Updates Bodybuilders

[AndryPata90]

dopo che si è fatto sistemare lo strappo si nota molto meno...ma se guardi con attenzione si nota dai...resta il fatto che come ho detto precedentemente è tra i top non c'è dubbio...

[PaBloS94]

Gustavo Badell

[gg89]

dopo che si è fatto sistemare lo strappo si nota molto meno...ma se guardi con attenzione si nota dai...resta il fatto che come ho detto precedentemente è tra i top non c'è dubbio...

bo andry sinceramente io non lo noto...

[AndryPata90]

non me la sto inventando...è roba nota...poi se noti le foto...fai un confronto tra petto dx e sx e noti la differenza...comunque ha risolto in gran parte lo strappo che si procurò...

[PaBloS94]

Juan Morel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfqV9qjV9qE

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Dennis James



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Antoine Vaillant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHujpPDbHOE

---------- Post added at 21:19:12 ---------- Previous post was at 21:15:23 ----------

Fouad Abiad - 4 weeks out of Arnold Classic



---------- Post added at 21:29:08 ---------- Previous post was at 21:19:12 ----------

Phil Heath

[AndryPata90]

---------- Post added at 01:28:48 ---------- Previous post was at 01:24:54 ----------

[Sparosparo]

quanto è ciccione heat??

[PaBloS94]

Toney Freeman: "3.5 wk out!! Just got back from Columbus getting 4 hr str8 of neuromuscular massage! Details Details Pay Attention to the Details!! "





---------- Post added at 08:44:50 ---------- Previous post was at 08:41:25 ----------

Ed Nunn



---------- Post added at 09:21:57 ---------- Previous post was at 08:44:50 ----------

BONUS PICS

Interviste da parte della rivista Flex a 3 campioni che noi conosciamo........ sono in lingua originale

Cominciamo con il campione in carica

PHIL HEATH - FLEX INTERVIEW 2013



































TESTO

A candid talk with the reigning, two-time Mr. Olympia

After defending his Sandow at the 2012 Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath has proved that he is the best bodybuilder in the world for the past two years running. But with each year he sits atop the mountain, the target on his back grows ever larger. Case in point: Even before Heath was able to catch a breath following his victory, talk turned to the 2013 Mr. Olympia. With Jay Cutler making his comeback, and an even hungrier Kai Greene, Shawn Rhoden, and others eager to take what Heath has, this year’s O is shaping up to be the biggest in recent memory—and the biggest challenge of Heath’s career. We sat down with the two-time champ to get his take on his most recent win, how life is different as Mr. O, and what he’s got in store for the competition as he eyes a three-peat at this September’s ultimate bodybuilding event.

FLEX Since the Olympia, you have every- where. It seems that every time I see your Twitter post, you are in a different country making appearances. What has your traveling schedule been like since the Olympia?

PHIL HEATH It has been nonstop since winning the Olympia. I went to India for the Sheru Classic [which Heath won for the second year in a row] and then I went to Turkey for a Team MuscleTech appearance, then to Atlanta for the NPC Nationals— which was great because I had a chance to reminisce about my amateur days. After the Nationals, my stepson and I went to Fort Hood to visit the troops. I got to thank them for all their service for our country. Being with the troops was a great feeling, because I was able to help them out with training, nutrition, and supplement questions, and believe me, they had a ton of questions. What was really badass was that I got to play the Xbox game Call of Duty: Black Ops, which was not even released yet. It was a real eye opener for my stepson to see what my travel schedule was like, and what it was like when I made appearances, signed autographs, and took pictures. After that it was on to Pittsburgh to see the “Boss”— IFBB Pro League chairman Jim Manion—to film my final segment of the bodybuilding docudrama Generation Iron, which is due to be released in theaters this summer. That is going to be very exciting!

Do people treat you different because you are Mr. Olympia?

Being Mr. Olympia does have certain advantages. When I was in Pittsburgh I left my watch back at the hotel, and I missed my flight. The next available flight was the next day and to make things worse, all the hotels in the area were sold out. But a friend in the Pittsburgh area told one of the hotel’s managers that Mr. Olympia needed a room, and magically, one became available. After that, it was on to New York.

What was that like, going to New York in the midst of Hurricane Sandy?

Once I heard the news of Hurricane Sandy devastating New York, I flew out to the NPC Eastern to show my support. All the bodybuilders stayed on their diets despite having no electricity in the area. And many gyms were closed. Talk about being warriors! The NPC Eastern was pushed back to a week later. Hats off to NPC NY Metro chairman Steve Weinberger for being able to move the show, because the original location was shut down due to water damage. But the show ran smoothly despite being in a new location. I can’t imagine dieting for a show and then having this happen and dealing with no electricity and all the other things, so props to all the bodybuilders on the East Coast and to Steve for pulling off the impossible.

