This is from Natural Mr. Olympia at Ironage that may give some
insight into what made Frank so good for his time and then I'll
give my own perspective on some oldies I've seen in person.
Arnold really had a great flow to his physique. I really noticed it when he competed at the 1980 Olympia at less than his best. Even at only 80% and with much less mass, Arnold still looked better than most of the other competitors who trained hard all year for that contest. You just can't change the overall shape and symmetry of your physique. Zane, obviously, had a very beautiful physique too. Even though Arnold is known mostly for his mass and size and he did have some structural flaws like a wide waist and narrow thighs, his physique just looks right. He was blessed with good muscle shape and a pleasing physique. Going back to Zane, I remember seeing a picture of him with about 3 or 4 other bodybuilders in the Nabba Universe (maybe from '72) and, even though he is probably smaller and lighter than the other guys, his overall shape and structure is just so superior that he looks bigger and better than all of them. That's what his critics, who always call him skinny or a swimmer physique, don't understand about Zane. He just looked better because of the overall flow and symmetry to his physique.
My take is that if Robby Robinson had come in ripped for the Olympia's he
competed against Frank it would have been very close with Robby probably
winning. Frank won during a time when the competition was relatively weak
and the fact is he looked better and more polished than his competitors.
Take Dorian for example - No one during his reign could match his dry, hard
grainy look that gave him a look no one else had.
Have seen Boyer Coe, Mike Mentzer, Bertil Fox, Gary Strydom, Lee Haney
and Chris Dickerson all in good shape at a pretty close distance.
I am not saying at all that Dickerson should beat all these guys but I
can say that he is one of those guys that looks totally different in person (in a good unique way)
than video or pictures more so than the others mentioned. This was in his prime
between 80-82. As much as I like Arnold the bodybuilder I would have picked
Dickerson in 1980. His back and legs were 1st or 2nd best in the contest and
I can't get past how thin Arnold's legs were for that contest.
Saying that, Arnold's 1973-74 physique is one of the best ever to grace
a bodybuilding stage.
Arnold 1973
