Transcript:
Sergio Oliva and Paul Dillett were genetic freaks but their structures had as many similarities as dissimilarities. Sergio was likely around 5 foot nine and Paul Dillett was listed as six one. Oliva had wider than average shoulder width but Paul Dillett was particularly known for having an extremely wide shoulder structure. But just how much of his shoulder width is attributable to bone structure versus muscle size is hard to pin down based on photos because, in addition to having wide clavicles and what other factors bone-wise add up to wider shoulders, Paul had an unusual amount of muscle capping that shoulder structure. This is evident in shots where the medial and rear delt are seen at the same time. In some back shots, both heads meld together in one large mass. Dillett has long clavicles in this early photo along with a miniscule waist and hip structure, and not a particularly large ribcage. His clavicles were especially wide and had a downward slope, which you can see in several photos. This off season relaxed shot has to be one of the widest, if not the widest, relaxed shoulder width photo of a bodybuilder ever.
Sergio had straight across clavicles and had a shorter torso than Dillett but shared narrow hips and waist structure. Of course, Dillet was from a later era where there was more of an emphasis on developing the glutes and hips, and there were new supplements to facilitate that quest, but structure-wise he had very narrow hips. The tinyness of Sergio Oliva’s waist and hip structure can be appreciated more in photos where he’s wearing regular clothing. Oliva’s waist and hips didn’t just look small in comparison to the rest of his body. Sergio had a much narrower hip and waist structure than average.
Both Dillet and Oliva had long forearm and biceps muscle bellies but Dillet appeared to have smaller wrist bones. He was like Serge Nubret in that regard. However, unlike Nubret, Dillet had a lot of muscle around the wrist. Oliva also had a lot of muscle around the wrist, and the non-flexor muscles around his wrist were more developed and probably inserted lower. Oliva had a Gunnar Rosbo thickness quality to his wrists. The bones in Oliva’s wrists don’t appear as wide as Rosbo’s but, like Rosbo, Oliva’s full muscle insertions in his wrist and their extreme development contributed to the perception of having large wrist bones.
Oliva had narrower knees than Dillett but Dillett had smaller ankles and gigantic calves with relatively low insertions but not a lot of muscle near the ankles. Oliva had thicker ankles, he was like Steve Reeves in that regard with a lot of muscle thickness near the ankle as well as the appearance of substantial tibia width. Oliva also had lower calf insertions. Both Oliva and Dillett are the opposite of bodybuilders like Albert Beckles in regards to muscle lengths. Beckles had higher insertions on practically every muscle, not just calves but forearms, biceps, triceps, et cetera.
The last structure area to compare is the head and face. Both Oliva and Dillet had smaller heads that made their bodies look all the more massive in comparison. Oliva had a stronger facial structure which fit in well with his overall body structure. He had strong cheekbones, a square jaw and, while not a prominant chin, a strong chin, kind of like Arnold in that sense. Dillet didn’t have a weak look to his face but didn’t have Oliva’s level of facial structure. Dillett’s combination of height, long muscle bellies, size, and extreme shoulder width set him apart from other bodybuilders. Oliva had one of the best ever combinations of muscle structure working well with bone structure, giving him a uniquely exaggerated look.
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