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Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: NarcissisticDeity on December 31, 2008, 07:59:31 AM
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This is from Musclemag July 1996
IS ZULAK LYING?
I just read Greg Zulak;s article about Greg Kovacs. He claims that Kovacs is the strongest bodybuilder of all time and regularly uses six 45-pound plates on each side of the bar on incline presses on the Smith machine for 6 reps during his chest workouts.
The bar and apparatus on a Smith machine usually weighs about 65 pounds. Twelve 45-pound Olympic plates weigh 540 pounds. That means Zulak claims Kovacs is incline pressing 605 pounds for 6 reps. Come on! Is that a misprint or a typo? Nobody can be that strong. Pat Casey , Paul Anderson and Doug Hepburn - some of the strongest men of all time - could only bench press a little over 600 pounds. Bill Kazmaier's best official bench press in competition was 666 pounds. Big Jim Williams could only bench press an official 675 pounds. At a recent bench shootout in Texas only two men out of 30 were able to bench more than 700 pounds.
Please clarify this point for me . I am very skeptical about this absurd claim. Zulak is either flat out Lying or grossly mistaken.
Jeff Peters
JacksonVille, Florida.
Editor: Yes. Greg Kovacs does use six plates a side on the Smith machine for 6 reps as a regular training poundage for his chest workout- and that's after many other heavy preceding sets. Actually, in a way, Zulak did make a mistake on how much weight Kovacs uses on the Smith- machine incline press. Just last week ( at the time of this writing, the third week of February ). Kovacs did seven plates a side on Smith-machine incline presses for 6 reps. That's more than 675 pounds for 6 reps. It's probably closer to 700 pounds because , as you have pointed out, the weight of the bar and apparatus of a Smith-machine is heavier than a regular 45-pound Olympia bar.
Greg does sets of 12 reps in the seated behind-the-neck presses with 405 pounds regularly and does 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps with 455 pounds. He recently did a 495-pound seated behind-the-neck press for 3 reps on the Smith machine. and that was after the preceding sets : 155 x 20 reps , 245 x20 reps , 335 x15 reps, 425 x 12 reps , 455 x 8 reps , 455 x6 reps , before finishing with 495 x 3 reps ..Just imagine what Kovacs could do if he went for a max attempt without first exhausting his triceps and shoulders with so many other high-rep heavy sets!
All of these lifts were preformed in front of dozens of witnesses in a busy gym. Is Greg Kovacs the strongest bodybuilder of all time? Without a doubt.
discuss
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booooooooooooooooooolshi t.
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booooooooooooooooooolshit.
I thought you'd get a kick out of that :D
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This is from Musclemag July 1996
IS ZULAK LYING?
I just read Greg Zulak;s article about Greg Kovacs. He claims that Kovacs is the strongest bodybuilder of all time and regularly uses six 45-pound plates on each side of the bar on incline presses on the Smith machine for 6 reps during his chest workouts.
The bar and apparatus on a Smith machine usually weighs about 65 pounds. Twelve 45-pound Olympic plates weigh 540 pounds. That means Zulak claims Kovacs is incline pressing 605 pounds for 6 reps. Come on! Is that a misprint or a typo? Nobody can be that strong. Pat Casey , Paul Anderson and Doug Hepburn - some of the strongest men of all time - could only bench press a little over 600 pounds. Bill Kazmaier's best official bench press in competition was 666 pounds. Big Jim Williams could only bench press an official 675 pounds. At a recent bench shootout in Texas only two men out of 30 were able to bench more than 700 pounds.
Please clarify this point for me . I am very skeptical about this absurd claim. Zulak is either flat out Lying or grossly mistaken.
Jeff Peters
JacksonVille, Florida.
Editor: Yes. Greg Kovacs does use six plates a side on the Smith machine for 6 reps as a regular training poundage for his chest workout- and that's after many other heavy preceding sets. Actually, in a way, Zulak did make a mistake on how much weight Kovacs uses on the Smith- machine incline press. Just last week ( at the time of this writing, the third week of February ). Kovacs did seven plates a side on Smith-machine incline presses for 6 reps. That's more than 675 pounds for 6 reps. It's probably closer to 700 pounds because , as you have pointed out, the weight of the bar and apparatus of a Smith-machine is heavier than a regular 45-pound Olympia bar.
Greg does sets of 12 reps in the seated behind-the-neck presses with 405 pounds regularly and does 2 sets of 6 to 8 reps with 455 pounds. He recently did a 495-pound seated behind-the-neck press for 3 reps on the Smith machine. and that was after the preceding sets : 155 x 20 reps , 245 x20 reps , 335 x15 reps, 425 x 12 reps , 455 x 8 reps , 455 x6 reps , before finishing with 495 x 3 reps ..Just imagine what Kovacs could do if he went for a max attempt without first exhausting his triceps and shoulders with so many other high-rep heavy sets!
