Compared to what? A top pro bodybuilder taking a boat load of gear? Or someone competing as a natural? Based on the photo below, I’d say he is no stranger to the weight room.
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Looks like he never touched a weight??? He looks like a successful natural bodybuilder, he doesn’t look like those moronic super drugged up bloated idiots we see now a days, that’s for sure. But the average non weight training does not look even close to this.
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This guy is a mate of mine, hes 24. He only does squats and weighted dips or OHP one workout, and deadlifts and weighted chins the next. 8-10 sets of 3 reps on all exercises, trains 3 days a week. You can certainly go a long way with a few big lifts and a bit of hard work.
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I think that the ironic thing about bodybuilding is that the ones with the superior genetics are the ones who use drugs to enhance their physiques. You think it would be the opposite. I’d love for bodybuilding to get to where everyone is natural. I’d like to see how the beasts in pro bodybuilding do naturally. I think better than what people expect. Again, to my original point, I think the superior genetically gifted athletes are the one who are using drugs.
The ones with the inferior genetics are doing the same too: they just get weeded out at lower levels and don’t make it to the top.
It’s like saying “It’s weird how only tall people play basketball. You look at the NBA and everyone is like 6’7+. I’d love to see some short guys give the sport a try sometime!”
They do: they don’t make it far.
Unless they’re Muggsy.
And that’s why Andy Raynes was awesome
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Heart took roids. So nah.
It’s pretty simple. Arnold may not have been the Arnold from the 70’s but he didn’t have to be. There was no Sergio. No Ferrigno. No Nubret. Arnold was up against some b-listers bodybuilders. He was better then everyone else that day. He didn’t “destroy” them like usual but he did beat them and that’s people’s problem. They expected him to look like he used to. Others were good but still not good enough. You could even see it their eyes during the show. Look at the pics. They are looking at him like “heck he wins” they were admiring him. Plus it’s not just about him winning it’s the way the others reacted that kept the so called controversy going. Bunch of loser cry babies . methzer being the biggest of them all. He thought way too much of himself. He even said " bodybuilding just lost its best spokesman" (when he said he was done putting his body through this hell for a bad decision).
And here’s the real problem with Arnold winning. He didn’t look like Arnold. Period. We expected him to come in looking like he always did but he didn’t. He didn’t have to though as he was still better than everyone else but he didn’t look like “Arnold”. So some people say he shouldn’t of won. People like Zane etc always look good standing by themselves but when compared to a real bodybuilder like Arnold they don’t cut it. Now Arnold wasn’t superior in every pose but he was in enough to win.
People liked methzer because they are lazy and thought his way of training would work for them (in reality he used volume just like everyone else) and Zane they liked because he had a very small build like a swimmer, easily attainable for almost anyone. By himself Zane did look good but next to Arnold? Forget about it. And Dickerson? He shouldn’t of even been on stage. methzer went nuts after this his world crashed around him as the 1980 contest finished him off and deservedly so.
So yeah, Arnold won. There was no fix. Arnold was simply the best out of a bad line up.
Wow, took you quite a while to comment.
I don’t recall asking you:
- Have you ever judged a bodybuilding contest?
- Have you ever disagreed with the results of a bodybuilding contest?
- Have you ever competed in a bodybuilding contest?
- If so, did you feel you were placed properly?
Well… everybody has an opinion.
I didn’t prefer the high intensity training philosophy as Arthur Jones and then Mentzer promoted it. But because I wanted the best training program to optimize my physique, I tried it. I mean I gave it my all. It isn’t easy and painless, or for the lazy. To call it easy and for the lazy could only be true if you gave it as much effort as you probably gave anything in the gym.
You spoke volumes about your training knowledge, but mostly on your effort. Some people just don’t have it.
The only side of your statement that holds any water is “and thought.” But even with that, how ill informed must the person be that would assume Mentzer training is easy? My guess is only you, but I suppose if you do, there are others. I bet they have a physique that rocks!
Why not just say you really like Arnold’s physique as one of the best, even in 1980? Then I would strongly agree with you. But nooooooo. You must post away, exposing your double digit IQ to all of T-Nation. You convinced me.
