1980 Mr. Olympia: Fair or fixed?

Was 1980 Mr. Olympia fixed? Did Arnold Schwarzenegger really win the Olympia that night? Were Frank Zane and Tom Platz better than Arnold that night? The 1980 Olympia raised so many questions and eye brows that night, which is still the most controversial Olympia till date. We take a look back at the history and what happened that Olympia night.

Arnold who had told everyone that he will be at the Mr. Olympia to do the commentary at the  show, decided to compete in the event. All the while people speculated that he was in competition shape and might compete, but no one was sure as Arnold brushed it off saying that he was getting in shape for the movie “Conan the Barbarian” .The contest was being held in Sydney, Australia, it was produced by Arnold’s good friend Paul Graham. The contest had some real tough competitors like Zane who was already the reigning Mr. Olympia from last year, there was Mike Mentzer, Tom Platz, and Chris Dickinson. Zane despite injury decided to compete in the show based on Arnold’s advice. Mentzer was in a great shape and hope to win the title; Tom Platz was looking to make an upset at that year Mr. Olympia by defeating last year’s winner Frank Zane.

All of these Top competitors had their own agenda based on previous years Mr. Olympia and had no clue Arnold would compete and that too at a stage where he had retired from the competitive bodybuilding after being the undisputed king of the sport for many years. I think what upset the most of the competitors, was that Arnold had it all 7 times Mr. Olympia, 5 times Mr. Universe and he had moved on to achieve bigger and better things like to make it in Hollywood. Why would Arnold; who had everything would come and take way what they wanted so badly. That created lot of resentment and to some degree it was fear that he would take way the title, this mixed feeling lit the light for the controversy which was in the making.

Some of the things which contributed to the 1980 Olympia controversy were:

Competitors felt Arnold should have register to compete a month before like the other bodybuilder rather than making a last minute entry to compete.

Mike Mentzer and Arnold had a fight which almost got physical and which left a bitter taste in mike’s life, resulting in his retirement from bodybuilding.

Most of the judges were friends or somehow associated with Arnold thus influenced the outcome of the contest.

IFBB bent the rules because it was Arnold.

Yes, the competition was controversial, Arnold didn't look nor had the great physique he had 5 or 6 years ago. Hey but still he is “Arnold” the Austrian Oak, he was cut and still big had the charisma and most importantly experience. Some of the people competing in that show idolized him so they never believed that they can beat him. I would say it was close between Arnold, Tom Platz and Zane, But Zane Looked lighter compared to the other two. Arnold was the tallest in the competition had a great chest, ripped abs and the show stealing arms. I do believe Arnold did win the competition and he did win it fair and square. Why he competed and took away what the other competitors wanted so badly, only Arnold could answer that question.  

Dwayne Johnson’s Hercules workout

Do you know what the Rock is cooking? The man, who is famous for this line, is also famous for his incredible body. I must say he built one of the best looking physiques for the Hercules movie role. Dwayne Johnson has always been in great shape and always been a great athlete.  But the way he transformed his body from WWE days to till date is truly remarkable. He had short time to prepare for this role and boy; he did put in lot of hard work to shape that herculean physique.

Rock is known for his awesome work ethic and is truly dedicated to his art be it football, wrestling or bodybuilding, movies are no exception. If one thing which drives him and has taken him places, it’s because of his passion and hard hard work. From rookie footballer to a wrestling super star and now an action hero in Hollywood he’s done it all. His four movies made $1.3 billion at box office in the year 2013 which made him the highest grossing movie star for the year 2013.

Here is how he achieved the herculean physique to do the 12 labors on screen. Rock dieted 22 weeks in preparation for this role, he worked out early morning 4 Am and always made sure he did his cardio and weight training before he went to sets. He worked out 45 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes ranging from lifting weights to cardio. He had to carefully monitor his diet and had to bulk up for the role while shedding fat. His diet was mostly Filet steak, two cups of rice, egg whites, mushrooms, baked potato and chicken in large quantity as he was bulking up.

