Samir

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Dude... whoever told you that HAD to have been kidding, high on crack
or been reading braile. Samirs back was one of his best body-parts. He was the first to display a christmas tree and did bent rows with 405 for 8-10 clean reps. He got me from foing 225 to doing 365 for 8.

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No that was long after Samir and I stopped training together. I heard about the incident from a buddy who is an IFBB judge. That is not really a funny incedent because it ended Samirs career forever.

Samir Bannout was strong as hell for a guy of 210 pounds. I told it once before. We were working threw our warm-ups on squats, 135, 225, 315 etc. When he stepped back to do his set with 315 he we were close. Not really to spot him with 315 but we were "building the Physch". I don't know what got into him but he said "step back" we did and he starts doing behinf the neck push presses. Not strict--there was plenty of leg kick but still very impressive. (Well to some of us here--not to the super-hero's like onlyme and Chris Mason).

Samir would hit that tricep pose (the one with all the freaky cross-striations several times a day. He loved that shot. So would I if my tri's looked like that.

Stallone's first wife Sasha used to train at Gold's Venice with a trainer. She started at the Gym on 2nd street and was still training after the Gym moved to Hampton Dr.

A guy a know from Rochester named Scott (I can't remember his last name) was a Stallone look-a-like if there ever was one. One day he walks in and I was standing next to Sasha and watched her do a double-take.

I looked over and said "looks like someone you know, doesn't he?

She goes... Damn I thought it was him at first!

It was funny but I guess you had to be there.

Man this thread has me living in the past.

Kevin... I think I know who you are! Remember your old training partner and my roomate (for a month) Greg from Boston? Are you THAT Kevin.

Were you talking about Pete Grymko or Peter Paul?

I also remember Ernie Santiago. Yes he was ripped.

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When I first moved to LA I went to Santa Monica Beach one day to work on the tan and scope some poon. Ran into Bill Grant, Chris Dickerson and a couple guys from the gym so we find a spot to soak up the rays...

...All of a sudden we hear the big THUD. We look over a Casey Viator was headed our way but he fell flat on his face because he was so high on ludes (Casey LOVED qualudes). We just all cracked up. He had this look on his face like a kid that had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

It was  the best p***y gettin place I ever worked.

Glad YOU don't eat much for your size.  A couple pounds of fish, two or three plate-fulls of rice, potatoes, veggies, a loaf of bread, A picture of milk, a picture of OJ and a whole pie.

Just a friggen snack. You crack me up.

Platz trained his upper bady just as hard. He'd do standing smith machine shoulders presses the same way he did hacks. Matter of fact he'd do everything that way.

Magic Shwartz video-taped Platz's workouts during that tikme frame. and was going to sell them about 7 years ago but now the gang over at Ironage has had an APB out on Magic but no luck finding him so far. Leo Costa did some video's with Platz training in the mid ninties. They are good, I have them and Platz was training hard but nothing like he did when I watched hom throughout the summer of 1981 training for the Olympia. I see him around Redondo Beach occasionally. When I talk to him about that summer and his training he just says "I wanted it badly".

My favorite line of Toms on the Leo Costa Video is "Welcome to the pain zone... it's where we live."

I've seen Dorian's video... his intensity does not come close to Platz. I've seen Ronnies video ans seen him train once (off-season) his intesity does not com close to Platz. I've trained with Ray and Mike Mentzer... their intensity does not come close to Platz. At least once or twice Pro's would stop watch Tom do a set and walk away shaking their head. Tom was a freak... Tom thrived on pain. Let's take hacks. Eacg rep he would touch his knees to the floor in front of him. He do a set to failure. Then partials... until he couldn't budge the shoulder pads... Then he'd press the weight up with his arms and shoulders and stand up into the machine and do negatives down. when he couldn't go any further. He's stretch at the botton and then finally he'd collapse like a dead fish.

The guy was f*cking possessed. I'd train with ANYONE. Anyone except him. F*ck that. I'd rather go to the dentist and have him drill a hole in my skull.

