'Hardest training bodybuilder'

[Van_Bilderass]

Arguing about who is more hardcore? A bit silly. 

I bought Yates tape when it came out and have to admit it wasn't as 'intense' as I had expected. I had expected something more, not just going to failure. And some lifts were assisted by his partner before he 'failed' and then racked. I hadn't seen many pros train on tape before so having read Flex mag articles I believed their training was really something out of this world.

But now, many years later, what impresses me about the way Yates trained was the precision. Each movement executed with good form. He really seemed very conscious of his body and movements, unlike someone like Coleman whose movements seemed haphazard at times. Yates was like a machine.  Even Yates' posing was very precise, whereas Coleman's routines seemed like they were made up on the spot.

Meso, when Coleman first yelled 'light weight' it seemed genuine. In the other videos, not so much. Rehearsed. Even worse are guys like Branch Warren yelling the same. Really, can't you make up your own phrases? 

[Milos_Sarcev]

hidetada yamagishi

[no one]

Coleman was nothing great until he got a drug guru.

agreed.

[IceCold]

hidetada yamagishi

ok.


 

[IceCold]

interesting that both yates and ronnie trained different ways, but yet ended their careers with serious injuries.

however, yates was still the one of the best conditioned guys onstage, whereas coleman wasnt in 06 and 07.  that's why he lost.

also, dorian injured his biceps - which were never a strong point, where as ronnie won most of his olympia wins (except 98,99, and 03) with his back and bi's.

once they went, game over for ronnie.

yates = tears biceps is the samething if ronnie tore his calf.

true, bi's are more important, but calves are visible in every pose.

[BEAST 8692]

interesting that both yates and ronnie trained different ways, but yet ended their careers with serious injuries.

however, yates was still the one of the best conditioned guys onstage, whereas coleman wasnt in 06 and 07.  that's why he lost.

also, dorian injured his biceps - which were never a strong point, where as ronnie won most of his olympia wins (except 98,99, and 03) with his back and bi's.

once they went, game over for ronnie.

yates = tears biceps is the samething if ronnie tore his calf.

true, bi's are more important, but calves are visible in every pose.

whilst i accept your point of view, imo this subject is best discussed on the Hulkster thread.

[IceCold]

whilst i accept your point of view, imo this subject is best discussed on the Hulkster thread.

indeed.

[suckmymuscle]

  In terms of hard training, I think the cake goes to Jimmy Fuller. the guy would do up to 50 sets per bodypart taking each to failure at the range of 100 reps!

  Besides him, I think the two hardest trainers are Dorian and Ronnie, albeit for vastly different resons. Coleman is stronger, but is sloppier in his technique and never takes sets to failure. Conversely, Dorian was not so strong except for a few back exercises like barbell row where he could hold his own with Coleman, but his form was super-strict and he took each and every set not merely to failure but past it.

  I would say that, taking everyhing into consideration, they trained equally hard. However, nothing compares to Coleman doing 805 squats and deads for doubles a few weeks out from the Olympia. That is fuckin' nuts!

SUCKMYMUSCLE

[BEAST 8692]

  In terms of hard training, I think the cake goes to Jimmy Fuller. the guy would do up to 50 sets per bodypart taking each to failure at the range of 100 reps!

  Besides him, I think the two hardest trainers are Dorian and Ronnie, albeit for vastly different resons. Coleman is stronger, but is sloppier in his technique and never takes sets to failure. Conversely, Dorian was not so strong except for a few back exercises like barbell row where he could hold his own with Coleman, but his form was super-strict and he took each and every set not merely to failure but past it.

  I would say that, taking everyhing into consideration, they trained equally hard. However, nothing compares to Coleman doing 805 squats and deads for doubles a few weeks out from the Olympia. That is fuckin' nuts!

SUCKMYMUSCLE

i think you're referring to Johnny Fuller, but i don't know much about hiow he trained. to me, it's much more impressive to do the things that ronnie did pre-contest (as you pointed out) than doing 50 - 100 reps with a light weight. for one thing, it takes a lot of balls to do risk injury with the type of things ronnie did.

[bigkahuna]

think people are making too much out of ronnie and dorians training videos.......who knows how they trained when they werent being filmed?

