Lou Ferrigno

[Ajl007]

Serge Nubret R.I.P yes, even at the Arnold Classic, he said he introducing more fitness and crossfit, I think even he knows that. Even the Women are almost as big as the men of yesteryear. I met Flex in San Antonio at GNC a couple of years ago, and he is on all kinds of stuff because of all the effects, but he said he would do it all over again. Arnold once said Flex was the best he has ever seen.

[DR.X]

Lots of politics involved in bodybuilding too. I use to go to the Mr. Illinois contest way back when. Another friend of mine who worked out at the Gym was a bodybuilder and entered it a few times.

 

The first time he entered he placed second buy a hair. But the next year he was ready for it, and he just got plain screwed. He was in great shape, and even in the pre-judging, I just didn't see anyone else as cut as he was.

 

It ended up one of the head judges ( who knew him personally ) screwed him over. He was jelous of him. I was there and seen it. He told my buddy after the pre judging the he had scored the most points and the contest was his.

 

When the final posedown was done, they started calling up the winners, from third place as I remember. I was sitting about two rows behind the judges bench. They called my buddy out for second. WTF. The winner, a guy named Ray York was a bit heavier, but had no abs whatsoever, and no definition in his thighs.

 

I knew this wasn't going to end good. My friend had a bad temper when it was unleashed, and now it was out of the bottle.

 

After the winner was done posing he came off the stage and over to the judges bench and snatched the scorecards out of this judges hand. The judge who told him he had won, had voted for the other guy on every body part. My buddy is screaming at him calling him a lying M - F er and get out of the chair " I'll kick your lying azz." It took security to calm things down. I thought it was going to end in a riot.

 

Even Sergio Oliva ( he was always a guest who passed out the trophies ) came over to calm things down. He lived in Chicago too. I've never seen arms like that on a person, ever.

 

He then went over to the front of the stage with his huge trophy and smashed it against the wall going fricking beserk. Needless to say, he never competed in the Mr. Illinois again.

 

On the way home going south on the Dan Ryan expressway, he just happens to be next to me in his car with his wife. My date ( she had never been to a bodybuilding contest ) rolls the window down. He's next to us screaming at the top of his lungs and going nutzo. I told him to pull over and let his wife drive. Lets go have a drink and calm down. My date thought I hung around with a bunch of lunatics. Well, she was right, maybe.

 

Funny thing was, one month later he entered the Mr. Central America contest and won. Figure that out. I have a pic of him from that contest somewhere. I'll try and find it and post it.

[Ajl007]

Waiting on pic!

[Bosco685]

Even Sergio Oliva ( he was always a guest who passed out the trophies ) came over to calm things down. He lived in Chicago too. I've never seen arms like that on a person, ever.

 

Now that was an amazing bodybuilder.

 

 

[mrmyst]

 

Franco at his peak.

[Hibou]

I'm not sure if these pics are real...

 

"When Bodybuilding and Steroids Go Too Far"

 

Flip through the slides:

 

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/457730/

 

[Calidream'n]

Could their deaths be attributed to the Heavy Duty program stressing their bodies, or was it more about genetics?

It's not genetics. It's steroid use/abuse. Anyone that says anything different is ignoring facts. Here's a link to a good article about it. In a nutshell, you can't conduct a test administering steroids to a control group because it would be unethical. BUT, you can make direct connections to steroid abuse and heart attacks. To argue otherwise it to ignore all the evidence. Heck, just google all the professional bodybuilders and wrestlers that have died relatively young from heart attacks/heart disease and it's pretty sobering.

On another note, someone mentioned that big guys don't live that long. That is an unsubstantiated statement. How long is "that long"? what kind of statictics/proof is there on such a comment? Are we talking large professional athletes or just large (fat) people in general? On my first visit to Italy, I met the father of a old friend of my wife. His name is Dino (he's still alove and kicking). When I met this large man, he was chopping wood outside his mountain home. He's in his 80's. I think that if you stay active, live cleanly (smoking/drinking) and eat healthy, your size genetics don't matter.

Here's the link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/news-examines-relationship-steroids-heart-related-deaths-article-1.297767

 

[Stronguy]

Could their deaths be attributed to the Heavy Duty program stressing their bodies, or was it more about genetics?

It's not genetics. It's steroid use/abuse. Anyone that says anything different is ignoring facts. Here's a link to a good article about it. In a nutshell, you can't conduct a test administering steroids to a control group because it would be unethical. BUT, you can make direct connections to steroid abuse and heart attacks. To argue otherwise it to ignore all the evidence. Heck, just google all the professional bodybuilders and wrestlers that have died relatively young from heart attacks/heart disease and it's pretty sobering.

