Bodybuilding Journalism

Bodybuilding Journalism

First off, I love the sport of bodybuilding. I think it’s a great endeavor that anyone can get in and it’s for sure had a positive effect on my life. 

THAT BEING SAID……

Some who write for other sites and try to discredit one of the sports top professionals is kind of ridiculous in my opinion. I get that bodybuilding is a gossipy industry (thats another blog post all together) but to write a whole article based on assumption of an individual you only see on a limited basis is the very thing thing we need to avoid in the business.

If people like it or not, once you put words to paper (or screen) and it get puts out there, you become a journalist even if you didn’t have formal training for it, so all of us in the industry need to act accordingly.

1: No heresy  if you get a tip, follow up as best you can. If the tip doesn’t pan out or said pro or guru is tight lipped, then you really can’t break it as breaking news. And no anonymous  sources. Don’t even come to me with “ol boy heard this” or “Ol boy heard that”. I don’t get a name, I aint reporting it.

2: It ain’t about you, even in an editorial: I’m guilty of this but after I wrote one piece where I made it about me, I realized that it should’ve been more about the competitors. Seriously  it makes you look like a dick. 

3: Quit assuming what people do: We don’t know a persons mindset and what makes us qualified to do so?

4: Don’t assume, I cant say this enough.

The piece I read was sensationalism. Unless your’e a beat reporter, and with a person everyday and tracking their every move, then stay away from the sensationalistic and accusing pieces. 

Musings of a late night gym rat/insomniac

Training:

It's going decent. Not bad for what will be an extended offseason. I knew going into the semester with me being on academic probation (more on that snafu), training was number two on my importance list. I only did what I needed or was able to do some days. Amazingly I kept up with it and even hit some pr's.

Squat:

I's using the Juggernaut Method to get some size on and to get some reps in. Right now I'm in the 8's wave and about to enter the second week of it. Not sure what my training max is, but it's very conservative. I'd say about mid 300's. I'm getting better at staying tight and using my hamstrings and glutes and not my lower back to squat with.

Bench:

I've been hitting a lot of incline presses and they've been paying off. Recently hit 315 for a few reps and that was good and I believe that was also a PR. I'm not sure. Rotating between incline DB, incline press and flat press. I used it during the summer and it went well. Hell, just this past Wednesday I hit a pr on incline db with 110 lb dumbbells for 15 reps, so i must be doing something right.

Deadlift:

I usually love to pull.........for low reps, but now I'm doing sets of 5+ so my love affair with them is kind of closing up. Tough to pull for reps, but the shit puts muscle on. I've been doing double overhand strap deads, trap bar deads and now I'm trying to decide if I want my third exercise in the rotation should be sumo deads or deficit deads. I want to make it similar to my bench workouts in that I have my main movements and I rotate them, then follow up with assistance work.

Life:

I consider life is school right now. For those of you that don't know, this past Spring at UNL, I failed every class except for one, which was my reporting class, and I was left with a 1.3 GPA. Why? No idea........I fucked up like G-Money did in New Jack City. Is it important now? No. God's way of helping people is to give them a support system which they can draw strength from and be given advice straight, with no chaser after. And thats what i have. Now some of you may pass judgement and roll and your eyes and say "Oh, he should be doing well, he's older and blah, blah, blah", but I say this to you..............I don't really give two narrow shits what you think. I made my mistake, owned up to it, and made the corrections I need. Two more finals that I will pass and i'm off this shit and can move towards something that I havent done since elementary school. Make the honor roll. I'm better than what I have been doing and now it's time to turn shit up a notch.

I have no explanation for my academic performance other than I was just lazy.

Moving Forward:

I'm glad the semester is coming to a close as a lot of stress will be off me until school starts back up. I'm  glad I can catch up with some friends, some good food, and some good Chicago living. I love my city for all it's faults, but we really have to do better. There is so much potential and promise being taken away from us that it's crazy.

