I’m guessing what he would’ve weighed off steroids. I doubt at 175 lbs his arms would’ve been 18"
I don’t know. It’s not that hard to regain 20 lbs of lost muscle. Boyer did it in 82, Casey did it in 77. I’ve done it this year.
Also full bellied triceps. His arms were by far the best of his time. No one was remotely close, IMO.
For perspective, Mike Mentzer was around the same height as Larry (5’8) and competed a little heavier, about 215 I think. He was accurately measured somewhere around the 18-18.5 mark I believe. Mentzer of course also had long full muscle bellies in both his biceps and triceps.
This discussion underscores the same fundamentals we have seen and read repeatedly regarding the role of drugs and genetics. The difference in training itself, and the response to training, between anabolic drugs and natural is night and day, that is a physiological fact. Most everyone knows this as fact, yet it often seems to get brushed aside in these discussions, not sure why.
Regarding some of the above observations about Boyer in this circumstance, I remember Dr. Darden writing something along the lines of when Boyer and other bodybuilders started working for/with Nautilus, they were asked to promise they would not use any anabolics while there, and each man gave their word. Can’t remember which book it was in (I have so many of them). Like others above noted, it’s pretty clear Boyer is “off” in some of those old videos, especially compared to the way we saw him in tons of pictures and videos from his competitive prime.
From Boyer Coe interview in Fitness Science Annual 2008: “I never did an ounce of cardio at that time, but made liberal use of anabolics and growth hormone and that enabled me to get in my all time best shape. This was for the 1994 Masters Mr. Olympia”. Anabolics, not a surprise. But growth hormone also. Give him credit for being totally honest about it. Wonder what the results would have been during the Jones/Nautilus training had he used those during his training then?
Like others above noted, it’s pretty clear Boyer is “off” in some of those old videos, especially compared to the way we saw him in tons of pictures and videos from his competitive prime.
==Scott==
Watching some of those old videos of Arthur training Boyer you can’t help but notice how skinny he looked. I’m just guessing he was probably off the roids at the time or a reduced state?
What I found as equally interesting was his form. Sometimes he would pause a second or so at the bottom like he was trying to catch his breath and other areas of his form left a lot to be desired .
Scott
I agree, his form is nothing like I thought Jones would require
Fitness Science Annual? Where the heck did you find that ? You seem to have access to some interesting stuff!
Scott
If he wasn’t being rushed through the workout and had rest between sets, his form probably would’ve been better.
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I have observed Boyer’s time with Nautilus many times over the last few decades.
What is clear is that when Boyer started training at Nautilus he was not lean and very small by his standards.
In the later days he looked more muscular and significantly leaner , but not close to his muscular “steroid influenced” best.
So he undoubtedly gained muscle and lost fat.
How much I would not want to guess.
Also , whether he would have gotten to his previous best muscular condition with steroids training as he was , we can only speculate.
Mark
Watching the video of Boyer posing in 1984 (posted in this thread), I told myself that his midsection looked bigger/wider than it was before. I guess this is one of the side-effects of growth hormone. This was not the case for bodybuilders in 60s and 70s.
I always thought Boyer’s midsection was his worst body part. His relatively wide hip girdle and thick abdominal sheath were the only poor genetics he had to deal with, IMO.
He had those problems from the first pics I can recall when he won the 1969 Mr. America
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May be you are right. I still think there was some “extra”, but probably simply due to aging process.
Few bodybuilders were able to maintain slim waistline while in their 40s and 50s with Serge Nubret and Frank Zane being two of the most notable examples.
It is very subjective, but I stopped watching Mr. Olympia after 1985, I guess, due to the reason that I no longer enjoyed the bulky look of the bodybuilders. For me, the physique of Mohammed Makkawy and his posing in 1982-1985 (and especially his improvements after working with Vince Gironda) is the epitome and pinnacle of the bodybuilding. Nobody came even close (especially in terms of posing) and it’s a pity that he was not given a Mr. Olympia title. Probably, the only bright spark afterwards was Shawn Ray.
For the record I think Boyer stated he thought he looked best at the 1994 Masters Olympia, as he was the biggest he had ever been. Appearantly this was because of the addition of GH. But, he was familiar with people liking his previous 70ties look more. 1984? Wasn’t that the light weight version of Boyer (when he used an amphetamine like dietary compound).
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Dr. Darden…what is your opinion of Boyer’s form in this latest tape
It seems his form is about as strict as it would be when lifting the whole weight stack on the machines
Not sure if it’s the GH…as Lou Ferrigno got a bigger waist when he aged too and competed in the masters olympia
Never heard of Lou using GH, heard him using steroids though
Yes, I agree with you about Boyer’s form. When an individual handles the entire weight stack on a Nautilus machine, he must stabilize his body by involving surrounding muscles. Therefore, your form with 300 pounds would never be as precise as with 200 pounds.
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The black-and-white, double-biceps pose of Boyer is how I remember him from 1965, as he won the Mr. Texas contest. He was still a teenager, but clearly ahead of any bodybuilder I had ever seen in person.
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But in those videos Boyer wasn’t using the entire weight stack on any of the exercises but Jones tagged him with poor form on almost every exercise. All I can figure is Jones was pushing him to use more weight that he typically would use during a workout and Boyer was struggling with it.
Scott