All of these lifts were preformed in front of dozens of witnesses in a busy gym. Is Greg Kovacs the strongest bodybuilder of all time? Without a doubt.
discuss
Well, Smith machine demands far less of the body than when using a free barbell, because it requires no neuromuscular coordination and stablizer muscles. When you take this into consideration that and the fact that Kovacs has absolutely beastly genetics for strengh&size, I believe it's possible. Kovacs was also notorious for doing quarter reps and rest-pause reps, which raises the believability of these weights even further. I can see a 6'2 man with a huge frame on massive doses of anabolics benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps or resting 5 seconds between reps. It is belieavable. Just my opinion - and I do know a lot about training.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
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Well, Smith machine demands far less of the body than when using a free barbell, because it requires no neuromuscular coordination and stablizer muscles. When you take this into consideration that and the fact that Kovacs has absolutely beastly genetics for strengh&size, I believe it's possible. Kovacs was also notorious for doing quarter reps and rest-pause reps, which raises the believability of these weights even further. I can see a 6'2 man with a huge frame on massive doses of anabolics benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps or resting 5 seconds between reps. It is belieavable. Just my opinion - and I do know a lot about training.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
::)
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on a smith machine i could see him doing that. some of the strong pros today used 5 plates a side, and he was over 300 and very strong. Some of the other claims that were made seem more bullshit than that one.
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Well, Smith machine demands far less of the body than when using a free barbell, because it requires no neuromuscular coordination and stablizer muscles. When you take this into consideration that and the fact that Kovacs has absolutely beastly genetics for strengh&size, I believe it's possible. Kovacs was also notorious for doing quarter reps and rest-pause reps, which raises the believability of these weights even further. I can see a 6'2 man with a huge frame on massive doses of anabolics benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps or resting 5 seconds between reps. It is belieavable. Just my opinion - and I do know a lot about training.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
There is NO doubting the guy is freakishly strong but that's insanity
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You guys need to know the history of this. Kovacs was a MuscleTech hyped BB from day one. At the time MuscleMag which I believe might have been owned by MT was also in the game. They gave Kovacs way too much hype. It was a huge marketing campaign. The claims were so fucking outrageous. Everything Kovacs did in photos was Smith related. They did this because they could easily put on wood plates and people couldn't call bullshit like they could with a real Barbell because a real barbell would be completely bending with 6 plates a side.
This was all a huge marketing stunt by MT and MuscleMag. MT put a lot of time and money into Kovacs but no matter what they did he looked like shit. He won Mr. Canada to get his pro card and beat guys in real good shape. He looked like shit but MT bought the contest to get him his IFBB card.
Just like how MT products can help you put on 876.21% more mass, just use this same bullshit logic with the Kovacs claims.
Ever remember Ernie Taylor with those huge syntholed triceps? He would claim to do 200 lb dumbell tricep behind the head presses. It turned out to be all photoshop. What a crock.
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smith machine = nothing to discuss
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smith machine = nothing to discuss
he didn't even do those lifts on the Smith Machine, it's all bullshit.
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maybe the weights feel lighter in Canada?
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there would be videos of him lifitng those weight if he had
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maybe the weights feel lighter in Canada?
he couldn't lift those weights on the moon let alone Canada.
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Well, Smith machine demands far less of the body than when using a free barbell, because it requires no neuromuscular coordination and stablizer muscles. When you take this into consideration that and the fact that Kovacs has absolutely beastly genetics for strengh&size, I believe it's possible. Kovacs was also notorious for doing quarter reps and rest-pause reps, which raises the believability of these weights even further. I can see a 6'2 man with a huge frame on massive doses of anabolics benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps or resting 5 seconds between reps. It is belieavable. Just my opinion - and I do know a lot about training.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
hahahahahahahahahhhhhahahahahahahahhahahhahaha
;D
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You guys need to know the history of this. Kovacs was a MuscleTech hyped BB from day one. At the time MuscleMag which I believe might have been owned by MT was also in the game. They gave Kovacs way too much hype. It was a huge marketing campaign. The claims were so fucking outrageous. Everything Kovacs did in photos was Smith related. They did this because they could easily put on wood plates and people couldn't call bullshit like they could with a real Barbell because a real barbell would be completely bending with 6 plates a side.
This was all a huge marketing stunt by MT and MuscleMag. MT put a lot of time and money into Kovacs but no matter what they did he looked like shit. He won Mr. Canada to get his pro card and beat guys in real good shape. He looked like shit but MT bought the contest to get him his IFBB card.
Just like how MT products can help you put on 876.21% more mass, just use this same bullshit logic with the Kovacs claims.
