Who Is Albert Beckles?
Albert Beckles, who was born in Barbados, relocated to the UK to pursue his dream of being the finest.
He has participated in more than 100 competitions throughout his three-decade career, including Mr. Olympia and Night of Champions.
Albert Beckles, who was well-known for his prominent biceps and distinctive stage presence, continued to compete at the highest level far into his sixties. At age 55, he finished second to Lee Haney in the 1985 Mr. Olympia.
His tale is told here.
Body Measurements of Albert Beckles
| Full Name: | Albert Beckles |
| HEIGHT: | 5’7″ (170cm) |
| WEIGHT: | 215 – 225lbs (93.0 – 102.1kg) |
| NATIONALITY: | British |
| PROFESSION: | Professional Bodybuilder |
| ERA: | 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 |
Accomplishments Of Albert Beckles
Contest Record
1965
- Mr. Britain NABBA, 5th place
- Universe NABBA Medium, 3rd place
1966
- Universe NABBA Medium, 6th place
1967
- Mr. Britain NABBA, 3rd place
1968
- Mr. Britain NABBA, 2nd place
1969
- Mr. Britain NABBA, 2nd place
- Mr. World IFBB Medium, 2nd place
- Universe NABBA Medium, 3rd place
1970
- NABBA Mr. Britain, 1st place
- Mr. Europe, 1st place
- Mr. Europe Medium, 1st place
- Universe NABBA Medium, 2nd place
1971
- Mr. Britain NABBA, 1st place
- Mr. World AAU, 1st place
- Universe IFBB Medium, 1st & Overall
- Universe NABBA Medium 1st & Overall
1973
- Mr. Europe IFBB Medium 1st & Overall
- Universe IFBB Medium, 1st place
1975
- Olympia IFBB Lightweight, 3rd place
- Universe IFBB Medium, 2nd place
1977
- Olympia IFBB Short 4th & 7th Overall
1978
- Olympia IFBB Lightweight, 8th place
1979
- Best in the World IFBB, Professional, 3rd place
- Grand Prix Pennsylvania IFBB, 3rd place
- Olympia IFBB Lightweight, 7th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 2nd place
1980
- Universe Pro IFBB, 4th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 4th place
1981
- Canada Pro Cup IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix Belgium IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix California IFBB, 4th place
- Grand Prix Louisiana IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix Massachusetts IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix New England IFBB, 1st place
- Grand Prix New York IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix Wales IFBB, 3rd place
- Grand Prix World Cup IFBB, 6th place
- Professional World Cup IFBB, 6th place
- World Grand Prix IFBB, 2nd place
1982
- Grand Prix Belgium IFBB, 2nd place
- Grand Prix Sweden IFBB, 4th place
- Night Of Champions IFBB, 1st place
- Olympia IFBB, 5th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 1st place
1983
- Grand Prix England IFBB, 5th place
- Grand Prix Las Vegas IFBB, 3rd place
- Grand Prix Portland IFBB, 4th place
- Grand Prix Sweden IFBB, 5th place
- Grand Prix Switzerland IFBB, 5th place
- Night Of Champions IFBB, 3rd place
- Olympia IFBB, 7th place
1984
- Canada Pro Cup IFBB, 1st place
- Olympia IFBB, 4th place
- World Grand Prix IFBB, 1st place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 1st place
1985
- Night Of Champions IFBB, 1st place
- Olympia IFBB, 2nd place
1986
- Olympia IFBB, 4th place
1987
- Grand Prix France IFBB, 4th place
- Grand Prix Germany (2) IFBB, 6th place
- Grand Prix Germany IFBB, 4th place
- Olympia IFBB, 7th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 3rd place
1988
- Chicago Pro Invitational IFBB, 4th place
- Grand Prix England IFBB, 7th place
- Grand Prix France IFBB, 11th place
- Grand Prix Germany IFBB, 8th place
- Grand Prix Italy IFBB, 8th place
- Grand Prix Spain (2) IFBB, 8th place
- Grand Prix Spain IFBB, 7th place
- Night Of Champions IFBB, 5th place
- Olympia IFBB, 15th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 10th place
1989
- Arnold Classic IFBB, 7th place
- Grand Prix England IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix Finland IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix France IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix Holland IFBB, 11th place
- Grand Prix Melbourne IFBB, 4th place
- Grand Prix Spain (2) IFBB, 10th place
- Grand Prix Spain IFBB, 10th place
- Grand Prix Sweden IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix US Pro IFBB, 4th place
- Night of Champions IFBB, 8th place
- Olympia IFBB, 15th place
- World Pro Championships IFBB, 4th place
1990
- Arnold Classic IFBB, 9th place
- Houston Pro Invitational IFBB, 11th place
- Niagara Falls Pro Invitational IFBB, 12th place
- Night of Champions IFBB did not place place
1991
- Grand Prix Denmark IFBB, 7th place
- Grand Prix England IFBB, 7th place
- Grand Prix Finland IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix Italy IFBB, 8th place
- Grand Prix Spain IFBB, 9th place
- Grand Prix Switzerland IFBB, 8th place
- Niagara Falls Pro Invitational IFBB, 1st place
- Night of Champions IFBB, 7th place
- Olympia IFBB didn’t place
- Pittsburg Pro Invitational IFBB, 12th place
- San Jose Pro Invitational IFBB, 5th place
1992
- Chicago Pro Invitational IFBB, 16th place
- Niagara Falls Pro Invitational IFBB, 8th place
Biography (Early Life)
Arrival In London And The First Contests
Barbados is a Caribbean island where Albert Beckles was born. His interest in bodybuilding first showed itself in London after he eventually immigrated there.
