Big Is Inside

Have I ever mentioned to you that you are ready to begin prepping for a contest?

Seriously, you are ready.  In spite of what you may believe, you are ready.  If I have mentioned it to you, then TRUST MY JUDGEMENT; it’s time to step up.  

See, I have a "good eye" for recruitment.  I am a coach, so some of what I do is separating out the posers from the players.  If I couldn’t spot that early, then every team of bodybuilders I’ve coached would have floundered and gone belly up.  

(DISCLAIMER ON THE PICS IN THIS POST: These are all bodybuilding.com/bodyspace.com members whom i have had conversations with about this very topic.  Including them in this post is to signify they are among the MANY guys who I feel are ready . . . if anyone is uncomfortable being mentioned this way let me know and I’ll gladly pull you off.  Meanwhile, it is intended in the spirit of recognizing your efforts for the positive.)

Now, I can usually spot readiness when it comes to an athlete’s attitude, physique and methodology.  That’s why, if I mentioned it to you, I was serious.  It was not a compliment, but a fact; I “spotted” you.  You are ready; no matter what YOU think ready is, as the guy with the experience I can tell you that you are ready to begin NOW.

But “ready is willing” I always say.  Although I can spot readiness, willingness has to be told to me.  If an athlete is not willing to believe he has what it takes, then he is not ready.  Not by a long shot.

And then my suggestion to begin just seems like flattery.  If an athlete does not believe that he has it, and you won’t listen to the “old dog” who has spotted your talent, then you’re is not ready.  Ready is willing.  If you hear my suggestion as only a compliment, then you ain’t ready.

But that doesn’t change I have spotted you, and that you got what it takes RIGHT NOW.  I have found the qualities in hundreds of guys who at first didn’t think they were ready.  Most of them stayed stuck in their belief.  Eventually some stepped up to compete, long past the point  when it would have made sense to begin competing, and then had a crappy experience and became embittered.  Yet most just took the suggestion as an idle compliment, and never acted on their readiness at all . . .

The few who did step up went far, made huge gains, and were glad they listened to me.  Even if i did not directly coach them, they trusted that I was not flattering them.  They put faith in the fact that, as a coach (and thus as sort of a “recruiter), that I could spot the qualities better than they could.

Often, I can find these qualities fast, without even much interaction with an athlete.  That’s why I may have suggested it to you.  Usually, these qualities become evident in just a few, little, seemingly subtle details which I pick up on.  ]To list whatthese cues might be would take a long time; besides, much of it is just an intuition I have built up from years of coaching and recruiting.  I have seen the jokers, and learned what they look like.  And I have seen the true athletes, and know how they are spotted.  

And, like I said, I may have spotted YOU.  If I did, it wasn’t a compliment . . . .  It was a fact.

You are ready to become an athlete.

Take that not as a compliment. Take that as assessment.

As a coach, one of the greatest obstacles I have to push athletes past is their own perceptions.  In bodybuilding, 95-95% of the popular media and popular image is based around “body manipulation”, and not based around the competitive field. You see tons of anecdotal imagery and writing about this guy and that who got his weight up to so many pounds or got leaned down to such-and-such body fat percentage. But these are all manipulations of the body’s properties. They are not assessments of a guy’s competitive abilities.

So, what happens is decent athletes like you evaluate their competitive ability based on a comparison of their physique with their ideal. But this comparison — between what you got and what you “think is awesome” — is not anywhere near an assessment of how you would fare in competition. It is only an assessment of your “social cred.” Know what I mean?

Bodybuilding is not about “who has the best body.” Bodybuilding is about “who PRESENTS the best AESTHETIC.” And there are OCEANS of difference between those two concepts.

Popular media makes a LOT more money off the “get the best body” message. So, that is mostly what gets snagged in people’s consciousness. But this leaves the competitive arena out in the cold. usually guys have no idea how “close” they are to being competent in this sport. Instead, they just listen to the anecdotes out there, and compare themselves to these ideals.

Likewise, in bodybuilding all athletes make progression. Which means NO ONE in ANY SPORT starts out being Mr. Win-It-All. There is NO ATHLETE or team that started out winning. In fact, MOST start out losing. And for good benefit. How else could you improve if you do not first compare yourself to other athletes?

Most guys do not want to go near competition based on the foolish and lofty idea that “I am not ready until i can go in and WIN.” But think about that: go in and win at a sport you’ve never played, much less experienced in any other way than anecdotally? That would be like saying “I am going to copy what i see in EVERY FOOTBALL MOVIE EVER MADE, and then I’ll be ready to win a football game.” Sacked.