About a week before Thanksgiving, trag- edy struck; my grandmother passed away at the age of 92. Talk about good genetics, she was 92 and still wore high heels, but she was a huge inspiration in my life. She was the first person to tell me to think big in life. She was the one to tell me to try to do something that no has ever done before in bodybuilding, which was “break the eight-time Olympia record.” I am forever grateful for having her in my life.

What has your training been like these past few months after the Mr. Olympia?

I’m not the typical bodybuilder, who needs to be back in the gym the week after the show. I talked to Dorian [Yates] and he mentioned to me that the worst mistake he made was going back to the gym immediately after the Olympia and not giving his body enough time to recover. It’s in my blood to get back in the gym to train, but I know that getting some R&R is going to be important for next year. People don’t realize the mental and physical stress that competing has on a person. We all suffer injuries, and we need time to heal and cleanse. I see a chiropractor regularly; it’s amazing how much he helps me out. He can diagnose neurological damage and muscle imbalances just by seeing how bodybuilders pose and by small differences in muscle size.

I follow a much more traditional training cycle, like I was back playing basketball. You don’t go full throttle year round in basketball, you have different types of training based on the season. You had an off-season, pre- season, competition, and then active recovery. The most important aspect for me is the mental recuperation. While training for the Olympia is physically grueling the emotional strain it puts on a person is worse. Right now, I am enjoying spending time with my family, my wife, and stepson. Earlier in my career, I made the mistake of going right back into the gym, but the strain was more psychological than physical. I learned a lot from Ronnie Coleman. After he won the Olympia each year he was always going on cruises and traveling the world and enjoying life. Now, I could never take off three months like Ronnie did, but I am learning to enjoy my life and most of all, spend time with my family and friends.

So let’s get back to the 2012 Olympia. You said in your winner’s interview that you were up all night after pre-judging. What was going through your head?

I have to admit, Kai Greene looked the best I have ever seen him, but I still thought that I was the clear winner. I found out after the show was over that I had first-place scores on the judges scorecards after pre-judging. That taught me a valuable lesson. I was really stressed because I did not want to leave anything to chance. In my basketball career, it was not uncommon for us to have a close game before halftime and then we would rally ourselves in the locker room and come out charging for the next two quarters. That is exactly what I did after prejudging—I came out charging! Hany [Rambod, Heath’s nutritionist/trainer] had me carbing up on different carb sources (white and brown rice, potatoes, etc.). potatoes, etc.). It’s interesting that when I looked at my pictures after pre-judging, even I was critical of myself. That’s where Hany really made the difference. He was completely sleep deprived, while I was resting. He was like the coach in the locker room motivating me. I can’t say enough about Hany—he is the best in the business for a reason. When I woke up the next day, I could not wait to get onstage. If you take a look at the 2012 Olympia DVD in HD, you can see the difference. Looking at pictures or at a webcam does not do bodybuilders justice when they are competing. You can look at all the pictures you want, but I am telling you to check out the DVD and you can see for yourself exactly what I’m talking about.

This off-season are you going to do anything differentluy now that Jay Cutler is coming back?

I can’t wait to start my off-season prep; Jay coming back is a huge inspiration to train harder. This off-season I am going to plan better. In the past, I would be traveling for appearances and skip meals or because of jet lag, skip a workout. But I am handling things much differently. Now, if I am scheduled to eat, I need to learn to say, “Excuse me, I will be back in 15 minutes, I have to go eat.” In the past, I missed meals because I wanted to be there for all my fans, but I need to learn to stay on schedule. But my main goal is just to be denser onstage, and that comes with having more muscle maturity. I don’t have specific numbers weight-wise that I need to get up to in the off-season.

I am not like all these bodybuilders who need to be 300 pounds in the off-season.

Bodybuilders get so fixated on weight, but when we diet down, we lose muscle. Look at Kai. He gets massive in the off-season, but he lost certain body parts when he dieted down. My metabolism is so fast that when I start dieting for a show, I get shredded, but tend to lose more muscle than I like. Last year and also for the 2011 Olympia prep, I was ready to compete at two weeks out. Hany is always making adjustments so that I don’t lose too much muscle going into the show. Training this year is going to be different as well. I used to train each body part once a week, and as everyone knows, I never trained my arms the entire year until about a month before the show. This year I am training each body part twice a week, and I am training my arms once a week. Yes, I said that, “I am training my arms once a week.” I don’t think it’s going to throw off my proportions like everyone says.

What were you most critical of after looking at your Olympia pictures and what do you want to improve on?

The shot that I want to improve on the most is my abs/thighs shot. I want to be denser when I hit it. I also would like to add more density to my legs.