Albert had been training for years, and his body looked better than ever. At this point, he decided to start competing and started to pursue bodybuilding more seriously.
In 1965, he performed his first show. Albert made an impression right away by placing in the top 5 in the NABBA Mr. Britain competition.
First Revolution
At the 1970 NABBA Mr. Britain, Albert won for the first time after a string of second and third-place finishes. That following year, he had similar success at Mr. Europe.
Alber took second place in the NABBA Universe competition by the year’s end.
Getting Into The IFBB
The best was yet to come for Albert, who won the 1971 Mr. Britain NABBA one year after winning his maiden competition.
Albert joined the IFBB circuit after taking first place in the AAU Mr. World competition that same year.
Albert won the 1971 NABBA and IFBB Universes in both his weight group and overalls, carrying on his incredible record in the IFBB.
His protruding biceps and “sharp” body immediately became Albert’s defining stage characteristics.
Breaking Record
Albert went on to become one of the most active bodybuilding competitors in history as he participated in more than 100 competitions throughout his career.
Along the way, he set a lot more records as well.
Albert won the first place prize at the Night of Champions in 1982. His age at the time was 52.
In addition, he holds the record for the most Mr. Olympia appearances with 13 performances on the biggest bodybuilding stage in the world.
Competition With Lee Haney
At Mr. Olympia, Albert entered the top five at six different times. However, Albert did something once in particular that had never been done before.
At twice Lee Haney’s age, he finished second to Lee at the Olympia in 1985.
Albert, who once remarked that he looked better in his 50s than his 30s, was unsurprised by this, even though it came as a major surprise to most people.
Retirement And Later Competitions
At the 1991 Niagara Falls Pro Invitational, where he outperformed everyone else despite being 61 years old, Albert earned his most recent victory.
After more than three decades of elite competition, Albert called it a career on May 9, 1992.
Alber Beckles has solidified his reputation as the “British gentleman” and one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever live by being fair and affable.
Training (Workout)
Even in his 50s, Albert Beckles thought he could look better despite being proud of the improvements he had made to his physique. He was constantly striving for more.
Albert’s never-ending desire to get better is what has kept him at the top of his game for more than three decades of competition.
High-Intensity Training
Regarding his particular training regimen, Albert cherished including a lot of volume in his workouts. He was noted for performing several sets of power cleans with more than 16 repetitions.
His muscles experienced the infamous burning sensation as a result, which he thought was one of the secrets to muscle building.
Multiple Days Of The Same Body Part’s Training
At one point, Albert thought his thighs were missing. He began exercising them four days in a row with as much volume as he could fit into a workout to change this.
Albert disproved the theory that this would result in overtraining by setting an excellent example. After he started working out his legs every day, they significantly expanded.
Albert’s Tips For Bicep Exercise
Albert, known for his razor-sharp biceps, had the opinion that performing several isolated exercises, like cable curls, was the secret to having amazing arms.
Regarding his biceps workout, Albert says, “I favor workouts that let me concentrate on contractions, like cable curls and concentration curls.”
“At the peak, I extend my wrists to their maximum range of motion. I hold an enormous contraction as a result of this. — Albert Beckles
Albert never thought that extra sets and reps would result in more definition. He claims that this is merely a bodybuilding myth.
As opposed to this, he keeps to 8–12 reps every set, which he claims is the perfect range for muscular hypertrophy. His biceps exercise regimen;
Complete Biceps Workout
- Seated Dumbbell Curl: 4 sets, 8–10 reps
- Cable Curl: 4 sets, 8–10 reps
- Dumbbell Concentration Curl: 4 sets, 8–10 reps
- One-arm Cable Curl: 3 sets, 8–12 reps
Nutrition (Diet Plan)
Albert followed a rigorous diet of chicken, rice, and vegetables for the majority of his career. He hardly ever consumed processed or sugary foods. When he did occasionally consume anything sweet, according to him, it was only in very modest amounts.
Additionally, there was a time in Albert’s career when he followed a vegetarian diet. He substituted things like lentils, grains, dairy, eggs, fruits, and vegetables for meat at this time.
Even though this diet was successful for him, Albert eventually went back to eating meat since he thought that a balanced diet is what the human body was designed for.
Influences And Idols
Albert was and still is, a hero to many bodybuilders while having his influences.
He serves as a role model for everyone interested in learning how to succeed as a bodybuilder because of his lengthy career and record-breaking accomplishments.
What Albert Beckles Can Teach Us?
Albert has taught us that you should never set boundaries for yourself in terms of your profession. Albert began competing when he was about 30 years old and continued to be an expert in his field well into his early 60s.
This had never been done in bodybuilding before, but Albert showed that anything is possible with the appropriate strategy and frame of mind.
And despite his success, Albert has always been a kind person who has offered bodybuilding advice to others. For this reason, he will always be known as the “British gentleman” and a true legend among bodybuilders.