© Copyright Greatest Physiques 2024
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:
Weight 185 - 195lbs (83.9 - 88.5kg) Height 5'10" (177.5cm) Age 74 Date of Birth May 4, 1950 Nationality American Profession Bodybuilder, Actor, Producer Era 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010
“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.”
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.
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.’
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.
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.
“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.”
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;
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.
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.
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.
4771 Views
3975 Views
5125 Views
8747 Views
4283 Views
3703 Views
5349 Views
5915 Views
6173 Views
16504 Views
8239 Views
8513 Views
View Comments
Roger, love to watch u in the episode of "Charlie's Angels", "Mr. Galaxy."
I agree! That's a great episode, and I just watched it today on METV. Roger, you're terrific in that episode and also the Wonder Woman episode!
Do you ever do any coaching these days?
Thanks-
Nicholas
northamerican87@yahoo.com
Damn dude had amazing Calves!