You have to remember that no amount of web-surfing will communicate the competitive arena to you. Now will it give you the perspective on your abilities.

This sport is about a set of skills rarely talked about in all these forums. The skills of presentation have, ironically, little to do with training and dieting. Training and dieting merely “get the equipment ready for the job.” But massive size and cuts are NOT a guarantee for success. They are merely “better equipment.” The worst athlete in the world can have the best equipment in the world, and still only play a mediocre game . . .

I face this SO OFTEN in my coaching. The kid with the killer body who is basically a competitive botard.

For what YOU would need in terms of equipment, you are ready. Remember, you would go in first to learn. Learn the sport, learn how to be competitive, learn ways to master your game, and learn ways to improve your equipment. The first three or four shows a “winning strategy” is to forego the idea of winning. That may SOUND counter-intuitive, but you need to learn how to play.

So, your EQUIPMENT is ready to begin to play. Ironically, most athletes find they make more mass gains and get leaner by regularly competing instead of by constantly training. Faster “personal improvements” get made when one approaches their physique work like “training for a sport” as opposed to just like “body manipulation tactics.”

So, in short, saying you’re ready for a contest is, in fact, NOT a compliment. It is an ASSESSMENT.

I am saying, in short, you are ready to begin playing, and to personally begin reaping the benefits of the pursuit — far more benefits, and far more PERSONAL GAINS benefits, than you may at first imagine.

Do not be flattered. Be informed.

Like I said before, I am always telling athletes the same thing: “Ready is Willing.”

To be “ready” merely means to be “willing” to take on the task. Do not assess “readiness” based on the equipment you DON’T yet have; base “readiness” on your willingness to USE the equipment that you DO have.

Your equipment is more than ready.  I spotted you.  I pulled you out – maybe even CALLED you out.  You’re ready to begin if you so choose.

So, all that’s left is: are you WILLING?

No compliment necessary!

Writing this blog feels like trying to poop out an entire library.

But I love it.

The problem is, sometimes I get a little constipated.  There are SEVERAL subjects that folks have asked me to hit on in Big Is Inside — AND I REALLY WANT TO HIT THEM!  But I just don;t have the time.  Now they are stuck in the — ahem — tube awaiting, um, er . . . "release" . . .

(Yeah — my stomach is a little turned by his whole analogy, too.)

Anyway I wanted to try something new.  I will be jamming my head into a toy winnebago and wearing a cape . . . oh wait . . . wrong to do list.

Sorry, let’s try that again.

I want to try something new.  I want to provide a quick list of the topics upcoming for Big is Inside, in hopes that you’ll check back from time to time.  

Some of these are already being drafted.  Some have even written, just haven’t been posted.  But most are inspired by — as always — you guys.  

So, check back often if any of these topics hits you:

• Another from the “Joining In The Chorus” series

• My first post about “diet” (don’t worry — almost NO SCIENCE, hydrogenated oils or added sugar — yet twice the crunh of normal diet blogs!)

• Editorial on “friends who don’t come to contests.”

• My spin on Steroid euphemisms.

• Editorial on what it “means” to be a “pro” — versus what it COULD mean

• More Physique Culture History

• Sexual sublimation in bodybuilding — basically, some chit chat on the whole sex thing.

• spell checking.  (that isn’t a topic, just something I will eventually TRY to do.)

• Some sage suggestions on “setting up contest plans”; basically an overview.

• How to GET STARTED in competing.

• Picking a contest

• Understanding leagues and their quirks

• Explanation of what bodybuilding coaching is (or at least OUGHT to be)

• Write up of the whole Team Bodybuilding project of my organization.

• how to “spot grow” (teardrop of the quad, forarms, calf, upper mid pec, left buttock, jaw muscles, etc.)

• Pleasure versus Joy.

• Ready for a contest versus willing/wanting to compete.

• review of the last contest I went to.

• punditry on independent leagues and promoters

Plus, the usual busting on pros, leagues, muscle goons, power bosses and other folks who probably don’t read Big Is Inside anyway.

Not to mention poking fun at you.

And of course, putting myself down at EVERY possible turn.  Man I am a dick.  (See?  Like THAT!)

Hopefully some of these topics ineterst you or might be useful.

Incidentally, if you have a topic, a bit of humor, a video or website, or some personage who you want me to put my spin on, just let me know.  If I got the time, and get my head out from being wedged in that Winnebago, then I might hit on your suggestion.

Thanks AS ALWAYS for stopping by.  You guys rock.  In fact, I feel relieved!  You guys are like a big bunch of diuretics!  

