George ‘Da Bull’ Peterson

Road to the Olympia, Part 2

An Object in Motion

By Justin Miller

Isaac Newton stated in his famous Newton’s first law, “an object in motion tends to remain in motion.” George Peterson is not only currently in motion, but he has the momentum of a runaway train! Can anybody stop him for the upcoming 2020 Mr. Olympia in the IFBB 212 division? If you are asking me that question, then my answer would be a resounding NO. Since I am his coach, I guess you could argue that I’m also a bit biased. Writing as a witness to history though, I will still say that the answer is no, I don’t believe any competitor will stand between George and that 212 Olympia title in December. From my perspective and knowing what I know, I simply feel George just has too much momentum.

George and I are currently on a run doing something unique in the sport. We have been working together, growing together, and learning together for the last 11 shows dating back to 2016. What is unique is the fact that since the Mr. Olympia in 2017 (three years ago now), George has showed up for each contest vastly improved from the show before. Usually when an athlete is top three in the world there is a natural tendency to move down in either stage quality or in placing. The ones who continue to improve obviously usually go on to become Olympia champions. The interesting thing about George is that he has steadily improved with every show since the 2017 Olympia, yet has not yet coveted the sport’s greatest title. We both know, however, that continual improvement leads to the top of the mountain he is looking to climb.

George weighed 185 pounds onstage at the 2017 Olympia where he got the bronze medal. George weighed 192 pounds a year later with no drop off in condition at the 2018 Olympia, where he again captured his second Olympia bronze. For his 2019 Arnold Classic victory George weighed 197l pounds on stage, with the best stage conditioning of his life to date. Six months later at the 2019 Olympia, George brought a 198-pound package to the stage that blew away his 2019 Arnold winning look. Despite being only one pound heavier than at the Arnold Classic earlier that year, George brought a level of conditioning and muscularity to the 2019 Olympia he had never had before in his life. As I write this, it’s only been two weeks since George’s 212 debut at the 2020 Tampa Pro. You may be wondering how that went, but using Newton’s law we already should know the answer. George is an object in motion.

The Art of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is an obscure sport that many refer to as a science. I consider it more of an art because while bodybuilders and coaches must use detailed and specific scientific information, the human body is incredibly complex. You may have the perfect plan but if the body has other ideas, you can take your plan and throw it out the window. I believe great coaches operate with the ability to adapt and change quickly. I tend to view bodybuilding as more of an art form than a science, but obviously it has elements of both.

The thing about bodybuilding (like most sports) is that sometimes our best plans don’t work out. I hate to say it like that and sound negative, but this is just how it is. That’s how life is. The fact that George and I are currently in this groove of improvement together is a rare thing. I am grateful for our success thus far and I hope it lasts long enough to get this special man an Olympia title, because nobody deserves it more than George does. He has earned every bit of success and momentum that he has right now. Despite our run of success together, this ride here was a bumpy learning experience for us both the whole way.

George and I knew the odds were stacked against us at the 2017 Olympia after the crazy journey we had to take to get there. We also knew that his best was coming, so we stayed the course and kept it simple. We knew George had to go in there and out-condition everybody. We weren’t training to win per se. Rather, the objective for George at that time was to simply be the best that he could be. I feel in most cases thinking this way, being a creator instead of a competitor, is a healthier mindset for most athletes to thrive under. It’s a 100 percent controllable goal and tends to take stress and anxiety away, which is a major key to success in bodybuilding. Our focus was on bringing his best and most conditioned look to date. When you focus on being the best YOU can be, that is usually when your best shows up. George Peterson III’s best showed up at the 2017 IFBB Classic Physique Olympia, earning him the Olympia bronze medal in his rookie year as a pro.

5 Extra Pounds and a Year to Improve

With seven shows in 11 months from October of 2016 to September of 2017, George had earned himself some much-needed rest and relaxation. That turned out to be all of two days! We were back at the gym that Monday in prep for the 2018 Mr. Olympia. Later that year the IFBB raised the Classic weight limit for pros up 5 pounds. The new limit was 192 as opposed to 187 for George. This was huge for George and we were both excited to hear it. It may not sound like a lot, but it meant that George could lose 5 pounds less muscle, and 5 pounds of quality stage weight muscle is worth its weight in gold to a bodybuilder.