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Turd, Meet Punchbowl…
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It amuses when people who aren’t aware of the farce the '80 Mr Olympia was, chooses Arnold as “the winner”. I spoke to Roger Walker (he’s on my phone), who stood next to him on stage. Despite it being a complete and utter fix, Arnold was scared … Franco coking him up between rounds. (Note his red complexion and temple veins). And that’s from someone who was there and saw it all.
It’s times like these, when I wish TN had a laugh emoji button!
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Yeah, that was back in the 80’s when I first learned about reduced volume and increased intensity. I remember a routine of his outlined in MD magazine which was a great split routine. I know he had names for his different phases of routine like Heavy Duty , Heavy Duty II , etc.
I don’t know which this one was known as but I wish I would have followed my gut instincts and started training this way sooner than I did but I was just too caught up in Dr. Ken’s outlook on things which made all the sense in the world to me at the time.
That routine I saw in the MD article was basically a pre-ex routine … Laterals / Press … Flyes / Dips, etc. … in which he called the two back-to-back exercises ‘cycles’ and would say he’d do two such ‘cycles’ per muscle. It’s pretty much what I’ve found to work best for me after everything else as far as laying out a program for two or three exercises per muscle for two or sometimes (but not often) three sets each … in a push / pull / legs split. Next to Super Slow , a full body routine was the worst thing I spent time on in the gym.
Always respected Mike but he just went too far with his idea of reducing volume and believe he would have admitted that had he been around longer.
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I know very little about the pros in bodybuilding. I would guess that the demeanor at the professional contests is similar to that in the amateurs. Everyone is sizing up the competition. As a rule, it is a very negative vibe permeating back stage.
I have no idea what signals Arnold might have been giving, but I would guess his confidence might have been less that year than previous years. He wasn’t obviously the best physique by far, as he was once he became established as the best, IMO. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have the best physique on stage that day. And that is what is being judged.
Roger has never been shy about sharing the travesty. He saw Franco off in a room giving Arnold some “assistance”. He was nervous about his comeback, even though the odds were stacked in his favour. The judge who didn’t pick the “golden boy” in the prejudging was instantly removed (never to judge an IFBB show again), and replaced with a Arnold fan boy. I’m ashamed it happened on my home turf. 
Actually, Roger Walker has (also) revealed this himself, on the “Bodybuilding legends” podcast. John Hansen did a good job on the episode covering the 1980 Olympia, where he managed to interview almost everyone competing against Arnold.
What’s interesting is that all interviewed competitors seemed to be agreed on that Arnold did not deserve to win. Obviously, Arnold was not participating on the podcast (after all, why would he?).
This comment is just plain sad. You mentioned a single judge. My guess is that @dynazty has never competed in a judged bodybuilding contest, and surely he has never been a judge who tallied the score sheet.
I can speak of bodybuilding contests and the judging of them from 1970 thru 1996. There were usually 7 judges (Sometimes 5 or on some rare occasions, 9.) In every case the high and low score of every competitor is dropped from the calculation.
For what ever antiquated reason the IFBB was still using the Point System in 1980. Someone posted the results sheet in the early portion of this thread. IMO, that is a problem that should have been corrected, at least by the time the AAU and then NPC had. But apart from that, the high score and the low score of every competitor is dropped. In other words, no judge can by himself take a place, or add a place for any competitor. If the judge is judging the competitor too low, that score is dropped. If the judge is judging the competitor too high, that score is dropped.
Wringing your hands over a single judge seems odd to me. I’ve perused the score sheet, and nothing seems misaligned. Basically, it wasn’t really close. Arnold didn’t “shut everyone down”, but he did win by a good margin.
It’s not just one judge. What do you think the others thought, when he was removed? They chose Compliance over Embarrassment.
As I understood it said, the judge was removed after the prejudging. At that point Arnold had 295 points, Zane in second with 291 points, and Dickerson trailed in third with 290 points.
Arnold already had a commanding lead after the prejudging.
If “the fix was in” it was before the prejudging, before any judge was removed.
He shared with me over the phone.
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