So, for now (and you just HAD to see THIS portion of the poo poo analogy coming) that’s enough of my B.S. . . .

Ever want to find out what’s on the mind of these NPC judges?

Most of the time it’s a pretty obvious guess.  But recently, while coaching a Team of competitors at a local NPC event, I had the good luck to pick the brain (what there was of a brain anyway) of the head judge.  

Of course, I didn’t get my chance until the END of the contest.  Not until I took the trip — the WHOLE trip — offered up by this one, oddball show clunked down in Derry, New Hampshire.  It was rough waters as usual.  (But not surprisingly so, as such seas is typical of every other NPC event I have attended…)

But, I got on the boat all the same.  It was the way all these showboats for the NPC are: big and sprawling events, and as it so often is, grossly under-attended.  I really didn’t want to GO on this cruise . . . I was only there to make sure a few of the passengers makwe it to their destinations safely . . .  call it fatal curiosity, but even though I HATE getting on board with these things, I just can’t help myself: I ALWAYS WANT TO SEE WHERE THE FLOATING SUPER VESSELS OF THE NPC FLEET ARE HEADING.

I hung back from the fanfare and confetti as we leave the dock; the morning meeting and check-ins and weigh-ins,etc.  Then we headed out at full tilt from our moorings; soon no real land is in sight, just a bunch of bodybuilders floating along at the fate of the mighty ocean.

Eventually, I look down at the side of this ship and FREAK OUT:

"U.S.S. TITANIC."

Oh crap.  We’re ALL sunk.

This particular voyage was the recent NPC New Hampshire, aka, the "MaggieFit" show.  (I nearly HAD a MaggieFit after what I learned.)

After the ship had already sank, and after so many worthwhile athletes had been taken under by that freezing ocean called bodybuiding competition a few of us pulled aside the head judge.  The boat had sank, the captain had gone down with the ship . . . but the head judge?  Yeah — he’s more like the NAVIGATOR.  In other words, it’s the head judge who should have spotted that damn iceburg while it was still miles away!

How could we RESIST not picking his brain.  (What there was of a brain, anyway.)

In the end, I got an impromptu interview with this guy.  He claimed to have been a judge for over 15 years, and is more or less the head judge for all the New England area shows.  I have seen him judge shows MANY times, and have been frustrated by his judging MANY times.

But now I am REALLY coloring this guy prior to revealing what went down.  SO, without further adieu, here is a sampling of what I asked, and the responses I got.

He mentioned that every athlete HE’S ever judged NEEDS to come back bigger.  EVERY YEAR, bigger.  In his OWN words: "To be a success, ALL of you guys –" (yes he was telling us DIRECTLY, now) "– must come back at least 20 to 30 pounds HEAVIER every year."

TWENTY TO THIRTY POUNDS HEAVIER.

EVERY YEAR.

And cut.

"Even the Bantam guy?"

"ESPECIALLY the bantam guy," he told us.  Then in  SHOCKINGLY unprofessional move he added: "After all, who wants to see BANTAMWEIGHTS?  I mean, who wants to be a bantam — or even a lightweight — for the rest of their life."

So, now, this guy is talking to seven competitive bodybuyilders.  SEVEN.  And chucks out there the most disparaging comment he possibly could. Not only is this HORRENDOUSLY bad marketing, it is just unprofessional.  Here hje is, carelessly running the risk of LOSING athletes from the sport . . . and they wonder why ticket sales continue to decline . . .

Anyway, after we collected ourselves from the initial blow of this I added, sarcastically:

"Yes, I see.  Hopefully we can eliminate that damn undesirable bantam weight problem once and for all.  It’s so frustrating how those little guys just ruin it for everyone."

He laughed.  Nearly in agreement.  But now the genie was out of the bottle.   We smelled an agenda.  So I asked him — point blank:

"Do you ncessarily see steroids as inseperable from the sport of bodybuilding?  As a judge, do you think the two MUST be linked?"

His answer?  Although not a direct, flat "yes," was clear nonetheless:

"I think that in order to ‘make it’ a bodybuilder has to be willing to do whatever it takes.  And he needs to be wiling to do what the other guy is doing, only better and more intensely."

So, yes, he HONESTLY means 20 to 30 pounds.  No bantams.

"After all," he says, spitting out one of the most rickety myths on bodybuilding.  "That’s what the crowds want to see.  People want to pay their ticket and see a freak show.  So that is how we judge."

So I chase him:

"So, are you saying that judges just obey what the ticket holder tell you to do?"

"No," he tells me. "I want to see big freaks too.  And that is the standard being upheld by all the judges in the NPC."

