CONDITIONING AT
THE EXPENSE OF SIZE
7. Tomas Kaspar
5. Ibrahim Fahim
6. Jeff Beckham
8. Earl Abrahams
ARNOLD CLASSIC WHEELCHAIR
Although I enjoyed 3rd place finisher Juan
Morel's rock and roll posing routine, his
conditioning was also not where it needed to
be. He was not the only disappointment. Victor
Martinez (4th) failed to bring his trademark
shape and quality and should feel lucky that
he was not overtaken by rock-hard Egyptian
Ibrahim Fahim (5th), or Jeff Beckham (6th)
who sported one of the widest backs I have
ever seen on a bodybuilding stage.
South Africa's Earl Abrahams (8th)
and Cobus van der Merwe (11th) put an
exclamation point on the word conditioning,
which was nothing short of astounding. The
local boys were totally shredded, but they
need to add another 20kg of quality muscle
to compete on this level. Tomas Kaspar (7th)
from the Czech Republic and American Derek
Upshaw (10th) had, ironically enough, tons of
muscle but failed at nailing their conditioning.
Earl and Cobus should ask themselves
whether they can bulk up while still holding
on to their condition, or whether they should
change divisions and compete at 212 level.
The truth is that if you only bring conditioning
at the expense of size and fullness, it will
cost you.
GET US BIG RAMY!
3rd place
Antoni Khadraou
4th place
Johnny Quinn
2nd place
Harold Kelley
1st place
Gabriele Andriulli
ARNOLD CLASSIC PRO FITNESS
Attending the ACA I realised that bodybuilding
in the Middle East has really taken off.
Judging from the size and shape of
competitors entering the ACA, gyms have
obviously been popping up all over the place
to meet the needs of a growing number of
bodybuilders who want to become as famous
as IFBB Pro Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay.
The Egyptian's most recent achievement
was placing 4th at the Mr. Olympia in 2016.
I asked around the auditorium and everyone
from that side of the world immediately
recognised his name, proving that Big Ramy
is one of the most followed bodybuilders
after he turned Pro in 2012 at the Amateur
Olympia. This happened only three years
after he started lifting weights at Oxygen
Gym in Kuwait, widely regarded as a modern
day version of Gold's Gym in California.
AMATEURS BATTLE IT OUT
1st place
Regiane da Silva
92
Muscle Evolution
2nd place
Derina Wilson
3rd place
Diana Monteiro
The rivalry among bodybuilders did not
stop at the Pros. The battle between local
amateurs Muzi Maluleke and Johnny Lucas
extends far beyond the Arnold stage, as they
also fought for top spot at the Millennium
Gold Plate earlier this year. Johnny was the
last man standing on that occasion, but this
time around it was the man fans call “The
Muz Monster” who nudged ahead to claim
the Men’s up to 85kg category.
With the bulk of athletes coming from the
Middle East and northern African region,
local athletes faced some serious competition
in the line-ups. Hats off to Corne van Niekerk
(2nd in the Juniors), Michael Atkinson
(2nd in the Master Physique line-up),
Morne van den Berg (2nd in Bodybuilding
up to 80kg) and Shanti Mitchell (2nd in
Bodybuilding over 100kg) for the quality