Author Topic: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.  (Read 72764 times)

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #50 on: January 27, 2022, 01:06:28 PM »
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #51 on: January 28, 2022, 01:09:12 PM »
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #52 on: January 29, 2022, 06:22:12 AM »
 
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #53 on: January 30, 2022, 06:49:08 AM »
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #54 on: January 31, 2022, 10:32:13 AM »
 
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #55 on: January 31, 2022, 10:37:04 AM »
   
&t=195s   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #56 on: February 01, 2022, 09:10:05 AM »
   NEWS
SERGIO OLIVA JR. GETS CANDID ABOUT HIS LEGENDARY FATHER BEING “ONE OF THE WORST PEOPLE I’VE EVER MET”
Oliva Jr. opens up about the worst year of his life, competing at the 2018 Mr. Olympia, and his turbulent relationship with his father, three-time Mr. Olympia Sergio Oliva Sr.
By Angelica Nebbia
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
Sergio Oliva Jr. Gets Candid About His Dad, His Wife's Affair, and His Olympia Goals

Every bodybuilder in the IFBB Pro League dreams of one day appearing on the Olympia stage. Sergio Oliva Jr. accomplished this feat at just 2 weeks old, when his father, three-time Olympia champion (1967–69) Sergio Oliva Sr., proudly raised him up to the world at the 1984 Olympia. Fast-forward 34 years to Sept. 14, 2018, and Oliva Jr. made history, becoming the first son of an Olympia winner to compete on the O stage. And despite placing 16th in the contest, Oliva Jr. is still regarded as one of the industry’s most promising bodybuilders, thanks in large part to a couple of runner-up finishes in 2018 at the highly competitive Chicago and Tampa pro shows.

The road to the Olympia stage is never an easy one for any competitor, but as you’ll read below, Oliva Jr.’s path has been bumpier than most. In the following Q&A, he shares his heart-wrenching story with brutal honesty, demonstrating, above all else, his determination, resilience, and ability to forgive.

FLEX: What is it like prepping for the Olympia as the son of a bodybuilding legend?

FEATURED ARTICLES
 
Powered By Trackerdslogo
Sergio Oliva Jr.: I had to get ready for that show as two different people. I had to do it as the athlete who needs to do well and suffer, and also as the biggest fan of bodybuilding. I thought it was really cool that older fans of the sport could come up to me and say, “I also saw your dad compete at the Olympia. I saw him hold you up onstage.” It sounds weird, but I think the fact that I knew I wouldn’t win the Olympia kept it from being very stressful. It was the hardest I’ve ever worked and the best I’ve ever looked, but as far as expectations go, it was the least stressful prep I’ve done.

sergio-sr-jr-1109
Courtesy of Weider Health & Fitness
Courtesy of Weider Health & FItness

Did you have a specific goal going into this Olympia?

I just really wanted to finish this year strong. This was the worst year of my entire life, but I got that Olympia qualification, so I just kept telling myself, “If I can step onstage and be one of the 19 best bodybuilders in the world, during the worst year of my life, then next year I’ll automatically be better.”

What made 2018 the worst year of your life?

My wife had an affair. Around the time I won the 2017 New York Pro, she was stuck in Australia due to immigration. When it was almost time for us to get approved, my wife started acting really weird. She was very distant. I thought maybe she was scared and didn’t want to leave her family. So in February 2018, I moved to Australia to be with her until the process was done. Then it got really bad. She kept disappearing. It caused a lot of problems, because I was trying to start my prep for the Chicago Pro. I decided to go back to the States to finish my prep. Then I got a message from a woman in Australia, letting me know that her husband and my wife had been having an affair for at least a year. Her husband had run off with my wife, leaving this woman eight months pregnant. I was devastated. I got off social media and stopped prepping. I needed to get things together.

But you competed at the 2018 Chicago Pro. What changed?

During all of this, the woman in Australia would call me every day. We’d FaceTime, and she’d tell me, “Hey, I’m eight months pregnant, and if I can do this, then you can do it.” I got my heart broken, and I spent a lot of money, but I don’t have this child that I now have to take care of for the rest of my life. She does. It really made me man up. This stranger that I never met got me back on prep, and I competed in Chicago. It was close, too. I only lost by a few points. After the show, one of my old friends suggested we go skydiving. I swear to God, if I had won or none of this had happened with my wife, I would have said, “No way.” But instead I said yes, and I jumped out of a plane a few days later. As I landed on the ground, I looked at my friend and said, “I’m doing the Tampa Pro.” I came in second and got that Olympia qualification, and it made everything else not matter anymore.

You portray your father in the movie Bigger and have expressed mixed emotions about being compared to him on social media. What was it like to play him in a film?