"So — wait a sec," I ask him.  "So who is REALLY controlling this agenda?  Is it that the audiences want to see freaks, and you guys are obeying in order to turn a buck, and just MAKING it seem like a judged event?  Or is it that you judges truly ARE in control of the outcome, and the reason we keep seeing freaks has NOTHING TO DO with the audience?  Is the audience just your ‘cover story’ for pushing your steroid agenda?"

His answer was fuzzy.  But not a denial:

"Guys need to come back 20 to 30 pounds heavier every year to advance."  He repeated.

Then went ON and ON about how this is the way it is, and this is how they judge . . . and more or less ANY head judge in the NPC sees it this way . . .

Which does NOT deny the fact that there is an agenda here.

Meanwhie, he also threw out some statistics that were tedious and WAY incorrect.  For example, how Jay Cutler is 6′ tall and weighed 305 pounds the week before at the NPC New Englands.  (Umm, I personally WORKED alongside Mr. Cutler at that contest . . . and although he may be not a petite flower, he sure wasn’t no 6′, 300 pounder that day!)

After a while of his pablum I got impatient and asked him plainly:

"Look — have you EVER been INDEPENDANTLY CERTIFIED?  Have you ever been INDEPENDENTLY trained, educated and peer reviewed by an organization SEPERATE from the NPC?"

No.  He was trained by the NPC.  (This company hires and trains it’s own judges.  And there’s no agenda?  Whose interests would the judges serve first?  The athletes?  Or the NPC who trained and hired them?)

But I give him a fai shot at redemption . . . maybe he knows something he rest of us don’t:

"Okay, you’ve been at this over 15 years," I reiterate back to him.  "Now, in that WHOLE time has anyone EVER shown you a BOOK OF STANDARDS for judging/  HAve you ever seen or come across ANY document that is universally recognized?  A peer-revoewed, basic rules and procedures for the sport you are supposedly judging?  In short; DO WE EVEN HAVE A RULE BOOK TO CHECK A JUDGE’S DECISION?!"

He said he had never seen one.  He was taught the criteria for the NPC.

"But even THOSE criteria have huge vague points," I said.  "Not to mention they are a little elusive to find in totality.  Likewise, the NPC never seems to provide any academic background or research for their criteria.  They just toss them outt here as arbtirary and vaguely-formed law . . . IF YOU CAN EVEN FIND THEM.  So, again, where’s the rule book?"

He just smiled and smugly said:

"There is none.  But I CAN tell you this . . ."

We know, we know.

Come back 20 to 30 pounds heavier next year.

And cut.

And no bantamweights.

He closed the conversation informing us to contact a gentleman who could "guarantee" that we put that kind of weight on in a year — or more.  

Yes, our head judge was playing connection to the dealer.  He was a glorified mule to the kingpin.

Pathetic.

No wonder the ship had sank.

No one could figure out the best way to steer the damn thing.

Maybe this bodybuilding thing wouldn’t be sinking so fast if we LOST 20 to 30 pounds per year for a change . . .

Bon voyage.

I am SO glad to see more and more big, boated growth guts in the IFBB.

It does my heart good.  No really.  I mean, I am sure all the pharmeceutical excess of these guys isn’t doing THEIR hearts any good.  But I am glad for it.

I hope Dennis James’ enjoys his prolonged third trimester.  I really am glad to see Jay Cutler loosening his belt.  Victor Martinez’s standing upright for men with big middles is just a grand thing.  Marcus Ruhl proves that even the full figured have a place in the ranks.  And of course, our favorite prego, Mr. Coleman, whose kidney and liver definition were simply astounding.

Makes me glad.

In fact, I STRONGLY hope the IFBB sport continues that way.  I DEEPLY and PROFOUNDLY hope that the IFBB competitors become more grotesque, more preposterous, and more distorted.

Seriosuly.

Then even casual spectators will begin to accept that there are a LOT of drugs in these boys.  it will be unavoidable: people will see that is not a contest of presenting a physique, it is a contest of presenting a distortion of a physique.  

In the end, it is about how exaggerated can you become yet stil survive.  It is a contest of who has the strongest internal organs rather than the external muscles.  

And i am VERY happy about it.

It reminds me of wrestling.  Wrestling has two faces.  First, there’s "pro" wrestlin, and everyone everyone knows about that.  No one would argue against how hard pro wrestlers work.  These guys are genuinely athletes, and genuinely in great condition to be able to do all that they do.  And there is a spectacle of athletic prowess that requires skill, agility and prowess.