With Jay making his comeback, does this Olympia have any special meaning for you?

This is going to be the best Olympia to date. Get your tickets now, because I am telling you it’s going to be a battle! But this will be my best Olympia win to date. All I heard last year was that if Kai came in shredded, no one could beat him. Kai’s waist was smaller than it has ever been and he was shredded, yet I still won. The reason this win will be so much more impactful for me is that I have tons of respect for Jay and he never won three Olympias in a row. But if I beat him, it will be something that my best friend never did, which would be really meaningful to me. In 2011, everyone said that, “Jay was hurt and not at his best.” By winning my third Sandow this year, it will solidify my title as being the undisputed Mr. Olympia. I am not trying to sound cocky or arrogant, but if you were to ask Michael Jordan in his prime if he thought he would lose next year’s championship game, he would have said, “No way, man, you’re crazy! I am the best player the team has.” It’s not being arrogant or cocky, it’s being confident and there is a big difference. Watch the DVDs of Ronnie Coleman during his Olympia reign and he had the same mindset. No one was going to come close to beating him, and that’s the mentality I have.

What’s your ultimate goal in bodybuilding?

I want to create a legacy. I want people to say that Phil Heath gave it everything he had before each and every show. When I was playing basketball, I was the shortest person on the team and each year I had to worry about getting cut. I trained hard every day knowing that if I did not do my job, somebody else would take it. I treat bodybuilding the exact same way; I want to be the best and I will leave nothing to chance.

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KAI GREENE - FLEX INTERVIEW 2013


































TESTO

Mr. Olympia runner-up Kai Greene explains the 10 principles of his unorthodox back training

He’s No. 2 now. In all of the world, there is only one bodybuilder ahead of Kai Greene, and that’s the man he finished second to at the last Olympia: Phil Heath. No. 2’s greatest advantage over No. 1 is lat width. It wins him the rear-relaxed shot. On the other hand, one of the things the current Mr. O has over the top contender is back separation—especially in the lower traps. That and Heath’s fuller delts win him the rear double biceps. Rear lat spread is a toss-up—Greene is wider, Heath features more density and details, especially mid-back. Greene knows what he needs to do to improve his back poses: beef up his traps, rear delts, and the smaller muscles of his upper back. Still many months before his Mr. Olympia rematch with Heath, he filled us in on the 10 principles behind his unique back workouts.

1. WARMUP

The most unorthodox aspect of Greene’s back training is evident before the workout even begins, when he warms up for 15 minutes with trisets of various exercises, including bentover dumbbell rear laterals (which focus on the rear deltoids), upright rows (which focus on the traps), and dips (which target the chest as well as the front delts and triceps). In one workout we observed, he did six warmup exercises: trisets of wide-grip pullups, dips, and parallel-grip pullups followed by trisets of rear laterals, upright rows, and straight-arm pulldowns.

Weights are kept light, and the sets fall well short of failure. “This is just to get the blood flowing and get my mind into it and kick things off,” he says of the warmup exercise selection. Greene never thinks of one body part in isolation. He’s always focused on the complete picture of his physique, thus he’ll include dips with pullups, and he’ll string together work for rear delts and traps with lats. “I’m always thinking of different ways of contracting my muscles and getting the most effective rear double biceps and rear lat spread.”

2. EXERCISE SELECTION

Another purpose of Greene’s warmup trisets is to feel how his various muscles are working together. This helps determine which exercises he’ll select and in what order he’ll perform them. Before he enters the gym, he has a rough idea of how the workout will go. As he warms up, it comes into focus. “I’m not doing the warmups just to go through the motions. I’m focused on the task ahead of me. I’m taking a mental inventory, to work my back from the top of my traps all the way down my spine to just above my glutes. The feedback I get from my body determines what exercises I do and in what order I choose to do them.”

Lately, he’s been selecting more rows (mostly for thickness) than pulldowns and chins (mostly for width). This is because his low-hanging lats fan out like a golf umbrella. He doesn’t need more width, but he wants more upper-back density.

3. WEIGHT

Greene is ludicrously strong. We watched him rep out 495-pound bench presses in August 2010. But, especially when it comes to back, he’s more concerned with the feeling of his muscles working than the amount of metal he moves. “I go by feel. Rather than have to lift a house or the entire gym, I figured it was better to be led by feel and try to make some really sharp connections with the muscles I’m trying to hit. The weight is just a tool. If you’re trying to hammer a nail, do you focus on the hammer or the nail? You better focus on the thing you’re trying to hit—the nail— and not the tool for hitting that thing—the hammer. It’s the same with bodybuilding training. Focus on the thing you’re trying to hit, your muscle, and not the tool for hitting that thing, the weight.”

