Ricky Bruch lifted weights that we can scarcely imagine, during his preparation for the 84 Olympics. His federation chose to send other lifters in his place, I believe Stefan Fernholm was one, because they considered Ricky too old. Ricky however, continued his preparation back in Sweden and proceeded to throw about five meters more than the winning throw of the Olympics.
His story sounds like Clarence's before he blew out his knees. He didn't get the support from Ireland because his competition results weren't enough so he continued to train even harder, or something like that, leading to burnout.
Ricky was a stud! 98% of the pills and injections in the video are random vitamins and supplements he saw when reading American magazine, and he was convinced by the mags that these would get him throwing farther and lifting heavier, even though nearly every single pill he was taking was basically useless. He did absolutely everything he could to be the best, this documentary is one of my all time favorites.
I was a thrower in college in the late 70s. I remember a picture of Bruch and AL Feurbach in a contest to see how much weight they could gain in one day. Dudes sitting there with ice cream strawberries and whipped cream. Good times.
It seems like the most rigorous anti-doping measures back then were coaches checking to make sure the athletes took the syringes out of their thigh when they were done injecting.
My mother worked as a cleaner in the 1980s, and one of her clients was Ricky Bruch. She remarked on the constant orange peelings in his bed (and bedroom). Apparently, Swedish bodybuilders (and by extension, enhanced strength athletes) in 20th century were so worried about catabolism whilst being on gear that some opted to wake up once or twice every night and chuck down any food containing fast carbs to "bump back" to anabolism. Ricky, being obsessed with vitamins and minerals, opted for oranges as they were very popular during that time when vitamin C was promoted as a cure-all-super-nutrient.
I've heard so many stories about Ricky. My father was a javelin thrower for Sweden during the late 60s - early 70s, and also Ricky's training partner during that era. Man, the amount of things he saw Ricky inject was crazy. Not only that but he ate like a monster (which is understandable considering his size). He once told me that they went out to eat at a "all you can eat" restaurant somewhere in California (don't remember which city, but I think it was in 1969), and they paid something like a dollar or less. Well, they ate everything to the point where the staff started giving them basically the skin and bones of the chicken since it was all they had left. At that point Ricky was still not full, and he started to argue with the servers that it was an "all you can eat" buffet, and damnit he was gonna eat. After some time the staff decided to call the police, but since Ricky hadn't actually eaten everything that he wanted and more, he was not gonna pay the full 1 dollar. Eventually my dad, Ricky and a couple of other people in the group paid half the price (50 cent lol), leaving the restaurant that was now out of food for the night.
@@asura8495 Alot of the stuff about this guy seems "silly" Comment above says he had to pee while doing a handstand in the shower. What does that even mean? Sounds ridiculous
@@benjaminscarfo4116 Ricky was a compulsive liar, so some of the stories are most likely exaggerated. However this story comes directly from my dad so for me it is more believable. Take it as you want
@@BaldOmniMan Hey bro, dunno' if you follow Dean Malanga, but he's put up some videos just now kind of trashing the Larson press. Would be curious to know what you think, since he's a pretty elite level dude.
@@JivecattheMagnificent I don’t. I’m not going to engage in that discussion lol. Sounds like he and I don’t agree based on what you said, and that’s cool. That’s irrelevant to me since I got the exercise from someone that’s more than likely a lot stronger than him (freakieD). I do think Larsen press shouldn’t be someone’s first option if they don’t know how to use leg drive. And if you do use it, you should still be using a feet on the ground variation.
"Is that milk?" It was blueberry soup. From googling it seems like you guys don't have it in America. It's made by boiling blueberries (European blueberries of course) in water, and adding some sugar and potato starch (for thickening). Then you just drink it as a desert or with porridge or however you like. Kids love it, people going through some acute stomach flu love it, and apparently discus throwers love it, too.
@@benjaminphoenix5441 No, compote is much, much thicker. I suspect it has more added sugar, too. Blueberry soup is something you can just drink straight like Ricky Bruch. There is a wikipedia article for blueberry soup you can check if you're confused. I believe the difference is just how much of each ingredient you use, but no, blueberry soup is not compote.
Im Danish, But Danish and Swedish is very similar. Reading the text on the carton, it says: “blueberry soup”. Apparently it’s some kind of blueberry drink the Swedes drink. Cheers!
