Bertil Fox – Complete Profile: Height, Workout And Diet

Bertil Fox is a retired professional bodybuilder from the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. A genetically gifted individual, Fox was one of the most hardworking individuals who primarily competed in the 1970s and 1980s era of bodybuilding. His success was a result of a lifetime of consistent effort and commitment. This is his story.

Bertil Fox (Bodybuilder)

Born: November 9, 1951
Birthplace: Caribbean Island of St. Kitts & Nevis
Residence: St. Kitts & Nevis Prison
Nickname: Brutal
Height: 5′ 8″ (173 cm)
Competition Weight: 235 lbs (107 kg)
Off-Season Weight: 260 lbs (118kg)
Arms: 22″ (56 cm)

Bertil Fox Biography

Early Life

Bertil Fox was born in 1951 in the Caribbean Islands. His family moved to The UK when he was a child. Little Bertil was inclined towards physical activities and his family encouraged him to take up bodybuilding early on in life.

By the time he was 18, Fox had built a massive physique worthy of a competitive stage and he soon became a sensation in the regional bodybuilding scene. Winning the 1969 Junior Mr. Britain competition was the first major achievement of Bertil Fox’s bodybuilding journey. He repeated the success two more times and won the competition in 1970 and 1971 as well.

Bertil Fox dominated the NABBA and AAU scene before competing in the IFBB Pro League. He won several times the prestigious NABBA Universe Pro and the AAU Mr. World crown and created a lasting legacy.

Fox built a great reputation through consistent performances in the European circuit. As a result, he was noticed by Joe Weider, who encouraged him to come to the USA and sponsored his move to Los Angeles.

Olympia debut and IFBB Pro career

Bertil Fox made the most of this opportunity and furthered his career in professional bodybuilding. The British bodybuilder’s IFBB Pro debut came shortly after in the year 1981 when he finished fifth at the 1981 Grand Prix Belgium. He was only 29 years old at the time and improved his standings considerably the next year.

The 1982 Night of Champions saw Bertil Fox come close to winning the first professional bodybuilding competition of his career as he finished second at the show. Fox made his Mr. Olympia debut the same year and walked away with an eighth-place finish.

Fox did his best work in 1983 when he finished fifth at that year’s Mr. Olympia and found remarkable success in other shows as well.

Bertil Fox’s bodybuilding career lasted for almost 25 years and he remained a powerful force throughout his career. He presented a formidable challenge to the most elite bodybuilders of this time and contributed to the growth of bodybuilding.

Murder conviction and fall from grace

20-year-old beauty queen Leyoca Browne and her 36-year-old mother Violet were shot dead on September 30, 1997. Leyoca Browne was previously engaged to Bertil Fox, who had now retired from competitive bodybuilding. He was arrested on the charges of a double murder and initially denied the charges. However, ‘Brutal Bertil’ pleaded guilty and was convicted of a double murder on May 22, 1998, and sentenced to death by hanging.

However, the decision was later overturned after an appeal was made to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The sentence was changed to life imprisonment and Fox spent 25 years behind bars.

In August 2022, fellow bodybuilder Garry Strydom reported that Fox was released from prison. According to the report, Bertil Fox was officially pardoned by the Governor General of St. Kitts and Nevis on August 4, 2022. The report also stated that Fox moved to the UK to be with his family after his release. 

Although there was no formal news of the pardon, Bertil Fox’s son Shaun Fox confirmed his release while replying to the report in the comments section.

Competition History

• 1969 NABBA Mr. Britain Junior – 1st place
• 1970 NABBA Mr. Britain Junior – 1st place
• 1971 NABBA Mr. Britain Junior – 1st place
• 1971 Mr. Europe Junior – 1st place
• 1976 NABBA Mr. Britain – 1st place
• 1976 Mr. Europe, Medium – 1st place
• 1976 Mr. Europe – Overall winner
• 1976 NABBA Mr. Universe, Medium – 2nd place
• 1976 AAU Mr. World, Most Muscular – 1st place
• 1976 AAU Mr. World, Medium – 1st place
• 1977 NABBA Mr. Universe, Medium – 1st place
• 1977 NABBA Mr. Universe – Overall winner
• 1978 NABBA Universe Pro – Winner
• 1979 NABBA Universe Pro – Winner
• 1980 WABBA Professional World Championships – 2nd place
• 1981 IFBB Grand Prix Belgium – 5th place
• 1982 IFBB Night of Champions – 2nd place
• 1982 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 8th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Sweden – 4th place
• 1983 IFBB Grand Prix Switzerland – 2nd place
• 1983 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 5th place
• 1984 IFBB World Pro Championships – 5th place
• 1986 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 7th place
• 1987 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 9th place
• 1987 IFBB Night of Champions – 7th place
• 1987 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 12th place
• 1989 IFBB Arnold Classic – 6th place
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Melbourne – 6th place
• 1989 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 11th place
• 1989 IFBB World Pro Championships – 5th place
• 1992 IFBB Arnold Classic – 16th place
• 1992 IFBB Pittsburgh Pro Invitational – 9th place
• 1994 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 13th place

Bertil Fox Workout

Genetics played a massive role in Bertil Fox’s evolution into a world-class bodybuilder. But he could tap into the full potential with the correct approach to training, recovery as well as diet. His coach and close friend Henry Graves was a bodybuilder who trained Fox through the initial years of development and helped him develop the right mindset to build a massive physique.