4. REPS

As with most of the factors in Greene’s back workouts, the amount of reps he does each set is largely a matter of feel. He rarely goes under 10, but he may do more than 20. “It just depends on how I feel,” the world’s No. 2 bodybuilder says. “I don’t go into a set knowing precisely how many reps I want to get because I don’t want to set limits on what I can achieve. I go by feel, and I let my muscles determine how many reps I get without my mind telling them what they can and can’t do. Your muscles are capable of so much more than your mind imagines.”

5. CONTRACTIONS

“When I’m doing machine rows, I’m thinking about the contractions. I can control machine rows better and focus more on the contractions than I can when I do barbell rows. I do barbell rows, but I’ve been emphasizing machine rows more recently because I want to isolate my inner lats, middle traps, and rear delts more. Those are my target areas, and you hit those more by pulling your elbows back as far as possible on rows and getting those really strong contractions that you can feel down deep in the fibers.”

6. STRETCH

Greene also emphasizes the stretches of each rep. This is especially true of the one-arm dumbbell row, where he has no regard for how much weight he uses but instead turns it into a supreme isolation exercise. He gets a full stretch on each rep so he feels a tug on the muscles of his middle back (lower traps). “While doing the one-arm dumbbell rows, my traps and rear delts can work a lot, and I’m doing this movement primarily to address the need for development in those areas,” he explains. “I don’t do any half reps. A lot of people cut out the contractions and stretches and work that middle area of reps. To me, the stretches and contractions are the hardest parts of reps, especially when training back. So I always put a special emphasis on the stretches at the start of reps and the contractions at the end of reps.”

7. MIND-MUSCLE CONNECTION

This is a crucial component of all Greene’s workouts, and it’s vitally important when training back because you typically can’t see the muscles working. Instead, you have to feel them working. “The mindmuscle connection is the No. 1 factor in training. You develop it over time by posing your muscle, and also by paying close attention to how your muscles feel when you work them. Eventually, you get to where your mind can read the feedback your muscles are providing, and your muscles can react to the stimulus your mind is providing. Practice posing between sets or anytime. And feel your muscles working throughout your sets. Eventually, your mind and muscles will speak the same language and communicate back and forth.”

8. ISO-TENSION Posing isn’t just crucial for the mind-muscle connection, it’s also a form of exercise. “I’ll often flex my muscles between sets. That iso-tension effect lets me hit muscle fibers that the set may miss, and it lets me target those muscle fibers in my next set. Posing isn’t just something you do on a stage in front of an audience. It should be part of your bodybuilding program for hitting those areas like the inner lats, rhomboids, and rear delts. Sometimes the best way to really activate those muscles is to consciously flex them during a set, after a set, and after your workout.”

9. SYNERGY Greene typically ends his back workouts with deadlifts. Because his back is already pre-exhausted by his other exercises and because he does 12–15 reps per set, he needs to go up to only 405 pounds on deads. “I’m not trying to lift the whole gym,” he says. “I’m just trying to work the muscles I’m targeting that day. I think about my spinal erectors. I think about my lats. I think about my traps and rear delts. For most people, deadlifts are just about picking up a weight and putting it down. But for me it’s about working my back from the top to the bottom and getting the muscles to work synergistically. My whole back comes alive during deadlifts, and I’m able to contract very intensely with each rep. I like to put it at the end of my workout because it allows me, while doing each rep, to mentally walk through and revisit every muscle that I’ve trained in the back routine before then.”

10. VISUALIZATION

This is a crucial component to every Greene workout. He visualizes how sets will progress as well as how he wants his muscles to grow over time. “Visualization is an essential bodybuilding tool, but also an essential tool for success for life in general,” No. 2 explains. “In order to achieve something great you first have to be able to see yourself achieving that thing.” What Greene is visualizing before and during every back workout is the next time he will be standing next to Phil Heath with his back to the judges and both men strike a rear double biceps followed by a rear lat spread. He’s visualizing the new muscle, new separation between the muscles, new details in the muscles. He’s visualizing winning what are generally regarded as the two most crucial poses in any bodybuilding contest—the rear shots—in what everyone regards as the ultimate bodybuilding contest: the Mr. Olympia. And he’s visualizing a triumph over his rival that results in him being the last man standing, holding the Sandow aloft, and becoming history’s 14th Mr. Olympia.

