Can Levrone redeem himself in 2017?

[deathmetal1992]

My thoughts:

He's definitely on the right track with squatting 3x/week FULL ROM alternating between heavy weight and high volume; he made his way to 405x10 which is a respectable weight but nothing amazing by IFBB standards. His legs already look somewhat bigger. He claims he didn't go all out on the training for his upper body because he didn't want to create more of an imbalance between his upper body/lower body. There are some things at the Olympia which looked off even if you take into account the lack of size, like the slightly loose skin around his lower abs and back, the wider waist and washed out abs. I think he could definitely improve from 2016 but it's not feasible for him to ever be a threat at the Olympia level. I think he could regain most of his old upper body mass along with his 2002-2003 legs which would still be considered weak but I don't see him being able to get rid of his loose skin or being able to come in with striated glutes. That said, I think even if he's only able to come in at 70% of his best, it would still be an improvement from this year's 50%. He won't be winning a pro show but at least he won't go out looking completely horrible, and that's better than nothing I suppose.

[FAN0FdaSport]

this is just sad...

[Aaronza]

He is doing the Olympia again?

[_Muskelberg_]

He is doing the Olympia again?

Apparently so, yes.

He DID injure his chest in his '16 prep. So mayyybe he'll look pretty good this time.....

[Aaronza]

Apparently so, yes.

He DID injure his chest in his '16 prep. So mayyybe he'll look pretty good this time.....

i thought it was his legs he injured?

[NaturalproMJG]

He also tore a pec at 12 weeks out. There is pics on his Instagram

[deathmetal1992]

this is just sad...

His goal was to come back and place better than 6th, now his goal is most likely to redeem himself. He still thinks he can get Olympia quality legs, maybe for the 80s but not now.

He is doing the Olympia again?

Pretty sure they won't be handing him out an invite this time and he's aiming to do a pro show sometime in July or August.

i thought it was his legs he injured?

It was both but the legs played a bigger role. Upper chest was lacking because he tore his pectoralis minor and couldn't really do any incline work throughout his prep.

[BrutasMaximus]

People still dreaming of a miracle I see. Well past his prime and nothing will ever change that. All downhill from now.

[tonyt82]

i was one of the clown that expected too much.However i wont bash Levrone for trying.
With todays online marketing world,twitter Instagram ********,,wouldn't it be just as beneficial to just get in great shape and not bother with the O.

[Sublime25]

If he doesn't get injured, I am sure he will come on with a solid shape but will never compete with the modern era.

[Diamhea]

He was a special invite last year. How is he going to quality for the O? He has to place in a smaller show...

[KevinSorbo]

He could improve compared to last year. He couldn't squat during his last prep and tore a pec doing incline. He's finally back to squatting 405 for reps and seems confident that the legs will be much better, of course won't be big enough to beat today's line up but maybe will be good enough to bring his physique up and look a lot better.

And he was really flat in prejudging last year hopefully he nails it. If I recall, he was given an invite to the 2017 O as well now. Either way it's great to see him training heavy and prepping and like the old Levrone again. Upper body last year especially from the front with the exception of forearms is the same as his 03 size.

[BrutasMaximus]

Squating has nothing to do with it. Can build monster legs without squatting so lets stop with the nonsense squats are the only thing holding back his legs.

[deathmetal1992]

If he doesn't get injured, I am sure he will come on with a solid shape but will never compete with the modern era.

agreed

He was a special invite last year. How is he going to quality for the O? He has to place in a smaller show...

he will have to win a pro show or make it by the point system. He seems to be 100% sure he can win a pro show, if we were talking about 95-98 Levrone then I would agree, in fact those years he would have been a threat for the title but we're talking about a 53 year old man trying to win a show against today's freaks. The oldest pro show winner was Albert Beckles who was 53 when he won in 1991 at the Niagara Pro Show (he was actually most likely born in 38, gave conflicting info like Kevin) but yesteryear's conditioning was not like today's, same with the overall size especially in the legs.

Squating has nothing to do with it. Can build monster legs without squatting so lets stop with the nonsense squats are the only thing holding back his legs.

I'm confident he can improve his legs but there's no way he can build "Mr. Olympia" legs as he put it in a seminar. We have to take into account for his prep last year the bulk of his leg training involved super heavy quarter rom leg presses due to his knees. He could only squat only a few times and he was using half-rom on 315.

He could improve compared to last year. He couldn't squat during his last prep and tore a pec doing incline. He's finally back to squatting 405 for reps and seems confident that the legs will be much better, of course won't be big enough to beat today's line up but maybe will be good enough to bring his physique up and look a lot better.

