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The former Mr. Universe had a series of brutal workouts that he used to do. He was once the Mozart of muscles and is currently 72 years old. A recent throwback, Instagram picture of the IFBB pro sparked a lot of debate about his posture while lifting weights. Fans were having heated arguments regarding his positioning as a heavyweight.

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Bertil Fox is a pretty notorious as well as famous name in the bodybuilding world. He was a former IFBB professional and a convicted murderer. However, he was pardoned for the crime by the Governor General of Saint Kitts and Nevis on August 2022.

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Bertil Fox doing a wide grip on the bench

The picture was uploaded by @thearchivesofbodybuilding on 5 June 2023. It was a grainy black-and-white picture of Bertil, lifting up weights on the bench with a wide grip. His chest is puffed and the picture clearly shows how strong he is.

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After serving a lengthy prison sentence of 25 years, the veteran bodybuilder, with a troubled past, was released. The bodybuilder had pleaded guilty to the reported murder of his former fianc?e, Leyoca Browne, and her mother, Violet Browne.

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Fox was placed fifth in Mr. Olympia in 1983 and was between Lee Haney at third and Frank Zane at fourth. This was one of the best performances by Fox before the imprisonment. As for the latest Instagram post, the fans were quite heated with arguments about whether the technique was right.

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Fox doing a wide-angle bench press leaves fans in doubt

The comments were filled with arguments and debates on why the wide-angle bench press was not performed anymore by bodybuilders.

One person wrote, ? You don’t see bodybuilders these days going wide grip on the bench anymore.? To this another person replied ?I mean it’s person-dependent sure, but Arnold, Serge, Sergio, and a lot of others from back then used to go wide grip and they all had great chests(with no shoulder pain). I just find it weird that I haven’t seen one top pro going wide grip these days.?

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The conversation went on and another person replied, ?It worked for them, yes but it’s still not the safest exercise and there are a lot of other exercises that give u better chest stimulation and are savers. For example butterflies. It’s just a risk/reward equation.?’ A fan agreed to both of the comments and explained ?Because most ppl will get hurt by it. Just as most ppl got hurt by it 60 years ago.?

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All in all, the wide-angle bench press is apparently risky and fans agreed to it. Fox definitely had a shady past and was an ex-convict but he was a champion during his glory days.

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Written by

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Tanushree Bhowmick

2,841 Articles

Tanushree Bhowmick is a Senior Olympic Sports Writer at EssentiallySports with over five years of experience in sports and lifestyle journalism. Having covered UFC and MMA extensively, she now brings that lens to Olympic wrestling—highlighting how traditional combat disciplines echo through modern fighting. With a keen eye for technique and storytelling, her work explores how champions are shaped across both worlds.

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Edited by

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Parth Sharma

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