For how long? Tell us some stories pkaz!
Sammie all the way. Sammie was more pleasing and in better condition. Berti was a freak though. Got to give him that.
Only me can attest to this. Sammie was incredible strong. I seen him walk into the gym, put 315 on it and do behind the neck presses without warming up for 5.
Bertil was possibly the strongest BBer of his day, and IMO he soundly beat Samir in 83. He certainly beat the other 3 guys who placed above him, that was a dark hour in BBing history. The crowd booed everyone after his announcement for 5th
Makkaway was 5'2. Bertil was at least 5'8 - nuff said!
I think Yates said it best when he said Dexter could not be Mr. Olympia because he doesn't have the stature for it.I do think height matters, it's just too hard to ignore.
Not to derail the thread but personally I think Dexter has an odd structure and beats taller guys due to his superior conditioning.
I don't need onlyme to attest to Samir's strength. I trained with him for 5 months in 1981 at Gold's. World's on 1 occasion. Yes I saw him do 315 BNP right after a set of squats. And yes... those were the days.
A set of BN Presses right after a set of squats? Interesting. Did he always do that?
I watched Samir train allot. I always keep think I remember guys telling he had a problem with water retention. Am I right on this. I am picturing him doing seated rows and I'm standing with Waller, and Tinnerino and someone saying that. I alwasy thought he looked great. I never really noticed how strong he was. There were allot of guys back then who were strong as hell. I'll nver forget watching Callendar doing the chins and dips with two 150 lb. dumbells hangin from his waist. Like they were nothing. Bill Pettis did that to all the time. I rememebr Roy telling me if he had a nickel for all the reps he has done like that. Louie too was strong. He dumbell curled allot back then.
No he just got the urge and did it. Keith Samir was doing bent rows with 405 for about 8-10 reps. I got up to sets with 365 training with him. He was strong but never focused on the powerlifts. More like on Inclines, Bent Rows, PBN's.
Bertil was so thick and dense that I don't think water retention really mattered. He was just so massive you never noticed it. But he just didn't have the symmetry and lines that Samir, Tony Pearson (who was incredable) and do you remember Greg Deferro had? Even Zane back then was awesome. I remember Roy Callendar, he used to train with sponges in each hand to better grip the bar. And I do not remember how many sets he did but he would be in the gym for hours on end.
Yes I remeber Greg. I never liked him. He always seemed so serious to me. Hardly ever smiled. And I didn't think he looked that great but was thick on top. Had a weird look to me. And I trained back with Tony Pearson on a number of occassions. He was unreal. He is the guy who put me on the tuna and lettuce diet. And we would go out to eat with him, Waller and my old traiing partner Ron DePolito. And they would only let me eat plain tuna and lettuce. Did you know Ron DePolito. He had the pink corvette and provided guys with girls (like a white pimp). He got Arnold quite a few dates back then.
Bertil looked great in power shots but didn't look so great in the other madatories and when he tried to get shredded he lost a lot of his tradmark size .Look at this shot from the back in 83 he looks very narrow !!
I like how some people at times use the worst photo they can find just to try and prove their point. Well it is very obvious to see that Bertil has yet to SPREAD his wings in this photo Bertil's back narrow ? ya right
my thoughts exactly, his back was incredible. Samir was known for his back and nothing else, Bertil had the whole package! Ive seen the 83 olympia and Bertil should have won without a doubt
who ever remarks about samirs chest or arms? Hes known for his Xmas tree and great back - nothing else