Bertil and Henry trained together with furious intensity and a disciplined four-days-a-week training split. It is noted that the British bodybuilder made significant gains, especially in his arms using the following training routine:

Arms

• First Superset – Preacher Curls with Straight Bar (6 sets of 8 reps) and Triceps Pulley Press down using a Straight Bar and Narrow Grip (6 sets of 10 reps)
• Second Superset – Standing Alternate Dumbbell Curls (6 sets of 8 reps) and Close Grip Triceps Pushdowns with Upper Body Bent Forward to 45 Degrees (6 sets of 10 reps)
• Third Superset – One Arm Curls on An Incline Bench (6 sets of 8 reps) and Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks Lying Face Down on 45-degree Incline Bench (6 sets of 8 reps)

Bertil Fox Training Routine

Bertil Fox did not cut the corners and trained with high volume, heavy weights, and consistency. While speaking about Fox’s physique, Arnold Schwarzenegger said:

“Well, I was from the day one when I saw Bertil compete in London at the Mr. Universe contest and he became the big sensation, which was in the mid seventies. I was a big admirer of his. Simply because he represents the traditional bodybuilder and strongman. Which means that he doesn’t only have huge muscles, with a nice V-shaped body, huge deltoids, small waist, and great proportions.”

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But Fox was not just a muscular-looking guy. He was strong and aimed to achieve complete development in terms of strength, overall fitness, and muscle mass. The intense training style earned him the moniker ‘Brutal Bertil’ in the bodybuilding community.

Bertil Fox kept his training routine incredibly simple. His training split included separate sessions dedicated to the chest, back, biceps, triceps, and legs. The Caribbean-British bodybuilder performed different compound and isolation exercises to achieve complete development of the muscles.

To increase training intensity, Fox employed the progressive overload principle in his workouts and did the exercises with incrementally heavy weights. He employed techniques like supersets to increase the training intensity and to push beyond failure.

Chest

Fox’s chest training routine included four separate pressing movements to emphasize different parts of the pectoral muscles. Bench press was the primary movement of the workout as everything else revolved around heavy sets of barbell bench press that saw him lift upto 500 lbs for the top set.

Overall, the workout consisted of:

• Dumbbell Bench Press – 5 sets of 10 reps
• Barbell Bench Press – Working up from 400 lbs to 5 reps with 500 lbs
• Incline Dumbbell Press – 5 sets of 10 reps with 165 lbs
• Light Incline Press – 5 sets of 10 reps with 120 lbs

Shoulders

‘Brutal Bertil’ performed four basic exercises for shoulders and dedicated two exercises for anterior delts while one each was focused on lateral and posterior deltoids.

Overall the shoulder training session included:

• Seated Dumbbell Press Together – 5 sets of 8 reps with 125 lbs
• Seated Press Behind Neck – 5 sets of 8 reps with 250 lbs
• Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises
• Dumbbell Rear Delt Raises

Back

Bertil Fox’s back workout did not have a lot of variety in terms of exercise selection. However, the combination of three horizontal and vertical pulling movements made sure that he could build a 3D-looking wide and thick back required by a professional bodybuilder.

The back training routine in Bertil Fox’s training split looked like this:

• End-of-Bar Rows – 5 sets of 8 reps with 400 lbs
• Single Arm Dumbbell Bent Over Rows – 5 sets of 8 reps with 150 lbs
• Chinning to Bar Tied on Side-to-side Chinning – with 120 lbs

Biceps

Although most experts now agree that arms are a relatively smaller muscle group that responds the best to moderate weights and high training volume, Bertil Fox did not follow this rule back in the day. He trained with heavy weights and there was nothing to complain about the growth of his arms, if you take a closer look at the results.

His biceps training included:

• Incline Dumbbell Curls – 5 sets of 8 reps with 85 lbs
• Close-grip Barbell Curls – No specific number of sets or rep range, did the exercises with as heavy weights as possible until arms were pumped
• Dumbbell Preacher Curls – 8 sets of 8 reps with 85 lbs

Triceps

Fox performed high-volume sets of only two exercises on the triceps day. However, the combined sixteen-set volume was enough to build enviable triceps.

This is how Bertil Fox’s triceps training looked like:

• Lat Machine Pushdowns – 8 sets with a maximum of 150 lbs
• Reverse Grip Triceps Presses on Incline Bench – 8 sets with maximum 180 lbs

Legs

Fox’s lower body training revolved around the barbell squats. Apart from this compound exercise to work all the muscles in the lower body, Bertil Fox included an isolation exercise each for quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves in his training routine.

Overall, the lower body training routine looked like this:

• Standing Calf Raises – 10 sets of 10 reps with 800 lbs
• Back Squats – 5 sets of 10 reps with 500 lbs
• Leg Extensions – 8 sets of 20 reps with 80 lbs
• Leg Curls – 8 sets of 20 reps with 100 lbs (Strict form with slow reps)

Daily posing session

While many casual bodybuilding fans may not know, posing is a skill that is developed with years of practice and conscious efforts. One needs an extreme mind-muscle connection to be able to pose and Bertil Fox practiced this skill daily after his workouts to make a difference on stage.

Bertil Fox Diet

Not a whole lot is known about Bertil Fox’s diet and nutrition. However, we know that he did follow a high-protein diet. According to an article published on neckberg.com, Fox ate approximately four pounds of protein powder per week. He consumed a concoction of skim milk, protein, and eggs during workouts.

To Conclude…

Bertil Fox’s example proves that if achieving growth is your aim, you cannot take training lightly. Training intensely year after year with a carefully formulated training routine is the key to achieving muscle and strength gain. To grow like Bertil Fox, you need to lift heavy, lift frequently, and stay committed to your goal under all circumstances.

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