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Bodybuilding Reviews |
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Bodybuilding Reviews |
GMV--094: Peter Andreas: "The Kaiser"
58 minutes in length
Produced jointly by GMV Productions and SHV Sport & Video
Executive Producer: Wayne R. Gallasch
Associate Producer: Tina Bartusek (now Gallasch)
Cameras: Wayne R. Gallasch and Andreas Promny
Editor: Philip W. Judge
Filmed in 1991 in Köln (Cologne), Germany
Specific location filmed: Brinkmeier's Gym
Availability: https://gmvbodybuilding.com/bodybuilding-videos/male-bodybuilders/male-bodybuilding-dvd/peter-andreas-kaiser-dvd/The opening credits of this video, which Wayne Gallasch filmed himself (with the crew listed above), has exteriors of Brinkmeier's Gym. Andreas is a gym owner, but this is not his gym. Andreas is from Würzburg, and has been active on the competitive scene, mainly in European NABBA, WABBA and IFBB shows, since the early 1980s. He won the WABBA World Championships in 1987, and appeared in the US at the IFBB Night of the Champions in 1990 and '91. After doing several Grand Prix shows in the 1990s, Andreas placed first in the NABBA Masters Universe in 1999 (a contest Gallasch has available on videotape). Andreas is the real thing when it comes to excellence in bodybuilding.
The videotaped workout on this tape captures Andreas in midcareer. It is an all-day affair, with intense pumping and posing in equal measure. Two cameras keep him front and center for nearly an hour, while Andreas does a varied series of workout sets using a Universal machine, workout stations, and free weights -- mainly dumbbells. Interspersed through the tape is footage of various contest appearances. Since Andreas speaks little English, there is no interview on this tape. That's no problem: muscle becomes a language in itself through Andreas's superb posing and workout routines.
An inventive feature of this tape is the soundtrack used. It varies from German classical music to film soundtracks to current pop and synth music. Much of the classical music comes from what Andreas actually uses in his posing routines, including Orff's "Carmina Burana" and Liszt's "Les Preludes" (the "Flash Gordon" theme). The film music is from "Star Wars" and the first "Star Trek" film. Strauss's "Blue Danube" is also used in the leg-press sequence. The pop music punches up the pace at various points. Some of the editing is matched to the music, which deepens the impact of what we are seeing. Some of the live sound in the gym and contests is included, and sometimes the music takes over.
The opening sequence of the tape has Andreas being oiled while he's doing a workout on a Universal machine, as well as posing into a mirror. At first he's sitting on the bench for a Universal bench press (with a towel on the bench to keep the oil off). His assistant starts oiling him, even giving him some to put on himself at one point. Andreas works out while the oiling goes on, at times interrupting it to pump out bench presses. A top IFBB amateur champion, Lothar Kienle, stands in the background at this point (Gallasch did a video of Kienle during these sessions, which Andreas also appears in). The next ten minutes continue to vary the situation of Andreas being oiled as he does sets, with the oiling continuing as he poses body parts (both sitting on the bench and standing up). Oiling generally occurs before a stage appearance or in a pump room, not during a gym workout and posing exhibition, so its integration into the gym unites all parts of bodybuilding into a synchronous whole. It is impressive to watch, and unique in bodybuilding video. The experience is even more distinctive because it's filmed on a regular day at the gym, with others doing their workouts in the background.
The sequences of the tape are paced by what Andreas is wearing. Here he's in a blue pair of World's Gym shorts, changing T-shirts (from a yellow T-shirt to a white muscle T) to show off more of his back and arms. Andreas is in competition shape, weighing 225 pounds at a height of 5'10". He was well known for his calves, which were as big as his arms (20.5 inches) at this point. Andreas also has a deep tan, enhanced as the oil soaks in and the pump from the workout activates the veins under his skin. He has dark hair and a heavy moustache. If you prefer blond pretty boys, this is not the tape for you. Andreas is a powerfully built muscle warrior who would look at home in a gladiatorial arena. But when he poses he smiles slyly at the camera, suggesting he's not as intimidating as he looks.
Andreas's assistant spends a lot of time polishing Andreas's calves, which are justifiably famous. He wears Reeboks but no socks so we see all of his calves, which are huge and pumped, and filmed from every conceivable angle. As the camera shifts up to Andreas's quads and hams, he pulls up the gym pants (which reach almost to his knees) to get the oil on his legs. As his assistant keeps oiling, never missing a spot in the process, Andreas keeps posing. Many closeups of the legs are given, especially from the back. At one point Andreas has to lean on his assistant to display his calves from the angle the cameraman wants.
