Favorite “Lesser Known” Bodybuilders

Yeah, genetics play a role I know, but you can’t tell me every IFBB pro who has ever graced a magazine is solely there based on genetics.

No, not solely.
Steroids take what you have and multiply it. IFBB pros look better natty than someone like me on steroids. They would still be best.
I see it as - steroids are a multiplier. So an IFBB pros genetics are 100%. Then steroids multiply that by 2 and we have a 200% of a heavyweight pro.
My genetics are 30%, so steroids multiply it by 2 and now im 60%. If i take MORE, im 90%… my health now is garbage, i spend thousands on drugs and im still below what an IFBB pro looked when he was natty(arnold and lee priest in their teens).
Maybe you have better genetics and are 50%. Steroids now let you be 100% like the natty IFBB pro, and if you go full retard and have enough money, you tripple the dose and now you are 150%(middle of nowhere federation first place winner of a “pro” show) but you still are nowhere close to IFBB pros.

What im saying is - there are people on pro level cycles that look like they have never been in the gym.

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Ronnie, was better than most of the classic physique guys natty. I believe him when he said he was natty at 220 lbs at like 6-8% body fat (also great insertions which make the muscles look even bigger). If he was saucing at that point, I doubt he could have added another 70 lbs of lean tissue by adding more sauce.

Basically I agree. The best of the best are true freaks of nature.

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yes, definetly… most physique guys are just failed bodybuilders like Bostin Loyd said… and sometimes they do same cycles that big guys do… its genetics…
Like Frank Zane and Arnold. Im sure they did more or less the same thing and put the same effort. Zane was just small. Looked epic, but he wouldnt even stand a chance nowdays in that division. Some people just cant be huge.
And arm size is also genetic… It hurts because every guy wants big arms, me included, but i dont think its that easy as just picking the right split or just upping the test. The changes from these methods will be so small you cant even measure them.

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I get it.

A guy can dream though…

Maybe in a next life - lol

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I used to think this, though Nick Walker is one of the biggest dudes out there right now, and he looked like an absolute bag of shit back in the day - like someone who not only didn’t lift but wouldn’t ever be big.

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As I’ve said before - there are the “steroids don’t do much” group and the “steroids do everything” group, and they’re both wrong. Gear will rarely take a pipsqueak and make him into a monster - but it can.

It’s tough to tell exactly what they can do anyways, because so many people love to downplay what they’re taking or when they started taking it.

Also, as a side note, I think @cyclonengineer is like 6’9 and 280 unless I have him confused with someone else, so genetically he IS very large and might in fact be a monster if he took boatloads of gear.

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Not 6’9, 6’3 and at 290 now. Got some fat but still sitting at a 40” waist 50” chest

Well probably les than 40 much waist. My pants are that size but mostly just to get around my backside. I can typically get my hand between my waistband and obliques.

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Shut up and take the extra half foot you were gifted!

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Well, the guy might have been just playing around in the gym while he is still a kid. I dont think the first pic is when he is 20+.
The pic from the first show might have been just some local shitshow where everyone just competed in like a wet tshirt contest.
I mean, we dont know if he even trained for that one - local shitshows pop up in some bars and every dude with slight abs just drops their pants and gets on the stage. That might be like his very start after 1 month in a gym for all we know.

Thanks flappinit,

I thought about the exact same example as you re the effect of anabolic steroids. This needs to be emphazised why my separate post. The Nick Walker age comparison is scary - There is nothing from the second pic that can be identified as the person on the first (left) pic. Looks like a completely different person. Acromegaly?

Also, anabolic steroids as “just” a multiplier of size is not correct. You have more receptors in the upper body, which is why you often see this disproportionate size on traps, delts and chest in users. How do they get them legs then? I don’t know, but have heard from several users that they choose their injection sites carefully. From a medical standpoint that should not work, but bro science is different.

Another interesting fact is that some people on gear doesn’t even look like they train - but I suspect these people have a different setup of muscle fibers to begin with (yes, genetics) and should be better at other activities. Why they insist on taking steroids for size is then a great mystery.

So, why not take steroids for the eventual benefits it may provide? Well, my personal reason is the difficulty in keeping the gains you’ve got on gear over time, where we can see a lot of interesting examples on from the pros (how did they get so small past gear is the question?). Another reason is the risk of damaging your own hormonal system, which may necessitate TRT post steroids.

Don’t get me started on the TRT subject - I even read a recent post on here where a parent tested his kids for low T, and a choir of voices thought that was a great idea (in prevention of exactly what I am not sure) - but I guess what you believe in can shift priorities. That being said, all respect to legit use of T, as it prevents a lot.

Even if it was - he looks nothing like some of the other truly genetically blessed people that we’ve seen. Some people seem to be super responders to this type of thing. Steroids can’t just be a multiplier of what you have, there must be a factor of how your body responds to it, as everyone’s body responds very differently to all different drugs.

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2 of my favorite old school (French) bodybuilders

Jacques Neuville

And Thierry Pastel
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Looks like a legit Superman. Christ, what a physique.

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So many great names to choose from. One towards the top of the list is probably John Brown.

Two-time Mr. Universe in the early '80s, phenomenal poser, mentored Shawn Ray.

Fun facts: Brown’s son Equanimeous plays for the Packers, his son Amon-Ra plays for the Lions, and his son Osiris played football for Stanford.

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You’re just going to lay the fact that his sons are named after Egyptian gods out there like that?
Gotta warn us before something that epic.

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For a second I mistakenly thought the photo of Brown was a mashup. He looks a little bit like early Michael Jackson (on that pic)! LOL

Never heard of Neuville before, but god that is an amazing physique. One of the best classic bodybuilding frames I’ve seen, can’t believe I haven’t heard more about this guy.

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Tony Pearson was the Michael Jackson of bodybuilding.
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Just heard that he died. RIP Mr. Genetics.

Yes I just heard. Another gone, way too young.
He had awesome genetics. New topic started.