Ricky sure was a character. Just this part translated from an interview is kind of crazy. As in the case of Wolfgang Schmidt, the East German discus thrower who was placed under house arrest and tortured by the then regime because he was suspected of planning to jump off to the West. Ricky got him out. - No one had seen him in three years, but he managed to smuggle out a letter to me and then I started an operation to help him. I was in East Germany nine times. When I finally found him behind the Iron Curtain, Wolfgang was shocked. I was stuffed with valium, had a loose beard and wig and he thought I was crazy! I took pictures of him outside Hotel Metropol and smuggled out the roll and dictaphone straps in a plastic bag that I pushed up my ass. Then I sent them to Bild-Zeitung and of course there was a hell of a stir. But Wolfgang came out. That was the most important thing. He's one of my best friends, says Ricky.
As a swede i recognise Ricky as an absolute legend in any given sport. Geez hes up there with the mythical. He was drinking something called Blåbärssoppa which is a bluberry juice/drink but it translates to blueberry soup. The video of him curling 100kg for a couple reps and then throwing the barbell into the rack lives rent free in my head!
@12:53 It's not that it thins out your blood(in fact peds make your blood thicker), but the fact that your blood pressure skyrockets when you take dianabol or anadrol. Dianabol is actually worse in terms of nosebleeds than anadrol is generally.
Yeah, I remember the last time that I used dbol, INSANE STRENGTH, REALLY INSANE, but there was days that my nose bleeded 5 times, this was before I learned to control blood pressure btw.... But insane strength nonetheless
Yeah my training partner who takes D Bol has to take pharma grade blood pressure medication and a shit ton of liver protection meds. So much work for very little life benefits outside the gym.
@Zack Telander Dude yes we're getting into some amazing content, Ricky is an absolute legend in the thrower sphere. The Soul is Greater Than the World is on RUclips in full and is a goddamn must watch. Ricky was a jack of all trades kind of guy, wrote poetry, starred in porno films, and recorded albums as a singer (not sure if any of this was actually good but he did it). This plays into your comment about the faked blood vessel popping scene; Ricky was heavily involved in the production of this documentary. Unlike most docs where a crew is simply recording what's going on, Ricky was very much in charge of what he wanted to show to the viewer, and so there is a certain amount of "cinema" that takes place. Also, about that scene where he and his buddy are unpacking all the American supplements. I'm pretty sure Ricky is actually trying to tell the viewer that he's a natural athlete, and that he chooses to avoid "hormones" unlike his friend. Even all the pills we see him taking, in other scenes he calls them "multiminerals", "vitamins", and "amino acids". He says that he's taking "doses of 20-30g" of these things, which lines up with the 750 tablets per day number and is insane. But bottom line is I actually think he's trying to convey that he's a clean athlete. Keep up the awesome content man!
Hey Zack could you do a video about Alexander Karelin? The Siberian bear had a record of 887-2 during his time in wrestling. Astonishing. Would be awesome to see you cover him as you've taken up combat sports as a discipline!
Ricky is just hyperdosing vitamins there. It was all the rage in 1970s and it's still done to a lesser extent today with certain injectable vitamins. Bill Starr's "the strongest shall survive" has detailed recommendations for this sort of thing.
Yeah, that's true, it's all the movie ever shows. As far as I know Ricky only ever admitted to testosterone, which was almost quasi-legal at the time with no carbon isotope testing and the allowed ratio being 6:1 instead of 4:1 like now. HGH also wasn't banned in the 80s at all, either. It's certainly possible he was using other stuff and perhaps not passing internal drug tests could explain why he didn't get to go to more major competitions but it's also entirely possible being 300lbs and being a maniac on 500mg test with likely no AI would cause burst blood vessels, too. To be fair even with oral steroids they were only detectable about 2-3 weeks out back then, or rather until 2012 or so even.
Hey Zack, could you do a video on the role of elbow sleeves and how they assist in overhead work? Kind of a random request but I was just curious if anything.
I remember watching this 7 years ago for motivation before my first couple of Weightlifting competitions. Still watch it today to get pumped for Strongman Competitions. Absolutely amazing mindset.
The original Grizzly, crazy as hell and lifted insane amounts of weight. Benched 300kg, curled over 140kg for reps, ohp over 5 plates behind the head for reps.
I have looked for records of Bruch's training lifts, for years, and it has been very difficult to find good sources. I would like to ask if you have any details on the source of this data, or any more specifics, etc.
@@trtnec the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Throwers don't do strict OHP rather push press, not curl but the power curl Rick is seen doing in the video. The numbers may be close, judging from the lifts in the video.