Andreas now appears in the yellow T-shirt doing seated shoulder presses at the Universal machine, but his assistant pulls the T-shirt off and Andreas does a lat spread and back double-bicep pose sitting on the bench. His assistant works on oiling his back now, as Andreas poses. Members of the gym walking by look at him in amazement, while Kienle tools around at the tricep station behind him. We get closeups of Andreas's back as he alternates shoulder presses with bench posing -- a side chest shot, then a most-muscular (crab) shot.
Andreas puts on a white sweatband at brow level at this point, signalling a new sequence coming up. He stands, posing directly into wall-length mirrors (where we can see him from both front and back, since we're looking past him as he looks into the mirror). Sometimes the camera is positioned low and to the side, so we look directly up at him as he poses. He's like the Colossus of Rhodes at this angle. He then shifts to lat pulldowns at the Universal station, posing after each set directly into the camera, sometimes with his disarming grin. Andreas loves to pose and is excellent at doing it, hitting shot after shot for us. Since posing is strenuous work, he offers a generous physique display on this videotape.
At 21:00 in, we get stage footage for the first time. Andreas is a bit smaller here, being dieted down, and his abs and lower back are deeply etched in his most dialed-in shape. Andreas has a beautifully balanced physique combining the best of freaky muscle and aesthetic lines. He never fails to point to his calves during his stage routines; they're his trademark body part. I personally have never seen calves like this on anyone else.
Back in the gym, Andreas is doing seated cable rows. Then he shifts to standing bent-over dumbbell lateral raises, swinging the 'bells out to the sides of his body at the same time. He follows with shoulder shrugs, using 'bells that are heavy but not huge. After that we get single-arm dumbbell rows. His arms are getting a real pump at this point, and his quads continue to be freaky. Andreas seems anxious to display himself to the fullest, looking down at himself, then up at the camera, down again and then up. He's like a chef flavor-testing a dish at every stage of the cooking process.
Arm exercises continue -- concentration curls done leaning over, as Andreas props himself on a nearby metal bar. The camera hits the contractions dead on. He shakes out his arm after the set, then flexes it. Leaning over, he does the other arm in exact, mechanically precise movements. We now shift to triceps pushdowns on the Universal station, with the pulley system of the machine displayed as it balances against the weight of the exerciser. When Andreas is pushing down on the triceps bar, he looks directly at us like we're his training partner. The mystical bonding in a great gym workout is conveyed here. Andreas finishes his arm workout with one-arm triceps extensions (dumbbells behind his head). He has a big pump at this point.
At 36:00 in, Andreas shifts to leg work. He's now wearing a red Gold's Gym T-shirt, with brief green posing trunks to display all of his quads. First we get leg presses, with the camera holding tightly to him as he cranks them out one after another on a Universal station. Between sets he stands and poses his quads, which have gotten veiny from the workout. Sometimes he flexes his legs back at the knee to better display his hams, the camera staying at leg height to catch every detail of Andreas's lower-body development. He also shakes out his quads with his hands, sitting on the leg press. Now he's sitting on a leg extension machine, pushing his lower legs up till they're even with the bench he grips on both sides for balance. He flexes his legs one at a time, still sitting at the machine, then does another set, straining for a full pump. Standing with his shirt off, he does a lat spread, lunging single bicep shot, and other polished competition poses. We get more shots of his wall mirror posing.
At 47:00 in, the '86 NABBA Universe contest footage for Andreas is edited in (he took 2nd place in the medium height class there). He's wearing the same (or a very similar) green posing suit he had on during the leg workout just shown. The display is impressive, with great back and most-muscular shots. There's no mystery about why he took the competitive stages of Europe by storm.
The last gym sequence starts with Andreas in brown workout shorts, no head band, and hair rubber-banded behind his head. He does an incline barbell press, then hits a side chest for us. This gym area has a lounge in the background, and a row of dumbbells immediately behind the barbell station.
After another stage presentation edited in, we get back to the barbell, which he holds fairly close to the center of the bar. After that he does alternating dumbbell curls, then follows with dumbbell shoulder presses cut off by another stage presentation. This last one has his full routine from start to end, a NABBA Universe show with flags lined up behind him onstage. After this routine is done, the credits begin, with one last bit of film footage where he kicks off his sandals and poses his quads in bare feet, offering a final lat spread and back double-bi. Andreas's love for posing and his enjoyment at being in a gym are clearly in evidence in this video, which has one drawback: it ends.
Mike Emery
April 2001
(Video stills used by permission of copyright holder, Wayne Gallasch, all rights reserved. They may not be reposted without his permission.)
