Picked up the latest issue of Muscular Development Magazine and went through the interview that Ron Harris did with Mark Alvisi and wanted to comment on it.

First congratulations to Mark as this is a major accomplishment because of course, while you want to do damage in the pro ranks—you have to get there first, and this win got Mark his pro card.

Second, despite the fact that most people were saying that Mark was sure thing to turn pro, I’ve been following this sport for a LONG time, and have seen guys that were sure-to-turn-pro, get second and then third, and then second, and well you know the story, they just never got over-the-hump.

Third, it seems like Mark has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he needs to do to improve—and obviously he did the job from last year because he got his pro card.

My opinion of his physique is that while he has wonderful shoulders, he needs bring up his chest a bit, and add some more to his legs, especially the inner thighs.

Also, and this is just from the pictures I’ve seen in the magazines, Mark needs to keep an eye on his waist so that it does not get bigger.

But as stated above, I think Mark has a good head on his shoulders and knows what needs to be done—and will do it.

Plus, I feel he his doing it the right way, take some time off to put on some size and then compete.

To me competing just for the sake of it is not really worth it.

SOME COMMENTS

You must congratulate Steve Blechman the publisher and editor-in-chief or Muscular Development Magazine as he has put together a fine collection of young bodybuilders that can be battling-it-out for top honors at shows for years-to-come.

With Mark Alvisi, Evan Centopani, Erik Fankhouser, and probable soon-to-be pro Branden Ray.

Not-to-mention Dennis Wolf.

All of the above young men are just that, young, and will be around this sport for years to come.

Also, to be honest, Muscular Development Magazine has tons of great info in it every month, for guys like me, and I’m sure thousands of other young and not so young men, who simply love training, and want to learn everything they can to improve them selves, but have no desire to compete.

CONCLUSION

Congrats, again to Mark Alvisi on his overall win at the 2009 USA Championships and to Steve Blechman for putting together one heck of a magazine.

Until Next Time

NEVER STOP DREAMING

With the Mr. Olympia contest less than a week a way I wanted to express all of the respect I have for each and every contestant—from the guy who will win—to the guy who will finish last—they are all winners in my book.

I mean I love to train, I love bodybuilding, but, I could NEVER imagine standing up on stage—basically naked—I mean I KNOW they have posing trunks on—but come on!

That would basically freak me out completely.

Of course, I realize that most of the people competing in this years contest have been competing for a number of years—especially guys like Dexter Jackson and Jay Cutler—but still I would be too freaked out to even try it.

While I feel that the Mr. Olympia is fantastic, I feel sorry for the guys that no one talks about—I mean they bust their buts just as much as the top guys—and deserve some time in the spotlight for all of their work and effort.

That leads me to my next point—people can say what they want about bodybuilding—but you don’t stand up on THAT stage unless you have put in some serious time in the gym and have worked your but off—for a long time.

And here is the thing, you’ve got one shot—if you blow it, all the work you put in for months and months could be wasted.

That’s why you have to feel for Dennis Wolf—he lost a lot of muscle shortly before last years contest—I cannot imagine standing up there—knowing in my heart that I looked so much better a few weeks out—that had to be seriously tough..

Also, looked what happened to Jay Cutler last year—yes he dropped a ton of weight in between the two days of the contest—but even for him it was not enough—he ended up taking second which is great for most people, but when you are the defending champion—you might as well have taken last—because anything less than a win just won’t cut it.

Finally, I will say this, it is going to be interesting to see if we stay on this new path—with guys like Dexter (who have better shape and conditioning) winning continually or are we going to see a return of the mass monsters—guys like Dorian (whom I must admit is my favorite Mr. O of all time) and Ronnie.

We will see.

CONCLUSION

The Mr. Olympia Contest is the biggest and best bodybuilding contest in the whole world and really when you consider all of the greats who have competed in the contest over the years—it really has to be an honor just to be up there competing in the contest.

