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the superstar Billy Graham...I used to LOVE those thick old 45-pounders
old time 585 pic with Arnold
- Thread starter BodybuildingUniverse
- Start date
kewl
onerepmaximum
New member
Damn! I love looking at these old pics. Serious motivation.
Mike_Rojas
New member
Damn that's awesome
louden_swain
New member
Great pic!! Its a little scary that he doesn't have collars on the end of the bar.
onerepmaximum
New member
He has Arnold on the end of the bar though. (I'll bet there's someone else at the other end.)louden_swain said:
louden_swain said:
those plates aint goin nowhere dude.
Mike_Rojas
New member
Nice plates! Wish they had those at my gym haha. Thats a fucking strong raw press Nice
BigBadBootyDaddy29
New member
Billy Graham is an old WWWF/WWF wrestler. If I remember correctly he once competed in CBS's World's Strongest Man and he made a fairly impressive showing. He became a little bitter as he aged, he had some health problems, which he blamed on steroids, but who really knows? With the lifestyle a lot of pro wrestlers live steroids are a pretty safe gamble compared to other things.
BigBadBootyDaddy29 said:
yep, he placed 7th after being injured. Had a good shot at the top 3 up until then. The mighty KAZ won so that shows you what the lineup looked like
Imnotdutch
butler monkey
BodybuildingUniverse said:the superstar Billy Graham...I used to LOVE those thick old 45-pounders
Very impressive...........no shirt and a long stroke.........gotta love that. I wish I could just hold that weight!!
Burning_Inside
Elite Mentor
"In 1978, this was undoubtedly pro wrestling's largest back, jack!
In all seriousness, though, I had to train intensively (and when I say intensively, brother, The Superstar means intensively) for no less than 3 hours a day, every day, to get into the kind of shape I was in when these photos were taken. It wasn't easy, but it was the price I chose to pay in order to make myself different from any wrestler that had come before me."
"Cold, my guns were 22 inches. Pumped, like they are in this photo, I gained nearly 3/4 of an inch more...but still not quite enough to start calling them the "23-inch Pythons." No one can ever say The Superstar mislead his fans, brother! "
Btw, how much did BG weigh in those pictures? That's pretty dadgum lean...at a guess, I'd say 8.5-9% bodyfat.
Unless he weighed upwards of 290 in that kind of shape, I must confess I find the 22 3/4" arms claim a bit dubious, pumped or not...I can't help but to look at Sergio Oliva's gigantic 20 1/8" arms (his peak, 1972) and think that many claimed 22"+ arms are just wet dreams, though.
When you're close to 300, 22-23" isn't all that crazy...I bet Coleman sports 23" arms when he's 320. But 250 or less...I dunno. I think on that kind of frame, and lean, much over 20" is pretty much one in a million.
That nitpicking aside, Billy Graham had some serious-assed arm development! He was just big, thick and full from head to toe. I bet if he didn't share the name with the famous evangelist he would've gotten a little more press.
Unless he weighed upwards of 290 in that kind of shape, I must confess I find the 22 3/4" arms claim a bit dubious, pumped or not...I can't help but to look at Sergio Oliva's gigantic 20 1/8" arms (his peak, 1972) and think that many claimed 22"+ arms are just wet dreams, though.
When you're close to 300, 22-23" isn't all that crazy...I bet Coleman sports 23" arms when he's 320. But 250 or less...I dunno. I think on that kind of frame, and lean, much over 20" is pretty much one in a million.
That nitpicking aside, Billy Graham had some serious-assed arm development! He was just big, thick and full from head to toe. I bet if he didn't share the name with the famous evangelist he would've gotten a little more press.
Tiervexx
New member
guldukat said:
What the hell are you talking about? BG's arms where about the size of his head and he had a big freaking head! How is it hart to believe that they are +22"? If you look at pics of Sergio Oliva next to other guys you will notice that his head and fraim are some what small which helps him seem as big as he is.
Also I will bet anything that Coleman is already well over 23".
