Let's talk - Natural Mr Olympia gives advice

[NaturalPursuit]

Hi John! I was wondering if you knew if there is going to be a live webcasting of the Natural Olympia. I'm really looking forward to it but haven't found any information on if its going to be online to view or not....

[Natural_O]

Hi John! I was wondering if you knew if there is going to be a live webcasting of the Natural Olympia. I'm really looking forward to it but haven't found any information on if its going to be online to view or not....

No, they tried to set that up but the guy who was going to do it couldn't afford the flight out there so I guess that's not going to happen. That would have been cool if they could have did it though.

[Natural_O]

Latest pic taken today.

[Natural_O]

The owners of the Powerhouse Gym in downtown Tampa hung up a huge poster frame of my Ironman Magazine cover today. These guys are great and very supportive of me and all the athletes in the gym.

[Natural_O]

Last picture before I leave for my contest tomorrow.

[P4ULLY]

Hi John, i saw that Kiyoshi won the Natural Mr O again, the pic's looked AWESOME!!! What are your thoughts on the comp? I was stoked to see how well the aussies did, Joel Ramintas, Michael Waddington, Tim Martin, Bryce Cleary, Sarah Woodforth to name a few.

With so many natural organizations around the world, will they ever have a professional comp that invites the best from each to compete against each other?
BTW how did your competition go?

[Oochriso]

Latest pic taken today.

Clint Eastwood lookalike! Look amazing there John.

I have a problem with my chest where it seems my right pec comes down a little lower than my left. Only I notice this but do you know of a way i could even it out? You may be able to tell from my avatar pic.

[NaturalPursuit]

would love to see some pics from your show John!!!! been looking online but with no success

[P4ULLY]

just got done watching a few of your interviews on youtube, very inspirational! One interview where you spoke about your first Gold's experience where you met Arnold, Franco and Lou, WOW, that wouldve been HUGE, and more than enough motivation to become a bodybuilder.

[Natural_O]

just got done watching a few of your interviews on youtube, very inspirational! One interview where you spoke about your first Gold's experience where you met Arnold, Franco and Lou, WOW, that wouldve been HUGE, and more than enough motivation to become a bodybuilder.

Thanks! Actually, that wasn't at Gold's, it was at Universal Studios in California. They were filming the World's Strongest Man contest and I just got lucky to be there on that day. It was incredible!

[Natural_O]

would love to see some pics from your show John!!!! been looking online but with no success

I only have a couple but they are not that close. I look terrible and I'm actually embarrassed to post them. I'm waiting for a few more from the official photographer at the contest.

[Natural_O]

Clint Eastwood lookalike! Look amazing there John.

I have a problem with my chest where it seems my right pec comes down a little lower than my left. Only I notice this but do you know of a way i could even it out? You may be able to tell from my avatar pic.

Is one side more developed than the other side or is it just the way your body is?

[Quelly]

I only have a couple but they are not that close. I look terrible and I'm actually embarrassed to post them. I'm waiting for a few more from the official photographer at the contest.

John I was there, I really don't think you looked terrible at all, you did quite well in a very competitive class, very classic physique, very impressive upper body too

[stayhungry1]

Hello John.

What do you think of Dorian Yates Blood and Guts type of training and is it good for natural bodybuilders?

Thanks for your time.

[Natural_O]

John I was there, I really don't think you looked terrible at all, you did quite well in a very competitive class, very classic physique, very impressive upper body too

Thanks Eric but I thought I looked like ****. I didn't look even half as good onstage as I did in the gym. I need a lot of work before I ever even think about getting onstage again.

[P4ULLY]

Thanks! Actually, that wasn't at Gold's, it was at Universal Studios in California. They were filming the World's Strongest Man contest and I just got lucky to be there on that day. It was incredible!

thats right, you wanted to visit Golds but due to the tight schedule you couldnt, then you meet some of the greats at Universal, thats fate right there! I had a simmilar thing happen here, i started training with more purpose, heard about the Natural Olympia winner Kiyoshi, that same week i visited Bodizone (owned and run by Jason Woodforth) and who should be training in there but the Samurai himself!!! Thats when i knew this was for me and saying true to natural BBing.