My dad was very unsupportive of my bodybuilding career and pretty much of anything that I did, but I think that he would have gotten a kick out of this. He was a big movie buff. Nothing justifies how my dad treated my mother or me, but I think my dad would be proud and maybe even have hopped onboard with my career. In the movie I look like him, but really I’m not like him at all. My dad was one of the worst people I’ve ever met. A lot of people love my dad, and that’s a big thing that I struggle with in this sport. Sometimes you want to talk about your life, you want to tell the truth, but it kills people’s dreams of their heroes.

Sergio Oliva Jr.
Chris Nicoll
Chris Nicoll

What did your dad want you to do for a living?

He’s Cuban—so a baseball player, lawyer, or doctor. And look, I’m older now, so I understand things a little bit differently. When I started out as a bodybuilder, I was 6′ tall and 145 pounds. I looked like the used car lot balloon things. He’s looking at me, going, “Kid, what are you thinking?” My dad escaped from Cuba when he was 18 years old. Castro tried to kill him, and the United States put him in protective services and moved him to Chicago, where he got into bodybuilding and met my mom. He never finished school because he had to work on the farms. And I can’t even imagine what he dealt with in the ‘60s as a black-skinned, Hispanic bodybuilder. He also had this bad falling out with bodybuilding, so he was probably saying to himself, “I went through so much, there’s no way that my son’s gonna struggle and go into this sport that screwed me over.”

So I’m sitting here telling you that I’m not my dad, but here I am. And look how well I’ve done in just two years of being a pro. He didn’t want me to be like him, but I guess I am like him, in a way.

Are you able to forgive him for the way he treated you?

I can forgive my dad for what he did to me, but not for what he did to my mother. [Editor’s Note: According to a 1986 article in the Chicago Tribune, Oliva Sr. struck his wife twice during an explosive altercation.] My mom’s the best person ever, but she’ll be dealing with long-term medical issues, including memory loss, because of him for the rest of her life. My dad was the complete opposite with my sister. It is a Latino thing. The daughter is the princess. I remember that my sister would get gifts on my birthday. But now she still doesn’t have a real job. She’s a deadbeat. Maybe that’s how I would be if he hadn’t been so hard on me. Whether that’s the truth or not, I don’t know, but that’s what I tell myself to be able to forgive him.

So what’s next for you?

It’s crazy because now I’m friends with the wife of the guy who was having an affair with my wife. I am gonna be in her life, and her kid’s life, forever. But not in a romantic way at all. We’re friends, and somehow we got each other through this whole thing from the other side of the world. I’ve gone through stages where I blame myself, and she’s done the same thing, but the baby is so innocent. I know what it feels like to grow up without a father and to have someone who’s just toxic in your life. So now I’m gonna help her raise this kid.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

You know, in bodybuilding, if you open up about something after you place badly at a show, it’s like, “Oh, you’re just using that as an excuse.” Maybe after reading this, though, people will say, “Wait, he went through this whole entire year, didn’t tell anyone about this, and was dealing with all these demons on his own—and he was still top 19 in the world? Wow, what’s gonna happen next year?” I really believe in myself now, a lot more than I did before. Now that this toxicity is out of my life, I’m excited for what’s to come.

Topics:
BODYBUILDERS
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #57 on: February 01, 2022, 09:59:29 AM »
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #58 on: February 01, 2022, 10:00:06 AM »
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #59 on: February 01, 2022, 10:01:52 AM »
 
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #60 on: February 02, 2022, 01:24:25 PM »
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #61 on: February 03, 2022, 12:10:54 PM »
 
F


funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #63 on: February 06, 2022, 06:21:57 AM »
   
   
   
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #64 on: February 06, 2022, 06:42:03 AM »
 
F


funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #66 on: February 06, 2022, 12:20:11 PM »
   
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #67 on: February 07, 2022, 09:39:05 AM »
   
   
   
   
F

Gym-Rat

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 6824
  • BRUTAL IF TRUE!!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related].
« Reply #68 on: February 08, 2022, 12:44:10 AM »
'ends'?
'bb related'??

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related].
« Reply #69 on: February 08, 2022, 04:26:48 AM »
'ends'?
'bb related'??
                          definitely on both counts, also a bit odd. ;D
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #70 on: February 08, 2022, 12:07:05 PM »
   
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #71 on: February 09, 2022, 12:21:19 PM »
  Steve Reeves Wins the 1950 Mr. Universe with Only 4 Weeks of Training
Updated: May 17, 2019

     Steve Reeves has always been a legendary figure in the world of bodybuilding. What he accomplished naturally will never be repeated. The stories of his life are so incredible it can be difficult to distinguish myth from fact. Perhaps the greatest legend associated with Reeves are the events that surrounded his training for the 1950 NABBA Mr. Universe contest where he defeated Reg Park and brought the original bronze Sandow from the 1901 Great Competition home to America. With so many stories surrounding these events they must be investigated thoroughly.


