I couldn’t find any more recent than this. I am not sure how far out this is.
Cutler always looks great in off-season pics. But for some reason he actually doesn’t change that much comes contest time. His condition improves slightly but not that much.
One of the reasons might be that he is so dedicated that he actually lives and eat like a pre-contest bodybuilder year round. His off-season and pre-contest diet isn’t that different (except for the amount of food).
For a pre-contest diet to be maximally effective, I learned over the years that it should be a significant departure from your off-season diet.
Well, he’s looking pretty massive.
I really have my doubts as to him being able to take back the title. It’s not completely outside the realm of possibility, but I just don’t see it, with guys like Heath in the mix…
Will he retire after this year’s O if he doesn’t win? Probably…
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.[/quote]
That sounds more than plausible - I’m marking your words right now coach - we shall see come September.
Heath does look amazing. Victor has a really nice physique, but he can look a bit thick in the mid-section at times…
Are we entering an era of one term Mr. O’s at this point?
[quote]SkyNett wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.
That sounds more than plausible - I’m marking your words right now coach - we shall see come September.
Heath does look amazing. Victor has a really nice physique, but he can look a bit thick in the mid-section at times…
Are we entering an era of one term Mr. O’s at this point?[/quote]
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.[/quote]
Did you see the pics of Freeman? And he still has 6 more months. I think he could place in the top 3, he is symmetrical and definitely has that wow factor. Last year i really thought he should have been placed 1 or 2 higher.
Going to be the best year yet if everyone stays healthy. I would hate to be a judge.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.[/quote]
That and perhaps a surge of nostalgia?
I get the impression that there was a phase where bigger was usually better but we now seem to value symmetry, smaller waists and overall “balance” more than just size.
The increasing amount of competitors in excellent shape makes this, as Prof. X mentioned, one of the most exciting times for BB-ing as a sport.
Just my .02
[quote]beaul wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.
Did you see the pics of Freeman? And he still has 6 more months. I think he could place in the top 3, he is symmetrical and definitely has that wow factor. Last year i really thought he should have been placed 1 or 2 higher.
Going to be the best year yet if everyone stays healthy. I would hate to be a judge.
[/quote]
The pec tear throws his physique off. He is still among the top 5 in the world when he’s at his best. But I don’t see him as being Mr.O.
Cutler works out at the same gym as me, I just saw him last week and I have to say the guy is massive, he’s defiantly not pre contest lean right now, but non the less for off-season he looks damn good. Heath was also in there a few weeks ago, that guy is a freak, his arms were ridiculous AND he was looking pretty lean.
Seeing guys like that at your gym is such a motivator to give it everything you have at the gym.
hes got one very wide back
I’ve always been a fan of Big Jay. Smart guy, always realized that bodybuilding was a business, and his time involved is limited (made a lot of smart real estate investments as well as playing the endorsement game to his best advantage).
I will say though, that I don’t think he was ever truly Mr. Olympia material. Even the famed 2001 O where everyone says he had the perfect blend of size and cuts… he’s never had a small waist, and in the years since, it’s only gotten worse (and I’m sure his body has taken a beating during that time). WHile I do think it would be cool to see someone stage a sucessful comeback, I highly doubt it could happen. Certainly gonna make for a nice hype going into the '09 show though.
If Dex doesn’t repeat, I gottta agree with Thibs. It’s goonna be Phil Heath. As great as Dex looked this past year, I don’t think there are any real changes he can make anymore. Heath, on the other hand, can probably caarry another 5-10 lbs without ruinging his lines. I already think his muscles have a much fuller look than Dex, and if Jay weren’t in the mix, and Heath werent a relative newcomer, I think the '08 title would have been his.
S
I seen these pics on another board and wow… This guy is huge. Although Im a bigger fan of guys like Vic, Phil, Toney, Dexter and Kai, I would LOVE to see Jay come in and nail his conditioning. Hopefully Hany will switch up his nutrition enough to make a difference.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.[/quote]
Heath has a really good chance of winning, but as “objective” as bodybuilding should be, I feel that the overall attitude for Phil Heath is that “he’ll get his time, he’ll get his chance”. On the flip side, i feel that this is the attitude of Vic and Toney, that this is “their time”. I don’t know how much judges factor that into their results, but I feel that it definitly lingers in their mind. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vic win both the Arnold and the O, because this is “his time” and he got robbed at his last O.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.[/quote]
I was wondering what you mean by “dethrone” didnt Ronnie win every OLympia he was in? And why does it lead to more Fair game now? Has nobody reached the size of Ronnie Coleman yet? Is he still the biggest body builder?
[quote]optheta wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.
I was wondering what you mean by “dethrone” didnt Ronnie win every OLympia he was in? And why does it lead to more Fair game now? Has nobody reached the size of Ronnie Coleman yet? Is he still the biggest body builder?[/quote]
He lost his first few, then won 8 in a row. Then he lost his last two. For such a long time, Mr. O was very tough to dethrone. Lee Haney, went for 8 years, then immediately following that was Dorian for 6 years, then right after that was Ronnie for 8 years. The champ was expected to win, even if he was off. After Ronnie lost and especially since Jay lost, there is a sense now that anyone with the best build that night can claim the title. Add this to the fact that there ARE a bunch that CAN claim the title depending on the night. Definitly an exicting time in bodybuilding.
[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
Mark my words… Phil Heath will win the Olympia. Victor will finish 2nd and Dexter 3rd.[/quote]
I agree unless Dex manages to get bigger and keep his lines/conditioning.
I saw some photos a while back of vic/phil guest posing and you could only see vics upper half and he didn’t dwarf Phil.
Thats really all Vic had on Heath. Heath comes in better condition…has just as good and probably better lines…and now he no longer lacks in the mass department.
If anybody is going to make a run of olympias it’s going to be phil heath. Dennis Wolf might get one or two but he still has a few improvements to make and it will only be a question as to whether or not he can do it…
The exciting thing is Heath and wolf are still in their 20’s and have several years before they are ‘in their prime’ according to most.
Then there are guys like Brandon Curry who have amazing genetics and potential as well that only time will tell what kind of threat they will pose.
As far as Vic getting the O we will know after his performance at the AC tomorrow…being bodybuilding is politics Vic might get one O before they give it to Heath since Heath is soo young…but then again Vic is MD and Heath is with Weider…I know thats not supposed to mean anything, but I believe it does. 
DG
[quote]optheta wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.
I was wondering what you mean by “dethrone” didnt Ronnie win every OLympia he was in? And why does it lead to more Fair game now? Has nobody reached the size of Ronnie Coleman yet? Is he still the biggest body builder?[/quote]
As it was mentioned, Ronnie lost the last two Olympias he competed in. He lost in 2006 (I was actually at that show) to Cutler; which was when Cutler dethroned him.
He then finished 4th in 2007 and didn’t compete in 2008.
[quote]optheta wrote:
Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
I think that the fact that Ronnie Coleman was dethroned opened the door to the era of a ‘‘beatable’’ Mr.O, which now makes the contest more open and fair as the champion will not have an excessive advantage over the others.
I was wondering what you mean by “dethrone” didnt Ronnie win every OLympia he was in? [/quote] No. He lost the last two he competed in. [quote] And why does it lead to more Fair game now?[/quote] Previously, Mr. O’s weren’t dethroned, they pretty much just retired at some point and gave the new flesh a chance to shine… Now that’s changed. [quote] Has nobody reached the size of Ronnie Coleman yet? Is he still the biggest body builder?[/quote] Was he ever the biggest? I don’t think so…