@@HIMCULES that's a fair point. Even pictures of them are elusive af. I would say if he has done them in comp there should be pictures, but if he exclusively trains at gym probs not. Cheers anyways 🤙
Swede here. Ricky was never really a poster child for the sport here, he was known for giving the Swedish olympic federation shit among other things. I find it baffling that he never got caught
Ricky's pro-"hormone" friend who is skeptical of his vitamin use is legendary Swedish powerlifter Ulf Morin, who competed in many IPF Worlds in the '70s and '80s in the 100 and 110 kg. classes. European champion several times, too. I believe he was retired by the time this movie was filmed in the winter of 1983.
This documentary (The soul is greater than the world) is so fucking good. An all encompassing insight into a (very eccentric) professional athlete's life, with some of the coolest training montages ever, an interlude of an attempted smuggling of a competitor out of East Germany, Bruch getting snubbed out of a spot to the Olympics that he qualified to due to politics, him watching the Olympics on the TV while the commentator talks about how the mediocre performances in the discus competition must spur him on. It does. He goes on to train harder than ever and becomes acknowledged by his competitors as the best thrower on the planet, throwing further than anyone has before. Great story, with some amazing filmmaking, with some interspersed poetry read by Bruch that shrouds it in an absurd aura.
Ricky Bruch, Lennart ”hoahoa” Dahlgren (weightlifter) and Frank Andersson (wrestler) were allegedly a crazy trio back in the days. Many sick stories circulating around those guys.
The last scene with Ricky realizing his career is over is heartbreaking. Ricky got into a fight with a member of the lifting commitee and was not allowed to compete in the olympics.
I feel like I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have seen, like discovering a darker side of life. I’ve never been naive to this sort of thing, but to see it in action is a whole different thing
Great find. So interesting to see obscure or foreign--foreign to the viewer, at least--footage of guys or girls going so hard, in any sport, really. It's unlocking a lost bit of history. So many lifters today it would have been the same but for seeing them on RUclips.
This brought back a lot of memories for me! I was a student at UTEP during the early 80's when the track and field program was at its peak. Those Scandinavian throwers were all quiet, friendly, but crazy as hell. Fun times!
That blood scene was definitely cinema. That initial spit that looks like a solid is the capsule that contains the fake blood. I’m almost positive. The only other option is that it’d be coagulated blood blocking the flow which then released, but if it was in his nose it’d take a few seconds to go down his throat before he’d be coughing on it, even while lying prone. You’d also see blood come out the nose which you don’t. It just doesn’t make sense for the blood to be in his lungs unless he was coughing purposely. Lots of other parts of it were clearly contrived but I liked it a lot actually. Quite a gem of a film, and a cool time piece. He’s like a thin version of kyrakolos grizzly
Damn, I came here to watch for entertainment purposes. But dang, this dude is so much more than drugs. Some really moving cinematic clips! The dude was an animal, so much passion for victory and so much will to succeed. 🔥🔥🔥
The Soul is Greater than the World is one of my most favorite things. Before I could stream it online I had a friend burn me a copy on a cd and mail it to me so I could watch it.
I run track and I was talking to our throwing coach once and he said that cheat curls are one of the best movements a thrower could do. So I believe those “reverse grip cleans” could have been highly exaggerated cheat curls.
He was drinking blueberry soup (Blåbärssoppa) at the 07:35 mark, which is quite common in the Nordic countries. Made from bilberries, you can make it yourself or buy it in the supermarket. Pretty tasty stuff, especially to add on top of yoghurt/porridge, etc. Edit: His surname is also pronounced "Broosh", think brush+woosh :P
As I understand the movie says he didnt use PEDs he was using "supplements" b6 , b12 etc.... I thinks its something of him trying to pretend he was clean.
This film has some of my favorite quotes from John Powell, when coaching Ricky: “It takes 20 minutes to be an expert. You’ve only done 5” “I don’t know if I Can do it again. I am sp much older than I was 5 minutes ago” “I never would have taught you if I thought you would learn.” “I am going back to California. I’ve done enough damage to American discus throwing.”
I have actually bursted a blood vessel in my nose doing curls. I have had one side of my nose cauterized. If you believe what the doctor said, I have nasal blood vessels 10-15x average. It was bloody af. Blood sprayed out in a line, probly 5 feet away from me. Ruined my favorite shirt.
You can look for images when he was a Bodybuilder, he was more shredded and muscular than on this documentary. Also, where we can find that bench press machine at 4:15 ?