Onlyme trained with the Barbarians for a while. They were real characters. Since I was a freind of Tim Kimber and Peter Grymko, I was quickly accepted in as "one of the gang" with almost everyone at Gold's, the barbarians included. David and Peter Paul were always going at it. The stories you read about were true. If Peter was about to miss a rep on the bench David would put his foot in Peters face to make him get the rep assisted or not. They had really bad hygene though dirty sweaty gym clothes. One time I thought they were tanned and then I realized their faces were dirty. Good guys though.

One time I saw them going to a movie theatre. They went right to the front of the line. They said they did it "because we can". Theyn were like little kids always looking to see what they could get away with.

Damn bro I must have still been around. I never knew that happened. Benny and I stopped training their around the same time. I just got really tired of Ray's negativity and all his HIT crap. I was bigger and in the best shape of my life before he bought the gym, training under Rory's guidance. Then when Ray bought the gym he kept lecturing me during my whole workout from across the room. Eventually I changed my workouts to follow his bs training and got fatter and fatter and smaller and smaller. Then he caused me an injury that put me our for YEARS. I still get problems from it once in a while. Ray was one of the most negative people I've ever met.

I love that line of yours. "Call 911 cause this guy is going to need an ambulance!" Too funny.

Of course I remember Ron Gibson. I competed against him in the Collegiate USA back in the 70's before I moved to L.A. Ron kicked all our asses. I didn't even know what AS were back then.

Tequilla Willies is now and Islands. Man that was a year for p***y. It was everywhere, free, easy and fine.

Now I'm depressed. 

Wife... she told me they were married.

I don't mean to trash Don but that is one ugly mug and a pretty unappealing physique.

Let's get back to some stories this thread has gone way off topic. You bunch of shmeviks!

Don Ross used to carry a picture of a chicks p***y in his wallet and whenever he suspected someone was gay he'd flash it at them like you flash a cross at a vampire. He'd say this is my "anti-shmevick" potion get away shmevik (his word for gay)! He was such a goof. He started hangin at Ray's gym just before I left.

Benny was not an asshole... he just got tired of being around Ray.

Call the fire depatment!

When I trained at Ray Mentzers "Muscle Mill" is Redondo Beach, CA we would all go out to dinner after our workouts. Benny "beast-from-the-east" Podda, Ray Mentzer, Mike Mentzer, and 4 or 5 guys from the gym. As you can imagine most of the time it turned into a lecture from Mike and Ray. And of course there was no shortage of "test" running through our veins. Well were there's test, there's horns... woman beware.

After dinner one night one of the guys Ross is talking to some girl near her car. Now we've carpooled to the eatery so were the guys who rode with Ross are waiting. But he's making headway. Benny is getting pissed so all of a sudden we here "Ross call the fire department"!! Benny's got his pants around his ankles and had lit his pubic hair on fire (Benny loved attention). The girl freaks and hits the gas. We're all on the floor laughing our asses off!

So after that our favortite saying became "Call the fire depatment!".

Thanks Protein Jones,

Hmmm... my stories get triggered in the dusty old cob-web infested memory by something someone else says but to this day whenever I see Samir Bannout we both start making the sound of a machine-gun. Why?

Well when we were training partners, our third partner "Steve W*%&^" was REALLY into crytal meth. He'd hit the gym bathroom first thing and toot some. When were training he would talk so fast that he'd stutter and he was so intense his head would shake and it would sound like a machine gun going off. Samir and I would look at each other like "what the f*ck did he say". Then we'd just make that sound and crack up.

There are more but that one brings up all the good times and killer workouts.

Oh... tried it once... HATED it. Never again.

D*ckhead that do curls in the squat rack.

C*nts that wear low-cut tops, thongs then do one arm rows or deadlifts and then act all p*ssed when ten tongues hit the floor.

Idiot trainers with their "core training" b.s.

Yes well worth the $. Buy it.

Welcome Kevin.

No one said it so I will. I still get inspired watching Full Blown.

Good luck in Hollywood.

The darker the fruit... the sweeter he meat!!!