Mentzer vs Viator

[BIG AL MCKECHNIE]

Well they were almost exactly the same age and in the 1971 Mr America Viator placed 1st and Mentzer placed 10th.
I remember an old article in m+f where Mentzer said he felt like a boy against a man when he saw Casey backstage.

I think that settles the argument. 

[Danimal77]

similar bodies, weak chest, thick torsos, good arms and calves. of course mike was more popular due to the popularity of bodybuilding at the time.

Weak chest?

[Nether Animal]

Viator owns the side chest shot.

[dj181]

Dykes aesthetics trump gaysey's

His aesthetics also trumped his brother gay

[Danimal77]

Viator owns the side chest shot.

Mentzer was no slouch each

[BSN]

Pretty similar strengths and weaknesses between them. Both of them have wide hips, the chest was not their strong point,  and about abs ... On the other hand they had big arms/forearms , solid legs and overall powerful dense look. I think Casey was a little better at the arm's ( biceps) and back department, and Mike had bigger full thighs. The obvious difference is that Casey had a blocky physique look,  Mike body seemed more aesthetic with a better ratio between waist and chest/back/ shoulders.

[be back]

Pretty similar strengths and weaknesses between them. Both of them have wide hips, the chest was not their strong point,  and about abs ... On the other hand they had big arms/forearms , solid legs and overall powerful dense look. I think Casey was a little better at the arm's ( biceps) and back department, and Mike had bigger full thighs. The obvious difference is that Casey had a blocky physique look,  Mike body seemed more aesthetic with a better ratio between waist and chest/back/ shoulders.

over analysis of peace

[oldschoolfan]

i talked to viator several times through email in the early 2000's very nice guy ,  said he trained high volume to get ready for a contest, also said arnold trained harder than anyone precontest time, and that his precontest workouts would kill most people.

casey never looked this good though

[megafitness]

i talked to viator several times through email in the early 2000's very nice guy ,  said he trained high volume to get ready for a contest, also said arnold trained harder than anyone precontest time, and that his precontest workouts would kill most people.

casey never looked this good though

Mentzer was solid. He had an unmistakable marble like phyisique.

[dj181]

Dykes best body part was his triceps

[PJim]

No contest, Mike of course.

[oldschoolfan]

No contest, Mike of course.

as i have gotten older, not that old , i have come to realize mike had one of the finest and most unique physiques to ever compete, shame his pro career was so short.  the guy had charisma,only matched by arnold.

[Disgusted]

Anyone notice how much thickness Mike lost in the late 70's up to his last show? He looked his best around 76.

[SilverSpoon]

Anyone notice how much thickness Mike lost in the late 70's up to his last show? He looked his best around 76.

What do you think was the cause of that?

What year did he score a perfect score?

[oldschoolfan]

Anyone notice how much thickness Mike lost in the late 70's up to his last show? He looked his best around 76.

i believe i read, that weider encouraged him to slim down after the 79 olympia to match zane. not sure if this is true. he should have beaten zane. in his heavy duty journal, which was a for his prep for the 79 olympia he said he had gotten very out of shape, around the time his mom died, and had to do super low calories and a shit load of cardio to get in shape for that show

[dj181]

Anyone notice how much thickness Mike lost in the late 70's up to his last show? He looked his best around 76.

Here weighed a buck 99 in 76 and in 79 he was 2 bills plus 10

His arms were bigger and thicker in 76 though

[tres_taco_combo]

all depends on what you like

mike - bit thicker/
casey - a bit more lean

i love mikes upper body - like an action figure

[The Scott]

So many talk about "conditioning" as if it were the schmolie grail of this "sport".  To me, there is a balance that is now rarely met.  The 70's through the early to mid 80s epitomized that balance.  Thickness coupled with good definition. 

No one should ever look like a cadaver elsewise they will be the next Munzer.It's the same with the size game.  Too much is just that.  Too much. Coleman was a hippo.  Fat ass, wide hips, HUGE gut and an ego to match.   Muscularly overweight.  A  caricature of bodybuilding. Disgusting fodder for the size queen schome-set.

Mentzer looked great in the mid to late 70s.  So did Zane, Arnold, Columbu, Viator, Padilla and many others.    You can't go back but what has been going on since is anything but forward.

[oldschoolfan]

So many talk about "conditioning" as if it were the schmolie grail of this "sport".  To me, there is a balance that is now rarely met.  The 70's through the early to mid 80s epitomized that balance.  Thickness coupled with good definition. 

No one should ever look like a cadaver elsewise they will be the next Munzer.It's the same with the size game.  Too much is just that.  Too much. Coleman was a hippo.  Fat ass, wide hips, HUGE gut and an ego to match.   Muscularly overweight.  A  caricature of bodybuilding. Disgusting fodder for the size queen schome-set.