I perplexed as to the injection nature of the "PED". This apparent 5-7 cm injection went where? The only place for that depth directly in the umbilicus, would seem to be the peritoneal cavity? this would not provide any vascular for absorption... It is possible this may have been injected into he local abdominal wall subcutaneous tissues to avoid detection with injection marks on the integument, or in the greater omentum... can you clarify? @Zack Telander
If anything anabolics thicken your blood. The reason you get the nose bleeds is just from the hypertension. Ive used some orals, not in high quantities but i have gotten some light nose bleeds at around week 7 of 40mg of dianabol
It might be worth actually watching the documentary. A lot of the stuff he was taking was vitamins and minerals. Some of his injections were things like B12. No doubt he was on steroids, but there’s a lot more to it than just taking steroids.
Спорт
400 pills a day, this man is the true LIVER KING
Isn't the other liver king some hillbilly weird due trying to mix that with a mainstream "fitness influencer"
Its a great pun dude
😂 you win …
*was the true liver king, RIP
If liver's are so important why can't I use them to do dumbbell curls?
Ricky Bruch lifted weights that we can scarcely imagine, during his preparation for the 84 Olympics. His federation chose to send other lifters in his place, I believe Stefan Fernholm was one, because they considered Ricky too old.
Ricky however, continued his preparation back in Sweden and proceeded to throw about five meters more than the winning throw of the Olympics.
Which was one of, if not The most epic F U, in sports history.
@@HIMCULES which one was it?
@@mihailmilev9909 throwing five meters more than the winner of the Olympics, at home, just to prove the Swedish federation wrong.
@@HIMCULES he means is it or not
His story sounds like Clarence's before he blew out his knees. He didn't get the support from Ireland because his competition results weren't enough so he continued to train even harder, or something like that, leading to burnout.
Ricky was a stud! 98% of the pills and injections in the video are random vitamins and supplements he saw when reading American magazine, and he was convinced by the mags that these would get him throwing farther and lifting heavier, even though nearly every single pill he was taking was basically useless. He did absolutely everything he could to be the best, this documentary is one of my all time favorites.
One of my favorite videos as well and the Jon pall sigmarsson story
I was a thrower in college in the late 70s. I remember a picture of Bruch and AL Feurbach in a contest to see how much weight they could gain in one day. Dudes sitting there with ice cream strawberries and whipped cream. Good times.
That wasn't milk, it was "blueberry soup." Swedes call a purred berry liquid a "berry soup."
That sounds delicious.
It seems like the most rigorous anti-doping measures back then were coaches checking to make sure the athletes took the syringes out of their thigh when they were done injecting.
in some countries I'm sure coaches were checking to make sure the athletes weren't missing injections
🤣
My mother worked as a cleaner in the 1980s, and one of her clients was Ricky Bruch.
She remarked on the constant orange peelings in his bed (and bedroom).
Apparently, Swedish bodybuilders (and by extension, enhanced strength athletes) in 20th century were so worried about catabolism whilst being on gear that some opted to wake up once or twice every night and chuck down any food containing fast carbs to "bump back" to anabolism.
Ricky, being obsessed with vitamins and minerals, opted for oranges as they were very popular during that time when vitamin C was promoted as a cure-all-super-nutrient.
Va det i Blentarp??
I've heard so many stories about Ricky. My father was a javelin thrower for Sweden during the late 60s - early 70s, and also Ricky's training partner during that era. Man, the amount of things he saw Ricky inject was crazy. Not only that but he ate like a monster (which is understandable considering his size).
He once told me that they went out to eat at a "all you can eat" restaurant somewhere in California (don't remember which city, but I think it was in 1969), and they paid something like a dollar or less. Well, they ate everything to the point where the staff started giving them basically the skin and bones of the chicken since it was all they had left. At that point Ricky was still not full, and he started to argue with the servers that it was an "all you can eat" buffet, and damnit he was gonna eat. After some time the staff decided to call the police, but since Ricky hadn't actually eaten everything that he wanted and more, he was not gonna pay the full 1 dollar. Eventually my dad, Ricky and a couple of other people in the group paid half the price (50 cent lol), leaving the restaurant that was now out of food for the night.
even if he eats for 4 people, that shouldnt make the restaurant go out of food, that story seems silly
@@asura8495 They were more than one person eating there, big dudes. Idk, maybe they were just out of chicken for the night
@@asura8495 Alot of the stuff about this guy seems "silly" Comment above says he had to pee while doing a handstand in the shower. What does that even mean? Sounds ridiculous
This is absolute cap
@@benjaminscarfo4116 Ricky was a compulsive liar, so some of the stories are most likely exaggerated. However this story comes directly from my dad so for me it is more believable. Take it as you want
Most abhorrent use of PEDs I’ve seen is that 17 year old that Mega Evolved in a 40 year old man and mogged Lu’s world record.
wait what will our name be for Carlos going forward. I'm putting "turbo child" out there.
