str8flexed’s BodyBlog

Well my offseason has been going great.  I’m getting stronger, bigger, and my bodyfat is staying in check.  I think this offseason has been one of my most productive thus far.  Unfortunately I’ve had some shoulder & lower back pain these past few weeks that has persisted.  Even though I’m in the midst of gaining a lot of strength & setting quite a few personal records for myself along the way (squatting 315 X 20, 405 X 8, and deadlifting 535 for 2 sets of 5) I do not want to push myself into a long term injury.  So for the next two weeks i’m scaling back my training.  I will be doing the same sets & rep scheme but I will reduce weights to 65% of my normal.  Hopefully that will be enough to allow my body to recover and hit it hard again.

-Layne

Dave Goodin, the top money winner in WNBF history with such credentials as 2 world championships, 3 Mr. Universe wins, has been suspended by the WNBF for 3 years for his appearance in Ironman Magazine. The WNBF has a rule against their athletes appearing in magazines other than the magazines that they own. They however, offer NO compensation for this exclusivity, in fact the athletes PAY the WNBF to be a member of their organization. When I asked Dave about the suspension he said ‘I could not afford to pass up the oppertunity to be in Ironman. The publicity and oppertunities it will generate for me will be far greater than I ever would receive from winning any WNBF show.’ The reason the WNBF gave him for the suspension was that Ironman is not an exclusively natural publication, yet the WNBF’s magazines such as Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness often contain well over 20-30 images of IFBB pros and other non-natural athletes in ads in every issue! Additionally, the WNBF seems to have no standardized approach to handling this situation. Other WNBF pros have appeared in other magazines and have NOT been punished, but Dave receives a 3 year ban!

On the plus side, now Dave can move on and be featured in high profile magazines which he deserves and now has the freedom to compete ANYWHERE outside the WNBF which he likes. The WNBF would have you believe that they offer significantly more money than any other organization… but that’s hardly true. Even if a person won the overall at every single WNBF show, they would still not make $10,000 in a year. That would barely cover the cost of your prep, missing work for these shows, and travel/hotel costs. I know that the NGA offerend a $10,000 top prize at a SINGLE show this past year. Again, if the WNBF is going to have this exclusivity clause, they need to give back to the athletes!

Other notable athletes have also withdrawn from the WNBF due to their poor treatment of the athletes including the ENTIRE BNBF british team.  This team includes Vicky McCann, Universe Champion Brandon Greenwood, and two time WNBF world champion Rob Hope, quite possibly the best natural bodybuilder on the planet.

Where to begin? I had a great time this year as I actually wasn’t dieting for a show so I was able to relax & enjoy the atmosphere. The booth did really well and I had a lot of fun meeting many people. Particular highlights were meeting bodybuilding.com board members Zach, Alex (a client of mine for around a year now), seeing my buddy Brian Ahlstrom again (another client of mine who also won his class at the show where I won my NGA natural pro card), meeting John & the crew lol, and especially cool was meeting a young couple (the Miller’s) who were just married that day in vegas and still came by the expo and I was flattered to find out that one of the reasons they came was to stop by and talk to me. It was a joy meeting a young loving couple as Isabel & I recently got engaged! So everyone join me in wishing the Miller’s a lovely marraige.

The other highlights were training at the kickass gold’s in vegas. I could literally stay in there for hours and hours. Loved it! On sunday we were there while Victor Martinez was doing a shoot for MD, unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me. Victor was extremely nice and we chatted about various things for around 20 minutes. He was very geniuinely excited about his placing and you could still see it in his facial expressions… ear to ear smile.  I would also like to congratulate Jay Cutler.  He showed a ton of heart, losing 5 years in a row to finally topple one of the greatest mr. Olympia’s in history.  I am not a big Jay Cutler fan, and in all honesty I thought Ronnie had won most of the Mr. Olympia’s by a wide margin.  But on this day Ronnie was off & Jay nailed it… kudos to him!