This is an interesting comparison of the 2 ways people do this pose...
Chris is doing it the traditional arnold way (semi vacuum) and Dex is doing it with his abs flexed down...
Now Dex has great abs but he is really doing himself no favours here by doing this pose the way he does.
By flexing his abs down and NOT lifting the ribcage up his makes his lats and torso size smaller than he should - the front double bui is really an arm and lat pose first and foremost not an ab pose and his method lets his lats down a lot...
He should realize that even if he did a semi vac he is so lean that the outline of his abs would still be highly visible and that the judges aren't really too stressed if they don't see a full ab flex in this pose...
Here are a couple of good examples even though the chickster ain't in great shape here he does it very well...
imo Dex looks better than chris there...thicker, bigger arms, thicker chest, better legs, smaller waist, better delts, better shaped lats, far more pleasing aesthetically...
and all teh while he is robbing himself of even more added illusion as you say.
then again ive never been a fan of CC. his legs appear sinewy and dont sweep like others- the way he holds his front DB looks awkward and skewed- tris arent great and all the pec mass is at the top. from the rear he appears to have great detail but lacks thickness across the back in the upper and lower body.
anwhoo i cant figure why the CC fans, and you cant figure why the Dex fans...
i am convinced you are wrong....and you me...
BB is wierd like that eh?