One thing thats been on my mind has been the post election banter. Team Obama was happy, Team Romney wasn't. My beef is this......what happened to making a better YOU regardless whose in office. I'm no fan of politics and I don't really trust people who dig themselves into and become elitist with their views and not realize there is a grey area. But I mean damn.....if you're a Romney supporter and you're still butthurt over the election, get over it. It's done. If your'e an Obama supporter, he's not the super savior........so lay of it.

Now with all that soul bearing, updating, and mini political rant that I'm sure no one will care about, it's time for some Christmas music. Listen to some motherfucking Bing Crosby!



I'll bring us some figgy pudding, I'll bring us some figgy pudding...................

What the fuck is figgy pudding?


Later

Arnold Classic Europe, Felix and other ramblings

Arnold Classic Europe happened in Madrid over the weekend. I'm not going to go into where everyone placed. Go to Flex Magazines Website to find out. I will touch on a couple things.

1: Shawn Rhoden is proof is not where you start, but where you finish. The guy we saw at the Arnold and the Flex Pro is not the same guy. Whatever he and Chris Aceto are doing is working, and he needs to keep doing it. I think he is the closet we currently have to Flex Wheeler. I know there a lot of others who aren't or wont give him that title, but I will. He still needs more time at the championship level, because now he's the hunted and not the hunter. I think he'll handle that role reversal well.

2: Roelly Winklaar in third is not a placing I agree with. He was smaller and softer. He needs the rest until next year. He has to find a way to keep the muscle he has without burning it off. He tries to get three percent better but comes back 20 percent worse. Sometimes it helps to just diet your ass off and go in as is. Don;t change anything. Chris Cormier did it a couple times and he's won plenty of pro shows including the Night of Champions (remember that show)

3: Toney Freeman at his worst, in a show like this, is NEVER a fifth place bodybuilder. He was no lower than second and made a push for first. Yes I'm looking at pictures, but those are some damn good pictures then. I don't know why he finished that low, but hopefully he keeps going until he's 50. I'm serious. I enjoy seeing him onstage.

Felix Baumgartner

The man basically jumped from space. What kind of thinking does that take? A special one. Is he a bit off? Quite possibly. But he sat down, saw something he wanted to break, and went after it. It wasn't overnight either. Time was spent planning, practicing and thinking about it. He may have burned a few relationships, but you know what? The people who see you have a goal will be with you no matter what. He was probably told "no, you're stupid" or "Why do you want to do that".

I guarantee those same people are in bars and at home while he accomplished history.

Blaze a trail. You have a dream that will leave you broke (initially, because profit is good) but only you can see it, go after it. We all die, just smash that shit.

Disclaimer: have a back up plan. May take you on a different path but will get you to your goal if you stick with it.

I mean lets really think about it. Half of you all worry about stuff you have no control over (I see you and your negative political timelines. You all humor me, and not in a good way). Imagine if you put the same energy into chasing something significant?

Training:

Just kind of going through the motions and grabbing great ones where I can. It will be like that until after this election when I pick things back up. I'm still trying to get my volume up and put muscle on. I'm excited for whats to come, but thats thinking too far forward. I need to handle now.

Later...........

Travels, work, school, and other stuff.

I just posted a log over on my log at trainscg.com so I'm not gonna go into training too much. There just isn't anything going on right now for me on the competitive front, so theres no reason to constantly push the envelope in regards to training. You have to know when to push and when to back away, and with how busy I am with everything, I just drew back my training a bit. I will pick it up a bit after this weekend as I don't want to see another airplane for awhile.

Travels:

So just a review for the year. I have been to Pittsburgh twice, Tampa, Dallas, Las Vegas and covered two shows in Chicago (special thanks to Chris San Juan for his help at the Jr.Nationals). To say this year, summer in particular, has been busy is an understatement. Add to that a Summer powerlifting meet and classes and you have a recipe for me staying sober. Traveling as part of Flex was unique. First, it is a lot of work. Enjoyable work though. I enjoy speaking with people who are dedicated to their craft. As flawed as the sport of bodybuilding is, I think its a great endeavor for anyone. I feel the same way about powerlifting, strongman and highland games.

