In this thread - http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=22095 - I started getting off topic so I decided to make a new one to discuss this issue (I'm assuming people may want to discuss further!).

We were discussing Boyer Coe's abdominals, or lack thereof. In almost every picture I've seen of him, his abs don't seem to be as great as you'd think they could be. I am NOT putting down the guy's physique; on the contrary, I think he looks fantastic (some of his pictures are downright inspirational!).

This was the best pic of his abs I could find, and his bodyfat looks pretty low to me here:

http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/coe/bc235.jpg

After seeing the picture above, which shows pretty decent abs, I'm starting to think it's a combination of genetics and bodyfat, maybe. I had not seen a picture showing his abs that well until today, so I don't know anymore.

In MOST pictures you see, he lacks "good" abdominal muscles ("good" meaning compared to most bodybuilding pictures one sees, including old-school, Golden Era guys). Is this genetics (as RTE says) or not low enough bodyfat (as Jeremy says - Jeremy also made a good point about his posing; many of his poses have him doing a vaccume)? Or, maybe they just are not big enough (time for heavy cable crunches?! :)).

Just curious if anyone has any thoughts. I felt it was an interesting discussion.

Also, you can find TONS of pics of him here - http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/coe.html - and I'll throw a few more below...

http://digilander.libero.it/boyercoe/boy53.jpg

http://digilander.libero.it/boyercoe/boy8.jpg

http://digilander.libero.it/boyercoe/boy22.jpg

http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/coe/bc200.jpg

I think for the most part it's like Jeremy said in the other thread: it's how he posed. When you suck your stomach into a vaccuum you lose a ton of definition in the lower abs. I've only got a 4 pack at this point and it drops down to a 2 pack when I suck my stomach in.

This style of posing obviously emphasizes a smaller waste which must have been the preferred look then, perhaps because the smaller the waist the bigger the upper body looks? Anyways, I agree his bodyfat looks very low. Looking at his overall development I don't know how he _couldn't_ have great abs ;-) I'm guessing even the most incredible set of abs looks less impressive (depending on your tastes) when the stomach gets sucked in.

Someone in here with a great set of abs (that eliminates me!) should post some pics flexed / vaccummed to test this theory out.

That was just him. He never had great abs. The rest of his physique showed amazing definition but his abs never really came in. It was just a physique quirk.

This was the best pic of his abs I could find, and his bodyfat looks pretty low to me here:

http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/coe/bc235.jpg



As much as I have followed his career, it is the best picture, I have ever seen of his "abs". Maybe it was the mix of chemicals of his "supplements". Who knows? Thanks for finding that one.

I heard a net rumor that he had a triple bypass recently.

nazardo - good call. Maybe John can post some comparison pics, or Skip. I know I'm not doing it! :D

Chris - agreed, it just seems like a quirk.

RTE - You're welcome, that is the first time I too have seen his abs looking so well developed. That website had a few more that looked decent.

I didn't know he had heart surgery. I hope he's doing well. I did a search but didn't find much, only this: http://www.australianmuscle.com.au/muscle_news/v5_i9_sept2000.htm

Boyer's abs remind me a lot of Arnold's. Not super defined, but there and with a very solid overall physique built around them. I think they both have a lot of great features that outweigh the abs that are not quite popped. I actually think it looks a bit better than some of the abs out there that are just sickly looking and raised an inch above everything else.

I definitely think it's posing. If you look in the pictures where he's sucking it in, you can kind of see the outline of where his abs would be if he was flexing them.

I don't have the greatest set of abs, but my 6-pack is pretty prominent and I just checked in the mirror what happens when I attempt a pose similar to the ones he was doing and my abs become far less visible.

Just last night I was reading the abs section in Arnold's " Encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding" and he specificly addresses Boyer Coe's abs. "Boyer Coe had great success in competition in the 1960s and 1970s, but he was one of the few top bodybuilders who couldn't boast of a well-developed "six-pack." Boyer's lack of ab development was genetic and not due to incorrect or lax training. Arnold follows with "But the sport has become so competitive that there is no longer any such thing as a champion bodybuilder without excellent abs at almost any level of competition."

After reading this I wanted to see his ab development but couldn't find many pics so I was glad to see this thread.

LJwlker

Genetics were kind to him in the bicep department tho. fo' shizzle.

^Exactly what I was thinking! I don't think he has anything to complain about....