Chad:
These are not only never before seen pics – but they are VERY RARE – because I hardly ever take before show hotel room shots. These pics (I believe) are Wednesday evening before the 2001 Arnold Classic. This is Ronnie still flat (for Ronnie) and we, at this point, had done nothing with his water. The Arnold was one of my favorite looks of Ronnie’s – it may not have been his biggest look – he ended up around 247 on stage; but he had sick conditioning and bone dry. We pushed his carb loading about 90%, but the main thing I remembered about this show is how energetic and how great he felt. I even remember him telling me he had never felt like this before a show. If you remember that year – at prejudging – he literally ran out on stage.
Now, the reason these are rare – as I mentioned before – I seldom take hotel shots before the show when I’m at the event. I was always very confident in my abilities, but I also wanted to make the decisions based on what he looked like standing directly in front of me – taking in all factors, before making the next move. I never wanted to take pics, go back to the room to study them and “overthink” the process. I believe many times this is where the majority of athletes screw everything up! They go back – look at photos – overthink shit and now with social media they post photos and worry about everyone’s opinions/critiques – letting all this determine or at the very least play a factor in their next move.
Back in the day – it may have been a bit “old school” – but I still believe in that process 100%. Sometimes the simplest path leads you to the greatest results!