@@zacktelander Mega Charizard is what I’ve been calling him 😂
@@BaldOmniMan Hey bro, dunno' if you follow Dean Malanga, but he's put up some videos just now kind of trashing the Larson press. Would be curious to know what you think, since he's a pretty elite level dude.
@@zacktelander lol turbo child
@@JivecattheMagnificent I don’t. I’m not going to engage in that discussion lol. Sounds like he and I don’t agree based on what you said, and that’s cool. That’s irrelevant to me since I got the exercise from someone that’s more than likely a lot stronger than him (freakieD).
I do think Larsen press shouldn’t be someone’s first option if they don’t know how to use leg drive. And if you do use it, you should still be using a feet on the ground variation.
"Is that milk?"
It was blueberry soup. From googling it seems like you guys don't have it in America. It's made by boiling blueberries (European blueberries of course) in water, and adding some sugar and potato starch (for thickening). Then you just drink it as a desert or with porridge or however you like. Kids love it, people going through some acute stomach flu love it, and apparently discus throwers love it, too.
Sweet childhood memories.
That's the real anabolic compound right there, no doubt.
Warmed blueberry soup is also served at Wazaloppet, a yearly 90km crosscountry skicompetition (classic style). Its like a warm natural energydrink.
That would be called a 'compote'.
@@benjaminphoenix5441 No, compote is much, much thicker. I suspect it has more added sugar, too. Blueberry soup is something you can just drink straight like Ricky Bruch. There is a wikipedia article for blueberry soup you can check if you're confused. I believe the difference is just how much of each ingredient you use, but no, blueberry soup is not compote.
Im Danish, But Danish and Swedish is very similar. Reading the text on the carton, it says: “blueberry soup”. Apparently it’s some kind of blueberry drink the Swedes drink.
Cheers!
Good soup
@@zacktelander It is probably more likely "bilberry" which we call blueberries in swedish.
Ricky sure was a character.
Just this part translated from an interview is kind of crazy.
As in the case of Wolfgang Schmidt, the East German discus thrower who was placed under house arrest and tortured by the then regime because he was suspected of planning to jump off to the West.
Ricky got him out.
- No one had seen him in three years, but he managed to smuggle out a letter to me and then I started an operation to help him. I was in East Germany nine times. When I finally found him behind the Iron Curtain, Wolfgang was shocked. I was stuffed with valium, had a loose beard and wig and he thought I was crazy! I took pictures of him outside Hotel Metropol and smuggled out the roll and dictaphone straps in a plastic bag that I pushed up my ass. Then I sent them to Bild-Zeitung and of course there was a hell of a stir. But Wolfgang came out. That was the most important thing. He's one of my best friends, says Ricky.
"Ricky got him out. A clean 68m throw over the Berlin Wall to freedom!"
@@barath4545 lmfao
Seriously tho that's insane. Crazy bro, RIP a real one
classic imperialist
As a swede i recognise Ricky as an absolute legend in any given sport. Geez hes up there with the mythical. He was drinking something called Blåbärssoppa which is a bluberry juice/drink but it translates to blueberry soup. The video of him curling 100kg for a couple reps and then throwing the barbell into the rack lives rent free in my head!
lmao that bicep curl is legendary. He's definitely one of the all time greats in Sweden.
@12:53 It's not that it thins out your blood(in fact peds make your blood thicker), but the fact that your blood pressure skyrockets when you take dianabol or anadrol. Dianabol is actually worse in terms of nosebleeds than anadrol is generally.
thank you for this!!!
Yeah, I remember the last time that I used dbol, INSANE STRENGTH, REALLY INSANE, but there was days that my nose bleeded 5 times, this was before I learned to control blood pressure btw.... But insane strength nonetheless
D-Bol or Winny-V will both make you bleed for it.
Yeah my training partner who takes D Bol has to take pharma grade blood pressure medication and a shit ton of liver protection meds. So much work for very little life benefits outside the gym.