And for me personally, anyone who competes in the show is a winner—as I cannot imagine having to diet for months and do everything else that needs to be done to compete.

To me you guys are all winners.

Try and relax and enjoy your time on stage.

You’ve Earned It

Until Next Time

KEEP DREAMING

There has been a lot of talk on the forums and in one of the major muscle magazines about which diet is better, the low or no carb diet, or dieting with carbs.

For me, personally I have always been a low carb guy.

Why?

Simple.

I gave the carb thing a try and it did not work for me.

And this is the main point of this post—regardless of if you are into low carbs no carbs or carbs—the best thing you can do is try everything and see how it works for you.

Reading about the benefits of low carbs is great, but if you never try it, how can you really know for sure if it works—for you.

Heck, you might feel wonderful on low carbs—but then again you might feel terrible—but you would have never known this fact if you didn’t try it.

Same goes for different methods of training, some people can gain doing singles and while this approach might look goofy or appear to be without merit—the only thing that counts is that this method works for that particular person.

So even though it might go against all you thought you knew about building muscle—lets say the next time you go stale on a routine—you think back to that guy you saw doing singles—and give them a shot.

Hey the worst thing that can happen is that they don’t work for you—no big deal—lesson learned and you move on.

SOME POINTS

One thing most people forget is that the body is always changing, so you know that super mass gaining routine that you did when you were eighteen—well now that you are thirty five it just might not work anymore.

Same goes for your nutrition—you know that all day pig-out fest you’ve been having for years on Tuesday—worked great up until six months ago—again your body could have changed.

A WORD ON LOW CARBS

As long as I brought up the low carb, no carb, and carb debate, I might as well chime in with my two cents.

Honestly, I feel that most people eat way too many carbs—for the reason being that most people’s lifestyles are VERY sedentary.

Even if you lift weights hard for an hour four days per week, the rest of the time you might be sitting at a desk somewhere eight or more hours per day.

There are exceptions of course, the guy who busts-his-but in the gym four days per week and has a physical job eight hours per day will obviously need more carbs (and calories) than the rest of us.

However, for the most part, I think people (after getting the O.K. from their doctor or health care provider) would do better on a lower carb diet.

To me though, there is a limit, the whole no carb or trace carb diet, where the only carbs that are found in the diet are the ones found in nuts and seeds and vegetables—for example—is pushing it WAY too far.

People will only stick to something that they can live with and I don’t think too many people can live with the no carb thing—for very long anyway.

O.K.

That ends my rant on the carb debate.

CONCLUSION

Trying new things can be hard, but if you don’t try you will never know.

So the next time you are at a loss for a new way to train—how about having the courage to try something out-of-the-ordinary.

Who knows, you might just discover a new favorite way to train.

Until Next Time

KEEP AN OPEN MIND

The rear delts are a funny body part, for a complete physique you do need to develop them to their fullest—yet what exactly is the best way to go about doing it.

I will be honest, when I started bodybuilding I read all the info and of course people recommended doing bent-over rear laterals for the rear delts, so I did them.

Then as I continued to advance my knowledge of bodybuilding I started to read that well, if you always made sure to do exercises like bent-over rows for example your rear delts got plenty of work.

So what exactly is the correct method of training the rear delts?

For me, it comes down to what you are trying to achieve.

For example, if you are trying to become a world class bodybuilder—then you absolutely should train your rear delts.

Because when you start moving higher and higher up the ranks, everybody is genetically gifted and has an amazing physique, so you can’t afford to slack off even a little.

So even though you are hitting your rear delts with various rowing movements—specializing on them would not be a bad idea.

Of course, if you happen to be one of those people who are genetically gifted with shoulders that grow no matter what you do, then maybe you could get by without doing any direct work for them.

Again though, if you are trying to be the best, why chance it.

However, if you are like most people, and you just train so that you will not embarrass yourself when you take your shirt off at the beach I think that just making sure you do a wide variety of rowing movements for your back would be good enough.

