SecondFocus Blog

For those of you new to bodybuilding competitions, these shows are really divided into two parts; the prejudging and the finals. Prejudging is really where it all happens and that is where an athlete’s fate is decided with some exception.

All of the competitors are put through mandatory poses such as fan favorite here, light heavy weight Stan McQuay. In this “Nationals” some of the classes had elimination rounds because there were just so many competitors. In men’s heavy weight and light heavy weight classes there were first comparison line ups of each class and then they were cut to the top 15 in each. Truly a tough thing to do for the competitors but necessary.

I must say that in this event there were some amazing physiques and with so many athletes it was difficult to not shoot many thousands of photos.

Judging especially at this level goes way beyond ‘this person looks better than that person’. There is a lot of attention to detail that you would never realize unless you have spent as much time around the sport and the judges as I have. And the judging panels for this show were huge and were changed for each class. The judges came in from every corner of the country for this one.

Another point which makes it even harder for these guys is that you don’t even get to relax when you are not center stage and “on”. Here my good friend Jerome “Hollywood” Ferguson is off in the line on the left while other guys are posing. And he is still maintaining that all over body tension. By the way, Jerome made the first call out in the super heavy weight class so there is a good chance he stands in the top five.

The big story for prejudging might have come at the very end of the evening. Or should I say super big story. Super heavy weights, Desmond Miller and Evan Centaponi were brought out at the very end for extra comparisons between just the two of them. That might be a serious indication that we are looking at the number one and two placings in that class. And from kind of a general concensus of my peers we might be looking at the overall show winner. But there is still the finals.

Okay, now I know there might be one or two of you out there, especially you guys, who are going; ‘yeah, but where are the girls?’. You are just gonna have to come on back later when I get all of those photos together after the finals. But to keep you occupied and to let you know that yes, there are girls, here is a photo of Colleen Baldwin from Austin TX during the prejudging. Just say Thanks and come on back.

And it can be really important. So here you are, in Miami, having been on an airplane for 5 hours, maybe you got your bags, maybe you didn’t. You have been dieting for weeks, you get to your hotel and the first thing you have to do is meet up in a small plain room to check in and get weighed. If you are lucky you got here a day early.

Tired, hungry and thirsty is the theme to come in to your projected weight and look. And for the Nationals here in Miami, more so for a lot of people. Especially for the guys this time. Maybe it has something to do with being the last big show and last pro qualifier for the year. But I think a record number of athletes dieted down to make a lighter weight class than ever. And the difference between making a weight class or getting bumped up could be as little as another thirty minutes without water.

So you wait in line for your turn at the scales. You get your information sheets and finally you do get on and watch those little weights slide across the bar. Actually most psople make their weight but the release of the anxiety is always pleasant for most.

Favorite contender Lionel Brown, known as the “L-Train” came in at 222 lbs but you could tell he was worn out. I just saw him a few weeks ago and he really trimmed down. But here you can see how tired he really is by just looking in his eyes.

But I must tell you there are fun times too. Doing a competition most will tell you is a great experience and a lot of people do have a lot of fun with it. Not often do we get shoes like this but hey, always something new is good.

So if you come out to a show and you really should, it’s fun, you will know why some of these athletes are not in the best of moods or very conversational. They still have more time to stay hungry and stay dry. And for a few more meals, they are still stuck with very plain chicken, rice, vegetables and oatmeal from the “microwave” room in the lower lobby of the hotel.

Well guys like Andy Haman for one. The current reigning Mr. Colorado, Andy is still really a novice at 40 years old with the Nationals being his third show. He is a super heavy at 5 ft 11 in and he weighed in at 256. Here is here with his wife Michelle, and they finally got a break from their 4 kids, ages 4, 7, 8 and 10 who are at home with family. Andy is a retired high school teacher and now a stay at home dad and Michelle is a pediatric dentist.

He has been working out for 21 years and you can find him at World Gym in Colorado Springs. Andy might be new to bodybuilding competitions but he was a world class wrestler on both USA and International teams from the University of Iowa. Going back to 1988 he has been on national championship teams and as he went through all of his wins and accomplishments, there were so many I just lost track.

I did a little extra research on Andy and found that he told the Colorado Springs Gazette that his daily diet includes 3 pounds of raw Yellowfin Tuna. Maybe he just doesn’t the dozen or so chicken breasts that everybody else eats. He also goes for Protein Powder, Glutamine, Creatine and Nitric Oxide. Best of all Andy tells me that he gets his products from guess where? Yup, BodyBuilding.com.

I got a chance to shoot a few photos of Andy around the pool and on the sand while his wife lounged poolside. It was just after he got a few new coats of color. So we didn’t keep him too long.

Later on, just before the show, I saw Andy again, he got a few more coats of color and looked really good and was ready. It was a long evening before the super heavies came out on stage. Andy did not make any of the early call outs in his weight class but when I saw him after the show he was still really happy to be here at Nationals in Miami. The last thing he said to me with a big smile as he headed for the door: “I’m going to get some pancakes!”.

When I said all roads lead to Miami, I mean’t it. Ronnie Coleman decided not to show up as Moses from the Olympia but he is sporting some very fashionable facial hair. I don’t think it is a disguise because he came in second at the O, he just seems like he is having fun. As a matter of fact, he looks pretty trim with no “off season” weight and he was having a good time.