That's blueberry soup that he was drinking with all those pills
Good soup
@@zacktelander Blueberry soup kind of underrated ngl
these videos are fucking gold, your editor deserves a pay rise cause he always delivers man
@Zack Telander Dude yes we're getting into some amazing content, Ricky is an absolute legend in the thrower sphere. The Soul is Greater Than the World is on RUclips in full and is a goddamn must watch. Ricky was a jack of all trades kind of guy, wrote poetry, starred in porno films, and recorded albums as a singer (not sure if any of this was actually good but he did it). This plays into your comment about the faked blood vessel popping scene; Ricky was heavily involved in the production of this documentary. Unlike most docs where a crew is simply recording what's going on, Ricky was very much in charge of what he wanted to show to the viewer, and so there is a certain amount of "cinema" that takes place.
Also, about that scene where he and his buddy are unpacking all the American supplements. I'm pretty sure Ricky is actually trying to tell the viewer that he's a natural athlete, and that he chooses to avoid "hormones" unlike his friend. Even all the pills we see him taking, in other scenes he calls them "multiminerals", "vitamins", and "amino acids". He says that he's taking "doses of 20-30g" of these things, which lines up with the 750 tablets per day number and is insane. But bottom line is I actually think he's trying to convey that he's a clean athlete.
Keep up the awesome content man!
You the real MVP for this.
@@Craze_Lifter he admitted to doping after retirement. There's nothing to speculate.
Hey Zack could you do a video about Alexander Karelin? The Siberian bear had a record of 887-2 during his time in wrestling. Astonishing. Would be awesome to see you cover him as you've taken up combat sports as a discipline!
Ricky is just hyperdosing vitamins there. It was all the rage in 1970s and it's still done to a lesser extent today with certain injectable vitamins.
Bill Starr's "the strongest shall survive" has detailed recommendations for this sort of thing.
Yeah, that's true, it's all the movie ever shows. As far as I know Ricky only ever admitted to testosterone, which was almost quasi-legal at the time with no carbon isotope testing and the allowed ratio being 6:1 instead of 4:1 like now. HGH also wasn't banned in the 80s at all, either.
It's certainly possible he was using other stuff and perhaps not passing internal drug tests could explain why he didn't get to go to more major competitions but it's also entirely possible being 300lbs and being a maniac on 500mg test with likely no AI would cause burst blood vessels, too. To be fair even with oral steroids they were only detectable about 2-3 weeks out back then, or rather until 2012 or so even.
Hey Zack, could you do a video on the role of elbow sleeves and how they assist in overhead work? Kind of a random request but I was just curious if anything.
Compression feels good. Elbow hurts less and feels more secure so you can press marginally more.
You nailed it with this video. Thank you for introducing us to this fascinating human being. We need more videos like this one.
It amazes me that there haven't been more throwers excelling in strongman and powerlifting
I remember watching this 7 years ago for motivation before my first couple of Weightlifting competitions. Still watch it today to get pumped for Strongman Competitions. Absolutely amazing mindset.
The original Grizzly, crazy as hell and lifted insane amounts of weight. Benched 300kg, curled over 140kg for reps, ohp over 5 plates behind the head for reps.
I have looked for records of Bruch's training lifts, for years, and it has been very difficult to find good sources. I would like to ask if you have any details on the source of this data, or any more specifics, etc.
HIMCULES Is there any video footage of m'lard Olympic lifting career. Would love to see his 220kg c+j
@@trtnec the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Throwers don't do strict OHP rather push press, not curl but the power curl Rick is seen doing in the video. The numbers may be close, judging from the lifts in the video.
@@LeadGRuaidri not that I know of, you are talking about the time before mobile phones.
@@HIMCULES that's a fair point. Even pictures of them are elusive af. I would say if he has done them in comp there should be pictures, but if he exclusively trains at gym probs not. Cheers anyways 🤙
Smoke creatine out of a lightbulb
Ricky is an absolute legend here in Sweden. He's one of the greatest sources of both memes and inspiration in my closest circle of friends.
Tog han verkligen 400 dopingpiller om dagen?. Inte konstigt att han gick i graven tidigt isf.
This is the most entertaining and original thing iv seen in the lifting and fitness RUclips community maybe ever. You had me from start to end.
This channel is soo good always something different 💪🏼💪🏼
Swede here. Ricky was never really a poster child for the sport here, he was known for giving the Swedish olympic federation shit among other things. I find it baffling that he never got caught
Also for anyone who wants to watch this documentary it's called "Själen är större än världen/ The soul is greater than the world"
You legitimately make some of the greatest content on this platform, this was awesome
Ricky's pro-"hormone" friend who is skeptical of his vitamin use is legendary Swedish powerlifter Ulf Morin, who competed in many IPF Worlds in the '70s and '80s in the 100 and 110 kg. classes. European champion several times, too. I believe he was retired by the time this movie was filmed in the winter of 1983.