[kevcat]

As for Ronnie and training bi's, where was the intensity there?? He said himself he just had to do a few sets and they grew no matter what.A few sets of 21s and sum preacher, hardly the hardest working bodybuilder

[toolarge4u]

coleman was always great but overlooked...

i have never seen anything special about yates phisique bar the back...
even on drugs...
without drugs coleman could have a impressive phsique could yates? not to me
so go figure
coleman said on video brian offered him free membership etc to encourage him to be a bber
 but he didnt want to be a bber because he knew that involved taking steroids.....
thats on his first video.. so he wasnt taking steroids at the time....
dont speculate

your black, of course you hate skin head yates and love backwoods ronnie

[BEAST 8692]

think people are making too much out of ronnie and dorians training videos.......who knows how they trained when they werent being filmed?

true, but you don't deadlift and squat 800 for 2 reps unless you've been working like that all along.

As for Ronnie and training bi's, where was the intensity there?? He said himself he just had to do a few sets and they grew no matter what.A few sets of 21s and sum preacher, hardly the hardest working bodybuilder

ronnie could have probably missed bis altogether and it wouldn't have changed a thing. in any case, arm training is just not that hard.

[Master Blaster]

hidetada yamagishi

You're no slouch yourself, Milos. 

[bigbobs]

This is some pretty hard training here

[wes]

wes

i read the article by defendis on the link you provided.

very interesting read but i have no doubt it was embellished as oldtimers with big egos tend to do. they hate to think someone could be better than they were, even with modern technological and pharmaceutical enhancements, so they exaggerate and romanticise.

defendis let slip a contradiction which i found amusing. when he was talking about his first day at michalik's gym he related how there was a plaque on the wall with words to the effect of 'upping the dosage' and a syringe for a pen. then later he romanticises how, back in his day bbers trained like animals and only took minimal doses of steroids for recovery purposes.

i've read that michalik was a sadistic egomaniac and a bully, which is probably consistant with the article. also read that he treated his wife in much the same fashion, only with more violence. the guy definitely had some screws loose.

it's a shame articles like these are so sensationalized or that there is never a totally unbiased account of the way these guys trained, because it would have been very more interesting to read that.

apparently michalik was supposed to be in pumping iron and, for some reason, was completely cut out of the documenatry. do you know why? definitely would have been cool to have the pumping iron crew show us the real hardcore bbers at steve's gym.

Beast,I agree the article is probably at least 50 % fiction but it is intended to inspire people to train hard,hence the embellishment.

It is motivating!!

As far as the drugs go,from what I hear Michalik was a pretty big user even eating monkey brains to obtain GH..............don`t know if this is true but the story`s been around forever.

Have no clue about Michalik being in the movie PI,but he is featured in the book Pumping Iron which predates the film.

I have seen still pics of Steve training with big weights and looking like he`d been to hell and back.......drenched in sweat and grimacing in pain,but who knows if it`s all smoke and mirrors for the mags........somehow I doubt it though.

Lots of guys trained hard back in the day as lots do today................... .....maybe it`s my age but I think most trained harder than the pros of today.

Just my opinion !!

[BEAST 8692]

Beast,I agree the article is probably at least 50 % fiction but it is intended to inspire people to train hard,hence the embellishment.

It is motivating!!

As far as the drugs go,from what I hear Michalik was a pretty big user even eating monkey brains to obtain GH..............don`t know if this is true but the story`s been around forever.

Have no clue about Michalik being in the movie PI,but he is featured in the book Pumping Iron which predates the film.

I have seen still pics of Steve training with big weights and looking like he`d been to hell and back.......drenched in sweat and grimacing in pain,but who knows if it`s all smoke and mirrors for the mags........somehow I doubt it though.

Lots of guys trained hard back in the day as lots do today................... .....maybe it`s my age but I think most trained harder than the pros of today.

Just my opinion !!

thanks for the reply wes.

i have no doubt that these guys trained extremely hard, but i'm probably more of a factual type of person that's seen way too much 'embellishment' over the years. i've never been a fan boy type and if there is one thing i've learnt from sport and life it's that when a man overdoes the machismo bs, it's ALWAYS a cover up for insecurity. as much as i respect his straight forwardness, he is the personification of this stereotype.

it was a good article but i am somewhat biased because imo 'brevity is best'. not a hit disciple but i don't believe in wasting precious energy on bs either.

i'm always impressed by someone (male/female/young/old) that takes themselves out of their comfort zone and faces a worthy challenge. this, to me, defines courage. i don't care what sport you do or who you are, this is the only thing that impresses me, not machismo or egotistical bs.