Ever remember Ernie Taylor with those huge syntholed triceps? He would claim to do 200 lb dumbell tricep behind the head presses. It turned out to be all photoshop. What a crock.
He was hyped up for sure by MuscleMag but Flex did an issue about him , maybe I can find that one and see what they say
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I agree with those that are knocking these claims because its a smith machine.I actually believe that he could do those lifts on a smith machine.I guarantee you this.He would get CRUSHED with 675 on a bb incline bench.Kovacs has admitted these numbers were exaggerated.Eddy Coan challenged him once for 10,000 dollars to compete against him ,Kovacs wouldnt take the challenge.He knew.
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I agree with those that are knocking these claims because its a smith machine.I actually believe that he could do those lifts on a smith machine.I guarantee you this.He would get CRUSHED with 675 on a bb incline bench.Kovacs has admitted these numbers were exaggerated.Eddy Coan challenged him once for 10,000 dollars to compete against him ,Kovacs wouldnt take the challenge.He knew.
No shit I never knew Ed threw down the gauntlet lol that's awesome
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No shit I never knew Ed threw down the gauntlet lol that's awesome
it was in Steve Neece's old column in Musclemag around 97-98.
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10 plates on that incline video
450 lbs
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Not only the most intelligent man in the world but also be the strongest :D
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There is NO doubting the guy is freakishly strong but that's insanity
C'mon dude...we are talking about a guy on 'roids, GH and insulin benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps. Read the parts in bold several times and you'll agree with me that it's believabe.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
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thing i never understood about covacs is why he never tried his hand at strong man, was never goin to be a bodybuilder in a million yrs, wonder why he never crossed over as most failed strong bodybuilders did?
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One thing aboit Kovacs though.He was on MD rado a few months ago,the guy was funny as hell.His story about having to wear a fan around his neck in order to stay cool was a classic.His imitation of Nassar was really funny as well.He seemed like a really funny guy.
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C'mon dude...we are talking about a guy on 'roids, GH and insulin benching 6 plates a side on the smith machine for quarter reps. Read the parts in bold several times and you'll agree with me that it's believabe.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
Not seeing any quarter reps on this video. Yeah, a little spotting help on the Smith Incline, but nothing I'd consider cheating in terms of rep range. Lifting looks solid, controlled....as good as it can get, especially lifting heavy weights like that. I guess people just like to nitpick. I know 495 or 595 isn't exactly 605 or whatever is stated, and that seems to be where a lot of the debate occurs...specifics. When it comes down to it though, the guy was just insanely strong...plainly put.
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I was at a seminar in Ft. Lauderdale years ago and someone asked Chris Cormeir if he was stronger than Kovacs...........Chris said definately and most of Kovacs lifts/reps were half or quarter reps.
I also met Kovacs down there one year..........seemed cool as hell,got a pic with him and he was friggin` monstrous.
This was back in the mid 90`s.
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No one does legit reps with that weight .......Smith machine or otherwise.
I trained in the same gym as Glen Chabot.......he weighed 315 and had abs........did a legit 650 for a triple raw like a hot knife through butter.
No way Greg does 605 on the incline......no fucking way is he as strong or stronger than my boy Chabot.
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6 plates on incline for 4 good reps (deep, with just a little spot)
Everything aside, that is impressive. Dude was strong
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The claims were bogus in order to sell the magazines.....proof is in the puddin cause we're still talkin about what they wrote today. Most of us didn't have internet connectivity back then so we couldn't get together and bedunk any of these claims. We just read the mags in awe on our shitters each month and later we became educated.
Thanks Getbig!!
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YOU ARE ALL COCCCCS
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YOU ARE ALL COCCCCS
(http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/resources/shapematters_cochlea_800.jpg)
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maybe the weights feel lighter in Canada?
What's the current exchange rate to Canadian pounds?
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smith machine = nothing to discuss
agree
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585 for 12
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6 plates on incline for 4 good reps (deep, with just a little spot)
Everything aside, that is impressive. Dude was strong
But we didn't see him do anything with six 45s on either side -- not in that video. Greg puts more weight on the machine, then you get a close-up on him and the bar while he's lifting. We never actually see a wide shot that shows him pressing twelve 45s.
If you watch carefully, you can see that his heavy set's simply recycled footage from his previous "set," which was also bogus (a few of those reps were clearly looped video as well).
I feel bad for him because his body is, frankly, hideous ... one would at least hope he was as strong as those comics magazines claimed. But his video doesn't prove anything except he and his video crew have a very, very low opinion of prospective viewers' intelligence.
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does anyone know if Greg is bitter at the industry?
I mean, there was a portion of time where he was getting (as they say in Pro wrestling) a huge "push"
...and i'm sure with that "push" there were alot of promises and he was probably seeing stars from all the promises
so, i can see how i may be bitter
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trevor smith was even stronger than that.