Do you know Serge Nubret, alias the Black Panther?
Like many other athletes from the golden age of bodybuilding, Serge Nubret has become a legend in his sport. The first and only Frenchman to have stood on the podium of Mr Olympia (from 1972 to 1975), he competed with the best bodybuilders of the time, including Lou Ferrigno or even Arnold Schwarzenegger. The secrets of his success? An outstanding physique, particularly aesthetic and still considered as one of the most beautiful to have walked on a bodybuilding competition stage.
A look back at the exceptional career of the man known as "The Black Panther". A man who has spent his life at the service of his passion: bodybuilding.
Contents
Childhood and beginnings in bodybuilding
Born in 1938 in Guadeloupe, nothing destined Serge Nubret to become a bodybuilder. Coming from a wealthy family, he was French university shot put champion at only 18 years old, and was fascinated by the physique of actor Steve Reeves.
It was this model that encouraged him to open his first weight room. Thanks to his genetic potential and mental strength, he soon achieved outstanding results. He even announced his intention to become world champion. Many initially scoffed, before he became Mr Guadeloupe just two months after starting to train seriously. At the 1960 IFBB international competition in Montreal, he won the title of World's Most Muscular Man. A whirlwind start to a career for the French athlete, who was not to stop there.
His first steps in cinema
At the same time, Serge Nubret also started to work in the cinema. Following his victory in Quebec, he was contacted by a producer to play a small role in a comic peplum: The Titans. 20 years of extra and supporting roles in films and television followed. In particular in A condé by Yves Boisset in 1970, César and Rosalie by Claude Sautet, The professional by Georges Lautner.
His Bodybuilder career
While his father wanted him to study business so that he could take over the family business, Serge decided to devote himself primarily to his muscle development and his bodybuilding career.
Propelled to the forefront of the stage thanks to his victory in 1960, he became the number one French bodybuilder and exploded at the international level. Competitions, magazine covers and posing demonstrations followed one another for ten years. But it is the 70's that will mark the real turning point in his career.
He is one of the very few competitors to reach the highest steps of the podiums. Three times in a row, he came third in the Mr Olympia. His fourth participation, in Praetoria, marks the physical peak of his career. This peak can be seen in snippets in the film Pumping Iron, which recounts Schwarzy's physical preparation for this competition.
It was the time of his confrontation with the young Schwarzenegger and of his increasingly deep investment in the bodybuilding authorities. Following his participation in the IFBB Pro federation, he decided in 1976 to create a new federation: the World Amateur Bodybuilding Association (WABBA).
Serge Nubret's training method
The Nubret method for building body muscle is quite atypical and innovative in the world of bodybuilding. Indeed, based on the training in long series and the volume of work, his daily bodybuilding sessions could last up to five hours.
A complete training program where the emphasis is on Pump and congestion. Divided by muscle groups, his training program consisted of "light" bodybuilding exercises in 8 X 12 repetitions for each muscle, in order to emphasize explosiveness in the work of the muscle fibres. A physical activity which is difficult to reproduce and which requires unfailing motivation, but which nevertheless offers very good results in terms of muscle volume.
Indeed, La Panthère Noire's musculature speaks for itself, with a slim waist despite an athletic frame, and prominent muscles, notably the biceps and thighs. An aesthetic close to perfection. But at what price! To sculpt her abs, for example, Nubret did 2,000 sit-ups a day. A high price to pay to build exceptional muscle mass.
Measurements. Serge Nubret measured 1m80 for a weight of form being between 93 and 102 kilos. All the more impressive when you know his level of dryness and definition.
His end of career and death in 2011
Despite the passage of time, Nubret's physique remains impressive. Enough to become Mr Universe in 1976 and vice world champion of the WABBA at the age of 43. Training, building up muscles and progressing remained a priority in his life even after his greatest glories had passed. He stopped his career in 1985, but this did not mean that he left the barbells on the floor. Serge continues to work out very late, together with his wife Jacqueline Nubret (former Miss Universe).
He gradually disappeared from the limelight, before returning in 2006 with his autobiography I am... Me and God. A book in which he confides on his beliefs as well as on his practice of bodybuilding. In March 2009, he was found in a coma at his home. He died two years later at the age of 72, leaving the legend of the Black Panther intact.
The physical culture owes a lot to Nubret. In all the old school gyms, he remains a reference for bodybuilding practitioners, a model of success. His way of organizing his daily muscle building, his almost mystical vision of the practice of bodybuilding have largely contributed to his fame. Like others in different sports, he managed to make his discipline progress at all levels: performance, popularity and training method. A complete athlete.
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what a great athlete
I have it on video on pumping iron with Schwarzy.. Lou ferrigno.. Franco Columbu for the 1975 olympia in South Africa. A super dry and symmetrical physique..great nostalgic of the weider years too...I have all the VHS of training with super physiques like benfatto... Bob Paris... Rich gaspari... Frank Hillebrand or also Lee Labrada.. Quite an era!!!
He certainly competed with Arnold, Ferrigno, Zane and other big names of that era, but he outclassed them at certain points in his career.
A feline silhouette, near-perfect proportions, well-balanced, full pectorals, a waspish waistline and sculpted abs.
In all objectivity, if Arnold hadn't been Weider's protégé, Serge would have had first place on the podium at least in 1975, and deserved it.
Beyond the undeniable athlete, there was the man, with whom I had a great deal of difficulty in certain respects, which I won't go into now that he's no longer here to defend himself. The other, more appreciable aspect was his character, which some would describe as dirty and unbearable, while I'd say he had convictions on which he never compromised, whatever the consequences.
Jean Texier wrote: "You don't become a champion, you are (born? ^^ ) a champion".
that would suit Serge perfectly.
Others have already quoted anecdotes, but if Serge was really in a bind, be it personal or financial, and a person or a solution presented itself to get him out of it, if he was doing his abs, for example, his priority was to finish his abs, too bad for the rest.
Endless series.
Hours every day in training, even sn day off he was still doing abs (we're not talking about 5 or 10 reps in a hurry).
The craziest thing about his longevity is that he had a little break during which he put on a bit of weight, but then got back into the swing of things (probably a bit of chemistry too). To see this guy who'd been doing billions of reps all his life, this bodybuilding life that's taxing demanding in terms of training efforts and "sacrifices", continue once his career was over instead of resting, taking his mind off things; he kept sweating for hours at the gym holding a clean diet.
A remarkable individual who will forever leave his "black panther" mark on the history of Culturism.