1ST SET
RETRO ATHLETE
BY GREG MERRITT
CASEY
VIATOR
FLEX FACT
When only 18
at the 1970
Mr. America,
Casey Viator
was third out
of 29 and won
best arms,
best chest, and
best back.
HE WON THE 1971
MR. AMERICA AT 19 AND
WAS NEARLY CROWNED
1982 MR. OLYMPIA.
A NATIVE OF SOUTHERN
Louisiana, Casey Viator was arguably
the greatest teenage bodybuilder
ever. The titles he collected before
his 20th birthday include the 1971 Mr.
America. In the 80-year history of that
show and its successor, NPC Nationals,
he remains, at 19, the youngest
champ. The phenom disappeared from
stages for the following seven years,
but he won three pro contests in 1980
and finished third in the ’82 Mr. Olympia.
At 5'8" and 230, he was among the
thickest men of that not-so-big era.
But shortly after almost claiming the
Sandow at barely 31, the enigmatic
Viator vanished again. (He made a
third comeback at the 1995 Masters
Olympia.) He died on his 62nd birthday
in 2013. Viator toiled at what he called
“hardhat jobs,” and, whether low-
volume in the early ’70s or marathon in
the early ’80s, he imbued his training
with that same blue-collar work ethic.
“I do one-arm
curls before
two-arm curls to
focus on maximizing
contractions in
each arm first in
my routine.”
“Sometimes I’ll go
very heavy and do
barbell curls for only
four to six reps.”
4
4
4
4
46
FLEX | JANUARY ’18
“Biceps are one of
the muscles where
you really need to get
a strong mind-to-
muscle connection.
If you’re not feeling
the muscle contract
throughout each rep,
go lighter and focus
on the feeling.”
VIATOR
ON BICEPS
TRAINING