Tiervexx said:
Maybe it's just a long, bad day getting to me. If that becomes obvious, I'll concede it's mostly my bad for taking offense here...
...But in the meantime, asking me what the hell I'm talking about is a rather disrespectful way to approach me, especially when the subject is something as goofy as ARM SIZE. (Have I dissed you in the past? I surely do not recall as much.)
But you want to talk about it? Ok...let's talk about it, then.
You are grossly exaggerating.
I just took some quick measurements on the picture, and from chin to the top of his head I read 98 pixels.
From the highest portion of his biceps peak to the fattest portion of his triceps, BG's arms are 72 pixels tall.
In other words, if his head was 10" tall, his arms would be 7.25" tall.
I don't know about you, but I think 27.5% is a pretty large difference.
Yes, it is rather hard to believe IF he was significantly under 300 lbs., especially at his height.
Demonstrate one case in which someone much under 300 lbs. has over 22", lean arms. I don't think you'll find many examples, and will quickly see my point.
Yeah, I know, but I wasn't simply talking about Sergio Oliva.
To reduce my argument to Sergio is a straw man ("straw man," "fallacies of relevance" should turn up results on Google). I specifically noted that I've yet to see 22" arms or more on guys significantly under 300 lbs.
All this hinges on how much Graham weighed when those photos were taken. If he was 325 then, he could very well have 22" arms. If he was much less...well. You know my thoughts on that.
That bet is effectively worthless since Ronnie won't let anyone near him with a tape measure.
Bets aside, I seriously doubt it.
Consider Paul Dillett. A few short years ago he had the biggest arms on the IFBB circuit. For sheer size only Mike Matarazzo really rivaled him.
According to Charles Poliquin, Paul was taped at 21" shortly after the 1997 Mr. Olympia--you know, after he could get all bloated on junk food, probably up to 300 from his contest weight of ~277.
There's simply no way Ronnie, at ANY bodyweight, has well over 23" arms if Poliquin is telling the truth about a 300 pound Paul Dillett.
Why? Simple. The volumetric differences between a 21" arm and a >23" one are HUGE, enough that Ronnie would make Paul look like his bitch. (Ronnie certainly has a vastly superior physique, but sorry--his arms don't bitchify Paul's even now.)
The bottom line:
You asked me why it's hard to believe that measurement, so I'll ask you, why is it so hard for you to accept that the vast majority of lifters, including Billy Graham, EXAGGERATE their measurements? I've seen otherwise very honest, honorable men do just that...they rationalize a little bullshitting with the knowledge that about everyone else does it too.
I find it naive to believe everything a top bodybuilder or lifter says without question. When someone says something I feel is a stretch of the truth, I want proof.
guldukat said:
agreed. Let's play nice please.
Tiervexx
New member
guldukat said:
What I said sort of came out wrong.
What I meant is that sometimes it seems impossible for someone to post something without someone nit-picking at it like a grandma.
I know what you mean. We don't know for certain if he is lying or not but that is so obvious with all claims that it becomes pointless and somewhat annoying to always have someone point that out.
Nonerz
New member
tuc biscuit
New member
arms are easily what he says they are, tall bloke, big frame etc.
Tiervexx said:
No...I was too harsh
It'd been a long day. I didn't observe the first rule of internet posting: never say anything while angry or drunk.I wasn't drunk, but I was close enough to angry that I should've just kept quiet
LOL. My bad man--have a beer or protein shake on me.And I understand what you mean about nitpicking. I try to avoid doing that too much; it really distracts from the subject at hand, and somewhat detracts from what an awesome lifter someone like Graham is (or was, anyway).
Imnotdutch
butler monkey
I thought the first rule was dont post UNLESS angry or drunk?? you mean I have been doing this wrong for all of this time?
guldukat said:
No...I was too harsh
I wasn't drunk, but I was close enough to angry that I should've just kept quiet
And I understand what you mean about nitpicking. I try to avoid doing that too much; it really distracts from the subject at hand, and somewhat detracts from what an awesome lifter someone like Graham is (or was, anyway).
