Author Topic: Sergio Olivia still big! (Read 109606 times)

CS · « **Reply #50 on:** May 12, 2006, 02:38:53 PM »

Sergio's bicep workout was almost all done on a preacher bench with a small Olympic straight bar and an easy curl bar. Usually 10 - 12 reps with around 150 lbs. or more.
Don't forget, when I trained with him he was coming back after being shot but still very strong and about 250 lbs. body weight. At one time after he was shot he was down to 200 lbs and looked pitiful. Sometimes we would do reps of 15 on the bench with 315. Before being shot he was big into wide grip chins for back. Before a competition he could do 100 reps with his body weight. Don't forget, he was a power lifter before he was a bodybuilder and he didn't build that muscle from lifting light weight. Some of the guys that trained with us were doing 500 lb + bench.

When I was preparing for a competition he was forcing me to do 50 reps on the bench press with 225 and I was hurting. He was always trying new things and never afraid to make changes.

pumpster · « **Reply #51 on:** May 12, 2006, 07:56:31 PM »

Quote

His workouts were always brutal. If I complained about the pace, he'd go crazy and bury me. We did Chest and Back on the same day, triceps and bicep on another and Legs and shoulders. We trained six days a week and each body part twice a week. Between 20 and 30 sets per body part. About an hour and a half per body part. Some supersetting was involved.

There's not much feedback anywhere on this anywhere, and what i'd read previously dating back some decades basically suggested that Sergio didn't train particularly hard given the genetic advantages. Not so?

Too bad about Predator-he should have taken it for the exposure at least. Any idea why he wasn't in Pumping Iron? A more accurate BB movie would've shown him at least briefly along with a few others, he deserved it.

He probably would've been better off training in Venice for the exposure; in Chicago he was off the radar.

Any idea what he thinks of Coleman?

CS · « **Reply #52 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:22:37 PM »

Pumpster, don't ever believe that Sergio didn't train hard. Even when he was suffering from sever joint pain he still gave it his all.

Not sure what he thought of Coleman since I haven't seen Sergio in years. I would imagine he wasn't in the Pumping Iron movie because he was banned from the IFBB and didn't compete in those contests. Besides, that movie was to promote Arnold. We all know Lou was the best in that contest. Who were they kidding? Even Arnold knew it when Serge Nubret said to Arnold, no one can take you and Arnold replied with, look around. Lou was just another guy screwed by Joe Weider. Fortunately Lou made a good living so it didn't matter much.

pumpster · « **Reply #53 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:43:30 PM »

Thanks, PI departed from the book for understandible reasons and became a star vehicle but it's still unfortunate that it wasn't more representative. Especially for posterity, would've been invaluable. There was no acknowledgement from the producers that it was restricted to Weider but it was.

It wasn't that close; Lou didn't have the refinement, muscle maturity or volume relative to his height. He was physically bigger, sure; a few more years of training would've made him more interesting. Sergio should've been in that contest but I think a coronation and lack of real competition were in the interests of the script.

Rottmag · « **Reply #54 on:** May 12, 2006, 09:53:41 PM »

Quote from: hipolito mejia on May 12, 2006, 01:40:35 PM

Judging from those questions, It look's like you know more of Sergio than Sergio himself!!!

Yeah, I read as much as I could about The Myth growing up which was hard at times because he did very little interviews. Much of the information available about Sergio was duplicated from one source to another or it was a case of "I heard from a friend of a friend" kind of stuff. The man amazed me with his mass . . . and still does. In fact, until Paul Dillet hit the stage, I'd never seen anything remotely resembling The Myth in size, mass, enormity call it what you will.

Segio was simply the epitome of "size."

CS,

Your input into this thread is priceless.

A couple more questions if I may --

Where did the miss-spelling of his name come from? It's only a few short years ago that I realized it was "Oliva" and not "Olivia." Was it a publication that got it wrong and it stuck, or did he actually spell his name differently for some time?

Is it true that it was Bob Gajida [sp] that convinced Sergio to enter bodybuilding or was it something Sergio decided on after seeing the caliber of competition in magazines?

Look at the size and detail in this rare back shot . . . amazing!

JOHN MATRIX · « **Reply #55 on:** May 12, 2006, 10:01:34 PM »

Quote from: CS on May 12, 2006, 11:43:10 AM

He was offered a part by Arnold in Predator

oh my god.....that would have been the coolest thing of all time!

CS, your contributions to this thread have been incredible. theres so little out there about sergio these days.

alexxx · « **Reply #56 on:** May 13, 2006, 08:58:32 AM »

Quote from: JOHN MATRIX on May 12, 2006, 10:01:34 PM

oh my god.....that would have been the coolest thing of all time!

CS, your contributions to this thread have been incredible. theres so little out there about sergio these days.

