Wow – the 2011 Olympia Weekend prize money is increasing to $825,000. That is incredible, especially during these tough times, that the greatest bodybuilding contest weekend of the year is bringing more prize money to its athletes. $825,000. Not bad at all!

The breakdown is as follows.

Mr. Olympia – $600,000 prize money. The top IFBB mens pro bodybuilding contest of the year just keeps on getting better, with Jay Cutler coming back to defend his title against Phil Heath and a ton of others who just may surprise everyone. Can Jay sustain the title? Nothing is for sure.

Mr. Olympia 202lb Showdown – $25,000 prize money. This is Kevin English’ show to win, and with David Henry out (overseas with the United States Army on a tour of duty), we can’t wait to see who else is going to rise up and challenge the winner.

Ms. Olympia – $60,000 prize money. With women’s bodybuilding, only the Ms Olympia continues to provide an incredible amount of money for some of the most disciplined competitors out there. Here in Las Vegas, the best of the best will be showcased.

Fitness Olympia – $60,000 prize money. Some of the best and toughest competitors will be here in Las Vegas to showcase their fitness routines, which now is 2/3’s of the score. So the ones that dazzle and delight the audience with there incredible routines just may win it all!

Figure Olympia – $60,000 prize money. Battle is brewing here! Defending champion Erin Stern against current Arnold winner Nicole Wilkins is going to be quite interesting. But who knows, maybe someone else just may step up, and take the title away.

Bikini Olympia – $20,000. Last year was the first year of this new division, and Sonia Gonzales took the title. However, Sonia lost to Nicole Nagrani at this years Bikini International, so it is going to be a great contest as to who will come out on top. Put in Nathalia Melo, Amanda Latona and Jaime Baird, and you never know what may happen.

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!

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.

Updates via Twitter from the IFBB New York Pro Fitness contest…

Bodybuilding.com, the Internet’s most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements, is proud to announce the addition of new Editor-in-Chief Jeff O’Connell to their team. O’Connell has 15 years in the health and fitness industry serving as Editor-in-Chief at Muscle & Fitness and, most recently, Executive Writer at Men’s Health.

O’Connell’s feature writing has been deemed “notable” in both The Best American Sports Writing and The Best American Science and Nature Writing anthologies. As an author, he has reached The New York Times Best-Sellers list as the collaborator on LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout. Adding to his list of accomplishments, Hyperion/Disney will be publishing his prescriptive memoir, Sugar Nation, on July 19, 2011.

“Becoming Editor-in-Chief of Bodybuilding.com is a dream job for me. The site is the most heavily trafficked fitness destination in the world, making this a unique opportunity to help tens of millions of people worldwide transform their life through health and fitness,” said O’Connell.

The new Bodybuilding.com Editor-in-Chief will focus on further enhancing the site’s 30,000 pages of unique content with the latest and greatest health and fitness advice, news and entertainment. “Rather than pay $5.00 for a fitness or bodybuilding magazine, fitness enthusiasts can visit Bodybuilding.com and receive everything for free, from expert online trainers to workout videos to social networking. My focus is on enhancing the user experience by continuing to improve the vast array of content,” explains O’Connell.

As someone who works out daily, follows a low-carbohydrate diet, and takes twelve supplements daily, O’Connell is an ideal fit for the Bodybuilding.com team. His ability to identify with the lifestyle enables him to fulfill the company mission of helping Bodybuilding.com visitors reach their health, fitness and appearance goals through information, motivation and supplementation.

“Jeff brings an insane amount of experience and enthusiasm to Bodybuilding.com, and truly understands our users and what we are trying to accomplish. We are very fortunate to have him on our team!” said Bodybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca.

Jeff O’Connell will be joining the talented Bodybuilding.com Digital Publishing Team, including Spokesperson and Editor at Large Kris Gethin, Vice President John Hardesty, and many more industry experts.

Here is my second entry for my blog at Getbig.com as I am getting ready for the contests.

Checking in again, I am about 18 weeks out from the NPC California bodybuilding contestl and 26 weeks out from the NPC USA’s. My weight seems to be floating between 288 to 291 pounds. February 1st is when the prep really starts and I will begin doing cardio throughout the week.

My goal throughout this prep is to keep my food intake high while doing more cardio (walking, stair mill). I believe if my calories stay on the high end and I do more cardio, I will then keep a lot more size, be harder and have a much denser look for the contest.

I wrote my diet up and my calorie intake is right around 4,400 a day. Also, I’m not going to be training quads for about a month! Why? Well they are a very strong point for me now, almost too big (in comparison to my upper body).

So I believe if I take the muscle group(s) that need more work and hit them twice a week instead of training quads, I really think they will respond. Quads require a lot of nutrition and recovery time. I believe this will allow all the nutrition to go to “weaker points” instead of my quads.

I think then my “weak points” will grow rather quickly! Time will tell. We took a video of my shoulder workout and will try post it up soon. I am ready to Rock and Roll!!!

