Meet Ricky Bruch.
A man driven to WIN.
A man who did not lay down for others.
They told him "NO".
They said he was too old.
He decided differently.
He blazed his own path, and as you can see below, he was not the type of man you would want to run into in a dark alley.
Denied the right to compete in the Olympic Games he trained like a mad man and sought revenge by entering smaller competitions and beating records in the process.
Yes, it looks like Ricky took advantage of some illegal substances, and that, I am against.
But, I learn from his actions still, the main action being his commitment to achieving a goal and refusing to accept defeat on other people's terms.
So I leave you with some words and some training footage.
Remember, when others tell you "NO", "It's impossible", "Don't be crazy", "Be realistic" - this is your time to push onward and upward.
Greatness comes to those who dare something worthy, Normal doesn't cut it around "here."
Meet Ricky Bruch....
What did you think of Ricky's attitude towards training and winning?
Looks like he was in a VERY Underground type gym.
Looking forward to your comments and thoughts on defying the odds and winning.
Peace!
--Z--
PS: The world of Underground Strength Training and Muscle Building is not for everyone. But, if you want 24-7 access to me and other like minded Bruddahs, please take advantage of my 30 Day Trial to The Underground Strength World HERE.
29 Responses
I like it alot and recommend serious athletes to watch it.
Thnx Philip! Ask away your questions on strength, I saw you posted a comment on a different video, ask away bruddah!
Thats awesome! I am going to start breaking my lights down after a set.
Just shows when you have a drive and focus that nothing can get in front of you can do anything.
The movie is awesome…Dan John gave me a copy several years ago, but I have seemingly LOST it!
Ricky was crazy and perhaps a little “out of balance”, but sometimes thats where greatness comes from.
Matt – that wpuld be GREAT, HA HA. Keep being YOU dude, the world will take notice, we all wanna see more matty holmes training in his LA Dungeon!
Dustin, oh shit, U r RIGHT! Sometimes greatness comes when we get crazy!
U met Dan John!!! Awesome, he is on ym list of mentors and men to meet!
I’d also like to meet Mark Rippetoe – he’s a crazy mofo I hear so I should get along w/him very well, ha ha
Looking forward to seeing how every1 else reacts to this crazy dude, Ricky Bruch!
Yo Zach, if i saw this dude in the alley i’d run the other way and come back with a machine gun.
The dude is crrrraaaaazy.
But I love his passion. We could all use some of that….the passion i mean.
And another lesson to the youngsters is……dont do steroids.
Crazy ! Got me pumped. How is this documentary called?
Time to go train! The sandbags are waiting for me
I admired the passion you could see and hear it coming out of the guy in 3d go Ricky!
Thank you Zach
this guy is beastly! and i liked wen he described his weights as bein light, its a great mind set. but the needles and excess vitamins gotta go, u gotta go with natural foods
a little crazy he might be, but i dont think that anyone can achieve greatness witout being a little crazy!
cant call a guy crazy that has determination and the soul of a winner!
arrghh this stuff pumps me up dude!
keep it comming Z!
peace
-Luis-
Z, my man
One of the few posts I have ever disagreed with you posting. All I could see was a mad man taking drugs and that made him crazy. Did not see any drive or commitment there dude. I really cant see how this would prove that drive and commitment gets you to where you would want to be? I know you said you dont agree with the drug taking here, but how much of his drug taking pushed him on?
I find your own videos from the USC and your gym much more motivational, and think this is just a bad example.
But I respect your oppinion, so please explain yourself further…
thanx for posting this Z!
I have also seen this documentary about ricky. this swedish guy was an unbelieveable fighter! there is another vid on youtube, where he is doing heavy heavy cheat curls! the intensity he trained is enormous
ricky now lives poor and alone anywhere in sweden, but I think he is happy!
@ Zach – never actually met him in person, but spoke with him over the phone a few times about 8 years ago when I was just a punk kid (16?) who wanted to throw the discus further.
If you like what Coach Rip has to say then you’ll love this site haha…http://ripquoteoftheday.blogspot.com/
thats one crazy motherfucker
Dustin
I gotta see that!!! Coach Rip is da man!!!
Thanks!
Jason, hey bro, I don’t know when he used illegal substances, etc – I did read I believe that they said he was one of the first guys in sweden to use testosterone I believe they said…..