I was thinking the same thing. Would've loved to see the myth on Film. Expecially a popular action movie.

War-Horse · « **Reply #57 on:** May 13, 2006, 09:05:29 AM »

Yeah, theres always been a mystery of sergio, cuz of weider. Like Rott, I always tried to get info in the early 80's and none was found. His comeback was only a few pics in muscle builder.
He was "unbelievable" in shape and mass.

This is the best thread on getbig to me.

The True Adonis · « **Reply #58 on:** May 13, 2006, 09:45:31 AM »

CS,

I have heard that Sergio used to have a jar of Dianabol and would just reach in and take a small handfull at times. Any truth to that?

What was Sergio`s competitive weight in the 70s?

I heard a story about Arnold and Weider in Mexico viewing a contest. Sergio was also there......Sergio was in the crowd and was getting kind of pissed at what he was seeing....So he went on stage and took his shirt off and the crowd went wild and starting asking for Arnold to join him....Arnold and Weider were purportedly pretty shocked and didn`t come up on stage. They were then booed real loud while they were cheering Sergio. Can you elaborate on any of that?

What has Sergio said,if anything, about Steve Reeves?

CS · « **Reply #59 on:** May 13, 2006, 09:51:25 AM »

Thanks guys. It's my pleasure to share some of the greatest training times of my life. There are hundreds of stories and good and bad times that I could talk about. I can go on for hours talking about his crazy but interesting life.

I think one of the big problems with Sergio and movies is his butchering of the English language. This hurt him a lot and he's still difficult to understand. Even though he's been in this country about 50 years, he still has a thick Cuban accent.

I do believe the Bob Gajda had some influence on Sergio's bodybuilding but I'm not sure to what degree since that was before my time.

I've only heard Sergio's last name pronounced Olivia by some black dudes but other than that I never heard it any other way than Oliva. Only one I in Oliva.

I remember being at the gym one day before Sergio and I trained together and he came out of the locker room with only a towel around his waist. This was about week before the 1985 Olympia. All I could think of is, HOLY SHIT! The only thing better was seeing him in the 70s when he was at Chicago Health Club in his prime. They should have charged admission. At the time I think I would have paid.
To see him on the street in his Chicago Police uniform was really impressive. He looked like The Thing from the Fantastic Four, only darker and he had all his fingers and toes.

Sometimes you would see him in his squad car parked in front of his condo asleep with the air conditioning on or right after roll call he'd come back to the gym and take a nap at the front desk in his chair with the speaker from the police radio against his ear.

I could never repay him for what I learned and I thank him for that. Everything he ever did in bodybuilding wasn't a science, it was from pure instinct and what his body told him to do. There's no such thing as the Weider Principle. That's all a bunch of advertising and promotional bullshit and Sergio would be the first one to admit it. I once jokingly said to him, do you use the Weider Principle? He laughed his ass off.

NotMrAverage · « **Reply #60 on:** May 13, 2006, 09:55:26 AM »

I swear i´ve heard many people say "back in Sergios days NOONE used more than 200 mg Deca a week and 5 dbol aday, and people thought that was much"

alexxx · « **Reply #61 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:05:10 AM »

Man again CS thats awesome!

You guys trained with other bodybuilders at all like say Nubret or Arnold?

CS · « **Reply #62 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:07:25 AM »

I don't believe that Sergio was ever foolish enough to take handfuls of anything. I used to inject him and also get him a lot of his supplies but I never ever remember him abusing drugs. He was against that sort of use and considering what it did to his joints, he's against them now more than ever.

I'm not sure of Sergio's competitive weight and some of the stories about him are made up but the one in Mexico wouldn't surprise me if it were true. Sergio was never afraid of competition since he was a true champ. He was also arrogant and that pissed a lot of people off.
Arnold could have never beat him in a fair and square show that had politics removed.

I once asked Sergio if he thought Arnold would have beaten Lee Haney if both were in their prime and he said Arnold would have easily taken him. Sergio liked Arnold and I never heard him say a bad word about him. You can't blame Arnold for the the actions of Joe and Ben Weider. It was only business.
In 1989 Arnold invited Sergio to be a VIP Guest the the first Arnold Classic in Ohio and Sergio went and had a great time.

NotMrAverage · « **Reply #63 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:17:33 AM »

When I watch pics of Sergio it´s like they have timewarped someone from the future back to the 1960:ies. Like a terminator sort of thing, but to destroy all bodybuilding competition.

