.
Platz had a great upper body, especially his pecs and biceps (before he tore one of them). But, once you see those legs, it all gets lost in the wash. The same thing goes with Ramy.
Why does your post start with a dot?
Jk.
IMO, Platz had great pecs - especially in 1981, pre-biceps tear, and when his conditioning was spot-on [and IMO, when Tom should have been Mr. Olympia, but somehow placed 3rd, and Franco won with gyno]. IMO, Tom's chest was what best upper body strength. I don't recall thinking his biceps were, even pre-injury. And I felt his shoulders were small. I felt
Tom Platz had an average to slightly below average upper body, and a WAY above average lower body. But you nailed it - once you look at the Tom's legs, it makes everything else look deficient - and I wonder where Tom would have placed in a hypothetical 1984 "Upper Bodybuilding" contest.
Maybe Tom's upper body was actually
average to slightly above average, rather than
average to slightly below average. It's hard to judge, with Tom having an upper body that pales in comparison to his legs which are pro level to this day at 65...making it hard for me to judge Tom's upper body fairly.
With Big Ramy, it's the same issue as Platz [overpowering legs], but a difference of degree. I felt Platz could have gained more upper body mass...maybe that's NOT the case, based either Tom having had enough upper body mass, but my inability to judge it fairly as I said above...or maybe Tom was genetically maxed out, and couldn't get any bigger, all things considered. It would seem unfair if Nature gave Tom Platz legs like that, but gave him an Arnold upper body...so maybe Tom could not have brought up his upper body to match his legs.
With Ramy, this monster has to be close to maxed out genetically. All that he can do to balance his quads would be to do what Shawn Ray did in 2001 - reduce his legs. Shawn explicitly said that, and - though subtle - felt he achieved that goal in his retirement Olympia contest, 4th place finish. I doubt Ramy could gain size on his upper body and calves at this point...so downsizing his legs would be the only way he could balance his legs with both his upper body and his calves, IMO.
But as overpowering as Ramy's legs are - so is his upper body, lol. The disparity isn't as noticeable for Ramy as it is with Platz. Does any pro bodybuilder have a bigger torso than Ramy? Was there any bodybuilder competing that had a bigger upper body than Ramy? IMO, his overpowering legs are accompanied by an overpowering torso. He's so far ahead of everyone in
size, that I don't see this changing for years. Especially now at 35 - entering a bodybuilder's prime. IMO, the only thing Ramy needs to do is focus on being refined, and FORGETTING about gaining size. Much like Kai Greene at this point 10 years ago - he JUST needed his best conditioning. If Ramy nails his conditioning, I can't see anyone catch up to his mass in the near future. And Ramy DID nail his conditioning tonight.
Ironically, I think if Lou Ferrigno at 6'5" had Elssbiay's legs, he would have been Mr. Olympia (don't those two tie the record for the heaviest Olympia competitor at 316 lbs?).
Who wins: 1975 Arnold or 1993 Lou?I'm disappointed I forgot Ferrigno's max Mr. Olympia contest weight.
In pamith's recent thread about Lou's strength, I stated Lou was 318-lb in contest:
It's possible...he was 318-lb at the 1993 Mr. Olympia which was just around his 42nd birthday.
But it is in fact YOU who are correct, sir: Lou was 316-lb. I never read or heard what Ramy's biggest weight ever was, so I don't know...I think I recall possibly Chris Aceto saying it was something like 310-lb the year he placed 2nd [2017?], and I think he was 350-lb in the previous offseason [
That's crazy, given that Ramy is 5'10"], so I could see it being 316-lb, despite how shocking that weight is for a shredded bodybuilder.
So you might be right about Big Ramy sharing the biggest Mr. Olympia competitor contest weight record with Lou's 1993 record at 316-lb. It's announced in this video from the 1993 Mr. Olympia, which is where I misremembered the false 318-lb figure that I stated in pamith's new Lou thread:
Curry had the opposite problem: great upper body but weak legs. He fixed it and won the O last year. Elssbiay fixed one problem (showing up shredded) but not the other (balancing those legs with his upper body and calves; that's also why, to me, Kai Greene could never best Phil Heath at the O). No, his calves aren't small, in and of themselves. But, compared to those ro-beast legs, the calves look like twigs.
That said, I think appearing super-shredded with his size is why he got the nod over Curry this time.
Absolutely agree on the reason Big Ramy won - he was objectively the biggest, freakiest bodybuilder on stage
doing battle and
going for war, and he was by no means soft. I'll put it like this - Ramy's conditioning was an inch away from the best on stage, but his size was a mile ahead of the rest of the best on stage. To me, this wasn't a close call - Ramy won, IMO, quite similarly to how Ronnie won in 2003. I really can't see how anyone wouldn't have Ramy winning. How can someone put Phil or Brandon, both of whom Ramy was dwarfing, ahead of him?
I didn't realize that Kai Greene had the issue of balancing his legs with his upper body and calves. Kai was MASSIVE - and in person while offseason was one of the pound-per-inch front-to-back thickest men I have ever seen in my LIFE, to the point that I feared for his health, he was so huge...someone told me that Tom Prince had that sort of look too around 1997 in the offseason [which is funny because Tom and Kai are both about the same height - 5'7.5"]. Just so thick that you can tell you're looking at a man who nature did NOT intend for him to be that big.
I never felt Kai had the aesthetic jacked look that Phil had. IMO, Phil's arms, chest, and back shape were more aesthetic than Kai's, but it's hard to explain - if you compare both in the front double biceps, I think you can sort of see the superior "look" Phil's arms had, even including veins. I would give the size advantage to Kai. I felt that Kai was more like Markus Ruhl in that he was lacking shape, but just MASSIVE - and with that much mass, providing he brought excellent conditioning, would be a threat to any bodybuilder at any contest - including Phil Heath at the Olympia. Markus Ruhl is not the perfect example [I realize that Markus did very well in his career, but was never at Kai's level], but the comparison is not completely wrong either - Kai didn't necessarily have the most beautiful physique...but I always felt his issue in contest was conditioning...this was one area where Phil was just very consistent in, whereas Kai had a tendency to show up off more often than Phil did. And I think the reason was because Kai somehow got it in his mind that he needed to be HUGE, when in reality, he did not need another ounce of muscle mass...he simply needed to bring the best conditioning possible to the table. And I feel that Big Ramy is doing the same thing Kai did - just continue to focus on mass when the very LAST thing he needs is more size. The only thing Big Ramy should be thinking about - which is the only thing Kai Greene should have been thinking about four years ago - is conditioning.
Last I checked this was the Mr. OLYMPIA contest, not the Mr. Manletpia contest.
Of all things, you waited SIXTEEN years to ask me that?
No.
LOL! Yep - 16 years, at least. It may have even been 17 years...you posted that in either 2003 or 2004. We both joined in 2003.
Two questions, MCWAY:
[1] Is that an Irish name?
[2] Did you coin the phrase "From Goo to You by Way of the Zoo"?
