Here's what I see
Improving:
Phil Heath - Obvious choice, became Mr. Olympia last year, threatened to take it the previous year and continues to put on noticeable size w/o losing any conditioning and remains injury free.
Kai Green - While some people will say his conditioning has regressed the last 2 years he has made noticeable gains in size which was obvious at the New York pro and he placed 3rd at the Olympia last year. An argument could even be made that he was the best man on stage at the Sheru Classic.
Dennis Wolf - minus his left calf mysteriously disappearing, he was 5th in the Olympia last year he has come back to be a top 5 threat
Evan Centopani - Noticeable improvements and a 3rd place finish at the Arnold this year.
Brandon Curry - Although his legs haven't improved much they have improved along with his conditioning which was enough to catapult him into 8th place at the O last year. This speaks volumes about how great this guys upper-body really is. We rave about Johnny Jackson's upper body but Curry comes in with the same legs and maybe even worse conditioning and he snags 8th at the O !
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04-12-2012, 04:45 PM #1
Who's improving ? Who's regressing ? Who's maintaining ?
Last edited by Nep2une; 04-13-2012 at 05:38 AM.
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04-12-2012, 04:54 PM #2
Regressing:
Jay Cutler - Fairly steady decline since 2009 he may never regain his crown
Branch Warren - Another injury added to this picasso
Dexter Jackson - Seems to be losing size and conditioning everytime he steps on stage, he managed 6th last year at the O
Toney Freeman - The same as the blade, Toney seems to be losing size everytime he steps on stage and his conditioning struggles remain the same.
Victor Martinez - My favorite Bodybuilder can't seem to catch a break and more than likely won't compete this September :-(
Ronny Rockel - I may be too quick to jump on him but his showing at the O and really ALL last year was a let down as his conditioning suffered and his gut was completely out of control. He may have even lost size in his quads.
With all these major players headed downwards at different speeds (Rockel could be a exaggeration) who do you guys see moving into and reshaping the top 10 at the O ? 4 of these guys are going down from age and injury and more than likely will never regain their former physiques.
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04-12-2012, 04:57 PM #3
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04-12-2012, 04:59 PM #4
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04-12-2012, 05:00 PM #5
Vic was improving, albeit minor. But now he's probably a long way away from any kind of competitive size. Might take another year until hes even close to where he was :/
And Wolf has been improving some aspects (chest, arms, quads, lower back), but also regressing in terms of back assymetry and calves especially.
Anyone know Jay's weight now? Saw a pic of him on fb and he had huge bis but almost nothing else, looking weirdly skinny atm lol"Dont rush to get grown, drive slow homie"
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04-12-2012, 05:02 PM #6
- Join Date: Jan 2004
- Location: Connecticut, United States
- Age: 73
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I see NEP2UNE's back making the most progress of all!
lol....mad props for the great work you have put in....
as to your assessments: I think most of them are spot on....almost spit out my coffee reading the "picasso" comment.....
there are so many young up and coming guys, it is not funny....and there always will be....within a few years, the guys in your top list will be trying to hold back some of these new dogs nipping at their heels....Lift as MUCH as you can, for as MANY reps as you can,
while in complete control of the exercise.
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04-12-2012, 05:05 PM #7
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04-12-2012, 05:15 PM #8
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04-12-2012, 06:49 PM #9
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04-12-2012, 07:03 PM #10
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04-12-2012, 07:11 PM #11
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04-12-2012, 07:17 PM #12
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04-12-2012, 07:38 PM #13
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04-12-2012, 08:58 PM #14
Can't forget about Pakulski. So far, this year, he has impressed me the most. He beat out Lionel (who didn't deserve to win IMO) and a former Mr. O.... I hope this year will bring good things for him.
I am not so sure about Curry. I didn't see much improvement at the AC. Honestly, it was disappointing to me. He got 7th at the AC without most of the top 7 from the O being there. I just don't see him doing much in the future. My prediction: he will dwindle away only to resurface on threads on this board as "remember that guy with a great upper body but crap for legs?"
What is interesting to me is how Jay and Phil talk as if they are the only real competitors for the O. Kai has been noticeably improving his conditioning with Farah, and given Farah's history, its only a matter of time before he has Kai nail it on the day of. Biggest threat to the title right now: Kai L. Greene
Whatever happens at the O, whether Phil or Kai wins, I just hope that Wolf places higher than Branch...
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04-12-2012, 09:00 PM #15
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04-12-2012, 09:03 PM #16
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04-12-2012, 11:41 PM #17
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04-13-2012, 12:05 AM #18
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04-13-2012, 12:26 AM #19
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04-13-2012, 05:39 AM #20
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04-13-2012, 08:05 AM #21
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04-13-2012, 12:16 PM #22
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04-13-2012, 07:44 PM #23
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04-13-2012, 08:20 PM #24
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04-13-2012, 10:13 PM #25
I wouldn't really say that Dexter is declining, but maintaining. He's found himself surrounded by younger guys who are definitively making improvements and pushing him out of the top placings. He's still holding well, an I think a the last Arnold Dex was fairly big for his standards.
Don't just stare, dare!
http://www.********.com/#!/profile.php?id=1008074769
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04-14-2012, 07:15 AM #26
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04-14-2012, 08:36 AM #27
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04-14-2012, 09:01 AM #28
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04-14-2012, 09:26 AM #29
Dex is def regressing. Farah isn't doing a thing helping Dex get back to his old standards. After seeing these pics
http://legendsofbodybuilding.blogspo...ro-dexter.html
and how people talk about 08/09 was his all time best compared to that^
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04-14-2012, 09:37 AM #30
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