The following was rock’s workout:

Arms:

Preacher curls with EZ bar curls 4 x 12 reps

Standing barbell curl with EZ bar curls 4 x 12 reps

Dumbbell curls 4 x 12 reps

Rope pushdown 4 x 12 reps

Rope overhead triceps 4 x 12 reps

Extensions 4 x 12 reps

Chest:

Inclined barbell bench press 4 x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps

Flat bench dumbbell press 4 x 12 reps

Inclined hammer strength press 4 x 12 reps

Flat bench dumbbell fly’s 3 x 12 reps

Cable crossover super-set with dips 3 x 15 reps

Back:

Pull ups 4 set to failure

One arm dumbbell row 4 x 12, 10, 8, 8 reps

Hammer strength two arm row 4 x 10 reps

Close grip pull downs 3 x 12 reps

Cable row 3 x 12 reps

Dumbbell shrugs 4 x 12 reps

Steroids or No Steroids is the Question!

I firstly would like to emphasize that I don’t promote steroid use or I am of an opinion that steroid use is absolutely OK in sports. Well whether we like it or not steroids were always involved in sports and always will be involved in the future too. Testosterone was first discovered and used during 1935 in World War II, to quicken the healing process in wounded soldiers. Steroid use in sports dates back to 1940s and testosterone was all over the place in sports. In 1952 Olympics the Russian weightlifting and wrestling team were dominant in the entire event which is supposedly due to testosterone use. By 1960s US started developing the higher end of steroids, which were anabolic steroids.

Steroids have always been there whether you like it or not, steroid use was taking off to new levels by 1970s. Most of the athletes were supposedly juicing as everyone wanted to have the edge and had to do what has to be done.  Now remember, at that point of time use of testosterone wasn’t illegal. Steroids gave a competitive edge for the athletes to win at the highest level as it aids one to over train and speeds up recuperation process. It allowed you to gain lot of strength in short period of time and perform and peak whenever required.

But the most important point I want to emphasize is that "steroids doesn't make you a champion, but champions take steroids”. What I mean by that statement is that anyone taking steroids doesn't become a champion. One needs to be very good at the sport he or she is into. It can be genetics for power lifting, bodybuilding and the techniques needed to excel in their individual sport. People who are already very good at their sport take steroids and get the little extra edge and become champion. Any tom, dick and harry doesn't get a Mr. Olympia physique by taking steroids or become Lee Haney, Kai Greene, tiger woods’ or a Barry bonds. So people on steroids have to have the goods to compete at the highest level and work there butt off to achieve things. Yes steroids do provide them with abilities like quick recuperation from over training and gives great strength to perform and over train. But how sure are we that who is using steroids and who is not? Who is playing it by the rule and who is not?  

The True Viking Warrior

If I were to choose one man who could out muscle and outdo Arnold Schwarzenegger in terms of strength and charisma it was Jon Pall sigmarsson. He had it all, the good looks and the colossal strength; he was 4 times world strongest man, 2 times European strongest man. Jon Pall died at a very young age, merely 32 years old at the time of death. But his achievement in his short lived life is truly remarkable and was a true gentleman. He was not only into power lifting but also competed and won Icelandic     bodybuilding title in 90+ kg weight class.

Jon pall first participated in world strongest man in 1983 and made his presence felt by taking second place next to the title winner Geoff capes. Then The 24 year old Jon pall was all set to take the world strongest man title from capes in 1984 and so he did. The rivalry between the two to take the crown gave us some of the best events in world strongest man History. In 1985 Jon pall lost the title to capes but again won it back from him in 1986. Some of the best one liner came from Jon pall during these years of competing for title with capes, like once when the audience called him Eskimo, he shouted back at them declaring “I am not an Eskimo, I am a Viking” and dead lifted a cart weighing 495 kg. When he defeated capes in 1984 he shouted “The King has lost his crown”.

1987 was the year the world strongest man event was at its peak as Jon pall’s biggest rival the great Bill Kazmaier entered the event. He was a 3 times world strongest man and had held numerous world records in bench press and dead lift and squat. He had the reputation as the “strongest man ever lived on earth” and had won world strongest man title from 1980, 81 and 1982 making it 3 times in a row. They had great rivalry and thus fueled their competitive spirit to outdo one another. When it came to static events Kazmaier was better than Jon pall but Jon Pall dominated Kazmaier in dynamic events and Jon pall was the better of the two as an overall athlete. After winning the 1988 world strongest man title from the great Kazmaier he declared “I may be the fastest strongman in the world, but I think Kazmaier is the strongest on his feet”. They eventually became good friends.

Jon pall’s records and milestones are as follows:

Squat – 365 kg Raw.

Bench Press – 235 kg.

Dead lift - 400 kg Raw.

