Roger Callard

Bodybuilder, Actor, Producer

Roger Callard is a former American bodybuilder, and actor who’s won a string of contests in his 10-year-long competitive career. Some of his best achievements were the 1975 Mr. USA, 1977 IFBB Mr. America title, and the 1978 IFBB Mr. International title.

After his retirement from bodybuilding in 1984, Roger began to focus on his acting career. He appeared in numerous TV shows, movies, and parodies over the years – including the famous ‘Pumping Iron,’ bodybuilding documentary.

With his diverse accomplishments in bodybuilding and on the TV screen, Roger has become a true icon, and role model for all generations.

This is his story:

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Athlete Statistics

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Accomplishments

Competitions

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“When I was 11, I was running AAU track and I was very fast. It was also at this time that I’d go to a friend’s home and look through his bodybuilding magazines. I’d see Poole, Sipes, Draper – all amazing to me. At age 12 I was like a maniac; I could one hand clean and jerk 165 pounds.”

Biography

Early Bodybuilding Stages

Roger Callard began his bodybuilding journey when he was five years old. He started training with basic weights at home, later, joining his first gym. At first, Roger trained to improve his athletic performance in football and other sports he took part in during high school. But, after seeing his appearance change from lifting weights – his only interest became bodybuilding.

After several years of sculpting his ideal physique, Roger started competing in bodybuilding shows; winning the 1974 IFBB Mr. Western America title in his debut contest.

“It wasn’t until I was approached by Kent Kuehn and Don Ross in the gym while at MSU did I really consider bodybuilding as something to pursue. They saw my potential and encouraged me to compete.”

Even though he was busy with university and studies at the time, Roger always found the time to work out, watch his diet, and even compete on “the big stage”. It is this kind of discipline and commitment that allowed him to achieve success in bodybuilding, and later, acting.

Cooperation with Arnold

As the number of trophies in his cabinet grew, so did his reputation among other bodybuilders. There was one bodybuilder, specifically, with whom Roger developed a mutual friendship, and business relationship. It was none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The two worked out at the Gold’s Gym together, and both starred in two bodybuilding movies ‘Pumping Iron,’ and ‘Mr. Universum.’

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Retirement From Bodybuilding

As Roger’s passion for acting grew, his interest in bodybuilding slowly began ‘evaporating’.

In 1984, he made his last professional appearance on the stage, at the IFBB World Pro – he took home 13th place that day.

Even though his competitive career was short-lived, Roger left a lasting impact on the bodybuilding community with his spectacular physique, and accomplishments.

Some of his best results on stage include winning the 1975 Mr. USA, 1977 Mr. America, and 1978 Mr. International.

Acting

Following his competitive days, Roger began ‘diving deep’ into the world of filmography and acting. He had humble beginnings, just like with bodybuilding; guest starring in various TV series.

However, as his acting skills progressed, Roger began appearing in more famous movies, such as Twins  (1988), Red Heat (1988), and Renegade – Merciless Hunting (1993).

He also began appearing in comedy shows and parodies, such as Wierd Al Yankovic’s comedy UHF – Channel with limited hope.

By 2014, Roger had appeared in over 20 movies; establishing himself as not only a great bodybuilder, but also an accomplished actor.

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“People talk about training heavy, but heavy is a relative term. For me, endurance is more important than power. Look at the world’s strongest men—they can’t run around the block without a ventilator.”

Training

Roger used to train three times per week, each time working on his entire body. He would train on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with each one of his sessions lasting for no longer than one hour.

On his rest days, Roger would do aerobic movements or cardio.

Here are the exercises he did for each body part;

• Legs: Leg extensions, squats, leg curls, 15 to 25 reps on each. One big tri-set. No rest between exercises.
• Chest: One set of flyes, 15 to 25 reps. Then a set of either incline presses or flat bench dumbbell presses, always to failure.
• Back: Pulldowns, 15 to 25 reps. Immediately go to bent-over rows, 15 to 25 reps.
• Shoulders: A tri-set of alternate front raises (as one’s going up, one’s coming down), bent-over laterals (for rear delts and dumbbell presses, 15 to 25 reps, each set to failure.)
• Arms: Seated incline dumbbell curls super setted with triceps extensions, using same dumbbells; 15 to 25 reps.
• Abs: 75 reps, usually on an ab machine

The Importance of Good Form

Roger believes that technique beats weight in almost all cases. He always focused on muscle contraction and smoothness of the movement during his prime training days – he says that it’s thanks to this, he now has healthy joints, and there are no consequences from years of lifting on his body.

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Nutrition

In his prime, Roger ate similarly to other bodybuilding greats of his era; placing high importance on protein, and consuming enough carbs and fats for energy.

He didn’t count his macros often, but rather listened to his own body and its reactions to certain types of foods.

Some of his favorite foods were eggs, beef, and potatoes.

For supplementation, Roger occasionally took a whey protein, and a multivitamin.

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Idols and Influences

Some of Roger’s idols in his early bodybuilding days include Harold Poole, Chuck Sipes, and Dave Draper. Their physiques have inspired Roger to train hard in the gym, and build a physique that eventually brought him numerous titles.