That pic is awesome John, geez Lou was a unit wasnt he!!

[Natural_O]

thats right, you wanted to visit Golds but due to the tight schedule you couldnt, then you meet some of the greats at Universal, thats fate right there! I had a simmilar thing happen here, i started training with more purpose, heard about the Natural Olympia winner Kiyoshi, that same week i visited Bodizone (owned and run by Jason Woodforth) and who should be training in there but the Samurai himself!!! Thats when i knew this was for me and saying true to natural BBing.

That pic is awesome John, geez Lou was a unit wasnt he!!

Lou was awesome. This was right before he was offered the role of the Hulk. He was in California training for the Mr. Olympia that year. I saw Arnold first before I saw Lou. Arnold was sitting at a table with a girl (not Maria) and another guy. He was wearing a blue Worlds Gym t-shirt and a goofy floppy hat. I was calling him to come over since the area was roped off. He casually looked at us and then ignored us. Lou was further back than Arnold was and we called him over and he came all the way up to the rope and signed an autograph for us. He was huge!

[Oochriso]

Is one side more developed than the other side or is it just the way your body is?

My right pectoral seems more developed in the lower part than the left.

[Quelly]

Thanks Eric but I thought I looked like ****. I didn't look even half as good onstage as I did in the gym. I need a lot of work before I ever even think about getting onstage again.

And that kind of work ethic and drive to improve is why you've been so successful John, I have no doubt you'll destroy that physique that was displayed next time you hop on stage

[NaturalLoco]

Hi John, i saw that Kiyoshi won the Natural Mr O again, the pic's looked AWESOME!!! What are your thoughts on the comp? I was stoked to see how well the aussies did, Joel Ramintas, Michael Waddington, Tim Martin, Bryce Cleary, Sarah Woodforth to name a few.

With so many natural organizations around the world, will they ever have a professional comp that invites the best from each to compete against each other?
BTW how did your competition go?

I would like to see them compete in the IFPA in a bigger comp such as the Yorton (the aussies that is) particularly Justin F.. hell I would love to see Kiyoshi do the Yorton.. but not sure if that will ever happen
I admire Kiyoshi but my personal opinion is that he has less competition in the INBA shows then he does in the bigger American shows..
Hopefully next year Doug and Rico do the Yorton and battle it out again..

[Natural_O]

Was this the genesis of the Natural O quest? I'm imagining the scene... a young teenage boy, enthusiastic about bodybuilding, sees Arnold... and Arnold just totally blows him off.

And then in your mind you said, "Well that's it. That guy's a total jerk. I know what I'm gonna do... I'm going to go be the NATURAL Mr. Olympia... and thus make Arnold look like a total ASS, in all his UN-naturalness. What a tool."

I think it worked, John. I think it worked. Maybe one day, we'll look back and think of you as the Karl Marx of Nattyness. But the question is, WHO is going to be the Lenin, and really stoke the fire of revolution?? It'll have to be someone bold and daring, no doubt...

And speaking of Lou, I guess I don't really know much about it, but I could never understand why he never competed again (except for that failed comeback, many many years later). I know he got the TV gig, but it seems like he still could have trained for the Olympia at the same time. Could only have helped his TV appearance, anyway. He would have had to beat Franco, Zane, etc. And the way he was progressing up to 1975, I don't think it would have been a problem.

Heck Arnold trained for "8 weeks" (so he likes to say, but that was really just 'contest prep' wasn't it) and came in to 'steal' the 1980 Olympia... while he was involved in preparing/filming (1st Conan movie I think). Anyway, it never made sense to me that Lou left when he did. So what if you didn't "beat Arnold". Replace him, then. Win 7 Olympias (including 1980), just to piss him off... and keep nagging him to come back, so you can crush him. Oh, well. I guess Lou was too nice for all that... thus he came over to you and signed autographs. Hmmm

Haha, no, it didn't bother me at all that Arnold acted like that. I knew that was just Arnold being Arnold. My brother and I eventually hopped the rope and went over to meet both Arnold and Franco. He was nice enough to sign an autograph and let me take a picture of him. BTW, there was no Natural Olympia back in 1977. That didn't happen until 1998.