With 5 extra pounds and a whole year off to improve, George and I knew it was on! We kept the same mindset – let’s just focus on being great as opposed to focusing on winning. Winning is a subjective thing that can be taken away from you, but nobody can ever take being great away from you. So that’s what we focused on. We wanted anyone who saw that Olympia to come away saying George Peterson was great! George showed up 7 pounds heavier on the 2018 Olympia stage than he did the year before, with the same condition. He was great, no question! The only problem was that he wasn’t great enough to win. He was improved but we also learned some lessons here. Not a bad year in the end: a repeat performance of an Olympia bronze medal in George’s second year as a pro. In the IFBB’s most rapidly evolving division, nobody had evolved more than the top three, as they ended up being the same competitors as at the 2017 Classic Physique Olympia, and in the same order.

We were happy to be top three in the world twice, but not satisfied. Although George looked good, we also knew with some small tweaks he would look much better next time. When I say “tweaks,” I mean some changes in how we were doing the dehydration/rehydration process for weigh-ins and filling back up. When making a weight class in bodybuilding, your attention can get divided between looking great and weighing in. You have to be a professional and make weight, but the trick is doing so while looking your best on stage 18, 24, 48 hours later, or whenever it is. It adds another element to the game as it’s almost like having to peak an athlete twice, first for the weigh-in and secondly for the show itself. The more muscle a competitor needs to lose to make weight, the trickier it becomes. We both felt with some learned lessons applied that his best was coming. With the 2019 Olympia a long way away and George feeling fresh mentally as well as physically, what would come next was a signature win for George.

Let’s Do the Arnold!

During a workout, in between sets I jokingly said to George, “Hey, we should test out our new peaking ideas we were discussing at the Arnold.” We had discussed some ideas of how to rehydrate more effectively post weigh-in to bring more pop to the stage. George kind of chuckled a bit and said “Yeah, maybe,” and it was left there. Later in the workout George brought it back up again saying, “I would be open to doing the Arnold if you want.” We ended up kicking the idea around for days and weighing out pros and cons over dinner post-workout one night later that week. The conclusion was yes, let’s do the Arnold! He felt fresh mentally and physically from the previous year off, so we figured why not, let’s go! Competing doesn’t last forever, and professional sports have a shelf life, so we both agreed we might as well seize the day and grab that 2019 Arnold Classic trophy in Classic Physique.

This was an interesting show for many reasons. We both knew nobody had seen George’s best yet, so that was a big motivation. Showing a vastly improved version of George was our goal. We felt that doing the Arnold could bring him some more popularity, especially if he won. The poor guy was now top three in the Olympia for the last two years straight yet had no sponsor (pre-Redcon1 days), and a win there would also build on his momentum heading into the 2019 Olympia. George would be going in as the clear favorite, which was a new perspective for us. This was the show that would force George and I to rethink our approach. I asked George, “If you show up at your best here and look amazing and we come home on the plane with second place, will you be happy?” George looked at me and said, “Hell no! I’m not going there for second place, coach. I’m going there to win!” This is the show when I knew our whole mental approach was about to make a shift.

Like George, I did not want to fly home from Columbus with second place. The two favorites would end up being from Bev Francis Powerhouse Gym and formerly on the same team with the same coach … me. This one had the makings to be something great and we all knew it. I knew George’s talent and focus. I coached Steve Laureus to his first NPC win, earning his pro card and winning his first pro show in our first three shows together. I knew how good Steve could be. I knew if a motivated Steve showed up at his all-time best, he could be a challenge. It was my job to make sure that George was ready for anybody’s best in case it showed up.

The Biggest Threat

As fate would have it, the biggest threat showed up at his all-time best. The good news was that I brought George in fully prepared. He was dry and full. He was focused. He was ready! George was 5 pounds heavier on stage at the Arnold prejudging from what he had been on the Olympia stage less than six months earlier and with better conditioning. Steve would show up on the money and at his best. I knew we were about to see a battle that would end up making both these guys more famous and draw more eyes to the IFBB Classic Physique division. A battle George would ultimately win.

The prejudging was almost over. I yelled, “George, get ready!” because I knew this was about to end with a final two-man callout any second. He heard me and gave me a wink because he knew. George’s mind was fully prepared for this moment as it had been rehearsed between us many times before. Despite the friendly stage personality who was aware of all his surroundings including the audience, George was also 100 percent ready to battle for this win. The two men were called back out, and George walked quickly and confidently to center stage taking control of the moment. George’s strengths became clearer when it was just the two of these great athletes standing there comparing shots. Steve looked fantastic here, but the superior bodybuilder on this day was George. His muscle density, his condition and his presentation jumped off the stage. The better bodybuilder ended up winning in a historic battle. It was a memorable moment!

