Category Archives: News
Lionel Brown – One week out from the Flex Pro
At the 2012 NPC Gold Contest contest in San Diego, Lionel Brown guest posed, one week out from the Flex Pro Bodybuilding Contest (which is next Saturday). Here are some pics of Lionel on stage, much heavier and more muscular than he has been.
RYU Signs 2011 Mr. Olympia Phil Heath as Official Athlete
Respect Your Universe, Inc. announced signing 2011 Mr. Olympia Phil “The Gift” Heath as an official RYU athlete. Gracing the covers of five national publications in 2011 (Flex, Muscular Development, Ironman, MuscleMag, and Planet Muscle around the world), Heath was selected by RYU for encompassing a hard work ethic, discipline, respect and humility that correlate closely to the core values respect, strength, honor and sustainability of RYU.
2012 Bodyspace Spokesmodel Finalists Announced
Congratulations to the Top 5 Finalists (both male and female) in the Bodybuilding.com’s Annual Spokesmodel Contest. Hundreds of people applied to be the next Bodyspace Finalist, and the final list is in. The competitors will be flown to Los Angeles, and the winners will be announced on stage at the 2012 Fit Expo at the L.A. Convention Center on January 29th. We will be there covering the event. The finalists are…
Derik Farnsworth Squats 585 Pounds for Charity
On December 10th, at the Metroflex Gym Long Beach, Derek Farnsworth, weighing 176 pounds squatted 585 pounds, for donations for a worthy cause, the 1736 Family Crisis Center. 619 Muscle Long Beach (the supplement store inside the gym) also collected toys for the children, and brought quite a few vendors to their annual Holiday Bash. Here are some pics of the moment.
IFBB Pro Lee Banks signs with Champion Nutrition
Congratulations to Lee Banks for signing with Champion Nutrition.
Champion Nutrition recently announced the signing of IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Lee Banks to its “Team Champion” group of amateur and professional athletes! Lee, inspired by his late father, Lee Andrew Banks, experimented with lifting weights at the age of 16 and after many years of dedicated training he competed for the first time at the age of 30 entering the All Star Bodybuilding Championships in Jacksonville, Florida.
After success at the local level, Lee’s drive to him to the national stage where he gathered two third place and three second place finishes before turning pro in 2010 by winning the overall title in the NPC North American’s. Lee is training right now getting ready for the 2011 Europa Pro in Orlando at the end of April and the New York Pro in New York City in May. Please welcome Lee once again to the Champion Team!
IFBB Pro Brandon Ray signs with Betancourt Nutrition
Betancourt Nutrition is excited to announce the addition of Brandon Ray, the 2010 NPC Nationals Light Heavy-weight champion and exemplar of the 202 lb aesthetic physique to it’s team. Jorge Betancourt, the teen bodybuilding legend who possessed one of the most aesthetic structures of his time has seen great potential in Brandon and his ability to help bring the classic physique back to the forefront of professional bodybuilding.
Jorge Betancourt says, “Brandon can help bring back to bodybuilding the physique that everyone can envy, the type of physique that this sport needs to maintain its credibility so it can continue to thrive.” Brandon is ready to take the 202lb class and the rest of the bodybuilding world by storm and realize his potential with the help of Betancourt Nutrition. “I’ve been gaining knowledge and hearing about how much potential I have from some of the most experienced and successful bodybuilders in the industry” says Brandon.
“I love the direction that this company is headed in and the innovative mark they are leaving in the sports nutrition industry. It’s motivating to know that the Betancourt Team feels that I reflect the image of their company and I’m excited to see where my career and my partnership with Betancourt Nutrition can take me.
IFBB New York Pro Fitness: Twitter Updates
Updates via Twitter from the IFBB New York Pro Fitness contest…
2010 Photographer Of The Year – Ron Avidan
I am honored and humbled to be the 2010 Photographer of the Year at Bodybuilding.com. This truly has made my day! The honor was given at the 2010 Bodybuilding.com Site Awards. You can check out the link of all the awards here.