This documentary (The soul is greater than the world) is so fucking good. An all encompassing insight into a (very eccentric) professional athlete's life, with some of the coolest training montages ever, an interlude of an attempted smuggling of a competitor out of East Germany, Bruch getting snubbed out of a spot to the Olympics that he qualified to due to politics, him watching the Olympics on the TV while the commentator talks about how the mediocre performances in the discus competition must spur him on. It does. He goes on to train harder than ever and becomes acknowledged by his competitors as the best thrower on the planet, throwing further than anyone has before.
Great story, with some amazing filmmaking, with some interspersed poetry read by Bruch that shrouds it in an absurd aura.
Thanks for this video, i watch this documentary every day
Thank you Zack T for everything!!
Better than most movies from the last decade.
I could watch this all day. Something cathartic about videos like these.
I literally forgot to blink through most of this video. When it ended my eyes were sore and watery
Ricky Bruch also equalled the world record in the discus in 1972.
This was an interesting watch. Thanks for this.
Ricky Bruch, Lennart ”hoahoa” Dahlgren (weightlifter) and Frank Andersson (wrestler) were allegedly a crazy trio back in the days. Many sick stories circulating around those guys.
Hah comment i was looking for! The craziest swedes!
That was insane… great video Zack
Hey Zack, you should watch Smashing Machine, it’s about MMA Legend Mark Kerr and talks about his drug use and strength training
That is a GREAT documentary!
The last scene with Ricky realizing his career is over is heartbreaking. Ricky got into a fight with a member of the lifting commitee and was not allowed to compete in the olympics.
The guy screaming throwing shots into the net made me think we were watching Rick del Hagen
Holy shit Zack. They may have been one of the best weightlifting, gym, workout, etc videos I have ever seen. Fucking crazy!
Zach out there always delivering the good content
I feel like I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have seen, like discovering a darker side of life. I’ve never been naive to this sort of thing, but to see it in action is a whole different thing
Weird user name though
@@HolyPineCone LMFAO
Don't know how many times I've seen the documentary about him, absolutely love it!
So it this him playing himself? There's definitely set up lines but is the gym footage real?
@@chrism45 This is all him.
I remember seeing this on the chaos and pain blog many years ago, motivated me to become obsessed with behind the neck push pressing for a time
Never heard of this man until now; an immediate legend in my eyes
Great find. So interesting to see obscure or foreign--foreign to the viewer, at least--footage of guys or girls going so hard, in any sport, really. It's unlocking a lost bit of history. So many lifters today it would have been the same but for seeing them on RUclips.
This brought back a lot of memories for me! I was a student at UTEP during the early 80's when the track and field program was at its peak. Those Scandinavian throwers were all quiet, friendly, but crazy as hell. Fun times!
That blood scene was definitely cinema. That initial spit that looks like a solid is the capsule that contains the fake blood. I’m almost positive. The only other option is that it’d be coagulated blood blocking the flow which then released, but if it was in his nose it’d take a few seconds to go down his throat before he’d be coughing on it, even while lying prone. You’d also see blood come out the nose which you don’t. It just doesn’t make sense for the blood to be in his lungs unless he was coughing purposely.
Lots of other parts of it were clearly contrived but I liked it a lot actually. Quite a gem of a film, and a cool time piece. He’s like a thin version of kyrakolos grizzly
I love this documentary. When he runs down the dark hallway after a lift while screaming and slaps the hanging light... pure gold
Late to comment, but that documentary I saw was amazing, great job 👏
I fvcking love the old school grit doing unorthodox excercises and getting work done. This is amazing stuff
bruch didnt inject any of peds in the clip, that was holy water
amazing vid more of this stuff plees
Great footage Zack. Those were “power curls” and they have a purpose for some🤙🏼.
I was not expecting that final part
I think that Alex needs a raise man, the best editor out there.
And by the way, thats how i train when i miss my fucking jerk
Damn, I came here to watch for entertainment purposes. But dang, this dude is so much more than drugs. Some really moving cinematic clips! The dude was an animal, so much passion for victory and so much will to succeed. 🔥🔥🔥
The Soul is Greater than the World is one of my most favorite things. Before I could stream it online I had a friend burn me a copy on a cd and mail it to me so I could watch it.
