This month I'm going to give you a couple stories about what it used to be like to party with me. I'm also going to give you what I really think about on today's "conditioning problem" in bodybuilding. I'll give you what I think needs to be done to fix this problem within our sport today. So let's get to it!
Training for the 99' Olympia was amazing for me and it was the first Olympia where I wanted to really change my routine. I had to change my music and a few moves. So I started going to Vegas on a weekly basis and stayed at the Luxor. I made good connections with a real cool promoter. I would always be dancing and posing, controlling the crowd and just having a good time. The 99' Olympia 
was the best Olympia for me at the time. I felt great and I looked awesome. But as soon as I got off the stage I was in serious party mode. To me I felt like I was at the end of my rope from the pressure of the fans and judges. I was the guy who had to live up to the superhero standard. Let me tell you; you got a lot of people counting on you at these shows. Between companies, how you're portrayed in magazines, the intimidation factor with the other competitors; it was just a lot. To put it in perspective I was getting ready for the Olympia against Shawn, Flex, Nasser and all those dudes. No offense to the cats nowadays at the Olympia but today's Olympia top ten couldn't compare to the top ten back in the glory days. The 99' Olympia was my "coming out" party. When I partied it was just to let go, get in the zone and have fun. I miss partying like that. I ended up having some good times behind closed doors. When the competition was over and I got to the club, I really started to dance and have a good time. So after the big show in 99' I had an entourage of 25 people and we get into the limo and went out to a club. All my boys, Paul Dillet, all the Met-Rx guys, and all the club promoters were there. Then something told me to go up on the stage. The next thing I know my clothes came off and I remember some of the photos from it. Basically, pants down to my ankles and underwear rolled down to the bottom of my cheeks. I was going nuts. The club owner was down there giving me the eye and making sure nothing got out of hand and I wasn't getting mobbed by people. I look back on this and I can't help but think "Wow I've seen and done some crazy shit in my clubbing' days"! I met a lot of people. And met a lot of people lying on my back tired as hell from dancing! I would be like "Hey, how you doing man?" lying in my underwear soaking wet. I've gone to the bathroom in dark places, seen girls getting totally naked and getting it on. At this particular after party my boys saw these girls making out and were like "We got to go!" and I was like "Fuck no, we have to watch this"! A lot of this happened at the Arnold and Olympia after-parties. People had clothes off and doing all kinds of dirty stuff. Until you have seen after-parties after the Arnold and Olympia it's hard to imagine bodybuilders getting down like that, but bodybuilders like to have fun and I can verify that. I was at a nude beach in Greece one time and was up on these rocks and the whole club (it was an outdoor club) was watching. That was crazy stuff. Around that time I was winning so the celebration wasn't stopping. I had a lot of fun. Now I've toned it down, you know. I don't want to be the old guy in the club partying with all the young bucks.
Conditioning or a lack thereof.
I think about the old days a lot nowadays. Back when I competed it was just so special. I look at guys today and a lot have serious potential but one thing is always consistent with today's guys. Nobody is in shape! There might be that one guy. But otherwise it's like there's no such thing as conditioning! When I competed, Shawn, Dorian, Nasser, Flex or whoever had a protocol to get ready for a show. We had cardio, training and the other stuff that comes along with it and we would always be ready. In my day if you didn't have striations in your legs you weren't in shape. PERIOD! If you weren't looking like an anatomy chart, you weren't in shape! Why aren't these guys today in shape? I think it has to do with insulin, overeating, too much juice, and all the above. I'm not going to sit here and pretend these issues don't exist, because they do! The shit guys are taking and how much of it is crazy! Amateurs are worse than the pros a lot of times! When people started sticking themselves with crazy shit and considering themselves hardcore bodybuilders was when they started to come in with worse and worse shape. If you're going to do a show then you have to do it with pride. Just put it this way, I'm not proud of how guys look today. My clients won't ever look the way a typical bodybuilder looks. They'll always in shape. They're at least going to have the trademark lines and shape with no bloated stomach. And, as always, their posing will be on point. When you have a subjective sport like ours it leaves room for the clear cut winner to lose. And that's a huge downfall. You can take a guy that has it all: lines, shape and clear cut muscle bellies and he'll get fourth; and a lesser guy will win. I don't know where this attitude came from where guys think you can eat whatever the fuck you want and get away with it but man, it's crazy! I mean look at Kai. If he were to just be super shredded and keep his waist tight he'd walk away with the Olympia title! That's all he has to do! The dude has muscle like nobody's business, and cuts that are deep! But they aren't deep if you aren't in condition! These guys need to look at themselves and say man I don't want to look like this anymore, it's not a good look. But when is it going to change? You have to look at it and ask where are the criteria? Who puts the criteria together? Shawn Ray use to be a big fan of the quote "It starts with the judges"! And it couldn't fit any better on this subject. People are going to keep disappearing for whatever reasons. Health goes, people come and go, and people get upset with the judges. My biggest thing I want you all to know is this: You can make your stay in this sport last longer if you're just healthy with it!
What I really think about the Men's Physique Division.
There's a lot of talk and making fun of the new mens physique division. Well I can tell you that it's only here because people are upset with the way bodybuilders are looking. It's the same with the new womens physique division. They are both a toned down version of bodybuilding. Why not just tone down bodybuilding and call it cool? Take a girl like Anja Langer. I was a huge fan of her. She had the face, body, walk, great calves. Girls like that should be the top notch. They should be the ones winning shows. I don't know how you train for a physique show; whether you run in place, do fast reps, or whatever, but it's cool because it's an attainable look. It may bring on more sponsors because it's more of an acceptable look, and in turn it will bring more money in for the promoters. I hope it doesn't get to the point where shows are bikini and physique only. I don't want bodybuilding to be obsolete. I don't think anyone wants that. But I think it was necessary for these divisions to be brought in. Maybe these new physique divisions with both women and men will help change the criteria in bodybuilding. Who knows?
All you guys keep on with the questions even if I don't answer them on the forum. Keep them coming and let's have some fun with it! It's like therapy for me. I'm enjoying it. Remember to contact me [email protected] for any questions or any about prep or whatever. And my YouTube channel under my name Chris Cormier.