Here is the excerpt of the Photographer of the Year Award.
Ron Avidan has been a fan of the bodybuilding world for years. He’s combined his passion for the industry with his joy of taking photographs. Ron can be seen in front of the stage, behind the scenes and roaming an expo hall on any given show day. Many times he’s doing all three and does it with a grin on his face. Ron’s dedication to getting creative shots shows in the number of photos he’s seen published over the years. His work can be seen in FLEX, IRONMAN, MuscleMag and numerous other fitness publications throughout the world.
BodySpace 2011 Spokesmodel Top 5
Iron Man Magazine presents The 2011 Bodybuilding.com BodySpace Spokesmodel Search! Congratulations on the top 5 out of over 350 contestants. The winners will be chosen live in Los Angeles on January 29th at the Fit Expo. See you there. The top five (for men and women) are:
The Women:
Kathleen Tesori (Kathleen Tesori)
Felicia Romero (fromero)
Laura Bailey (jumper11)
Jennifer Rankin (TXphysique)
Lindsay Kaye Miller (linzkaye)
The Men:
Kelechi Opara (madtitan)
Scott Dorn (SMDMN)
Kizzito Ejam (kizmvp)
Ryan Hughes (dubcplaya069)
Stephen Cook (stevecook_32)
Planet Fitness Gyms – no more personal trainers.
Who needs these people? All they do is ‘rent a friend’. That is the opinion of Mike Grondahl, CEO of Planet Fitness Gyms. And while he has a right to that opinion, he is doing more than that. He is going to eliminate all personal training sessions at the gyms. Wow.
Here is the article from Club Industry Magazine.
Planet Fitness is discontinuing personal training at its clubs, according to CEO Mike Grondahl. In a letter written to Planet Fitness owners, Grondahl says the Newington, NH-based company’s corporate-owned clubs will end all personal training sessions by Dec. 16. Franchisees will have until the first quarter of 2011 to end their personal training sessions.
“The decision to end personal training has been long and arduous,” Grondahl wrote in the letter. “It goes right to the essence of our business model. We’ve always tried to keep personal training to a minimum at Planet Fitness. But the problems related to having trainers in our gyms have never completely gone away. Lately, they’ve gotten worse. Too many trainers are pushing PT on our members, the vast majority of whom have zero interest in it. These clubs are opening themselves up to trouble.”
Grondahl says the clubs will continue their “P.E. at P.F.”—physical education at Planet Fitness—group fitness training sessions. Grondahl began the letter by claiming that most people doing personal training are “just renting friends.”
“For us to be selling personal training is a fraud and downright condescending to anyone who can breathe,” he wrote. Grondahl adds in the letter that personal training did not fit Planet Fitness’ “judgment-free zone” and that the company plans to use its no personal training model as a marketing tool.
“We’ll be the only fitness chain that can say we’ll never try to sell you personal training,” Grondahl wrote. “A lot of people will say we are dead wrong with this historic move. But the world was flat once, and who the hell needs a friend for 50 bucks an hour?”
Phil Heath is not going to compete in the 2011 Arnold Classic
From Phil Heath – “Hello all! After long thought and consulting with family and friends, I have decided NOT to compete at the ’11 Arnold Classic. This was a very difficult decision to make as I had a great ’10 season. I want to thank my beautiful wife Jennie for her on-going support along with my sponsors Team MuscleTech and Weider/AMI. ”
With this statement, the number two ranked IFBB pro bodybuilder in the world is foregoing the early season to concentrate on the 2011 Mr. Olympia in the hopes of defeating Jay Cutler and finally picking up the title of the best of the best. But Phil will surely be missed at the first Flex Pro, and now the 2011 Arnold Classic.
So who is happy with this? The other pro bodybuilders that are going to compete in these contests. The prize money at the Arnold Classic is only second best to the Olympia. See you there.
2011 NPC Men’s Physique – Rules & Guidelines
Here we go, the latest information about the NPC Men’s Physique Division, starting in 2011. Beginning in 2011 a new division for men will be introduced – Men’s Physique. The following are the guidelines/rules.
