After graduation, he went on to practice law in Albuquerque. While obtaining his law degree, Bass focused his athletics primarily on weightlifting, achieving a 275-pound Olympic press, a 245 snatch and 325 clean and jerk with a body weight of 180 lbs. He moved on to University of New Mexico School of Law after graduating. Although he began lifting weights at the age of 13, it was during high school that he began to get into Olympic lifting which helped lead him into a career in health and fitness.īass went on to study at the University of New Mexico where he received his undergraduate in psychology. A year prior as a junior, he won the New Mexico State Championship in the pentathlon. He attended Albuquerque High School where he excelled in wrestling, placing second in the New Mexico State Championships his senior year. His parents were both in the health field, one being a doctor and the other a nurse. Bass was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1937.