As everyone knows, this past weekend was the Arnold Fitness Festival and, more specifically for bodybuilding fans, The Arnold Classic Pro Bodybuilding Championships. When I set out for Columbus this year, I had many goals, but my main one was to get to the bottom of what's going on with Kai Greene. He's been one of my favorite bodybuilders for several years now, and when I recently heard he was no longer working with long-time friend and mentor Oscar Ardon, and has instead decided to work with prep coach George Farah, I became concerned. It wasn't because Farah is a bad prep coach/guru, it was because I felt that Oscar and Kai worked well together, and maybe more than that. In the least, their story is compelling. Oscar met Kai in the gym when he was just a kid, still living in a group home. They would drive together as teenagers in Oscar's car listening to the Conan movie sound track and. And years later, their friendship helped Kai achieve the pinnacle of the sport they both loved so much. It certainly is a compelling story! I hated to see it end; so did many others. Being the nosey yenta that I am, I called Oscar to find out what happened.
I think there is no question that the Men 202 Division has been huge success as far as interest, competition, and popularity goes. There have been many shows that I attended last year where the 202 portion of the show was the premier event. When asked, I'm sure most of the athletes consider the division to be a success, as well. That is, with the exception of one small item. When it comes to prize money and potential sponsorship dollars, there's still a huge disparity from the Open division to the 202. Unfortunately for the 202 Division, these last two reasons may cause some top 202 bodybuilders to move into the Open division in 2011.
This morning I received a distressing text message from my good friend Oscar Arden. Oscar is a Guru who's best known for training Kai Greene to 2 consecutive Arnold Classic championships. He's also currently working with Victor Martinez for his return to action at the 2011 Arnold Classic. Here's a portion of the text, in his own words, describing what happened:
"I fell Wednesday night on the ice after coming home from training Victor. I fell in front of my house and tore my right quad off the bone."
Chulsey Graham Rest In Peace
Showstopper Invades LA
Ben "The Showstopper" White is a little more than 3 weeks away from invading the Santa Monica Civic Center Auditorium. Last season, Ben proved that he's for real by winning the Tim Gardner's IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Tampa Pro and placing a controversial 3nd a week later at Ed and Betty Pariso's IFBB Europa Battle of Champions. In essence, Ben qualified twice in 2 weeks for the 2010 Olympia. As we all know, Ben made the decision to forgo the Olympia to focus on gaining muscle and competing in the World's Strongest Bodybuilder Contest. Since he was able to start bulking up right after his last stage appearance, Ben had a tremendous jump on adding new muscle. "By skipping the O, I have had a chance to gain more muscle and make more gains than any other off-season since I began bodybuilding," says White.
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