I honestly don’t recall exactly what they said he used
I just don’t want people thinking I am in line w/drugs
On the flip side, I don’t wanna judge what people do to win, the lesson I got most was Ricky’s attitude
Thnx 4 the comment bruddah!
Claus, much respected bruddah
as mentioned in a previous response, he was driven to win, I don’t think any of us know exactly what he did or did not do, BUT, the lesson to be learned here:
1) he was told he could NOT do something, so he went ahead and pushed forward and onward rather than quitting
2) He trained with the o lifts, powerlifts and power bodybuilding – all of which are excellent for building athleticism
I like to learn anything I can or derive motivation from many things, I personally don’t give a sh*t if the person did certain things I don’t agree with.
Thnx for your comments as always bruddah and your honesty!!
–Z–
Dominik, I will post that video…..
those cheat curls are amazing for full body strength and power
he had some crazy life directions from signing to porn to bodybuilding
seems like he never found himself, which is very unfortunate
–z–
Awesome. And so what if he did roids. They were just another tool in the box. Heck if they were legal I’d be using them now. You guys ever compete at that level in life then come back and tell us what you would do to win. Hard core video Zach. Keep them coming. Get some Doug Youngs videos, Roger Estop, Bill Kazimer.
Jason, I never judged about Ricky! Maybe you changed names at the reactions!
I have the full DVD about ricky at home bro and I absolutely love it! It is great!
Hey Zach,
I would say your training videos are much more motivational, this dude was driven or could say turned crazy via chemical enhancement (DRUGS!). Not impressive really any crazy fool can take em, if anything I would say any one taking drugs is a weak minded person.
HONEST SWEAT,GUTS & STRENGTH ALL THE ZACH
Boxstickfan – damn bro, much respect, thnx bruddah!
Hmm… I actually read the comments before watching the video, and I was expecting to see some big weights being thrown around by a huge, intense beast! After watching the video I was a bit disappointed… didn’t seem to be lifting very heavy, and the yelling and throwing stuff didn’t impress me. I agree with the guys who posted that they find your videos much more motivational.
However, I do not think it’s fair to judge an athlete for using steroids, or to assume he does without proof. It’s not a magic potion that will turn everyone into a champ. Hard work, guts, nutrition, and a good program are still necessary.
LOL – that is how I used to train at gold’s gym…that guy was goin’ nuts…like it should be in the gym….most of today’s gyms you “can’t” or aren’t “allowed” to break shit. My bro and i broke everything when we were that pysched up – back in my dad’s basement…it was the best weight lifting I have ever done….
I wanna break stuff right now…but i am in a hotel room scanning in expenses for work – LOL!
Peace in strength,
Johnny Monstrous
That ending was priceless…
Screaming like a mad man on leg raises and then high-fiving the light fixture. Unintentionally hilarious!
Mike
Josh Hewett, he does throw big weights around in the documentary, especially behind the neck jerks. Can’t be sure of the weights because they are old bumper plates but it was atleast 180 kilos, probably more. I believe he cheat curled 140 kilos.
Dominik sorry I messed up. I meant Claus.
boxstickfuman and claus get your heads out of your arses.
I know Ricky, and even though he did steroids early on in his career he did not do them later on since he considers them generally bad and does fine without them, all of the supplements he took during the period of time displayed in the documentary were all legal supplements and vitamins, stuff that you can find in your local grocery shop now days basically, the syringes were all vitamin injections.
This guy was prob one of the strongest guys ever lived, he benched 305 kgs without a shirt, deadlifted over 400 kgs something despite lacking one indexfinger(lost it at age for), his grip was insane and proven to be about 50% stronger than Magnus Samuelsson(several time World’s strongest man), Ricky wasnt even a weight lifter, he trained for discus, if he wanted to be the best in lifting you’d have seen him lifting much more, he does a 245 kg shoulder press in that documentary, this guy is the most knowledgable and intelligent person I have ever encountered, he is very eccentric and his genius is easily mistaken for madness if you’re not that well informed about physiology and training.
He used to live with Frank Zane and trained with Frank and Arnold, he tried bodybulding for a while, he was 144 kgs totally ripped with 60 centimeter arms, standing 199 cm tall.