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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
@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.
"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.
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!
@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 TH-cam 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!
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.
I really like the mix of cinematic and raw footage. It simultaneously documents candid events and tells a dramatic story. Makes for a more gripping viewing experience, and parallels the blurred lines an athlete in his position probably experiences.
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.
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.
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.
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 🤙
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.
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.
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 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.
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 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
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!
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.
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. 🔥🔥🔥
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 TH-cam.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
1 ml isn't really a lot to inject @3:49, also some people prefer to inject into fat tissue though for doping purposes it wouldn't be ideal since it would have it absorb into the body slower than intramuscularly.
@@zacktelander Ah I see he pull it back to 5 mls, but I think that was just make it go faster. After you fill it to 1 ml you can just clear out the rest of the barrel, so I was trying to see when he actually put it in. But I could be wrong.
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
Hahahaha I did not expect to see Ricky Bruch on your channel! Swedish legend that one!. And to answer your question, what Ricky was drinking was blueberry soup.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@zacktelander Can you react to Karelin?
That wasn't milk, it was "blueberry soup." Swedes call a purred berry liquid a "berry soup."
That sounds delicious.
It’s kind of gelatinous, so it’ll help lube up swallowing a bunch of pills.
So basically a blueberry smoothie?
@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.
these videos are fucking gold, your editor deserves a pay rise cause he always delivers man
"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.
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!
@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 TH-cam 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.
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
I really like the mix of cinematic and raw footage. It simultaneously documents candid events and tells a dramatic story. Makes for a more gripping viewing experience, and parallels the blurred lines an athlete in his position probably experiences.
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.
7:21 thats Blåbarsoppa, basically like blueberry jam but more runny (kinda like a syrup form) ususally eaten with deserts or filmjölk (sour milk)
You nailed it with this video. Thank you for introducing us to this fascinating human being. We need more videos like this one.
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.
Thanks for this video, i watch this documentary every day
This is the most entertaining and original thing iv seen in the lifting and fitness TH-cam community maybe ever. You had me from start to end.
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 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.
That's blueberry soup that he was drinking with all those pills
Good soup
@@zacktelander Blueberry soup kind of underrated ngl
I could watch this all day. Something cathartic about videos like these.
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 🤙
It amazes me that there haven't been more throwers excelling in strongman and powerlifting
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.
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.
You legitimately make some of the greatest content on this platform, this was awesome
I literally forgot to blink through most of this video. When it ended my eyes were sore and watery
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.
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"
Proud to be of the same country as this beast.🇸🇪
Holy shit Zack. They may have been one of the best weightlifting, gym, workout, etc videos I have ever seen. Fucking crazy!
The guy screaming throwing shots into the net made me think we were watching Rick del Hagen
Never heard of this man until now; an immediate legend in my eyes
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
Great footage Zack. Those were “power curls” and they have a purpose for some🤙🏼.
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!
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
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!
Smoke creatine out of a lightbulb
Ricky avslutade sin karriär med att spela in mjukporr filmer. Han var en härlig karaktär. Tyvär fick hans liv ett tragiskt slut. RIP Ricky
Thank you Zack T for everything!!
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 ?
Better than most movies from the last decade.
I love this documentary. When he runs down the dark hallway after a lift while screaming and slaps the hanging light... pure gold
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
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 was insane… great video Zack
This was an interesting watch. Thanks for this.
Ricky Bruch also equalled the world record in the discus in 1972.
I fvcking love the old school grit doing unorthodox excercises and getting work done. This is amazing stuff
Big swede: *yeets my pr deadlift at squat stand*
Coach ZT(an empath): Oh he’s mad.
Late to comment, but that documentary I saw was amazing, great job 👏
7:34 that is blueberry soup that he just shugging straight from the container.
its blueberry soup that he is drinking, not milk. :)
Potenta jävla blåbär ;)
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.
750 pills in a day, dudes stomach must look like the inside of a fucking pinata 😂
Well, he's dead. So, connection? ;)
@@bjornprinz3900 average where?
@@Damian-nq2nq it is actually an above average lifespan for someone 6'6 due to the inverse relationship between height and longevity
Zach out there always delivering the good content
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. 🔥🔥🔥
@8:33 ah even before the synthetization of GH, they were trying to stimulate gh
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 TH-cam.
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.
bruch didnt inject any of peds in the clip, that was holy water
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 feel like everyone watching this now has the same amount of PTSD than Zack has :D just bonding over this rn
Zack out here studying for his role in The Weight
This changed my life
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.
The carton said blueberry soup, not milk.
Good soup
@@zacktelander the best
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.
Ok guys who leaked “the weight”
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.
It's a pity there's not a similar documentary for shotputter Brian Oldfield, he was a real character, too.
ZACH! TH-cam sometimes pulls videos with needles and drugs, u may wanna edit out that scene with the needle before this video gets flagged.
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
1 ml isn't really a lot to inject @3:49, also some people prefer to inject into fat tissue though for doping purposes it wouldn't be ideal since it would have it absorb into the body slower than intramuscularly.
looked like 5ml to me
@@zacktelander Ah I see he pull it back to 5 mls, but I think that was just make it go faster. After you fill it to 1 ml you can just clear out the rest of the barrel, so I was trying to see when he actually put it in. But I could be wrong.
Oh yes, so glad you watched this! I was gonna spam your channel with that vid
As a thrower, we'd always watch Ricky Bruch to get fired up. There is nothing is more electric. The full documentary is worth watching.
He’s drinking blueberry soup. Yeah.
He wasn’t drinking milk, he was drinking blueberry soup.
*"Aah yes, 100 pills, a banana and some amount of milk. The nutritionally balanced meal of an athlete"*
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.
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
The last part was like decent into madness love him so much for that part.
Them PRs on leg raises must be hard to come by
Ricky Bruch -6’ 7” with 233 ft PB
Hahahaha I did not expect to see Ricky Bruch on your channel! Swedish legend that one!. And to answer your question, what Ricky was drinking was blueberry soup.
@9:07 I think all we have seen so far are just supplements/vitamins.
You missed the part when he does a muscle biopsy.
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
All these clips are from his own movie "the soul is larger than the world" or something like that
The documentary is Själen är större än världen / The soul is greater than the world. It's available on TH-cam subtitled in English.
Please make a video on Westside powerlifters and Chuck V.