But let’s not kid ourselves.  Pro wrestling may be a sport – but a COMPETITIVE sport?  That’s a little challenging . . . it’s a sporting ENTERTAINMENT . . . but meanwhile, back as recently as the 80’s were some people who STILL believed that pro wrestling was not staged.  They honestly thought that this was a true contest.  It took a few decades before people got the hang of it:

Po wrestling: yes a sport; no, not quite an authentic contest.

Nowadays, we "get" that it is supposed to be about entertainment.  It is about being "wowed", blown away, thrilled.  

But then then there’s "real" wrestling.  Olympic or collegiate or classical wrestling — however you want to call it — this "authentic" version of wrestling is going on all the time.  The masses rarely hear about it.  It’s just about never covered on widespread media.  But somewhere in local gyms or tournaments it continues, unhampered, healthy and competitive.  And even if we rarely SEE this side of the sport, we all sort of quietly agree that it is somehow the "more authentic" approach to the competitive aspects of the sport.

No one says Pro Wrestling ain’t a sport, just that the Olympic wrestling is where the authentic sense of sporting competition resides; without fanfare, without showboating, according to discernable rules, and open to mastery.

And that’s a nice little point, but this is a bodybuilding blog . . . not a wrestling one.

So, back to my bloated boys on the IFBB.  

Just like their pro wrestler bretheren of Triple H, Hulk Hogan and John Cena, there is NO MISTAKING that Dexter Jackson, Jason Arntz and Albert Breckles are just as hard working.  These IFBB bodybuilders are, like it or not, genuine athletes.  They are working damn hard to do what they want to do.

So, therefore, IFBB bodybuilding is, like pro wrestling, definitely a SPORT.

But the analogy works to further the poit . . . because, also like pro wrestling, we in the public address are left to wonder: "so just how much of a COMPETITIVE sport is it?"

I mean, a STRONG argument could be made that, these days, IFBB shows are jjst that: SHOWS.  They are a bit more of an entertainment than a contest.  They are a chance to see something wild and fascinating and rare.  We get to see our wildest fantasies for muscle come to life!  We get to see bizarre proportions and wild shapes.  The sights boggle the mind and shocks our expectations!  

But when you think about, it’s all planned.  They may not necessarily know the winner, but they sure as hell know what’s going to happen in the contest.  They pick their criteria, and the judges upholding that criteria are the same powers who are setting the standards for the contest itself.  It is a pre-planned entertainment.  Whichever athlete had the body that survived under the most rigorous conditions of pharmeceutical excess in order to match the criteria is named the winner.  Then the next time they do it again, and again . . . . and the audiences buy into it eagerly.

Where does the spectacle end and the skill begin?  Where are the discernable, consistant rules and criteria to "the game"?  Where is the authenticity?

Let’s face it: the IFBB is heading the way of pro wrestling . . . slowly it is transforming into a fun, imaginative freak show.  

Right now, we are to bodybuilding as people were to wrestling in the 80’s.  Mnay people have already figured out that IFBB bodybuilding isn’t authentic in it’s sense of competition.  Yet many wild fans and hopefuls cling madly to the notion that yes, yes! YES! THIS IFBB STUFF IS REAL!

Regardless, I stick with the sensible minds, and push the analogy further.  

I think: "if IFBB bodybuilding is analogous to pro wrestling, then what part of bodybuilding is analogous to real, Olympic wrestling?"

Is there an "Olympic bodybuidling?"

Well, I personally think so.

But I think it is still stuck in the shadow of it’s noisy little brother, the IFBB.

There is still going on out there a more "authentic" version of competitive bodybuilding.  it is smaller, quieter, and harder to access than the IFBB show.  But it is more closely related to it’s original basis rooted in thousands of years of study of the human form combined with the science of human development.  it is the part of the sport that has retained it’s focus on the quality of presentation, rather than magnitude of impression.

But this side of the sport is still trying to get it’s footing.  It is muchly associated with natural shows, but even a few non-tested events have hearkened back to sensible principles.  

But one thing is for certain: genuine "Olympic" bodybuilding will not emerge until it is disassociated from the IFBB "pro bodybuilding’ entertainment.  Much of this disassociation is in the hands of the athletes and organizations who keep this degree of authenticity.  However, a portion belongs to the IFBB.

In order for Olympic bodybuilding to emerge, the IFBB will first need to be more widely regarded as farce.  I don’t mean a farce in a negative way.  Think of how the Simpson’s is a farce of family life, or how pro wrestling is a farce of Olympic wrestling: I mean a respectable, understandable, well-loved farcical version of bodybuilding. As this occurs, it will leave more room for the authentic, Olympic-based version of the sport of bodybuilding.