Competing:

Did a meet over the summer at Lances Gym and it went well. I didn't PR, but that was my third meet of the year and I have three 600+ lbs deadlifts, so that works for me. I ran a Westside style template and I'm not above running another one actually, I would make changes to it, but nothing crazy to be honest. Maybe some more full range movements but not an overhaul by any means.

School:

It's going. I'm getting a bit flustered, but staying dedicated to the process of completing assignments. Other subjects are coming as long as i stay on top of them. I will not lose, but I do have my work cut out for me.

Mr.Olympia:

Phil Heath is a two time Mr.Olympia. Thats a testament to his hard work and I enjoyed seeing him win. What I really enjoyed the most was seeing a ward of the state of New York who never gave up on his dream of being a pro become second in the world of bodybuilding. You can spin it anyway, bring up his previous transgressions (or mistakes), harp on him trying to sound intelligent, but the bottom line is this.

Kai Greene is the American Dream. a little black boy from Brooklyn saw something he identified with and never let it go. And for that, he deserves props. Disagree? Don't really care.

Shawn Rhoden is the truth and Dexter Jackson is still one of the best bodybuilders on the face of the earth and a for sure HOF'er. I thought his and Rhoden should've been flip flopped with Dex in third. But thats life sometimes.

One placing I disagree with on every level is Toney Freeman outside of the top six. I do not see the love affair with Dennis Wolf. At all.

Branch Warren was Branch Warren. He could've been tighter, but thats something to look at in the future. Him and George Farah make a good duo.

Flex Lewis winning the 212 is a great decision and should've happened last year. He presented a new package and it looked great. I was also happy to see Dave Henry back onstage as well after a deployment. Welcome back Henry.


Thats it right now. Holla later

My personal Mr.Olympia top ten

I'll be honest and say that I don't like writing these like I use to when I was in my twenties. Reason being is that you end up arguing your point with people who never listen anyway. And on top of that, you usually end up with a couple of expletives thrown around by various fan boys. I know, I use to be one (whatever happened to Melvin Anthony by the way?).

With that being said, since every other pundit is putting their two cents in, I may as well add mine. Is it a run down? No. I consider these more Op-Ed than anything. But it's mine and I'll stand by it. Besides. Nothing really matters until after the night show next Saturday.

1: Phil Heath: He has all the tools to repeat as champion this year. The question is can he be more improved this year. What can he improve on? I think he can be sharper and more conditioned. More mass on his back won't ever hurt. His legs are just bananas so I don't really see how he can improve there. Honestly, I just want to see him in such sick and disgusting condition he will be separated form the pack. I don't care if he has to lose a little bit in the muscle department to bring it also.

2: Kai Greene: The only man, in my estimation, that can beat Phil in the mass department. Im not so convinced in the conditioning however. Shape can go either way. Kai poses in a way where he can hide his shortcoming shape wise. Kai has to be shredded to even be considered a possible winner.

3: Dennis Wolf: I'm not convinced he has made the improvements he needed to make between the Arnold and the Olympia. He still needs a thicker back and from the side he is a bit too "shallow" to me. He has phenomenal shape and thats always a good thing.

4:Branch Warren: He won the Arnold out of sheer will and fortitude. The Olympia is coined as a big mans show, but I don't think he will nail it enough to break the top three. It's hard to peak twice in a year at the pro level. Kai didn't do it last year and I don't think branch will do it this year. I could be wrong however. He is training with Johnny Jackson and they both have enlisted the help of Josh Bryant (www.joshstrength.com) to make improvements for the show.