He entered Guinness book of world record for lifting world’s largest whiskey Bottle.

He was the First man to load the 150 kg Mcglashen stone.

Some of the best quotes of Jon Pall were “I am in seventh Heaven”, “No problem for Jon Paul”. He was very charismatic on and off the field. He had great genetics which helped him to master all forms of weight lifting, power lifting and also become a bodybuilder competing at 105 to 110 kg where as his body weight for world strongest man events was 130 kg. He will always be remembered as the true Viking warrior! 

The other side of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is one of the best things one can get into to build strength and get in shape.  It can be a great stress reliever and a great hobby to build strength for the respective sport you are into. But when we look into bodybuilding as a sport it is all about the size game and hell lot of size comes from steroids and supplements. Bodybuilding naturally without steroids and supplements is beautiful and helps to achieve aesthetic physique. Even without steroids, size can be achieved but not the same kind of size and conditioning can be attained without the aid of steroids.

The darker side of bodybuilding or strength sports is well know  and its steroids,  growth hormone and lot of other stuff which has put many in body bags. I have always loved the sport of bodybuilding and it gives me immense pleasure in training everyday and enjoying life by training naturally and staying healthy. I happen to stumble on one of this mini documentary about a bodybuilder Justin Rys who is a former Mr.Australasia,Mr Oceania,Mr New Zealand and how his life changed by the choices he made. This is a interesting and eye opening documentary on steroids and ironically  some bodybuilder’ s build their bodies by putting heart and sweat in the gym and also destroy it by putting chemicals into their body.

Muscle Memory

Muscle memory is one of the best assets very top athlete possesses. Please don’t mistake this to be some form of memory stored in your muscles but rather is something which is stored in your brain. The muscle memory is developed through constant repetitive activity be it like endless amount of time spent in the gym training each part of your body or practicing the perfect swing of the club for golf it all contributes to muscle memory.

 Muscle memory more like a procedural memory developed due to repetitive moment, but the down side of this if one practices an incorrect move repetitively be it an incorrect form in exercising a specific muscle group the mind registers it and cannot differentiate between a correct form and an incorrect one. Muscle memory forms an integral part in one’s life as we need this right from riding bicycle to weight training to typing on key board. Have you ever wondered how these elite level athletes are able to get in shape compared to that of the general public? That’s because they spent years training and perfecting their body and skill, when they begin training again from a long break they retain the muscles or are able to stimulate muscle growth quickly compared to others. It’s all because of muscle memory, that’s why I say one should not only quantity but also “quality of the quantity”.

8 weeks body transformation challenge

8 weeks body transformation challenge

8 weeks body transformation challenge

High Intensity Training (HIT) Explained

High intensity training is one of the best method’s to put on quality muscle mass and definition, if not the best. It was found by Arthur Jones who experimented with this form of training with top bodybuilders of the era. He was the inventor of the Nautilus; many well know bodybuilders trained under his guidance like Casey Viator, mike mentzer and Ray Mentzer. It was Mike Mentzer who popularized this form of training and added his own observation to the HIT theory and perfected it.  Mike advocated and trained his clients no more than 7-9 sets per workout and further reduced the training by reducing the number days trained per week; 3 days per week sometimes even less depending on the gains. Mike advocated HIT training a lot and held many seminars’s and shot training videos. The man who took the HIT method to the top and revolutionized the sport of bodybuilding was Dorian Yates. 6 consecutive times Mr. Olympia and a big follower of HIT method.

The principle of this training method was that one should train brief, infrequent and with all intensity. It was believed that training with high intensity and to a point where it would create muscular failure momentarily yielded great gains and results. Since its intensity which is the key in this form of training, the training volume and duration of training is very brief compared to traditional volume training where one performs numerous sets and repetitions with low intensity. We all know that training stimulates muscle growth by recruiting new muscle fibers but rest and nutrition is what makes them grow. Adequate rest has to be provided for the body to heal and grow and endure the taxing from next intense workout. Hence a great emphasis is placed on rest and recuperation.

A typical HIT Workout can be like focusing one single muscle group to may be a minor muscle group in addition, like Back with Biceps. Again a great emphasis is placed on form and technique as it’s just not moving weights but lifting with perfect form and in slow and controlled fashion rather than jerking the weight. I strongly believe one should be training no more than 45 minutes, if they are aiming to build quality muscle mass naturally. We all more or less have access to same nutritional information but what separate us are the training methods to some degree and most importantly the intensity. Try High Intensity Training for good 4-6 months and see the results.

