the bearings created a sort of groove for the string to sit in, keeping it away from the sides of the yo-yo.
The gap was now wide enough that we could add those thick friction stickers to the inner walls of the yo-yo and still have plenty of gap to explore less responsive tricks.
This was a transitional time in yo-yoing, and the mod was used in production by brands like Spintastics and Pro-Yo to keep existing stock usable by this new wave of unresponsive players. This didn’t last long, though, as newer yo-yos began adopting wider bearings, like the now-standard C bearing size that YoYoJam popularized.
Even after C bearings became standard, some folks kept beefcaking alive for some time. Werrd released a series of beautiful beefcaked yo-yos like the Two Fat Ladies, and @YoYoExpertEric won the 2008 US National Yo-Yo Contest using a beefcaked yo-yo.
The name for the mod came from South Park. In the third episode of the original South Park season, Cartman becomes obsessed with a bodybuilding supplement called “Weight Gain 4000.” As he gains weight (without adding muscle), he repeatedly says the phrase “beefcake.” A lot of yo-yo trick names and memes were inspired by cartoons around this time.
Thanks for asking and have fun with your modded yo-yo.
If anyone can fact check me on that original Viper bearing size (pre-1999) I’d appreciate it. Also, if anyone happens to have a scan of this package (showing the patent-style illustration of the bearing kit) I’d appreciate it.