     Who can be trusted when it comes to Reeves’ training for this event? Reeves drove from California to York, Pennsylvania to train for the contest at the York Barbell Company. John Grimek was an employee of York Barbell and witnessed Reeves’ workouts firsthand. Grimek wrote a famous article titled, “How Steve Reeves Trained”, that was printed in the November 1964 issue of Muscular Development. Grimek’s words can be trusted over other articles and interviews as this article was only written 14 years after the events took place. Grimek was known for having an incredible memory of which prolific iron game writer, Terry Todd, described as, “remarkable for faces and names”, “prodigious”, and “elephant-like.”  If Todd trusted Grimek’s memory we can also.


     According to Grimek, Reeves arrived at York on Memorial Day, Tuesday, May 30th (until it was made an official holiday in 1971, Memorial Day was always on May 30th). He states that the next day, Wednesday, May 31st they arrived at the gym a little before noon and got their first workout in. Reeves was adamant about getting three full-body workouts in a week and would typically get a workout in every 60 hours. According to Chris LeClaire’s superb biography on Reeves, Worlds to Conquer, Reeves flew to London on June 22nd. The NABBA Mr. Universe reception and dinner was held on June 23rd and the contest was on June 24th so his workout schedule would have looked something like this:


 

     Based on this calendar it appears Reeves got in around 10 full-body workouts if he stuck to his typical workout protocol. Reeves mentions in Dynamic Muscle Building that while in London before the contest he only performed lighter exercises with cables to give him more definition. It is truly phenomenal that Reeves could go from an extended layoff of not working out to Mr. Universe winner so quickly. The last time Reeves had seriously trained for a bodybuilding contest was in March 1949 before the Mr. USA contest. This was about 15 months before the NABBA Mr. Universe.


     Now that we have a good idea of how long Reeves trained before the contest, we can dive into the next legend associated with this event, how much weight he gained during this training. This is harder to quantify since Grimek only commented on Reeves’ change in physical appearance during the training but did not comment on his weight. Sources are tougher to come by as Reeves makes no mention of the weight he gained in Building the Classic Physique: The Natural Way or in his interviews with Chris LeClaire for Worlds to Conquer. In unspecified interviews contained in Dynamic Muscle Building, Reeves claims to have gained 17 pounds of muscle during his training and in another interview in the book claims he started at a weight of 198 pounds and the day of the contest weighed 217 pounds for a 19-pound gain. The interviews are not sourced so we cannot be sure when these statements were made. In a 1981 interview with WABBA contest promoter Tony DeFrancisco, Reeves states that his weight went from 190 pounds to 225 during his training at York for a 35-pound gain.   


     According to Reeves’ official entry form for the 1950 NABBA Mr. Universe contest he weighed 214 pounds although we cannot be sure when that measurement was taken. We can be highly skeptical of the DeFrancisco interview as Reeves was never known to be much heavier than 215 pounds as he considered that his top form measurement. Reeves was known to keep in contest shape year-round and did not believe in bulking up and slimming down for contests as is commonly done today. The Dynamic Muscle Building interviews are more believable as they credit Reeves with a weight gain between 17-19 pounds. If done starting at 198 pounds this would have put him in the 215-217 range which is much closer to what his entry form lists.


     Another legend associated with Reeves’ training for the Mr. Universe contest is that he contracted pneumonia during his time at York, PA and trained through it for the contest. In Building the Classic Physique: The Natural Way, Reeves states that he, “caught pneumonia halfway through my training. That temporarily weakened and demoralized me somewhat – but surprisingly, it also served to increase my muscular definition!”  Chris LeClaire, through his interviews with Reeves states, “What others in the gym didn’t know was that two weeks after he arrived in York, Reeves had contracted the flu.”


    The only one who could be completely trusted on this issue is Grimek and he makes no mention of Reeves contracting any sort of illness during his stay in York. For this reason, we can eliminate pneumonia as it is doubtful Reeves could have hidden something like that from Grimek. The flu does not seem like something Reeves could have trained through successfully either. Grimek significantly added to Reeves’ legend with his article, so if Reeves would have contracted something that would have substantially affected his ability to train Grimek certainly would have let the readers know how incredible a feat that was. For this reason, we can conclude that no significant illness occurred.


     Based on articles, interviews, and our knowledge of Steve Reeves, a few legends surrounding his training for the 1950 NABBA Mr. Universe contest can be distinguished as closer to fact than myth. Reeves training probably consisted of around 10 full-body workouts from May 31st until he left for London on June 22nd, the weight he gained during this training was probably in the 17-19-pound range, and his training was not affected by serious illness.

F

Humble Narcissist

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 27492
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #72 on: February 10, 2022, 02:50:55 AM »
Muscle memory exists.

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #73 on: February 10, 2022, 05:19:03 AM »
F

funk51

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39656
  • Getbig!
Re: odds and ends [bodybuilding related.
« Reply #74 on: February 10, 2022, 06:46:40 AM »
   
&t=12s   
F