Steroids In 60’s To Present Day

Like it or not steroids has been a big part of bodybuilding culture, but steroid use was nothing in 60’s and 70’s compared to today. 60’s and 70’s produced classic physiques like John Grimek, Steve Reeves, Clancy Ross and George Eiferman who embodied not only ascetic bodies but were also very strong men. They had more of compound exercises and weight lifting routines in their workout program and less or no steroids compared to today’s standard.

The 70’s was the peak of bodybuilding with greats like Bill Pearl, Larry Scott, Dave Draper, Reg Park, Sergio Oliva, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Frank Zane, Franco Columbu and Ken Waller and many more. Each one of them had unique physique and had their own trade mark when it came to standing out on a competition stage. Even though it was the Austrian Oak who put bodybuilding on the map through his awesome personality and extraordinary achievements, each one of these other legends have contributed and paved way for bodybuilding to be in the mainstream. The era was more of hard work and toil in the gym to create these awesome physiques rather than become chemical infected bloated bodies.

The steroids available during 60’s and 70’s was dosage of D-Bol , deca , Androl, Anavar and Winstrol. The pro’s then were probably cycling once in two years or a year at the most. Contrary to today where pro’s hardly get of the cycle. Today’s pro’s have access to and use TEST,D--Bol , deca , Androl, Anavar and Winstrol, IU's, HALOTESTIN, ARIMIDEX, CYTOMEL, Growth Hormone and Insulin and whole lot of other stuff.

This is the main reason you see the difference is physique and difference in weight to a great degree. Arnold weighed around 225 – 235 pounds for competition, where as when you see guys like Ronnie Coleman outweighs Arnold by 60- 70 pounds. The reason for this no big secret it’s because of the evolution of Steroids. 

The sport which embodied Greek God Physique has been reduced to mere competition of being the biggest mass monster. The pro’s cannot be blamed to as at the end of the day its business and many support their living by pro bodybuilders so they need to go with the flow.

History and Evolution of World’s Strongest Man

World’s strongest man or WSM events are not only highly entertaining but also create awe; as to what human body is capable of doing. The event in which we mortal humans perform superhuman tasks, be it dead lifting 900 pounds or pulling a truck or airplane. The first WSM was developed in the year 1977 by David Webster and his role was taken over by Dr Douglas Edmund  both of whom were responsible for organizing the events and arranging competitors.

Competitors were invited from various disciplines ranging from bodybuilding, power lifting and other heavy events like Highland games. Eight men competed in this unique sport with different events emphasizing brute strength (static events) and cardio conditioning (moving heavy objects from point A to B in stipulated time). The sport was a unique blend of strength and athleticism, even though foundation of the sport remain emphasized the same but new events were always introduced to make the WSM challenging and very interesting. 

Some of the events in WSM are loading Race, Atlas stones, truck and airplane Pull, overhead press, fingal Fingers, Power stairs, car carry, Hercules hold and farmer’s walk. Now coming to the some of the strongest men in the history of WSM were Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Svend Karlsen, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Jouko Ahola, Magnus ver Magnusson and bill kazmaier.

 Winners of WSM:

Mariusz Pudzianowski - 5 WSM Titles

Jon Pall Sigmarsson - 4 WSM Titles

Bill kazmaier - 3 WSM Titles

Magnus ver Magnusson - 4 WSM Titles

Jouko Ahola - 2 WSM Titles

Geoff Capes - 2 WSM Titles.

My personal favorite strongman was always Jon Pall Sigmarsson, one of the strongest man pound for pound and a great person.  

Execution of 360 Degree Kick

The 360 Kick is a very Famous Martial arts Move. It’s a vital aspect of many forms of martial arts like taekwondo. A 360 kick sometimes is also referred as Jump spin kick. This Kick was very popularized by martial arts movie legend Jean Claude Van damme aka JCVD. Many of his movies demonstrate this Kick to great effect adding to stunning visual effect it has on screen. 

Michael Jai White is one of the best Martial artists in the movie business, watch “Universal soldier The Return” and you will see one of these kicks. In a real life scenario may be like in street fights these elaborate moves aren’t required and have a limited application due to the space constraints and the hard surface. But yes over all it helps one’s balance, co-ordination and dexterity. But yes a highly skilled taekwondo practitioner can use it anywhere.