OLYMPIA MEAL PLAN AND SUPPLEMENT STACK

Pre-workout (Cardio)

eNoxide
Amino Decanate
MethylBurn Extreme

Meal 1

Chicken, 8–10 oz Asparagus
Rice, brown/white, 1.5 cups
Methyl Arimatest
Carnivor Beef Aminos

Meal 2

Tilapia, 8–10 oz
Asparagus
Rice, brown/white, 1 cup

Pre-workout

NO Bull
Amino Decanate
Creatine Decanate

Post-workout

Carnivor Mass shake with water
Glutamine Decanate

Meal 3

Tilapia, 8–10 oz
Asparagus
Rice, brown/white, 1.5 cups
Carnivor Beef Aminos

Meal 4

Chicken, 8–10 oz Asparagus
Rice, brown/white, 1 cup

Pre-workout

No Bull
Amino Decanate
Creatine Decanate
MethylBurn Extreme

Post-workout

Carnivor shake with water
Glutamine Decanate

Meal 5

Tilapia, 8–10 oz Asparagus
Rice, brown/white,
1.5 cups

Meal 6

Tilapia, 8–10 oz Asparagus
Rice, brown/white, 1 cup

Bedtime

Hexaghen
Methyl Arimatest Carnivor Liquid Shot

[PaBloS94]

Rise of the Machine (Shawn Rhoden) - FLEX INTERVIEW 2013

























TESTO

Far from an overnight success story, Shawn “Flexatron” Rhoden took a long, winding, and ultimately redemptive road to bodybuilding stardom. Here is his journey, in his own words.

In bodybuilding, there’s no such thing as an overnight sensation.

No matter how lightning fast a phenom can seem to capture the sport’s zeitgeist, that speed belies the long, often arduous journey that came before. No one walks onto a pro stage as a complete, polished package.

Instead, anonymous toil is always in order. Years spent in the trenches, skipping nights out with friends to hit the gym, bypassing desserts, boiling eggs by the dozens, choking down chicken breast and broccoli for the fourth time in one day because, well, that’s what needs to be done to get to where you want to go.

To even think those sacrifices and dedicated actions spur results supposes a straightforward path. Do “A,” and “B” happens. Life, however, is not a straight line. Sometimes, in the blink of an eye, a short break turns into weeks, months, even seven years away from the iron. Even the most gifted in this game can stumble and walk a dark path, lost in the wilderness, and seemingly for good.

So it’s always with an asterisk that we label a bodybuilder an “overnight sensation.” Such is the case, for instance, with Shawn Rhoden. Oh, certainly, he may be the best pure story to come along in 2012 (or over the past few years, for that matter). In one of the most memorable four-month spans any pro has ever experienced, he won four contests—the Europa Supershow, Tampa Pro, Arnold Classic Europe, and British Grand Prix—and crashed the top three in only his second Mr. Olympia.

But, despite that flurry of triumph, nothing came easy for Rhoden. In a deeply personal inter- view, he reveals the details of his long, winding journey, and you’ll soon see why he relishes every moment of today’s success.

FLEX: Where did you grow up?

Shawn Rhoden: I was born in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. in 1990, when I was 15. My dad was living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., shuttling back and forth to Jamaica, and he wanted to move his family for the better opportunities and education the States provide. It was sad leaving the sunshine and the beach and coming to the cold weather, but you look at the pros and cons.

So you ended up going to high school in the U.S.?

Yes. I was a really good soccer player, so I made the team. I was a great swimmer, too. You have to know, while I lived in Jamaica, I never even knew what a weight looked like. I was a soccer player, a striker... I wanted to be the next Pele or Maradona. Bodybuilding was the last thing on my mind. But then it found me.

When was that?

I was around 17 when my cousin John [Lancaster] took me to the gym for the first time in ’92. The idea was to get me stronger over the summer to help my sports performance. The first day he took me, I remember that next morning saying every curse word you could think of. It was a different kind of pain than I had ever felt before. Well, I went off on my cousin. I told him, “Dude, there is no way I’m ever going back to the gym. I’m going to go home, get in bed for a couple of days, and never do it again.”

But he kept saying, “Come on, it gets much easier. You have to stick with it.” Finally I gave in and went again. I kept going, and before long, that same summer, I entered a local teenage bodybuilding show. I was only 5'9.5", 153 pounds, and the only thing going for me was a six-pack... But I won. All of a sudden, I was like, “Wow, this is great.”

At that point, you were hooked?

I ended up entering shows every other week- end that summer. John and I would drive all night on a Friday to show up on a Saturday to compete. He would say, “Man, you have really good genetics for this.” But I was like, “I’m 153 pounds. I don’t think there’s any good genet- ics here, other than I’m ripped.”

It was interesting going back to school in the fall for my senior year. I showed my pictures from the contests, and people were amazed. So I started thinking that it might not be a bad idea to continue competing during the school year, just find shows and head out to them on the weekends.

I realized how much I enjoyed being in the gym, and the sport. It gives you a rush. Other sports are about teamwork, but I started to really like the individual aspect of bodybuilding. I loved the fact it was a sport where you get out of it exactly what you put into it. You have help, you have coaches, but you’re not so reliant on others for your success, like it is with a team sport like soccer.

