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Welcome to MuscleSport Magazine, where we bring the bodybuilding, sports and fitness industries all together in one media outlet. Weight training is the backbone of all three and we will give you the latest headlines and also show you how to build muscle and gain muscle through bodybuilding workouts.
Vic Richards Missed His Calling
Published: February 26, 2009
There are times when an athlete hits his prime in an era that doesn’t fit. Victor Richards is a prime example of that. When he burst onto the bodybuilding scene back in 1982, such massive size was not commonplace on the contest stage. His 5’10″ frame packed on an incredible 370 pounds of muscle during the offseason, which for a man that entered only five competitions in ten years, was his common bodyweight.
Richards won four of those shows and was the first runner-up in the other, and included three in the U.S. (1982 America Cup, 1983 Teen Los Angeles, 1984 California Gold Cup Classic) and two abroad (1989 Mr. Barbados, 1992 Nigerian Championships).
Although a 36-inch waist may seem fairly wide for a bodybuilder, when you have a 67-inch chest and 26-inch arms, your belt line doesn’t sound as large. But Richards, who was profiled frequently in the Weider publications, was always viewed as someone who could not be taken seriously because of his thickness.
One must remember that during the main part of Richards’ career, Lee Haney was the reigning Mr. Olympia and had a muscular build with symmetry, a word that would never be confused with Richards.
The year that Richards stopped competing, Dorian Yates succeeded Haney as Mr. Olympia and began the monstrous era. Thicker bodies, including waists and ultimately abdominals, eventually became commonplace and the next one to be crowned Mr. O, Ron Coleman, took it to a different level.
He is sometimes called the “Natural Uncrowned Mr. Olympia,” but that sounds like pure fantasy no matter if you read into it or not, and in more ways than one.
Richards did possess a physique that was not appreciated then as much as it would have 10 or so years later. The USC graduate may have become a winner of more than one Sandow if he came along later on, but that doesn’t take away what he once was.
Steroids and supplements are often used to add weight and thickness. However, this can lead to an unhealthy addiction. Unity Rehab has programs to help.
Tagged with: America Cup, Bodybuilder, Bodyweight, California Gold, Dorian Yates, Gold Cup, Inch Chest, Inch Waist, Lee Haney, Massive Size, mr olympia, Offseason, Prime Example, Ron Coleman, Sandow, Uncrowned, Unhealthy Addiction, Usc Graduate, Vic Richards, Victor Richards, weider
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2 Comments on "Vic Richards Missed His Calling"
m on Wed, 30th Mar 2011 3:54 pm
Vic’s #s are false: 70″ tall? Chest only 3″ less?. Obviously not so, as is witnessed in any public photos of Vic,( his studio pics are photo-shopped). So-called 26″ arms? Vic’s head is in proportion to his height,not exceptionally large. Less than 26″,I’ll guarantee. His arms are still smaller than his head.I’ve seen him side-by- side- with Dorian. Vic looked incredible & huge,but never -that- huge. Too bad he can’t live with his true dimensions, which we’ll therefore never know.
m on Wed, 30th Mar 2011 4:08 pm
Vic looks amazing relaxed, but he looks no better,(no bigger nor more defined),when flexed: Indicating much of his mass isn’t myofibrillar,(contractile, strength-producing,”real”muscle). I don’t know what the rest of it is: Fat? Sarcoplasma? Oil? All I know is that it doesn’t expand much,if at all.