“Justin, we did it!”

George and I had started together in June of 2016 to set out to do one more amateur show before he settled back into retirement. Now I sat there in the audience as they handed George his first-place check and award at the Arnold Classic. It was a surreal moment. All of a sudden George screamed out from on stage very loudly and animated, “Justin, we did it!” Not two seconds later he stood back up totally composed, shaking Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hand while he congratulated George on his victory. This was a historic and crowning achievement in both of our careers, a special moment and memory we knew we would share for the rest of our lives.

George and I both talked about winning that Arnold title many times prior to it happening. We talked about how we needed to take the time to celebrate it after we achieved it and to fully appreciate the moment. That was our plan and it was clear. It’s funny how you get someplace and all of a sudden, the plans you made just go right out the window. As soon as we left that auditorium at the Arnold our conversation and focus immediately shifted to winning the 2019 Olympia. George had gotten top three at his first two Mr. Olympia contests, which is of course a great achievement. But to be honest, by this time we had both had enough of that. We had reached a point in our journey together where the focus had organically shifted to winning titles.

By March of 2019 George and I knew how it felt to win in the IFBB. We also knew how it felt to take second, and third. By this time, we had experienced all three of these places in pro contests a couple of times each, and we were well aware of the differences between them. Taking third at the 2019 Olympia was not our goal, nor was second place. We wanted to win. Ultimately all that is in an athlete’s control is how well they prepare and how well they show up. We both believed that George’s best would win him an Olympia title, but we were both wrong in that belief, at least for that show. George’s level he had achieved previously at the 2019 Arnold was high, but the 2019 Olympia level killed that by a mile. This was clearly his best ever, but despite that it was also clear that this wasn’t to be his day or his time.

Best Bodybuilder on the Stage

George ended up competing in the 2019 Olympia vastly improved, and he was the best bodybuilder on the stage. This can be debated although it was crystal clear to me. George was the superior bodybuilder in the 2019 Classic Olympia lineup, but George was also unfortunately the third-best Classic Physique competitor at the 2019 Olympia. In a three-way battle that showcased three different looks, the outcome helped play a big role in the future of George’s career. The best bodybuilder in this lineup wasn’t the best Classic Physique competitor. An Olympia bronze medal for the third year in a row was the outcome. Caught in an interesting position seemingly between categories and judging criteria as a sort of hybrid athlete, George Peterson III was at a crossroads in his career and he was forced to make a choice. Does he focus on getting more “Classic” to beat the Classic guys, or does he take the 20-pound weight increase, just get more jacked and become a great 212 bodybuilder?

Winning an Olympia Title

George and I ultimately decided his best path to an Olympia title would be as a bodybuilder in the IFBB 212 division. Switching to 212 would mean George could stop losing muscle and instead do what his body naturally wants to do, grow! With a weight limit increase from 192 to 212, we knew it would give George the opportunity to be his best and provide him with more room to improve. Switching to 212 bodybuilding would also mean he would be subject to a more standard judging criteria with all eight mandatory poses where the best pure bodybuilder wins. We knew all four mandatory poses in bodybuilding that aren’t in Classic (front and back lat spreads, side triceps and most muscular poses) are all strong poses for George and that 20 pounds of additional stage weight would really open things up to unleash a new level. He could grow and improve with this category. Improving with every show would now still be a possibility. It was a no-brainer and truth be told, we knew where life was taking us before we left Las Vegas.

Classic may be many things to many people. It’s an ideal. For George Peterson, Classic is, and always will be, an ideal. A tight waist, a classic flow, an aesthetic look with a great conditioning and great presentation all come to mind. Classic got George back onto the competitive stage again. It brought him a national title as an amateur and lots of success as a pro. There always comes a time in sports, as well as in life, where we all need to grow, move on, and evolve. For George, the 2019 Olympia marked that time and place. We realized there that if George ever wanted to win the sport’s most coveted title, then he was going to have to evolve. A division jump was necessary for George to win an Olympia title.

Redcon1 Stack

Upon Waking 

Double Tap powder, 1 scoop 

With Breakfast 

GI Juice, 1 scoop

Pre-Workout

Total War, Big Noise and MOAB all together, 1 scoop each

Post-Workout

Breach, 2 scoops

Middle of the Day

Double Tap caps, 3 capsules 

Evening

Silencer, 3 capsules 

Before Bed

Fade Out, 1 scoop

For more information, visit redcon1.com

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