The reason Lou never competed again in the Olympia (until he finally did it in 1992) was because he got the Hulk role right before the 1977 Olympia. It was only supposed to be a 2 hour made-for-TV movie and he was going to do the Olympia the next year. However, the first Hulk TV movie was such a big hit, they did another one and then it eventually led to a TV series. The TV series lasted about 6 or 7 years so he never got a chance to enter the Olympia again. When the Hulk TV show finally ended, Haney was winning the Olympia and I think Lou knew that it would be tough to beat Haney so he continued with his acting career. He eventually made his comeback in 1992 but he was 41 years old by then.

[Natural_O]

Heavy to the Very End

http://www.abbperformance.com/news/g...ery-end-n1464/

[P4ULLY]

Awesome link John, i've always been a fan of Franco, what he lacked in height he made up for (and then some) in strength! One of my favourite "golden era' physiques, him, robbie, ed and arnold.

[Natural_O]

Awesome link John, i've always been a fan of Franco, what he lacked in height he made up for (and then some) in strength! One of my favourite "golden era' physiques, him, robbie, ed and arnold.

I agree! Franco was awesome in both physique and how much power he had.

[Natural_O]

Chili - It's not just comfort food

http://www.abbperformance.com/news/c...rt-food-n1465/

[Natural_O]

Check out my latest blog on Ironman Magazine.com -
Contest and Photo Shoots

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/blogs...-photo-shoots/

[P4ULLY]

Great write up john, its inspirational how you turned the experience around and are looking to be your best for next year!! The pic's looked awesome

[ManVsIron]

John, that blog reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while now. With regards to aging, and 'peaking'. I've heard from plenty of guys that when they get into their early 40s, things start to change. What do you think is the age in which you realized, "OK, something tells me I'm not in my prime anymore"...?

Basically if you could just talk a little, about what we ALL have to look forward to..... and any tips you can offer, to those of us that plan on doing this for as long as possible. If you're any indication, being close to 50 is not really that big of a deal (though I'm sure you have to make some adjustments), and that's inspiring. Because if we all "hit 43, and suddenly it's all over" -- that would suck! So you're living proof that there's not really that much of a 'time limit'. Not until much later, hopefully.

[Natural_O]

John, that blog reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while now. With regards to aging, and 'peaking'. I've heard from plenty of guys that when they get into their early 40s, things start to change. What do you think is the age in which you realized, "OK, something tells me I'm not in my prime anymore"...?

Basically if you could just talk a little, about what we ALL have to look forward to..... and any tips you can offer, to those of us that plan on doing this for as long as possible. If you're any indication, being close to 50 is not really that big of a deal (though I'm sure you have to make some adjustments), and that's inspiring. Because if we all "hit 43, and suddenly it's all over" -- that would suck! So you're living proof that there's not really that much of a 'time limit'. Not until much later, hopefully.

I first noticed my body changing when I was 38 years old. I tore my bicep tendon the year before and I couldn't compete so I came back the next year. I bulked up to 240 pretty easily but it was noticeably harder to lose the fat when I started my diet. That year and the next year, I missed my peak and I didn't nearly as good as when I won the Natural Olympia when I was 35. I came back one more time when I was 41 years old but I was still disappointed with how I looked even though I did much better that year. That was the year when I changed my diet philosophy and started eating less carbs in order to get contest ready. This year, about 7 years after I last competed, I changed everything around and ate more carbs but less protein and fats and I got more ripped than I have been in probably 15-20 years although I was much lighter in bodyweight. So, I don't know if there is a time when it's officially "over". I thought I was done at 41 years old but I looked better this year at 48 and I'm hoping to look much, much better at 49.

[Natural_O]

Hyper-Extensions for a Strong Lower Back

http://www.abbperformance.com/news/h...er-back-n1470/