SERGIO OLIVA JR.: 2021 WILL BE MY YEAR
Muscular Development|January 2021
This son of three-time Mr. Olympia Sergio Oliva never holds back. Best of all, he can dish it out and take it too, which is why many other pros avoid engaging with him at all. Sergio only competed once in 2020 with a resonating fifth place at his first Arnold Classic, the first time we’d seen him on stage since the 2018 Mr. Olympia. I hadn’t spoken with him since shortly after the Arnold, the weekend when the COVID-19 pandemic began turning our world upside down. Since that feels like 20 years ago, it was high time to catch up with this genuine, passionate, and often hilarious bodybuilding star.
RON HARRIS
SERGIO OLIVA JR.: 2021 WILL BE MY YEAR

Of course I had questions prepared, but this interview was delayed due to some injury that had you in the ER. You sent me a pic of you with an IV drip and said it was your shoulder, so please explain what the hell happened.

This is a perfect example of my life. I’ve been training over 16 years, took my bodyweight from 145 pounds to a high of 315, and I never had one injury in the gym. I fucking sleep wrong and mess my shoulder up. A year ago something similar happened where I got a dead shoulder, but after a couple of days of rest it was fine. This time I knew it was different because it was hitting a nerve and shocking my whole body with pain. I hate going to a regular primary care doctor, because with any type of injury they either just tell you to stop working out or blame it on steroids. I finally saw a specialist today and found out it’s bursitis, an inflammation of the bursa sac in my shoulder, and it’s rubbing on a nerve. Even not moving, the pain is a 10 out of 10. I’ve been living on Vicodin for a few days now and I hate it. I can’t work out on painkillers. I was going to take the Antoine approach when he tore his biceps and do legs four times a week. I told him when I saw him in Las Vegas that even though it must have sucked dealing with that arm injury, he now has some of the best legs in the sport. But I can’t even wipe my ass right now. Luckily I won’t need any surgery, so that’s a relief. I had a cortisone shot today and I get an MRI next week. The doctor thinks there are calcium deposits in there that can be removed without cutting me open.

The last time we spoke, you were in Sydney, Australia right after the Arnold Australia you went to compete in had been canceled at the last minute. How long did you end up being in Australia?

This story is from the January 2021 edition of Muscular Development.

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This story is from the January 2021 edition of Muscular Development.

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