Sergio Olivia still big!

[tommywishbone]

Excellent info & stories CS.

Of all the Original Greats, I don't recall ever having seen Sergio in person... even once.

Arnold, Nubret, Robby, Danny, Franco, Scott, Zane, Mentzer, Platz, Draper, Corney, Clancy Ross, Grymko, Waller, Zabo, Vince Goronda... but I don't think I've ever seen Sergio, strange.

Thanks again for the great action.

-Tom

[dr.chimps]

CS: Kudos on this Sergio thread. You wait a long time, and sift through a good bunch of crap (in a good way  ) on GetBig, but observations like yours make it all worthwhile. Many thanks.

ps. Someone needs to make sure that this info. gets to Keith so he can permalink it on the History board.

[War-Horse]

Excellent info & stories CS.

Of all the Original Greats, I don't recall ever having seen Sergio in person... even once.

Arnold, Nubret, Robby, Danny, Franco, Scott, Zane, Mentzer, Platz, Vince Goronda... but I don't think I've ever seen Sergio, strange.

Thanks again for the great action.

-Tom

Tommy,  he was at the olympia expo at one of the booths.  It was great, I bought a pic and had him sign it. It was a front lat spread from 1974,  Mr world he said.   Its crazy man, Ill try to scan it and put it in here later........   He looks like an average old black brotha now. No taper or anything.
 Big giant rings on tho!!   Good stuff.
But he talked with me and my wife for at least 20 minutes.  I asked about ricky wayne, and he went on a Joe weider tangent..LOL  It was great.   Maybe he'll be there this year

[Deadpool]

sure, if you can scan it, be nice to see

[CS]

Adonis, the form used was pretty strict. We didn't lift our ass on bench or anything like that but sometimes we used a little body English to get that last rep or two. We always spotted each other. Sergio liked to have coffee with his workout for energy.

I'll bet that autographed picture looks like someone signed it with their toes. Did Sergio sign it in front of you? I remember his wife used to sign all the pictures from his mail order business because his hand writting is such a mess.

[War-Horse]

Adonis, the form used was pretty strict. We didn't lift our ass on bench or anything like that but sometimes we used a little body English to get that last rep or two. We always spotted each other. Sergio liked to have coffee with his workout for energy.

I'll bet that autographed picture looks like someone signed it with their toes. Did Sergio sign it in front of you? I remember his wife used to sign all the pictures from his mail order business because his hand writting is such a mess.

Thats for damn sure LOL.  He was all over the place.  Ill post it after i get home from taking my daughter to see "The wild". movie.

[Naked4Jesus]

This is a great thread.  Someone should make it a sticky in the history section.  I love these old stories, Sergio was a huge inspiration to so many. 

[HowieW]

Sadly, he's a bit overweight today but will forever be know as The Myth. As well as 1972 Mr. Olympia. 

1.I don't know if this refers to the controversial 72 olympia where Arnold squeeked by Sergio is a very close , controversial show in Essen , Germany that year, near Arnold's home town.
2. Sergio was a 3 time  straight Mr O winner from 67-69 , and defeated by Arnold in 1970.

3. As for the heavy comment, gee whiz guys , the man is retired from the sport, RETIRED. Nobody cracks on Henry Aaron because he can't hit a big league fastball like he did in his prime. I guess we should expect the champs to never age or retire? Or if they did retire, they better not change how they look or we won't respect what they did in their prime? wtf???

4. SYNTHOL? wtf His arms always defied belief long before Synthol was a product. His long full muscle bellys are legend and why do you think they called him "the Myth".

Sergio is a bodybuilding legend who had a jaw dropping physique that was incredible when in his prime. The ignorant nature of some these comments is also beyond comprehension
Do some of you really know so little about the history of bodybuilding and what the sport or former champs were all about??

[War-Horse]

This is mostly a positive thread, Howie.    Yes theres some of the usual "synthol" crap in here, But for petes sake, their debating if that little muscle girl, "lil hercules"  has synthol too.

Always a few idiots, i guess.             Long live Sergio.

[HowieW]

This is mostly a positive thread, Howie.    Yes theres some of the usual "synthol" crap in here, But for petes sake, their debating if that little muscle girl, "lil hercules"  has synthol too.

Always a few idiots, i guess.             Long live Sergio.

Thanks for the reality check, it just bugs me when they attempt to degarde a legend like Sergio and lump him in with all the other idiots is my beef.
Thanks, and no I am no reallu upset, just wanted to set the record straight is all.
Howard

[bmacsys]

  I am glad to see a fellow ambitious person. I don't think most people understand us

And wouldn't care to understand either.

[bmacsys]

I
After his move to Chicago he later became a Chicago Cop (through political connections) after a short stint as a Tailor. At the time he wanted to become a cop, there was an age requirement and he was too old so he had to come up with a birth certificate to show he was younger. His fake birth certificate made him 10 years younger. His bodybuilding age was always 10 years younger. I don't believe his birthday was on the 4th of July but was just an easy date for him to remember. Sergio is actually close to 70 + or - a year or two.

