Come on. He had already built a foundation of strength doing Stronglifts and fighting ninjas. You don’t take out a ninja with a 360 degree spinning kick without low bar squatting. Now he can train for hypertrophy.
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Hopefully the IFBB doesn’t just keep increasing the weight limits. That would lead to the same problem that the open division has and that the Classic Physique division was attempting to solve.
Hell, I’m still of the opinion that the 212 class should never have been increased and it should have remained at 202. Or, perhaps, that they should have done a height x weight thing too (under a certain height, limit = 202; over a certain height, limit = 212) because some of the shorter guys don’t look all that great anymore…
It’s interesting, sure, but maxing out on leg extensions and hammer strength rows just sounds ridiculous. Plus all the athletes are just YouTube stars really. I just don’t get it I guess
yeah i’d like dex to win, one of my all time favorites
Kai isn’t going to compete, so Phil doesn’t really have any true competition. I say this being a huge Dexter Jackson fan mind you, he’s just not enough of a legitimate threat to upset last year’s winner. Kai may be doing some special appearance at the new strength, athletic, what ever it is that is supposedly between bodybuilding and CrossFit, but he’s not violating his IFBB contract. The recent issue of flex that comments on him upsetting the contest was printed before they made the announcement.
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That’s what I thought. He also put up a video of him guest posing and looked really out of shape for the Olympia anyway
yeah the south korea video, not in horrid shape cause its kai but still for olympia stage out of shape
As someone who has been following the Olympia for god knows how long, and attended several NPC shows and the Night of Champions and New York Pro for almost every year since 1999, I am a bit sad to say that I have no interest in following the open bodybuilding class at this point. I only care about the 212 class and classic physique. I’m obviously (only) rooting for my long time friend Arash Rahbar.
To this day I remember the discussions we had during the years 2003 to 2010. We worked out together, hung out a great deal, and he owned a restaurant two blocks from my mom’s apartment. He’s a great guy and has been there for me and helped me A LOT through the years.
I would go to the restaurant about two to three nights per week, worked there as a waiter here and there, and towards the end of closing and on through the night, a bunch of fitness and bodybuilding minded people would sit in the back, stuff our faces with Persian food, and discuss bodybuilding stuff til the late hours of the night. By the way, we must have mentioned the name Phil Heath at least three dozen times per night considering that’s when he was coming up.
So here and there, Arash would ask me, “Do you think I can be in the Olympia?” Considering I am an ordinary dude who at the time never did a show, I would usually respond with something like, “Who the heck am I? I haven’t done a damn show in my life, and you here are talking about being in the Olympia when you’re in your mid or late 20’s and you haven’t done one show at all! I mean, you’re great and all, but I don’t know.” I was just trying to be honest and realistic with my genetically gifted and hard training friend.
So to see all this, after all the talking about my friend’s SERIOUS goal and then finally seeing him fulfill it on a world stage seems surreal. I believe I posted pics of us together after last years New York Pro in NJ.
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That must be pretty crazy to see that happen in real time. I mean, how many people on ANY body building forum see someone go from gym rat to Olympia competitor, and then to have that person be your friend?
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I sometimes think Phil doesn’t get enough credit for a couple of reasons- firstly because he makes it look easy, and secondly because people don’t like the personality he projectsl. That said - he makes himself extremely tough to beat. He has so much thickness and roundness to his muscles that he makes everyone else look flat frankly. He comes in shape, and even on a bodypart-by-bodypart basis everything is a standout.
That said - I think Ramy on the second day was pretty close to Phil last year. He didn’t quite have Phil’s shape or his muscle-to-bone ratio thickness, but he’s such a structurally huge guy (bone structure wide and thick like Jay only more so) that I think with his muscle mass and a bit more fullness on that second day he looked good next to Phil and was probably close to him. I think with a more consistent look over the two days and just a little more thickness he could probably take Phil down. That would be exciting. Of course, if he comes out flat and (for him) stringy the first day like he did last year, that won’t happen.
Roelly is my favourite physique though. I don’t care that it ain’t necessarily pretty or polished or structurally great, that is just an incredible amount of thickness and density and roundness. I was blown away last year and thought he should have placed higher - I will be interested to see what he brings this year.
Also looking to see what Nathan De Asha brings. Should have been top 10 last year, and if he comes in better he could threaten the middle of that top 10.
