Al Beckles – The Living Legend: Seminar Highlights, Interview & Posing. 
GMV-028DVD 
Video review by Matt Canning

Albert Beckles started the seminar by thanking the audience for taking the time to come to the seminar and said he hoped they would enjoy the rest of the day. At this point Al took questions from the audience. 

The first question Albert was asked was about squats and he was asked about the pace of squats. Albert spoke about contest preparation next and talked about his move to California which took place just before the 1983 Mr. Olympia. He said his contest preparation was short which would lead me to believe that he always remained in good shape year round.

He touched slightly on his vegetarianism at this point explaining that he does not eat meat. Albert talked about his training and said he did a double split routine consisting of three hours of training in the morning and another three hours at night! I had never heard of anything like that before, other than the marathon training done regularly by former German giant Jusup Wilcosz who would train five hours per day. 

Arnold was on a six day per week double split routine consisting of two hours in the morning and an additional two hours during the night. Arnold said that at the point in his career when he got to that level his body was capable of handling that level of intensity and volume - so in other words, don't try it unless you are an advanced trainee! 

Albert said that he believed a person should stick with what they are best at and that is the reason why he sticks with bodybuilding because he is good at it. He said that he doesn't change his diet at all and that his only offseason strategy was to eat the same foods he eats precontest but just in more quantity.
This is an interesting strategy and one that I had never heard of before, along with his training schedule which seemed unorthodox to me given the modern age high intensity and low volume training strategies which are always coming out today. He listed some of the foods he would eat and he listed chicken, so I'm not sure the extent in which he restricted meat from his diet. I had previously heard that Albert was a vegetarian but it is possible that he did include chicken and fish in his diet but excluded red meat. 

Albert joked with the crowd next when discussing the importance of stature in bodybuilding. He said that he stopped concerning himself so much with it when he realized the chances of him growing any taller were slim to none. At 5'7, Albert Beckles wasn't exactly short, but more "medium" which is perfectly acceptable for top tier bodybuilders.

However, to be Mr. Olympia is another story, and in general, taller bodybuilders and bodybuilders with the best backs, are at an advantage. For example, if Rich Gaspari was six feet tall, I can't imagine him having lost the 1987 Mr. Olympia Contest. Even at 5'10, I think Rich would have won it (Rich was 5'8 and 1/2).

Jay Cutler is the same height as Rich and beat a 5'11 Coleman, but Albert did make a point to state that height is an advantage. He said that the shorter bodybuilders will often be more motivated to prove that they can still fare well against the taller ones. Rich Gaspari was another bodybuilder around the same height as Albert, and he was as motivated as ever and in great condition year round. Check out his seminar DVD, which is another excellent GMV seminar production from Wayne Gallasch.