And he was really flat in prejudging last year hopefully he nails it. If I recall, he was given an invite to the 2017 O as well now. Either way it's great to see him training heavy and prepping and like the old Levrone again. Upper body last year especially from the front with the exception of forearms is the same as his 03 size.

I heard he won't be given a special invite this time and has to qualify. Good luck beating anybody in the top 10 this year should they choose to go for that show. Only way he's winning a pro show is if there's only D-list pros like when Pakulski won the Vancouver Pro.

[UNCnate]

Apparently so, yes.

He DID injure his chest in his '16 prep. So mayyybe he'll look pretty good this time.....

Hopefully his chest being injury free will add some mass to his legs.

[littlearm]

The issue isn't if Kevin can redeem himself, but if the bodybuilding community can redeem themselves for their insane predictions about how well he would place. There were so-called experts and plenty of dedicated fans who seriously thought Levrone had a shot at winning the thing. That's just embarrassing.

[pogioli4]

haha well at least people aren't stupid enough to say he's actually gonna be able to compete w/ the others this year.
man that rustled me hard last year. wanted to drop every one of those idiots

[BetaThanU]

he should aim for classic division

[KevinSorbo]

Squating has nothing to do with it. Can build monster legs without squatting so lets stop with the nonsense squats are the only thing holding back his legs.

His knees were in a lot of pain, couldn't do much heavy quad work during prep. Like it or not, his legs are looking bigger and it's only logical since he's squatting heavy again.

[Diamhea]

haha well at least people aren't stupid enough to say he's actually gonna be able to compete w/ the others this year.
man that rustled me hard last year. wanted to drop every one of those idiots

Anybody who seriously thought he would be competitive is more delusional than he is. But he did totally screw something up last minute. He looked like a totally different physique during the posedown:

[MillerTime07]

Its the same haters as before that keep dissing him. He HAD injuries leading up to the Olympia. I give him the utmost respect for still competing despite them. Give him a full off season and he will blow everyone away.

[Unbiasedfan]

Its the same haters as before that keep dissing him. He HAD injuries leading up to the Olympia. I give him the utmost respect for still competing despite them. Give him a full off season and he will blow everyone away.

By haters you mean realistic people who were proven right? If so, i guess im an hater.

Everyone apreciates and respects what he did and the effort he put into his return, that was never the issue.

[KevinSorbo]

Its the same haters as before that keep dissing him. He HAD injuries leading up to the Olympia. I give him the utmost respect for still competing despite them. Give him a full off season and he will blow everyone away.

Blow everyone away is a bit of an overstatement. I certainly believe he can and will look improved from last year and closer to his '03 form. Upper body aside from forearms and being flat, was at least on par with 03. But I don't see him blowing these guys away size wise. I'd still rather have his physique tho.

[bartosh]

Give him a full off season and he will blow everyone away.

No, he won't.

[Witherman]

Give him a full off season and he will blow everyone away.

just in case you forgot what he actually looked like last year:



I have all the love in the world for levrone, but his legs couldn't hang with the guys of his era let alone the monsters we have today. even if he's done "reps with 405" today and all the way up to the olympia, he won't be able to hang with the top 6 IMO. the symmetry and beauty era is over.

Disclaimer: still looking forward to seeing levrone another year and hope he brings a massive improvement over last year.

[- sZ -]

I think what he's doing is great for the industry, community and his brand. He's doing what he loves and its also driving his business - nothing wrong with that.

In fact, we're all getting some value out of it whether we like to admit it or not (primarily legit entertainment). As long as we get into this with realistic expectations we can enjoy his journey.

Heres him squatting 315lbs for 20 reps https://www.instagram.com/p/BPvnpocDDjA/

[Diamhea]

Legs are the first thing to go when you age, along with triceps. It's gonna take a miracle for him to bring his legs up enough to actually compete. But if he can bring a package like this one from 2002, it'd be impressive. His upper body was on par with this.

[x-trainer ben]

Well he has a product line to promote and as one of the "old heads" i would pay to see him again.

[KevinSorbo]

Remember he looked much better at the finals..upper body on par with 2003 at least











Finals Vid:

[deathmetal1992]

Upper body size and conditioning was respectable. He holds his own against his 90s self from the front and side (he was clearly a bit bigger in 97 and there was more pop to his muscle but he's not a complete shadow), the back is dragging but the difference in leg and glute size/definition is dramatic. The wider waist and slightly loose skin doesn't help matters but he does look a lot more vascular (could be the video quality or the fact that he's older the skin is thinner).

Imagine if 1997 Levrone had shown up. He might not have dethroned Phil but he would have been exclusively in the first callout with likes of Phil, Dexter and Shawn.