So, one of the ways the IFBB will be seen as a farce is if the bodes within the sport become more, well, farcical.  As the boys become more wildly exaggerated, so too will the perception of authenticity slowly wane.  

We will always love the show put on by the IFBB boys, but we will just begin seeing it — and enjoying it — for what it is.  Specifically, as something seperate from Olympic bodybuilding, even if it looks very similar.  

So, I am all for the growth of growth guts.  I am all for bizarre new proportions and demented, freakish dimensions of human muscle.  

Bring it on.

As these guts grow, so too grows the possibility that one day they will become seperate from the sport I am so fond of.

Go boys!  GROW!  God bless those guts!  Onward to victory!

In the past week I have had five different guys – FIVE – and one woman all tell me their "bodybuilding dream."  And it was the same.

"I want to go Pro."

Over and over I was told.  Always with a sense of pride and filled with passion:

"I am aiming to to go Pro."

Yeah, it gets pretty boring.  

Sigh.  

What the HECK does that mean anyway?  "I want to go pro?"  

Like, when a kid who loves building with Lego blocks decides he might love the study of Architecture, does he tell his buddies: "Yeah, this little Firehouse is good, but I want to GO PRO, MAN!"

Or when someone with a keen ear for others problems always seems to have sharp insight.  Does she say "I love the strudy of Psychology, but my dream is to GO PRO!"

I guess what I am after, here, is a suggestion that atyhletes would do well to contemplate that CONCEPT a little more.  WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO "GO PRO?"  

Is this the "end of the line?  Nothing more to conquer?

Does this prove your work is valuable?  As if up to the point of going pro your work was of less value?

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU ATHLETES TALKING ABOUT?!  The BEST athletes I have ever met are the ones that have found a LOVE FOR THE SPORT.  It is a love that is unique, and is based on what the sport brings to their lives.  It is NOT based on what the competitive physique sports can "get" them.  They stay on their game based on an internal motivation, not an external triumph.  In fact, by keeping their focus on their love for the game they usually end up presenting physiques that are far and away beyond the standards required for typical pro status.

In life, you got to stick with what you love, not chase after status.

That works in everything, kids – not just bodybuilding.  (If you’re unsure of the usefulness of this idea, try chasing status for a few years and drop me a line in your 60’s to tell me how that went.)

But back to that whole pro card, er, thingie.

There was a competitor whom I have not met but whom I have bumped into out here in online-land who goes by the handle rich55.  I mentioned himn in another blog, and he comes up now because he dropped me another quick note recently:

"I am searching for a natural pro qualifier in the September timeframe. I will PM you later and pick your brain. Thinking maybe OCB, since I have heard some good things about the IFPA. Thanks for the thorough write-up!"

That whole brain picking thing worries me – I hope he does not go in through the nose.  

But what I find MOST interesting is how he seeks a "natural pro qualifier in September."  He HARDLY needs it.  If you look at Rich’s pics, he is one impressive natural athlete.   Very shredded and balanced.  (I would kill for an opportunity to work on his posing with him – he is not showing everything he COULD – but that’s ANOTHER blofg for another time . . . )

But the pic that MOST struck me was one of him with two of his clients.  They had just competed – no doubt borrowing and learning from the experience of Rich55 . . .

So let me get this straight:

• The guy competes
• The guy has accomplished some amazing fgeats in the sport
• The guy continues to improve his game
• The guy’s bodybuilding work is vital to his PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS
• The guy’s PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS improves his bodybuilding progress . . .

AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE?

Don’t all the things listed above MAKE Rich55 a "pro?"  

Did Miriam Webster go and swap out the defintion of pro one me?  Damn I hate when those people go and change the words around . . .

Such a hassle.

Let me check.

Okay here it is:  

The definition of PROFESSIONAL:

professional |pr??fe sh ?nl| noun – a person engaged or qualified in a profession • a person engaged in a specified activity, esp. a sport or branch of the performing arts, as a main paid occupation rather than as a pastime. • a person competent or skilled in a particular activity

Umm . . . Rich55 . . . newsflash . . .

CONGRATULTIONS YOU’RE A PRO!!!  

Yay.  Fanfare.  Confetti.  Explosions.

Now, I know I know I know . . . you all want that precious little PRO CARD (ooh, ahh).  You all want some league to say:

"That guy is a pro."  

Then you want to run around saying:

"Look!  Look!  I am a PRO!  See how nicely I sort of SHINE in the sunlight!"

But who are these leagues naming pros?  Or the judges?  Some of them are – let’s be honest – glorified couch jocks.  