5: Dexter Jackson: Like it or not, he is a former Mr. Olympia, been in the top six for years now, and has never really been out of shape. He is a big guy now, so he has to be even more shredded than he's ever been. Is it hard to do at his age? I don't think so judging by what all these other over-40 bodybuilders are coming up with (Johnny Jackson, Toney Freeman). Jackson can be in the top six but he has to show something REALLY special to go higher.

6: Ben Pakulski: He's a thinking mans bodybuilder and that will work in his favor. His quads are excellent and he has an awesome front lat spread. But his back could stand a bit more beef and his arms could use a bit more muscle. He could be the guy that could win an Olympia in the future.

Other Factors:

I'm not dissing Evan Centopani is any way, shape or form. I just don't see him breaking top six this go round. He has to find a way to keep it all together during prejudging. I actually had him winning the Arnold after seeing him being compared to Wolf and Warren in the initial comparison, but as time went on, he started to look like two different bodybuilders. His shape is not the best and he loses that battle when put next to Heath, Greene and Wolf. His mas is great, but he is a couple years from breaking up there.

Shawn Rhoden can just blow everything I said up. He won the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships and Dallas Europa in spectacular fashion. But those were late season shows. If it's hard to peak between early season and spring shows, then it may be near impossible to regroup after competing in August. But he doe's have Chris Aceto in his corner, so I could be wrong.

Toney Freeman is another guy who can blow my prediction up. When he nails it, he is one of the very best. When he doesn't, it's very apparent.It will be hard to get back to winning form after two late summer shows.

Roelly Winklaar is fighting a very uphill battle. He won the Nordic Pro, but that was after missing the mark two shows prior to that.

Could Hide be higher than 10th this year?

Where would Flex Lewis place in this lineup? Or Jose Raymond for that matter? With Brandon Curry not in the show, he could place top ten. I say jump in.

Will the 212 division hold a closer battle for first than the open?

Thats it for my opinion? You have one? Let me know! Onward to Vegas!

You have power.

I had a chance to sit back and watch a couple of YouTube videos for about an hour a couple days ago. I don't know what drove me to as I usually just look at videos to reminisce about the days of yore when everything didn't hurt in the morning, I had a steady paycheck(even if it was shit pay) and the gym is what kept me moving.

I happened to just click on a couple of videos, but on that stood out to me the most was a Kai Greene video from last years prep for the Mr. Olympia.



Why can't we create something beautiful as people sometimes? We are our own worst enemy. WE let people tell us what we should and shouldn't do. WE let situations get the best of us and we hold our heads down.

You have a family? Create a beautiful family. You in school? Make your report card beautiful by fostering effective habits. Chasing God (or a more meaningful spiritual relationship)...do the things you need to do to make God first.

The point is that you have power in your hands to do better. Don't fall into the trap that you don't have any type of power. You have it. Use it.

To do list.

It's  2:25 in the morning working on things

Why?

Well one I was hungry and had some Musclegg to drink (shout out to Lamar Byrd) but that didn't do the trick. But some grass fed beef and rice hit the spot and I'm about to crash it up soon.

But the second reason I'm awake is because I was able to complete an article that I have been trying to finish for awhile. The article led to working on a "to do" list for the subsequent day. I have a full plate ahead of me.

1: La clase de espanol

2: Call Lancaster County GOP and Democratic Parties for possible interviews (I may just go by there)

3: Call or email people that were involved in a story last year that I penned for the Daily Nebraskan. Reason being is because it relates to a story I'm doing for Star City News.

4: Do some additional photography work.

4: Study spanish. (test next week)

5: Read and review psychology (test in a couple weeks)

6: Tie up loose ends.

I'll be eating somewhere in between all that somewhere. No napping. Day is just entirely too full to be bullshitting. Seems that caffeine will be my blood in a couple hours. Thank God the union has blode roast. It's the truth!

Well that and Gatorade.

I refuse to let this semester be disastrous. So a bit of pain and possibly some sleep deprivation will happen.