CS, you think Sergio was born around 1931 and not 1941?

[bmacsys]

What did the great Sergio take? And how did he train. Would mean a lot if you could at least answer one of my questions as Sergio is my favorite bodybuilder. Thanks.

Legend has it Sergio never did much juice. Legend has it he trained on a diet of pepsi and hotdogs.

[bmacsys]

Tough love   

Yeah, too the extreme!

[bmacsys]

Sorry, I don't know much about the doses guys took in the old days but I know they were much more conservative than now-a-days. Don't believe that Sergio took large doses of anything because it's not true.

I don't think Sergio operates a computer or would be able to figure out how to get Online. His friend handles his Web site.
He would probably need a keyboard with extra large letters. Like one of those phones with the giant numbers.

Is Sergio a larger than life figure in real life as he seems? I love the shots of him in PI where he has the cue stick. And him eating like a horse.

[UK Gold]

Excellent post CS, the best in a long time. Sergio is a true legend of bodybuilding. Sorry to hear about your joints. It doesn't happen to everyone, i guess you're just extremley unlucky. Thanks for sharing you're memories, keep them coming please!

Adonis, its painfully obvious you're just itching to go on the gear.

[CS]

I'm not sure of the exact year but I do know he's more than 11 years older than I am so his birthdate is closer to 1931 than it is 1941 and his age is right around 70. He's only a few years younger than Beckles. Where's Albert?

I don't believe he was ever into the hotdogs and Coke or Pepsi. Sergio ate for free or half price at most of the restaurants in his Police District so there was no need for him to eat junk. I had many meal with him and he ate a lot of chicken but he ate like everyone else. I do remember a photo of him in a magazine in the early 80s and his stomach was bloated and they referred to him as a butterball but I never saw him in that condition. He was lazy as everyone about doing abs or cardio but I never knew him to be a fat pig. This is a guy that had total control of his physique.

[alexxx]

Damnnn CS looks like training with Sergio has paid off for you! You look pretty great yourself! What was your best placing?

[CS]

Alexx, I never did that many shows. Three shows total and I got 3rd place in the Mr Chicago 1989. I think I was something like 18th in the Continental USA but that was my first show and it was a national qualifier. I was way out of my league for my first show. My timing was off, the guy that took first place in the light heavy saw me a week later and said if the show were today I would have beat him. Timing is so critical. Maybe a pizza before the show would have helped. We were doing zero carbs for a few days of the last week before the show and then started carbing up about three days out from the show. That was tough.

[RobertForbes]

Do you think Sergio has left the weights behind now CS due to his joints etc? It seems nowadays Sergio wears the long sleeves, suits now compared to the cut shirts he used to wear.

[schwarzenpecker]

CS, why do you say taking Testosterone Cypionate ruined your joints? Would taking Sostenon been better?

[Max_Rep]

CS great contributions. Sergio is a true legend and it's great to get some insight about his training. Thanks for making this one of the best threads ever on Getbig!

[CS]

I do believe Sergio is now limited to what he can do in the gym. If he were to train anywhere near the way he trained in the past he would destroy the shoulders and other joint replacements in no time and need it done again. The replacement is meant to last for the rest of the life of the recipient and to relieve the chronic pain.
From what I've learned about the different testosterones including the Sustanon it destroys the cartilage. It can be described as degenerative joint disease.
I've also heard this from doctors. I don't know if this will happen to everyone who uses it but I know a few people, including myself, and that's too many. I know Serge had some other health related problems associated to the juice but I don't want to go into his medical history. Lets just say he was a little too old in the 90s to be messing with that stuff anymore.
We should never mention the name Sergio Oliva and Synthol in the same sentence. I said it before and I'll say it again, he never heard of that stuff and it wasn't even around in his day so it's a no brainer. He was a champion without drugs but the drugs made him that much better. Look at how puny Frank Zane, Lee Haney and Franco are now.
From what I've seen of the results using Synthol, it appears that the muscle doesn't even move and it looks as fake as a boob job.

I think in Sergio's later years it was a matter of vanity and wanting to keep the size. We all go through that and he's not someone who's going to go down without a fight. The last time I took anything androgenic was 1995 and I didn't like the way it made me feel so I stopped after two weeks. Been drug free ever since and never miss workouts. I feel I'm training as hard as ever but not able to push the same weights due to the shoulder problem. Intensity is better than ever. Legs and arms are still going strong. I'm sure I'll do it until I can no longer lift. Just don't forget that there are other things in life and it's okay to miss a workout once in a while. Don't worry, you won't shrink. There's no reason to be obsessed. Enjoy it while you can.

[Jeff Preston]

CS, an absolutely phenominal thread on the man that still holds everyone in total awe, even Arnold!

They don't him "The Myth" for nuthin!

[alexxx]

CS, an absolutely phenominal thread on the man that still holds everyone in total awe, even Arnold!

They don't him "The Myth" for nuthin!

Hey I can't view that pic cause you banned me from ironage so next time upload it via attachment. Thanks!