BSN® is pleased to announce the latest addition to its elite roster of athletes, IFBB pro and 2010 New York Pro Champion Roelly Winklaar! 2010 saw Roelly emerge from relative anonymity to take the IFBB by storm in his rookie season, making a splash with a strong debut at the Arnold Classic before taking the top honors in New York and finishing the year with his first trip to the Olympia stage.

Along the way, Roelly’s mix of size, conditioning and an undeniably freaky aesthetic made a lot of people around the sport take notice, and BSN® was no exception. With his immense promise and relentless dedication to improve and take his physique to even greater heights, Roelly will make an excellent ambassador for the world leader in nutritional supplementation for years to come.

A native of Curacao who now resides in the Netherlands, Egberton Rulove “Roelly” Etienne-Winklaar first came to national prominence in the US with his overall win at the 2009 NPC Arnold Amateur Championships, displaying a rare combination of massive size and shredded conditioning that heralded big things to come. The dominant win set him up for his big 2010, highlighted by his top-three finish at the Australia Pro Grand Prix and stunning victory at the prestigious New York Pro. With a passion for competition and some valuable Mr. Olympia experience now under his belt, the future looks very bright for Roelly in 2011.

Roelly will make his onstage debut as a Team BSN® athlete at the 2011 Arnold Classic in March, looking to capture the title at the same venue where he earned his pro card and subsequently made his pro debut. Joining him this year will be new BSN® teammate Dennis Wolf, and the duo will present a formidable threat to the rest of the deep field expected at this year’s event – so it should be a Classic in every sense of the word!

Once again, BSN® welcomes Roelly as the newest member of Team BSN®, and we look forward to watching him continue to climb his way up the IFBB pecking order and back to the Olympia stage in 2011!

Toney Freeman, decided to respond to what happened when we went to Sweden. Here, in his own words, is what occured, and why he felt that Sweden, and the police in Sundsvall have their own agenda.

To all my fans out there, all around the world.

As we close out 2010, I wanted to take a little time out to talk to you from my heart. There is so much out there that is misunderstood and misquoted. So here’s the truth. Two weeks ago, I was invited to Sweden, along with other major bodybuilders to a fitness expo in Gothenburg, Sweden, I had just completed a successful four-day tour in Denmark, so 1 got there early, to meet the fans and Sundsvall was one of my stops.

You can imagine how shocked I was. Right in the middle of an in-store signing, about 10 police officers walked in and asked for me to come with them to the station. There was no warning, and I could not think why the police would want me. I thought it was a practical joke. But right there in front of my confused fans, I was escorted to a police van. Some paparazzi were there, as well as a TV crew.

When I got to the police station, I was told I was suspected of abusing drugs. I could not understand why. I had hardly been in Sweden a few hours and had no history as a drug user. I could not maintain my status as a competitive athlete and professional if I was addicted to narcotics.
The police said that because I was extraordinarily muscular, it was likely I had used steroids. They did not allow me to call a lawyer, the US embassy or call my family. Instead they interrogated me and forced me to provide a urine sample and told me the urine tests would be back in 3 weeks.

They asked me to tell them if I had used certain anabolic steroids. I advised them that I take my health seriously and that if they had any official queries, I could authorize my doctor to provide them with a medical report. They did not ask for this, A few hours later, the police let me go without charge. I was not remanded into custody or asked to report to the police station.

I was shocked to find the story on the news. Henrik Blusi, the local police inspector was giving a biased account. Although most civil matters are private unless a crime is proven, Mr. Blusi could not wait to go on camera. Ile was using the media to push his agenda. He apparently told the media that it is immoral for bodybuilders to be used in advertising in Sweden. He also said “Bodybuilders are not welcome in Sundsvall”. As a result, many US professional bodybuilders scheduled to appear in Gothenburg cancelled. This could also affect Sweden’s relations with the fitness community as no one wants to be treated like I was.

Disgusted by the police harassment and shocked at the way the matter was handled, I returned to Stockholm and decided to cancel my tour and return to the United States.

Friends, I respect the Swedish people, and their government. I can understand the need to educate people and deal with the harm that all drug abuse is doing to our communities. However, my experience shows that the focus for some Swedish law enforcement right now is to humiliate, not to rehabilitate. Does Sweden condone victimization of any group of people? Is it ethical for an officer of the law to go on public record making allegations before any evidence has been found? I believe it is waste of the Swedish taxpayer’s money to finance this witch hunt.

Right now, in Sweden, anyone who looks muscular, who wears dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings can be forced to go to the police station, provide a urine or blood sample and be interrogated without an attorney. You might even have the police using you as an example and humiliate you on TV. Attached separately are links to cases showing how the Swedish police’s “war on bodybuilders” has played out. You decide for yourselves.

Folks. I am angry and disappointed, but I am not broken. 2011 will see many great things from me to you, so I invite you to keep an open mind and stay in touch with me. I will see you on the road and thank all of you who sent me those encouraging Tweets and Facebook messages. I also want to thank all my sponsors, supporters, friends and my wife and family for a great year and for your hard work for me, 1 wish you all happy holidays and a X-tra special 2011. Live your dreams and stay healthy and focused.

Peace,

Toney Freeman