CS:

Sergio trained with Arthur Jones for awhile and said in interviews he made some great gains then. Did he ever speak about this to you, if so what did he have to say about it? Thanks for contributing

CS · « **Reply #64 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:21:48 AM »

The only guys that trained at the gym were locals, a wrestler and a few other Cops. Surprisingly, we had a lot of local drug dealers training there and I don't mean the guys that dealt steroids. We also had a few other strange charactors like most gyms do. Don't forget, this was a small neighborhood gym with about 200 members. Sergio used to say he didn't really care about how many members he had, it was just a gym for him to train at. After his divorce he lived in the upstairs office. The day he moved in to the office, he and one of the other guys from the gym pushed Sergio's big screen TV down the middle of the street for about 6 blocks. That was quite a sight. One of the cops called to investigate said it looked like a gorilla pushing a TV.

We once had a visit from a MS. Olympia contender Margo Seline (I think that's the way to spell it) who trained there for one day and the time Albert Beckles visited. The local news came by to bug us once in a while but mostly to ask stupid questions about steroid use. Everyone knew Sergio.

alexxx · « **Reply #65 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:25:51 AM »

Quote from: CS on May 13, 2006, 10:21:48 AM

The only guys that trained at the gym were locals, a wrestler and a few other Cops. Surprisingly, we had a lot of local drug dealers training there and I don't mean the guys that dealt steroids. We also had a few other strange charactors like most gyms do. Don't forget, this was a small neighborhood gym with about 200 members. Sergio used to say he didn't really care about how many members he had, it was just a gym for him to train at. After his divorce he lived in the upstairs office. The day he moved in to the office, he and one of the other guys from the gym pushed Sergio's big screen TV down the middle of the street for about 6 blocks. That was quite a sight. One of the cops called to investigate said it looked like a gorilla pushing a TV.

We once had a visit from a MS. Olympia contender Margo Seline (I think that's the way to spell it) who trained there for one day and the time Albert Beckles visited. The local news came by to bug us once in a while but mostly to ask stupid questions about steroid use. Everyone knew Sergio.

hahaha that must be quite a sight.

CS · « **Reply #66 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:34:46 AM »

Regarding Arthur Jones and Nautilus.

I believe it was only business. Sergio and Casey Viator were invited to the Jones residence (mansion) to spend the weekend, try out the equipment and get paid. On Sunday Sergio and Casey wanted to collect their money and leave so Author Jones took them to town and Jones happened to have a key to the bank. Sergio said this doesn't look good, me being a black man going into a closed back on a Sunday. Arthur Jones told Sergio not to worry since he owned the bank.

Sergio also designed and endorsed equipment for Hunk. In his gym he had Flex and Hunk equipment and only used machines to supplement free weights. I didn't care for the Hunk stuff but the flex machines were nice.
There were no Nautilus machines in the gym.

alexxx · « **Reply #67 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:37:02 AM »

While I still got you here..

What kind of routine did sergio do for those amazing triceps. And since you trained with him did yours also respond by appearing fuller like Sergios?

CS · « **Reply #68 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:37:45 AM »

Adonis, Sergio never mentioned Steve Reeves but the guy in the picture (first post of this thread) with Sergio, Jack, carries a photo of Steve Reeves in his wallet. Strange but true.

The True Adonis · « **Reply #69 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:52:48 AM »

Quote from: CS on May 13, 2006, 10:37:45 AM

Adonis, Sergio never mentioned Steve Reeves but the guy in the picture (first post of this thread) with Sergio, Jack, carries a photo of Steve Reeves in his wallet. Strange but true.

Very interesting. Steve Reeves is one of my heros.

What were steroid cycles like back then? I don`t see Sergio as the type at all to use year round like some of today`s competitors.

The True Adonis · « **Reply #70 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:55:09 AM »

Also,

Who did Sergio consider his toughest competiton? What did he think of Frank Zane?

Think you can convince Sergio to visit Getbig?

alexxx · « **Reply #71 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:56:12 AM »

Quote from: The True Adonis on May 13, 2006, 10:55:09 AM

Also,

Who did Sergio consider his toughest competiton? What did he think of Frank Zane?

Think you can convince Sergio to visit Getbig?

I second that and would also like to know about serge nubret.

CS · « **Reply #72 on:** May 13, 2006, 10:56:20 AM »

Alexx, Sergio's triceps routine was fairly simple. We did closegrip bench superset with one arm cable pull downs and pushdowns (alternating) Actually my triceps were pretty big. I still prefer tricep extensions or French Curls with the easy curl bar. Lots of basic stuff..

Me in 1989

CS · « **Reply #73 on:** May 13, 2006, 11:01:58 AM »

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.

The True Adonis · « **Reply #74 on:** May 13, 2006, 11:10:15 AM »

Quote from: CS on May 13, 2006, 11:01:58 AM

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.

In my opinion, you and the guys of your era are the pinnacle of bodybuilding. I can imagine how appalled Sergio is with what we see on stage today with the large waists and amalgamation of mismatched synthol and site injected body parts.

Was form strict or loose with you guys?

Author Topic: Sergio Olivia still big! (Read 109606 times)

Rottmag