Think of it this way:

EVERY PROFESSION has attached to it INDEPENDENT ACADEMIC BODIES which serve to define professionality in a given field.  Meaning, for example, that no college "owns" medicine, even though many colleges teach it and can dignify someone with the professional label "Doctor".  In order to be received in a given field as a true professional, you need execute that you embody the ACADEMIC FOUNDATIONS of that field.  Regardless of whether the field is landscaping or pole vaulting or law or babysitting.  

However, in bodybuilding we have these people we call "judges".  They are intended to "judge" whether we are of professional conduct.  And then those who truly are of the utmost professional conduct wiull get "rewarded" with a pro "card".  

BUT WHO THE HELL IS QUALIFYING THE JUDGES?!

I mean academically, ethically, professionally and procedurally – WHO QUALIFIES THE JUDGES?  

Name me the INDEPENDENT ACADEMIC ORGANIZATION that sanctions these individuals.  I dare you . . .

So her in lies the PROBLEM with the "pro card."  It would be like me pointing to my buddy Ben and saying:

"Ben’s a professional dog sitter."

And everyone asks:

"How do you KNOW Ben’s a porofessional dog sitter?"

And I simply reply:

"Because I’m the JUDGE."

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE THE JUDGE OF PROFESSIONALITY?  Typically it is an academic institution which sets the foundations, and then a private institution which upholds those standards.  Think of those who become personal trainers.  We all KNOW it is NOT a complex process: in the end it boils down to study for a test and pass it.  And even though many personal trainers are grossly under-qualified to act as professionals, they at least have a private foundation whose credibility backs them as professionals.

In Bodybuilding?

No such luck.

Why?

Because CURRENTLY THERE IS NO ACADEMIC FOUNDATION FOR THE STANDARDS OF BODYBUILDING. Plenty of private organizations, but no founding academic principles.  The OTHER sports have them.  But bodybuilding?  Sorry.

Without that academic foundation, there is no truly qualified judge.  The only thing judges are qualified to actually do is uphold the standards of a league.

And who is to say that those league’s standards are academically arrived upon?  Who’s to say that any of the leagues have the credibility to appropriately determine what, in fact, qualifies a bodybuilder as a "pro"?

After all, Rich55 is already a "pro" in essence.  

But I don’t blame him – or anyone – for wanting that pro status AFFIRMED by a REPUTABLE organization.  Unfortunately, as I have been implying, it’s hard to say IF any of the current organizations are genuinely that reputable as judging bodies.

So, essentially, you could go chase yoru pro card but I will tell you this:

After you win that pro card do you know what it is worth?  Well give me that pro card and $6.00 and I’ll get you a burger at Wendy’s.

That’s about how much it’s worth.

Currently, the only people who put DIRECT value on a pro card are those associated with the organization who GAVE the pro card.  

THERE IS NO INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION SANCTIONING PROFESSIONALISM IN BODYBUILDING.

So, am I saying don’t try to go pro in any league?  Not at all.  Go for it.  Do your best.  try to go pro in all the leagues.  Go crazy – help yourself.

JUST PLEASE REMEMBER THIS:

YOUR OWN ABILITIES EXTEND FAR BEYOND THE DESIGNATION OF "PRO" BY ANY CURRENT LEAGUE.

This goes for ALL of you athletes out there, not just Rich55.  Your love of the sport is much stronger than the goal of pro.  You gain credibility by DELIVERING CONSISTANTLY, not by delivering dramatically for only one time.

PROFESSIONALS ARE ESTMIATED BY THEIR WORK OVER THE LONG RUN.  They should not be determined by a one-day performance.  That sort of defeats the whole idea of standards.  

So, set your bodybuilding goals FAR BEYOND the pro cards.  DO NOT SET YOUR PACE ACCORDING TO WHAT SHOWS YOU CAN TURN PRO!  

As a bodybuilder, you do your best work AT YOUR OWN PACE.  SET YOUR PACE FIRST, then enter contests that suit YOUR pace.  The pace of building dense mass, of cutting to vascular shreds, or managing your posing to a syngergistic and symmetrical pithe.  

THAT is what a PRO does.

As a coach it is my job to make sure that an athlete is at the top of their game.  That they have a handle on their weak points, and that they know the "game" of bodybuilding inside and out.  I have to work with them to diminish anything that might weaken their ability to present competant displays of density, vascularity, symmetry and synergy.

Pity that most of the athletes out there think that "going pro" is the top of their PERSONAL game.  

Gimme a break.