Did you end up going to college?

I earned a scholarship—a dual one for soccer and swimming—but the summer after graduation, I ended up cutting nine tendons in my right arm in an accident. So I went for a visit to the college and explained to the swim coaches what happened. I admitted my swimming stroke would be off, and it would require some rehab. They said, “No problem, we can work with that.” But at the end of summer, the call came: I was told my scholarship was “lost to another department.”

So that was the end of college. I took it with a grain of salt, though. I turned to training again as I rehabbed my hand; it also helped me relieve stress. I started working as a personal trainer and pool manager, and most importantly, I found myself back onstage. In 2001, I did the NPC Team Universe and took second. At the IFBB North American Championships, I took second, too. Everything was going well. In 2002, I went to the NPC Nationals, but ended up with food poisoning the week of the show and placed 14th. It was disappointing, but I went home vowing to be back and ready the next year...2003 was going to be my year. When I got home that November, though, something was wrong. My dad just wasn’t himself.

What was wrong?

One day I was at the gym as usual, and got a call from my brother that my pops had to go to the hospital. The man had almost literally never been sick a day in his life. He had never even taken an aspirin. But he said that he was short of breath in the morning, and they decided to take him in.

By the time I arrived, he was already hooked up to seven or eight different machines. The doctors told us that they were going to have to transfer him to another facility, and that there was fluid built up in his lungs. We just kept thinking, “This is a man who never took a day off from work, was always on the go. What was happening?”

At the next hospital, we were given paper- work to sign so they could punch a hole in his side to drain the fluid from his lungs; his left lung had collapsed. A week later, we were given a diagnosis: he had Stage 4 lung cancer and had only three to six months to live.

That must have been devastating.

We were in shock. That was November, and he tried to make it to Christmas but ended up in the hospital before that. I remember being there with him, and he asked, “So, when are you getting back onstage, when are you competing again?” Of course, I had stopped going to the gym altogether once this all happened.

My dad was my biggest fan. He used to walk around with a VHS tape of me competing, and showed it to his friends, to anyone who would watch. I remember going places in town and people I didn’t know would say, “Hey, you’re Lloyd’s son! We saw you at your show!” I asked which, and I’d find out my dad had shown them the video.

At the hospital, he said, “You should get back to the gym, to competing.” I said, “I will.” That night, after I headed home, I was folding clothes, and I had this vision. It was my dad talking to me, and he said, “Everything is 50/50.” I heard my phone ringing, but I knew before I picked it up... He had passed away.

What did he mean by “50/50”?

That was him making his final rounds to everyone, saying you have to be strong, and what you put into life is what you get out of it: 50/50.

How did you react to losing your father?

After he passed away, it was pretty much downhill for me. I went through one of the worst times of my life. I stopped body- building and went to work for a flooring company instead, doing kitchen design. I had never been a drinker before—at most, I’d have one drink socially when I went out—but I started drinking after I lost my dad every day, to the point where I woke up one morning, went to the bathroom, and there was blood in my urine.

Was that a wakeup call?

Actually, it didn’t faze me one bit. I went to work and then, afterward, straight to the liquor store. That night, I did it all over again, like nothing happened, and the next morning, same thing: Blood in my urine. Five days went on like that before I finally went to get checked out. I was admitted with a liver, kidney, and urinary tract infection.

In the span of about eight months, I had drank more alcohol than most people consume in their entire lives. Being admitted to the hospital, that was the final straw, though. It caused me to take a hard look, and think, “What am I doing to myself?”

What happened next?

When they released me, I got home and basically decided I was going to quit cold turkey. I went through withdrawal. For days, I would sweat, then freeze, then have the shakes. The only thing that helped me get through it was the help of a wonderful lady named Lenore Carroll. She stayed with me the entire time.

So going “cold turkey” worked for you?

It did. I can’t imagine going back to that; would never want to. Those withdrawals were so toxic and draining.

Even after overcoming your addiction, you stayed away from the gym. What pulled you back?

I was away for seven years. I still had friends who were competing at the local and national level, always talking about the gym and the sport, but it never bothered me. For me, it was in the past, and I was fine with it. But one day, my cousin Mark [Forrester] was helping a couple of people get ready for a local show. He asked me to go backstage to help on the day of the competition, so I did. And I’m sitting here watching all these competitors, and I start thinking, “Hmmm, I could beat these guys.” I said something to Mark, and he laughed at me. “You haven’t been to the gym for seven years!”

Had you kept any of your shape or condition?

Oh, no. Little Debbie and Twinkies were my best friends. I ate whatever I wanted. If I craved a pizza, I ate the whole thing. So I was out of shape. But I couldn’t shake the feeling, so I talked to my other cousin who originally got me started in bodybuilding. I told John, “I could win a show, all I need is a few months.” He bet me a dollar I couldn’t do it. I was motivated.