Mentzer looked great in the mid to late 70s.  So did Zane, Arnold, Columbu, Viator, Padilla and many others.    You can't go back but what has been going on since is anything but forward.

spott on, true story scott, me and my gf watched pumping iron, and she liked it thought they looked good, showed her some pics of mike, etc, then i showed her a pic of ronnie coleman the first words out of her mouth was he looks disgusting and his gut makes him look like he is pregnant

[be back]

So many talk about "conditioning" as if it were the schmolie grail of this "sport".  To me, there is a balance that is now rarely met.  The 70's through the early to mid 80s epitomized that balance.  Thickness coupled with good definition. 

No one should ever look like a cadaver elsewise they will be the next Munzer.It's the same with the size game.  Too much is just that.  Too much. Coleman was a hippo.  Fat ass, wide hips, HUGE gut and an ego to match.   Muscularly overweight.  A  caricature of bodybuilding. Disgusting fodder for the size queen schome-set.

Mentzer looked great in the mid to late 70s.  So did Zane, Arnold, Columbu, Viator, Padilla and many others.    You can't go back but what has been going on since is anything but forward.

[karasan]

So many talk about "conditioning" as if it were the schmolie grail of this "sport".  To me, there is a balance that is now rarely met.  The 70's through the early to mid 80s epitomized that balance.  Thickness coupled with good definition. 

No one should ever look like a cadaver elsewise they will be the next Munzer.It's the same with the size game.  Too much is just that.  Too much. Coleman was a hippo.  Fat ass, wide hips, HUGE gut and an ego to match.   Muscularly overweight.  A  caricature of bodybuilding. Disgusting fodder for the size queen schome-set.

Mentzer looked great in the mid to late 70s.  So did Zane, Arnold, Columbu, Viator, Padilla and many others.    You can't go back but what has been going on since is anything but forward.

Volume workouts definitely worked, I witness a 70's Turkish champs volume workout when he was 65, he was of a small stature, but he had amazing chest and he did endless sets with very respectable poundages.
He said Ahmet Enunlu's volume workouts would kill a horse.
Right genetics, frequent volume workouts gave that beautiful lines to champs of 70's and 80's
They built their insane aerobic capacity with years of hardwork.
I guess most people is wrong about "you need to be a genetic freak to make it big with volume"
You just need 2 years of foundation, it is like trying to run a Marathon without at least preparing for a year.
That 65 old fella was no genetic freak, and a natural.
To be honest I couldn't succeed with volume, because I didn't see the way I'm seeing today.
Doing 25 sets when you are not ready definitely hinder your progress, but when you have the aerobic capacity you will definitely grow on volume.

[dj181]

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMN

[Danimal77]

Here weighed a buck 99 in 76 and in 79 he was 2 bills plus 10

His arms were bigger and thicker in 76 though

I read an article written by Mike where he said he had a legit 18 5/8" upper arms measured at an accurate angle and weighed 225 pounds on a 5'8" frame (he claimed Ray was 1" taller). The article was written in the early 80's, so I'm not sure if he weighed 225 pounds onstage at some point or if that was his offseason weight? I know Casey was the same height and went as high as 240 pounds.

[dj181]

I read an article written by Mike where he said he had a legit 18 5/8" upper arms measured at an accurate angle and weighed 225 pounds on a 5'8" frame (he claimed Ray was 1" taller). The article was written in the early 80's, so I'm not sure if he weighed 225 pounds onstage at some point or if that was his offseason weight? I know Casey was the same height and went as high as 240 pounds.

His onstage weight at the 76 America was 199 and in that article it claimed his arms measured 19 inches but the writer of that article wasn't him

[oldtimer1]

Mentzer's training when through so many changes. The workouts he recommended after he retired looked like nothing he did in his competitive years. He started as a teen using a combo of bodybuilding, power lifting and olympic lifting. He then went onto high volume. Then he went to whole body routines training his entire body using a combination of Nautilus and free weights. He won the IFBB version of the Mr America contest training like this. He used one to two work sets after warm up. Then he went to a split. One day was legs, chest and triceps. The next was back, delts and biceps. He would work out four days a week. Usually Mon, Tues, Thursay and Friday though he was fond of saying the calendar doesn't determine his work out day. Lastly influenced by Frank Calta a Mr. Florida winner he used his rotation for recuperation split.  Monday would be his legs, chest and tri. Wednesday was his back, delts and biceps. Friday he would be back to legs, chest and triceps. The next week he would begin Monday with back, delt and bicep. Wednesday would be his legs, chest and triceps. Friday he would do back, delt and biceps. Again he would use one to two sets after warm up. Those crazy workouts done once every 4 to 5 days were nothing he ever used during his competitive days.

I talked to one guy who use to train in the same gym who claimed he used a lot more sets than he talked about but having read just about everything Mike wrote I came to the conclusion they were non taxing warm ups. If Mike did two work sets in the leg press I'm sure he did at least two warm up sets prior to going to his hard to failure one to two sets.

I have saved everything he wrote in the magazines. It would make a great book if it was combined.