Gustavo Badell decided to drop by and catch up on his reading. Maybe the pros don’t get to read NPC News after they get their pro cards, I never thought about it. I’ll have to check on that.

Then we had an Art Atwood sighting. I think Art had a favorite in the show and came up to talk to Dave Palumbo about it. Dave was sitting next to me which is always good for a worthwhile comment or two.

Dexter Jackson was also taking the time to talk to a lot of people and sat through a lot of the show, which was a long one. You can see Dexter at a lot of the shows, I think he really enjoys the sport.

Eryk Bui took the “L-Train” to get to Miami. The “L-Train” if you don’t know is Lionel Brown and Eryk tells me that he has been helping Lionel through his last few days of dieting to get ready for this one. And from what I saw and from what I heard from everyone else’s comments, that was some good work because the Lionel came looking really good.

Milos Sarcev was ready for his moment in my lens. And he promptly shot a photo of me to get even. Milos certainly was there for his trainees doing the show and he is a pretty good photographer himself. I remember a couple of years ago, the week after an Olympia, when Milos brought Ronnie in to a pro camera supply when I was there to help Ronnie spend some of his Olympia winnings, which Ronnie did, big time.

Bill Wilmore didn’t hear it was off season because he was looking really good too. Must be that everyone knew I was going to be shooting photos of them so they wanted to stay tight.

Phil Heath is looking like he is putting on some size and shape under his shirt. It might be a little subtle but I think I am seeing it for sure. I asked Phil if he was checking out his upcoming competition but as always Phil is a pretty confident guy and said they “gotta get their pro card first”.

Another pro that was really happy to get here. David Henry was all smiles from the moment he wheeled in his bags to every moment I saw him afterwards.

And then a show is not a show without World Champion, the voice and face of BodyBuilding and BodyBuilding.com, Bob Cicherillo. I could hear that voice cheering on Jerome "Hollywood" Ferguson through the first call out. I will be interested in hearing what Bob C has to say about the prejudging a little later.

Well the sun is rising over the Atlantic Ocean outside my hotel room window as I finish up this blog entry. Next I am going to begin getting the prejudging photos ready for the galleries. So come on back for those in a few hours. There will be a lot of them. Thanks!

At least all the roads to the NPC Nationals lead to Miami. When I checked in yesterday at the host hotel I found out that 287 athletes had registed to compete in this show. Wow! That is a lot of people. The Miami Beach Resort & Spa is a sea of hard bodies and good looking competitors. And yes everyone is hungry and dry. Weigh ins started last night and continued this morning.

The weigh-in photos should be online here on BodyBuilding.com by the time you read this blog entry. Next, I will be heading off to the "Jackie Gleason Theater" very shortly. Tonight we have Men’s Prejudjing and Fitness Prejudging. So by tomorrow morning the photos will be ready so come on back. I will be keeping this blog as current as I can, time is very tight. And you will also find some additional feature stories and photos from me along the way. So THANKS and keep checking in.

Well here we go, the "Battle of South Beach" and the take home pay is that Pro Card. I will be on my way on Thursday morning to cover it all for BodyBuilding.com. This is going to be a good show because we have some people coming in to do their very best having missed out earlier this year. Be sure to check out the predictions by my good friend, the "Swami", Lonnie Teper, right here on Bodybuilding.com, at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/lonnie16.htm

I must say that I really am cheering on my buddy, Jerome “Hollywood” Ferguson. Jerome is the ultimate good guy bodybuilder with great attitude and enthusiasm. I am sure he is going to come in really fine tuned and I expect him at the top of the super heavy class.

Now I did see the L-Train come in just a couple of weeks ago. It was a big engine that came rolling in to the “Border States” in Anaheim to guest pose. There is no doubt that this is a train that will make a big impression at the Nationals when it rolls in there too.

Lionel Brown is the L-Train and is one very impressive guy, he has a lot packed on that heavyweight frame. I have seen a lot of guys and I can tell you that if he peaks out at the Nationals from where I saw him on October 28th, well watch out, the train is a coming to Miami.

So if you are in Miami and at the show, look for me and say hello. And watch for my reports and photos here on BodyBuilding.com. Thanks!

Well I am here on the last day of my trip to Boise, Idaho to meet with all the good people at BodyBuilding.com. Yesterday morning, we had a workout-a-thon with myself, Travis Chapman from the FitShow, Isaac Hinds from Lift Studios and our World Champion, Bob Cicherillo.

We all met up at the Gold’s here connected to the hotel. I know Travis had earlier gone out for a run and I did 45 minutes of cardio while Bob put a pump on his arms. That arm pump worked for Bob because a little while later at breakfast we had one guy come over and told Bob that those were the biggest "gunz" he had ever seen.

We were also joined by BodyBuilding.com main man  and "BuffDaddy", Russ DeLuca. Russ also showed us a really big Gold’s nearby which looks like a hot gym to spend some time at when in Boise.

Anyway our time was not just spent running and pumping but planning for 2007. We came up with some really good stuff for competition coverage, photos, videos and all kinds of exciting ideas for the BodyBuilding.com and the BodySpace community. So you all need to keep watching here and stay a part of BodySpace. This is going ot be a lot of fun.