Strength & Health, Page 24, November 1966

BOYER COE, TEEN-AGE MR. AMERICA 1966

By "Red" Lerille

Every young boy at one time or another dreams of being Mr. America, or at least having a physique like a Mr. America winner. With the passing of time these dreams are usually forgotten. But some young men never forget, and by some method or another they develop the physique they have dreamed of all their lives.

One young man who had these dreams and made them come true is Boyer Coe, the new Mr. Teen-Age America. At the age of fourteen, weighing 114 pounds at a height of 5'3", Boyer started bodybuilding to develop his physique.

Unlike most beginners, Boyer started pis training with expert advice. Under the careful guidance of Ken Guilbeaux, former professional football player with the Denver Broncos, in three years he had made almost unbelievable progress. Ken, a firm believer in basic exercises, mapped all of Boyer's training for the first three years. Their workouts consisted mostly of bench presses,squats, chins, press behind neck, incline curls, push downs of lat machine, and toe raises. Most of these exercises were done ten sets of six reps. Progress was fast during these years of training and in three years Boyer already showed signs of a real champion in the making.

It was during this last year of training which, incidentally, was at Ray Roy's Health Studio, that I had the opportunity of meeting Boyer. Ray, brother of the famed Alvin Roy, brought Boyer to my gym for a visit. His arms, even at this age, were almost unbelievable in size and shape and stood 'out even though the rest of his physique was very outstanding. His measurements were large and definition as good as any sixteen-year-old could expect.

A year or so went by and the next thing I heard was that Boyer had placed third in the 1964 Mr. Louisiana Contest. I did not attend the contest, but those who saw it said he would have done much better with a better pair of trunks and some tips on posing. He also won Best Arms, Best Chest, and Most Muscular.

A few months later, I saw Boyer walk away with the 1964 Mr. New Orleans Contest. I was a judge at the contest and was, along with the other judges, amazed at the improvements made in only one short year. He was also selected as having Best Arms, Best Chest, Best Legs, and also Most Muscular.

In September, following the Mr. New Orleans Contest, Boyer entered the University of Southwestern Louisiana to major in pre-med. This is when he started training at my gym in Lafayette. At first his training was basically the same as in the past. As time went on, he slowly started changing his routine, using more exercise for each body part. As I stated before, he used only one exercise for each body part. His physique slowly started to show some real improvement, especially in shape and definition. It didn't seem to hurt his strength any, for he won second place at the Southwestern Powerlift Championships with a total of 1320 (Bench Press, 355; Squat, 465; Dead Lift, 500) in the 198-pound class. He also won the 1964 Mr. Southwestern U. S. A. physique contest held in- conjunction with the powerlift meet.

The following year was Boyer's biggest year in physique competition. We were now training together, using three exercises per body part, four sets each. His shape and definition was really improving and he gained at least fifteen pounds during this year. We ,were training five days a week doing one workout on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the other on Tuesday and Thursday one week, and reversing the-workout days the next week. This way we would get five workouts on each body part every two weeks. He won a long string of contests this year, including the 1965 Mr. Southern U. S. A., Mr. Louisiana, Mr. Olympic (Tulsa, Oklahoma), and Mr. Dallas. He placed second in the Mr. Teen-Age America and Most Muscular Contest.

January of this year saw Boyer winning the Mr. Oklahoma crown. In May, weighing around 200 lbs. and a little smoother than usual, Boyer competed in the Jr. Mr. America in San Jose, California. He placed fifth behind four of the top men in the country. Our trip to the contest, half of it in a private plane, would make a story all its own. Back home once again, he began hard training for the Mr. Teen.Age America. After a close contest last year with Dennis Tinerino, another outstanding young man. Boyer was determined that this would be his year. More reps, less food, saw him come through with flying colors.

This coming year, Boyer plans to enter both the Jr. and Sr. Mr. America Contests. With his drive and determination, I feel certain that in the near future Boyer will reach his goal of winning the Mr. America Contest.

Before listing Boyer's training routine for the Teen.Age Mr. America, I would like to give you his feelings on diet. Boyer is a heavy eater, having between four and five large meals a day. Boyer believes in using additional protein in the form of a good protein supplement with each meal. He also takes a good vitamin and mineral food supplement and wheat germ oil with every meal. His meals consist of meats of all kinds, (beef being his favorite), eggs, cheese, and cottage cheese. To balance out this high-protein meal, Boyer eats fresh fruit and vegetables. He avoids all high carbohydrates, such as bread, cakes, candy, ice cream, and gravies. He uses milk in large quantities during the year, but avoids it completely the last 4 to 6 weeks before a contest.

The following is the exact training routine Boyer used two months before the Teen-Age Mr. America.

The workout was divided into three separate workouts. Monday and Thursday we worked chest, shoulders, triceps; Tuesday and Friday, thighs, back, and biceps; Wednesday and Saturday, trapezius and lower back. The abdominal section and calves were worked every day. We did about fifteen minutes of many different abdominal exercises, such as sit.ups, leg raises, and all sorts of twisting exercises. For the calves, we did 15 sets of 15 repetitions of toe raises.

The rest of our program, then, looks like this:

MONDAY AND THURSDAY
ExerciseSetsReps
Bench Press46
Inclined Bench Press48
Dips48
Press Behind Neck46
Press on Press Machine48
Lateral Raises to Side48
Push Down on Lat Machine48
French Press on Bench48
Reverse Grip French
Press on Bench
48

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
ExerciseSetsReps
Squat (full)46
Leg press48
Thigh Extension48
Chins (Back of Neck)48
Chins (Front Wide Grip)48
Pull Down on Lat Machine48
Incline Bench Curl48
Curl on Preacher Table48
Regular Curl48

WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY
ExerciseSetsReps
High Pulls46
Shoulder Shrug (Barbell)48
Shoulder Shrug (Dumbbells)48
Stiff Legged Dead Lift48
Prone Hyperextensions410
Forearm Work1020

Still to be typed in

PHOTO CAPTIONS

- Boyer Coe, the 1966 Teen-Age Mr. America, from Lafayette, Louisiana. This picture by Swan was taken at the Junior Mr. A, where he placed 5th.

- Triceps push-down on lat machine.

- Preacher Curls with E-Z Curl bar.

- Strict Curls with E-Z Curl bar.

- Toe Raises on Calf Machine.

- Presses behind the neck.

- Triceps extension on bench.

- Bench Press.

- Leg Extensions.

- Wide Grip Chins.

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