I approached it like my last hurrah, one more show, just to prove to myself that I could. I picked the 2009 NPC Team Universe, since that had been the last show I did that I was successful at [ed. note: Rhoden finished second as a light-heavyweight in 2001], which was eight months away.

It ended up being one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I started training every morning. When you walk away from lifting for so long, the body doesn’t react the same way. It’s not like riding a bicycle; I don’t care what anybody says. I remember doing squats with a 25 pounder on each side and was like, “Oh, my God, I can’t do this. This really hurts!”

But I stuck with it. At times I felt like I was dying, like I was ready to quit, but people pushed me on. Then I saw that there was a local show in Delaware, and I decided the night before that I was going to enter.

I had great help in my corner. IFBB pro Fred Smalls, one of my best friends since I was a teenager, pointed me in the right direction with my diet, and backstage. Being away for so many years, there was a lot of new stuff for me. But I went and won that show. Then I started thinking about the North American Championships, which was four weeks away. My goal up to that point was the Team Universe, but it was still a national-level show, and I had entered it back in 2001. I figured, what the heck, I’ve gotten this far, I look somewhat decent. So I went for it.

So you switched gears, which meant you had to be ready sooner.

I started amping up my training, but two weeks out, pinched my lower back. It was like my body didn’t want to function anymore. I kept doing what I could in the gym, and when I went to the show, I was figuring I’d get my ass handed to me.

At the weigh in, I remember looking around thinking, “These are guys I see in the magazines—they’re huge!” I got my picture taken, and one of my friends said, “Dude, you are so flat.” I was like, “Thanks a lot. I still have to carb up, shave, and tan.” But this was my encouragement.

I went back to my room, and did an inter- view with Flex Wheeler. First thing he says is, “Where have you been? You look awesome.”

I said, “What are you looking at? My friends are telling me I look like crap.” But Flex said no, that I was the dark horse, the guy to beat in the heavyweights. I just thought he was nuts. I got back to it with Fred, eating sweet potatoes and peanut butter for a last-minute filling out.

I remember when it was finally time to take the stage. I was in the first callout. Then the head judge calls my number, tells me to step back. So I was back in line, looking at the other guys being compared. The whole prejudging went by, and I’m wondering why they didn’t call my number again. I started doubting myself, “What the hell was I thinking by trying this show?”

Then they say, “Thank you all for coming, see you tomorrow.” I said to the guy

behind me, “I can’t believe they forgot me.” He looked at me and said, “What’s your problem? You won the show! You came out, they took one look at you, and that’s all they needed.”

He was right. At the finals, I won the overall and earned my pro card.

It turned out that it wasn’t your “last hurrah,” by a long shot.

No, I couldn’t stop after that. I went on to my first pro show, which was a wreck. The 2010 IFBB Europa Supershow. I miscalculated my prep and ended up 16th. I definitely didn’t want it to end that way, so I went home and thought I’d go back to the drawing board. From October to March I didn’t go to the gym—that seems to work pretty good for me [Laughs]—and got my life in order.

It just so happened I was introduced to Dave Kalick, and he told me to send some pictures. He took a look and told me he’d get me ready, and that I’d go to the next Olympia. I laughed at the thought, but he said, “I saw you in 2009; you had great shape.” Finding someone who believes in you makes the effort much easier.

Of course, as we all know now, you ended up going to the Europa again in 2011, taking third and qualifying for the Olympia.

The entire 2011 Olympia, I wish everyone who turned pro could experience that. Because it’s not like any other show you’ve ever been to. The day they send out your contract and schedule your hotel and flight, it’s such a great feeling. You feel wanted. Then you go to the press conference, you meet the fans, and it’s real.

At that point, everyone knows what everyone else is bringing to the table. There’s nothing to hide, which for me was relaxing and overwhelming all at the same time. All the guys who have been on that stage—Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray, Kevin Levrone, Ronnie Coleman— and now, there I was. Had I never competed again, I felt like my career was complete. Then to make the second callout with Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, and Dexter Jackson. Oh, man... I have that picture on my computer to this day.

One of my great moments at Olympia was at the prejudging. I walked backstage and I was pumped, I wanted to call everyone in the world that I knew to tell them where I was. I walked over to the Gatorade table and Jay Cutler was there. He said, “Shawn, have mine.” I was just like a fan at that point, thinking, “Holy crap, Jay Cutler just gave me a Gatorade.” It was surreal for me.

At that first Olympia, you finished a respectable 11th. But even at that point, you surely had no idea what would happen for you in 2012, right? Four wins, and a third at the O. Let’s talk about that.