On another note, someone mentioned that big guys don't live that long. That is an unsubstantiated statement. How long is "that long"? what kind of statictics/proof is there on such a comment? Are we talking large professional athletes or just large (fat) people in general? On my first visit to Italy, I met the father of a old friend of my wife. His name is Dino (he's still alove and kicking). When I met this large man, he was chopping wood outside his mountain home. He's in his 80's. I think that if you stay active, live cleanly (smoking/drinking) and eat healthy, your size genetics don't matter.

Here's the link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/news-examines-relationship-steroids-heart-related-deaths-article-1.297767

 

I said big people don't live as long as small people. The analysis is out there. Specifically what I was talking about was large athletes and people who are larger than their cultural peers. There's a significant respective difference between a 250 lb Japanese guy and a 250 lb Swede, if you follow me. If you're a big guy naturally then you're going to be fine. Push the limit too much and you end up overtaxing your body. The less load your soft organs have to support (kidneys, pancreas, liver to some degree) the longer they last. Ask a nefrologist and they will tell you just how hard high blood pressure is on your kidneys. Do you think it's any coincidence that most people who abuse drugs that cause long term HBP end up with kidney problems.

[asr0462]

I saw Lou Ferigno having a drink with Ray Park at the bar in the Marriot in Philadelphia during the Philadelphia Comicon. They both seemed so tired

[DR.X]

Waiting on pic!

 

Scanning. Up in a few minutes. It took me a bit to find it. I don't know how I hung on to this all these years. The photo is pretty beat up with some tape pulls on it.

 

I think this was around the late seventies. Ronny was not a huge guy, but he wasn't that tall. He was very symmetrical and had huge calves and arms. Photo's don't do him justice.

 

He was really a character. I saw him pull a 600lb deadlift once without warming up on a Friday night at the gym when some other guys were bragging how strong they were. He just did it to irritate them.

 

A very mysterious guy, but he was like Mr. Cool. Every time we went to a restraunt to eat lunch or something , waitress's were giving him they're phone numbers. This was the guy I talked about in another thread I believe about the arm wrestling story in a bar. He was fricking funnier than sheet.

 

 

 

 

[Ajl007]

I was about to say one thing is to have about equal arms and calves, and he does.

[rednalsram]

Mike hated Arnold, that was not secret, but later in life, from what I heard from other BB, they mended fences and Arnold had offered to pay for Mikes and his brother's medical bills. Arnold may have been a kiss , but for 1980 while down on size, he only trained to 8-7 weeks for the show while others had been preparing for close to a year. Arnold has charisma, something others lacked. Flex Wheeler to me could have been the next one, and he should have. After Lee Haney, BB when down hill, I hope they get back to the good old days.

 

Well, sadly those good old days are gone. Back then, you could tell who was who just by looking at they're physique. They were all unique. Dickerson, Robinson, Waller, Katz, Oliva, Zane, Nubert, and so on all had unique features.

 

These guys today are all in the 280 - 300 lb range and they all look the same. Like bloated up Michelin men.

 

Oliva. Now that was the MAN!! Talk about being ripped, and huge!

 

He was an inspiration to Arnold ( as-well-as others { me included] ). He was truly

worthy of being called, "The Myth". Rest in Peace.

[VintageComics]

Some great stories in this thread.

 

I'm a lifelong fan of Arnold but admittedly, I bought into the hype as a kid Still, he's responsible for bringing so much attention to the sport.

 

Oliva was an inhuman monster of a physique for his time period. Unquestionably one of the greatest.

[DR.X]

At one of the Mr. Illinois contests, we were talking to Oliva after the show. Gary Mekuly asked him where he got shirts to fit those humongous arms. All of his dress shirts has a slit on the side of them. That was the only way he could get those arms in them. He had them all made.

 

He was standing up on the stage after the trophies were passed out. The stage was a good four feet off the ground floor. We're hanging around there b.s. ing and some young female fan ( maybe 18 ) looks up at him and asks him if he would be so kind as to take of picture of her with him.

 

He bends over with one arm and grabs this girl like a cupie doll and lifts her up on the stage like she weighed five pounds. She was having the time of her life. Man I wish I would have carried a camera on me back then.

 

 

[Bosco685]

Oliva was an inhuman monster of a physique for his time period. Unquestionably one of the greatest.

 

I'd say he would be considered a monster nowadays, even with these massive bodybuilders that compete today. He just would have upped his game to take them out.