Anytime you win a championship at any given sporting event in three successive years, you have to be doing something right. And on May 8th at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York City, Canada's Cathy Lefrancois flexed her way to victory at the New York Pro Championships - a result she had also captured in 2008 and 2009.
Playing the role of the little engine that could, Lefrancois' win is a triumph for her on several levels. Competing in a field of 13 contestants, she was, as usual, was one of the smaller entrants. But she was also one of the most complete. And she does a lot of things right.
What's up Rx Muscle? My name is Scott Siegel, you might recognize me from the movie "The Wrester" starring Mickey Roarke. I'm the guy in the locker room scene selling him "juice."
I'm also the guy, who in real life, was charged in federal court with "possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids," as well as aggravated assault on federal agents. I'm currently serving a term of 63 months in federal prison.
The contest season is finally in full swing and the Rx Muscle crew has our laptops charged and bags packed as we hit the road to bring the best contest reporting in the industry. Our coverage is expanding and this Saturday we will be attending the 2010 NPC Pittsburgh & IFBB Pittsburgh Figure and Bikini Championships for the first time. NPC President Jim Manion holds this annual event and it always proves to be as competitive as a national-level show. With the rescheduling of the NPC Jr. USA, the Pittsburgh is now the holy grail of the spring season. The overall titles carry prestige and quite often lead to IFBB Pro Cards later in the year. The 2009 NPC Pittsburgh saw SEVEN future pros take the stage including the overall winners of men's bodybuilding (Seth Feroce), figure (Andrea Watson), and Bikini (Jaime Baird).
Roman Fritz just turned 22 years old and he's won every single bodybuilding competition he's ever entered! His lines are incredible and he has gained close to 30 pounds of lean mass in the last 12 months. Really!?!?! After a long delay, and many missed opportunities of trying to reach him, I finally managed to catch up with this German phenomenon and what followed is this very candid interview...
It's been three weeks since I last sat down and aimlessly typed down some feelings and thoughts that overcame me in the wake of a tremendous day for both physical and personal accomplishment. That last little vignette was met with great applause and appreciation that I never expected nor sought. I put my feelings down on paper and for some reason I've not yet figured out, I put it in an email and exposed my real sentiment and emotion; something rarely done in our ego-driven and necessarily selfish industry. As I laid in the Emergency Room only hours after writing that first piece, I began to get some emails and texts saying. "I loved your article." It didn't totally register until I got home that evening and saw the response on the forums. There was no hate, no attacks, no negativity; every bodybuilder that decided to comment had related to what I wrote