Look for most of the people I have met – heck, for most of the people READING this (all four of you – ha ha!) – you are capable of presenting aphysique that far exceeds the standards of "competitive pro status."

One day there will be an INDEPENDANT SANCTIONING BODY that reviews professionality based on an ACCREDITED ACADEMIC FOUNDATION in order to designate pro status.  We do not yet have that.  

Maybe YOUR incredible bodybuilding work will be what sets that pace.  If you stick with YOUR game and do NOT play theirs, maybe it will be YOUR incredible feats that ignite the demand for such a high standard.

But as long as you play their game, and limit your personal progress on the ladder invented by the leagues, this higher standard will not arise, nor will you be part of it’s institution.

So, when you tell me your dreams from now on, first answer me this:

WHICH is most IMPROTANT for your bodybuilding "career":  

To be merely recognized?

Or to be RELEVANT?

Do you want to merely be one among the herd, or the one who stands out and is remembered?

Your physiques and your work is capable of conquering the expectations and inspiring the imaginations of many, many others.  Through your work – your very PROFESSIONAL work – you are capable of accomplishing feats within bodybuilding that few others ever could.

Where do you REALLY want to go?

Don’t sell yourself short.  Don’t tell me that you want to "go pro."  

Tell me you want to be great at what you do, and you want to be that physique that makes a genuine impact on this sport, and potentially on the world.

Tell me this is your goal, whether you make it or not.  And with the looks of your hard work, I will believe you. Better yet, I can support you.

Set your personal standards high, like a true professional.  To hell with their pro card.  If you;re so damn good, you’ll get it anyway.  No need to chase it.  Stay focussed only on your own game.

Let them know that the only thing their Pro Card will get you is a burger at Wendy’s.  And even then you’ll need $6.00.

VERY cool comment came in to me from a guy who’s bodybuilding.com handle is njmuscle66.  VERY intense physique on the guy, and I LOVE that he had a pic of himself from the early nineties wearing the wild-print bodybuilder BAGGIES!  Way to represent!

But this entry is NOT about muscle fashion trends (more on THOSE another time).  This is about what njmuscle66 wrote at me:

"I agree with alot of what you have to say about contest prep gurus in general."

he was mainly referring to the entry I had posted regarding "Dr." Joe Klemziewski.  My main goal when i wrote that entry was to be useful, not to tear down any institutions.  Of course, with me, the accidental tearing through the fabric of people’s rhetoric is a fun side benefit . . . so hey, I never said I WOULDN’T tear anyone down, just that it was not the GOAL.  Anyway, I never heard back from the original guy who had got me ranting about Klemziewski anyway, but I hope it helped.  

Back on topic, XN . . . back on topic . . .

I liked what njmuscle66 had to say about "gurus."

For myself, well, I actually have no problem with gurus.  

Indeed, I think they are pretty damn necessary.  

I love ‘em.

That is, the gurus.  Not "The Gurus", or the "GURUS".  Just the gurus.  You know; the ones without quotations around their names or capital letters denoting that they are the PROPER NOUN version.  

Real gurus.

Love ‘em.

If there are any left, of course.

See, what I have a hard time with is those guys who merely MARKET themselves as gurus, or at least in that guru fashion.  They use the credibility of "guru" to not only imply they are wiser than us, but also have some huge spiritual destiny behind their sales.  

Now, to his defense, I am sure that Klemziewski has never once been caught calling HIMSELF a guru.  But there is that little essence of cultishness with his company . . .

And here is where I myself need to be tread lightly.  A lot of the teams and athletes I coach will sometimes casually mention soemthing like:

"Oh, Christian?  Yeah he’s my coach, but he’s also, like, this crazy mad guru of bodybuilding."

This freaks me out VERY quickly.  I love the compliment (which one of us who works hard to help others wouldn’t like hearing that level of respect?).  However, I usually playfully whack whomever said it across the back of the skulland tell them not to promote me THAT way.  There are MANY coaches in this organization, and MANY people with wisdom.

What I do not like is how people want that reputation out there.  Like the term "guru" becomes their calling card.  I find it distasteful to try to alter people’s expectations prior to their meeting me.  To let it cycle around that I am a guru, or ANYONE is a guru, sets the stage with expectations . . .

And I have always learned that "expectations are merely premeditated disappointments."

In today’s marketing-heavy world it is hard to extricate bodybuilding from the capitalism.  In my coaching, this is a MAIN concern of mine.  So, by nature I tend to try to steer somewhat clear of sensationalized self-references.  The last place I want to be is lost among the idiot peddlers and panderers!

But the gurus are cool.

Love ‘em.