900-Lb Squat, 650-Lb Bench Press For Vic Richards

By Vic Richards
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Updated: March 11, 2015

It gives us great pleasure to bring you this monthly column in our print magazine and website by the one and only Mr. Big Vic Richards.

Gregg Valentino said you used to put up incredible weights in the gym, like incline dumbbell pressing 260lb dumbbells. Were you into power lifting? What were you benching & squatting back then?

I incorporated powerlifting into my workout because when I saw power lifters coming into the gym, like Bill Kazmaier, I liked the thickness of the density of the muscle compared to a bodybuilder. You could see this in the bodybuilders who lifted heavy like Bertil Fox, Franco Columbo, Mike Mentzer–their muscles were much denser than the powder puffs.

I was squatting around 900 lbs for 2 reps, but since my legs were getting so big, I dropped from 800 lbs to 650 lbs for my workouts. I also did hack-squats at 600-700 lbs for 15-20 reps. It was very light for my legs. I was benching 650 lbs for 5 reps, and 550 lbs for workout.

If you had it to do over again, what would you differently ?

Nothing.

You are now in the beer making industry how & why did you get started in that industry?

When I was living in Southern Bavaria in Germany doing bodybuilding, I met a family who made the best beer I had ever tasted. I had gone to a bar after working out one night and met the son of the family who made it. He took me to the family farm where he introduces me to his grandfather who created the recipe for the beer. He gave me the recipe and I’ve saved it all these years, never knowing that I would end up in the land of hops in the Pacific Northwest.

Mandingo Beer also included Yohimbe, Maca Root and Ginseng for libido boosting, and the estrogen in our hops has been de-activated to minimize bloating.

I want to just thank you Victor you have inspired many young bodybuilders. Is there any advice / message you want to give them reading this?

I want to tell them to believe in themselves. Inward motivation is greater than outward motivation because inward motivation is something that no one can take away from you. Do not do bodybuilding because you want a trophy or because you want to be like someone else or because you want to get attention or because you want to compete against somebody else.

Do bodybuilding to be the best you can because the greatest competition is the person you look at in the mirror: you. When you take focus away from that, you’re going to become like everybody else. It’s all about being a trailblazer instead of trail-follower.

Be sure to visit Vic Richards’s website, ‘Like’ him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.