Judging Criteria:
* Muscularity and Body Condition: Judges will be looking for fit contestants who display proper shape and symmetry combined with muscularity and overall condition. This is not a bodybuilding contest so extreme muscularity should be marked down.
* Stage Presence and Personality: Contestants will be asked to walk in board shorts (shorts must be just above the knee in length and can be one inch below the belly button, no spandex and no logos are permitted on the board shorts however a manufacturer’s logo such as Nike symbol or Billabong are acceptable. Competitors will enter the stage without a shirt and barefoot. No lewd acts are allowed. Example: The moon pose. Judges are looking for the contestant with the best stage presence and poise who can successfully convey his personality to the audience.
COMPETITION JUDGING
Presentation:
* Competitors will walk to the center of the stage alone and perform quarter (1/4) turns with optional pose of hand on hip or hand in pocket, face the judges as directed then proceed to the side of the stage.
Comparison Round:
* The competitors will be brought back out in a group and directed to do quarter turns
* Judges will have the opportunity to compare competitors against each other in quarter turns.
Promoters can choose to have one class or two. For contests with two classes:
* Up to including 5’8”
* Over 5’8”
National level contests do not permit competitors to crossover into Bodybuilding. All other competitions are permitted to have crossovers at the discretion of the promoter with district chairperson’s approval.
Who Qualifies for National Level Men’s Physique Competitions:
Competitors that place in the top five (5) in each class at national qualifying contests will have a one year qualification for national level events.
Note: For 2011 a place in the top five (5) of any Men’s Physique contest will qualify you for national level contests.
QUALIFYING FOR IFBB PROFESSIONAL STATUS:
* NPC JUNIOR USA CHAMPIONSHIPS – Top 2 placers in the overall comparison earn IFBB Pro Card
* NPC JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Top 4 placers in the overall comparison earn IFBB Pro Card
* TEAM UNIVERSE – Height class winners earn IFBB Pro Card
* NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS – Height class winners earn IFBB Pro Card
* IFBB NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – Top 2 placers in the overall comparison earn IFBB Pro Card
* NPC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Height class winners earn IFBB Pro Card
NPC USA Notice to class winners
News Release regarding this weekend’s NPC USA contest in Las Vegas.
The Following Athlete’s Are Required To Participate In The NPC NEWS Photo Shoot With J.M. Manion On Sunday, August 1st, at The Embassy Suites Hotel From 9 a.m. To 12 Noon:
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• MEN’S OVERALL WINNER
• WOMEN’S OVERALL WINNER
• THE 6 FIGURE HEIGHT CLASS WINNERS
• THE 6 BIKINI HEIGHT CLASS WINNERS
Only The 4 Overall Winners Are To Bring Their Overall Trophies. The Men’s & Women’s Overall Winners Are To Bring Their Posing Suit & Posing Oil.
The 6 Bikini & 6 Figure Height Class Winners Are To Bring Their 2-Piece Competition Suits Along With Any Other 2-Piece Bikini’s.
All Competitors Please Plan Accordingly With Your Travel Plans.
NPC USA – record breaking competitors to compete
This is the NPC contest that all strive to compete in – the big daddy in the Western United States – where the best come to compete, and where 18 IFBB Pro cards will be earned by the end of Saturday night. Over 500 competitors are gathering in Las Vegas on July 23-24th, and we are excited to be there to check it out, as we will be putting up contest pictures on bodybuilding.com.
Here is the information on the NPC USA, and where to get tickets, and the schedule. For more information, go to Musclecontest.com.
2010 IFBB Tampa Pro Press Conference Pics
Thanks to Isaac Hinds, here are some press conference pictures of the IFBB PBW Tampa, on Friday evening. Favorite Hidetada and Cathy LeFrancois look great, as well as a multitude of other competitors in an ‘Olympia’ style press conference, in which Bob Chicherillo and Dan Solomon hosted. Here are the pics