The carton said blueberry soup, not milk.
Good soup
@@zacktelander the best
Yep.. I need to watch this doc now......
its blueberry soup that he is drinking, not milk. :)
Potenta jävla blåbär ;)
The drink was bluberry soup. Very popular in sweden especially during the Vasalopp. A cross country skiing event that goes on for 90km's
I run track and I was talking to our throwing coach once and he said that cheat curls are one of the best movements a thrower could do. So I believe those “reverse grip cleans” could have been highly exaggerated cheat curls.
Zack out here studying for his role in The Weight
Epic! That was awesome to see.
Zacks reaction 18:46 is the same reaction I have lol. I’m at work and have this playing on my phone before heading to the gym tonight
Was a thrower from the time I was 9 till I was 21 during the 00s-10s, and I have never seen this footage. Very cool.
Ok guys who leaked “the weight”
What's your opinion on stuff like turkesterone, Zach? Think it has any value? Love these videos!!
Check out Layne Norton's video on it.
He was drinking blueberry soup (Blåbärssoppa) at the 07:35 mark, which is quite common in the Nordic countries. Made from bilberries, you can make it yourself or buy it in the supermarket. Pretty tasty stuff, especially to add on top of yoghurt/porridge, etc.
Edit: His surname is also pronounced "Broosh", think brush+woosh :P
@8:33 ah even before the synthetization of GH, they were trying to stimulate gh
As I understand the movie says he didnt use PEDs he was using "supplements" b6 , b12 etc.... I thinks its something of him trying to pretend he was clean.
I feel like everyone watching this now has the same amount of PTSD than Zack has :D just bonding over this rn
That was awesome to watch
what software do you use to screen record and film at the same time, or how do you do that
7:21 thats Blåbarsoppa, basically like blueberry jam but more runny (kinda like a syrup form) ususally eaten with deserts or filmjölk (sour milk)
Proud to be of the same country as this beast.🇸🇪
Please make a video on Westside powerlifters and Chuck V.
Them PRs on leg raises must be hard to come by
This film has some of my favorite quotes from John Powell, when coaching Ricky:
“It takes 20 minutes to be an expert. You’ve only done 5”
“I don’t know if I Can do it again. I am sp much older than I was 5 minutes ago”
“I never would have taught you if I thought you would learn.”
“I am going back to California. I’ve done enough damage to American discus throwing.”
The last part was like decent into madness love him so much for that part.
The documentary is Själen är större än världen / The soul is greater than the world. It's available on RUclips subtitled in English.
It's a pity there's not a similar documentary for shotputter Brian Oldfield, he was a real character, too.
I have actually bursted a blood vessel in my nose doing curls. I have had one side of my nose cauterized. If you believe what the doctor said, I have nasal blood vessels 10-15x average. It was bloody af. Blood sprayed out in a line, probly 5 feet away from me. Ruined my favorite shirt.
You can look for images when he was a Bodybuilder, he was more shredded and muscular than on this documentary.
Also, where we can find that bench press machine at 4:15 ?
I perplexed as to the injection nature of the "PED". This apparent 5-7 cm injection went where? The only place for that depth directly in the umbilicus, would seem to be the peritoneal cavity? this would not provide any vascular for absorption...
It is possible this may have been injected into he local abdominal wall subcutaneous tissues to avoid detection with injection marks on the integument, or in the greater omentum...
can you clarify? @Zack Telander
i think his midsection is so thick that it was intramuscular
My reactions were exactly the same as ZT’s at every moment.
You missed the part when he does a muscle biopsy.
Test suspension is milky from everything I've seen, but it's also hard to tell what it might, be as various suspensions add viscosity and tint.
Big swede: *yeets my pr deadlift at squat stand*
Coach ZT(an empath): Oh he’s mad.
This is amazing
ZACH! RUclips sometimes pulls videos with needles and drugs, u may wanna edit out that scene with the needle before this video gets flagged.
All these clips are from his own movie "the soul is larger than the world" or something like that
If anything anabolics thicken your blood. The reason you get the nose bleeds is just from the hypertension. Ive used some orals, not in high quantities but i have gotten some light nose bleeds at around week 7 of 40mg of dianabol
It might be worth actually watching the documentary. A lot of the stuff he was taking was vitamins and minerals. Some of his injections were things like B12. No doubt he was on steroids, but there’s a lot more to it than just taking steroids.
That really turned into something!!!