Where I finished in the Olympia is a validation. After a conversation with Jay during which he told me to start acting as if I was already a Mr. Olympia champion, I literally started to think that way, that one day I’m going to be Mr. Olympia—I started training and carrying myself in that manner. So it was a stepping stone in that direction to finish third. After that, I felt like the future was wide open.

What was the biggest difference-maker for you?

The biggest change that I made was that I started working with [contest-prep consultant] Chris Aceto; 2012 was my first Olympia with him.

I had wanted to work with Chris since I turned pro in 2009. I knew he’d been doing the consultations with pros for a long time. He was the only guy out there before the others came along, but I figured I couldn’t afford him.

After my hernia surgery early in 2012, I went to FIBO in Europe in April, and I had lunch with Dexter Jackson and Charles Glass. They said to me, I had great potential, but Charles also told me that my window of opportunity was very small. I needed to find the right person to find that next 5% to make that last step. We talked through a list of guys, but the one person’s name who kept coming up was Chris.

Now, I had Chris’ number since first turning pro but never called it. But I remember flying home from FIBO and being in the airport parking lot. I was putting my suitcase in the truck with one hand, and dialing Chris with the other.

The first thing he said to me: “I don’t get too excited about working with too many people, but I’ve been dying to work with you.” I couldn’t believe it. Since 2009, I was wondering how to approach this guy, and he said that. He asked me when I wanted to start, and I said, “Today.” He said, “You just got home. Take a few days, take some pictures to send over, and we’ll go from there.”

What aspects of your prep did he focus on?

Everything with him is 100% diet. Jay Cutler warned me that the hardest part will be pictures—he wants pictures in the morning, after training, whether you’re in shape or fat. He’s constantly monitoring how your body is responding so he can continue dialing you in.

I call him Technotron. He’s half genius, half crazy. He thinks far outside the box. He’ll show up at 2 in the morning at your hotel room to check that your physique is coming in as it should. Every morning from Tuesday leading up to the Olympia on Friday, he made his rounds. You can’t find that kind of service, someone who cares so much about what you’re doing. He doesn’t just hand you a plan on a piece of paper and say, “Do this.”

I owe a lot of thanks to Chris. To achieve what we’ve achieved, and we’ve worked together only since May. We haven’t even had a real off-season yet. Now we have a year leading up to the next Olympia to see what we can bring back to that stage.

One additional challenge for you was the fact you were covering your costs during the second half of 2012.

A lot of people didn’t realize that I won a lot of these shows without a supplement sponsor. About six weeks before the Tampa Pro, my sponsor called and said they were “going in a different direction,” that they “didn’t have the funds needed to market me” the way I needed to be. So from that point on, travel and preparations were all out of my own pocket and on my credit card.

After the Olympia, you probably had a lot of offers.

I did, but I didn’t want to sign anything right away. I didn’t want it to be something where it was just about the money. I wanted to be a part of something. That happened with Ronnie Coleman and his Signature Series, and it was a refreshing feeling. We spoke for a couple of days and never talked money. We spoke about my goals, where I see myself in the sport, things no one else did. It wasn’t about how much money I wanted or what the other companies were offering.

I signed with Ronnie the day after the Arnold Classic Europe. They made a three-year commitment, and said they were behind me 110%. It spoke volumes.

Why did you decide to go ahead and do the post-Olympia European shows?

Back in the day, the European tour was like five shows in five or six days. I had read about that in the magazines when I was younger, and really wanted to be a part of that, So I told Aceto I wanted to do it this year.

And he believed in me from the very beginning.

How’s that?

The first week we started working together, I said, “If I make the top six at the Olympia, I’ll buy you two tickets to Jamaica!” He replied, “How about we make that top three?” Well, he’s going to Jamaica in February.

---------- Post added at 10:00:30 ---------- Previous post was at 09:26:03 ----------

I soliti updates


Ben Pakulski 4 Weeks Out Delts Workout

http://bcove.me/03hpc5w1

Victor Martinez Trains Back Part I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7KIPkHLTrU

Fred Smalls Trains Back - 5 Weeks Out From Arnold Classic 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7eFJ-124CQ

Ken Jackson 2013 Off-Season Chest Workout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2l3bC5XGEM

---------- Post added at 18:25:46 ---------- Previous post was at 10:00:30 ----------

Shelby Starnes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_7MlD2l16c

[marcu9]

Madonna Mia la foto di Coleman....

[francesco_espo]

laureato con lode

[marcu9]

Si..è quello che mi impressiona sempre più di tutti, nonostante siano passati anni..irragiungibile.

[marcu9]

Sono clamorosamente OT.. ma è una foto troppo bella per non essere messa..

[francesco_espo]

Si..è quello che mi impressiona sempre più di tutti, nonostante siano passati anni..irragiungibile.

non in bb, in "accounting"