[pellius]

We have all seen how Arnold trained watching Pumping Iron. Though he obvious trained very hard I don't think he matched the momentary intensity as a Platx, Yates or Mentzer. Meaning, Arnold didn't take a set as far as others. We got to see Yates in all his glory and I thought it was pretty impressive. He seemed to push himself harder and dig deeper than Arnold did. Unfortunately, we don't have much footage of Platz but stories of his ferocious intensity is legendary. Even Mr. HIT himself, Mike Mentzer, admitted that when watching Platz prepare for the 1981 Olympia (which either he or Padilla should have won marking the greatest injustice in the Olympia to date) that he trained like a man possessed. It bordered on scary. Our own Max_Rep can give a first hand account having watched Platz train. If I recall correctly, Max_Rep mentioned how it was not so much on squats (though he did take that lift to the extreme) but it was on the standing hack squats that was almost painful to watch. Platz would not only go ass to ankle deep but would push out his knees forward like with a sissy squat for added quad stretch and depth.

I did find some rare footage of Platz doing leg extensions but before you critcize his form and how much he makes his spotter work take note that this was shot at the end of his workout and he was just burning and grinding out the last set and last bit of muscle contraction his incredible quads could muster.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8PWcGbAvMw&mode=related&search=

[suckmymuscle]

i think you're referring to Johnny Fuller

  I stand corrected. I confused him for another guy named Jimmy Fuller. Sorry.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

[BEAST 8692]

We have all seen how Arnold trained watching Pumping Iron. Though he obvious trained very hard I don't think he matched the momentary intensity as a Platx, Yates or Mentzer. Meaning, Arnold didn't take a set as far as others. We got to see Yates in all his glory and I thought it was pretty impressive. He seemed to push himself harder and dig deeper than Arnold did. Unfortunately, we don't have much footage of Platz but stories of his ferocious intensity is legendary. Even Mr. HIT himself, Mike Mentzer, admitted that when watching Platz prepare for the 1981 Olympia (which either he or Padilla should have won marking the greatest injustice in the Olympia to date) that he trained like a man possessed. It bordered on scary. Our own Max_Rep can give a first hand account having watched Platz train. If I recall correctly, Max_Rep mentioned how it was not so much on squats (though he did take that lift to the extreme) but it was on the standing hack squats that was almost painful to watch. Platz would not only go ass to ankle deep but would push out his knees forward like with a sissy squat for added quad stretch and depth.

I did find some rare footage of Platz doing leg extensions but before you critcize his form and how much he makes his spotter work take note that this was shot at the end of his workout and he was just burning and grinding out the last set and last bit of muscle contraction his incredible quads could muster.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T8PWcGbAvMw&mode=related&search=

i hope i would never be so foolish as to question the leg training methods of a man that had leg development that was so far ahead of anything ever seen prior.

he set the standard and i have no doubt that, during the 80s, when it came around to leg day, the serious bbers were all thinking Tom Platz.

[mesmorph78]

your black, of course you hate skin head yates and love backwoods ronnie

no guy...
i hate no one because of colour....
what i hate is
guys doing curls in the squat rack
 

[BEAST 8692]

no guy...
i hate no one because of colour....
what i hate is
guys doing curls in the squat rack
 

why the hate

fucking thing would get cobwebs on it otherwise.

[wes]

thanks for the reply wes.

i have no doubt that these guys trained extremely hard, but i'm probably more of a factual type of person that's seen way too much 'embellishment' over the years. i've never been a fan boy type and if there is one thing i've learnt from sport and life it's that when a man overdoes the machismo bs, it's ALWAYS a cover up for insecurity. as much as i respect his straight forwardness, he is the personification of this stereotype.

it was a good article but i am somewhat biased because imo 'brevity is best'. not a hit disciple but i don't believe in wasting precious energy on bs either.

i'm always impressed by someone (male/female/young/old) that takes themselves out of their comfort zone and faces a worthy challenge. this, to me, defines courage. i don't care what sport you do or who you are, this is the only thing that impresses me, not machismo or egotistical bs.

Agreed on all counts.

[mesmorph78]

why the hate

fucking thing would get cobwebs on it otherwise.

that my friend is quite true
 

[SF1900]

Steve Michalik and John Defendis