But, if you start feeling pain back there or feel that you are unbalanced then by all means add in some direct rear delt work.

Just be careful with it you don’t need to use a ton of weight, and to be honest, you would be better off focusing more on learning to feel the muscle—and developing a good mind/muscle connection with the rear delts.

After all, anyone can heave up a ton of weight—but what good is it if all you get for it is an injury or joints that ache.

Take your time and learn the proper groove on bent-over laterals and you will be miles ahead in the long run.

CONCLUSION

The rear delts may be a small body part, but if they are well developed they will add that little something extra to your physique—and that is never a bad thing.

Until Next Time

MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

I know I just recently posted my top ten for the upcoming 2009 Mr. Olympia, however, I wanted to add some additional thoughts about the up coming contest.

First, I must admit that I am curious—can last years surprise winner (at least to me) repeat and become a two time champ.

Or.

Are we going to see a return to the days of yore when the giants ruled the stage—meaning former and two time champ Jay Cutler and eight-time champ Ronnie Coleman.

That brings up another point—when Ronnie was winning it year after year he was dominating the sport, so it will be interesting to see if he can recaptured that same form and grab number nine.

Same goes for Jay, can he also reclaim his past form and become a three time champ.

On an aside—I think Evan Centopani is making the right choice in opting out of this years Mr. O.

The young man has massive shoulders and arms—however he needs to bring up certain areas like his pecs and back—and after reading an interview he did in the recent issue of Muscular Development he seems like he has his head on straight and is determined to make his mark in this sport.

Looking forward to seeing what he brings the next time he competes.

CONCLUSION

Those were some of my thoughts regarding the upcoming 2009 Mr. Olympia.

I will end by saying this.

With two former champs competing—I read the Ronnie is competing—along with Jay, it is going to be one heck of a contest.

I CAN’T WAIT.

Your opinions are very welcome.

Until Next Time

KEEP-AT-IT

With the Mr. Olympia exactly a month away I figured now would be a good time to put my crystal ball (actually it is made out of newspaper) to work and make my predictions.

WHAT I THINK WILL HAPPEN—MY TOP TEN

1^st Dexter Jackson

If he plays the size game he will lose, but if he comes in his usual super sharp self he will win.

2^ND Phil Heath

Young guys got loads of talent—great arms and super in the calf area—and to be honest I think he beats Dexter in the back department.

But he is a little narrow across the shoulders.

3^rd Kai Greene

Came on like a house-of-fire and won the Arnold Classic—has plenty of muscle and can really pose.

I feel good for Kai, he has had to work for it and now he is a very good pro.

4^th Dennis Wolf

Just a massive guy, wide shoulders and a small waist.

Weak calf development and we will have to see if he brought up his back.

5^th Victor Martinez

Victor has the shape, everything you need to be Mr. Olympia

Question is—can he come in spot on and take advantage of all of his potential?

6^th Branch Warren

Tons of muscle—but I don’t know if he can hang with the guys above him.

7^th Melvin Anthony

Wonderful shape, great physique, small waist—but can he come in with absolutely stripped glutes?

8^th Joel Stubbs

Massive back just absolutely awesome—if only he could bring those legs up.

9^th Dennis James

Thick dude, been around, good to see him back on the Olympia stage.

10^th Ronny Rockel

Nice physique needs to come in right on the money.

O.K.

That is what I think will happen; now here is what I HOPE will happen.

1^st Dennis Wolf or Toney Freeman

Both of these guys epitomize what I think bodybuilding is all about; they are tall have broad shoulders and small waists.

As far as the rest—well I like Dennis James so I hope he places high and Troy Alves has a great physique so I hope he is up there as well.

O.K.

As long as I am on my soap box I will say this—please put Ronny Rockel closer to the top—great physique.

I welcome your comments and opinions

Until Next Time

STAY SMART.