Last year, at the NYPro, there was a moment when Brad and I just looked at each other, and realized that not only were we in a room with our good friend at a seriously big contest, but that it was us and Chris Aceto. We were the ones that Arash appreciated our feedback on his conditioning from, which aside from saying a bit about him valuing our opinions (I helped him with some backstage issues via cel phone at the Pittsburgh pro -lol), it was just pretty cool because we both came up reading Chris’s articles in the magazines as he was the first guy to bring real science to the sport.
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Speaking of Chris Aceto and Big Ramy - the smaller, tighter version of Big Ramy got him his best result at the Olympia. One would think the strategy this year would have been to come in either a bit heavier at the same conditioning or come in even tighter or both if everything went right. That would most likely have him fighting it out with Phil.
Instead, Ramy is going to come back in his 300lbs+ shape again. It looks conditioning will suffer for it… I dont know what he is thinking. Maybe he’ll come in tight and I’ll be wrong…
I’ll agree that Phil doesn’t get enough credit…but I think that will change in the future when there is more time to put him into perspective with other Olympia winners. I liken this concept to how many people do not like the current leader of his/her country (at any given year in the past or present), but then 20-30 years after that person is no longer the leader, he/she is deemed one of the greatest ever. So, I think the connotation a lot of us have of Phil Heath will change at some point.
That being said, I don’t think people dislike Phil because he makes it look too easy or because of his personality. (Frankly, I must just be completely unaware of all the video footage and interviews he’s doing to even project a personality to the public.) I think that people don’t like the open class at the Olympia, rather than not liking Phil Heath. I believe this is because of a few reasons.
#1 is perceived political judging and the subsequent lack of consistent judging. I know, I know: Bodybuilding is subjective. Yet it is still difficult to believe that the guy who came in 9th at the Olympia can win a show two weeks later in Europe against all the same competitors (minus Phil).
#2 concerns posing. I think that posing in the open has become something of a joke. Many of the guys just can’t pose outside of the mandatories. I think this is why Kai was so interesting and people wanted to watch him.
#3 is because Phil is just the defacto winner of the open division a month after the previous Olympia occurred. This is nothing against Phil – it’s not his fault; the industry and the media coverage, and all the ‘experts’, make the competition a bore so far in advance that the public no longer cares about the contest because it’s seemingly predetermined.
Just my thoughts – feel free to roast them. = )
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I thought Arash should have won his division last year, and I’m rooting for him again this year.
I’m interested in William Bonac this year. I mean, the guy only has so much frame on which to add mass before he looks horrible…so I’m really interested to see what kind of “improvement game” he attempts this year.
And lastly, with Courtney King not competing at the Olympia this year, I suppose I’m slightly interested to see who takes her crown in the Bikini Division.
Hopefully the Classic Physique competition is actually streamed this year…I was a bit upset that it wasn’t streamed last year…
Yeah shame about Cortney was looking forward to seeing her possibly win again, and I’m real excited for the classic
Open: I’d like to see Ramy come in 100%, just because I want to see what that looks like. I think if he isn’t flat and comes shredded, Phil will have a battle on his hands. This comes from me, a guy who has only watched one Olympia (last year), so my opinion is clearly that of a noob. But damn that dude is huge in a proportional, non-stone-crabbish way. I think Phil brings a very complete package, but 5’8 looks small next to 6’+. I’m also hopeful for Shawn Rohden and Cedric. I don’t know why, but I like the persona that Cedric projects.
I think Shawn OWNS the abs/thigh shot. I think his pecs/lats look perfect in that pose. (Haven’t seen progress pics, so opinion is based on previous comps)
Ramy wins the side tricep shot.
Phil is so hard to beat on his back shots, especially double-bicep.
Classic: Arash FTW. All the way. I’m only worried because Palumbo has him in 1st. Last year Palumbo had Levrone in 1st, and we all know how that worked out. Arash looks amazing so far, can’t wait to see what he brings to the stage. Like most here, I’m much more interested in classic than open. I really hope that the organizers recognize the public’s interest in Classic and make the decision to stream it this year.
Arash’s side tricep looks so nasty. Those delts and tris- Amazing! Super crispy conditioning too.
I’ve been rooting for Rhoden for years, if he could come in tight enough and have better stage presence I think he could be a contender. Also very excited to see what Ramy will bring this year, and some of the more recent up-and-comers.
Of course, we’ll be screaming for Arash as we watch the broadcast!
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It’s surreal!
BTW, Cedric has the best attitude and sense of humor:
I guess the other thing is Dexter looks to be at a scary level of leanness looking at his face. He ALWAYS comes in on the mark so it could be something impressive on the cards.
Phil’s face looks the opposite…
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