Written by Ron Harris
21 August 2020

 

 


STEEL-SUPPS-RUFFIN-FEATURE2-Slider 1 

 

Ruffin Ready!

Terrence Ruffin Is Poised to Make a Strong Run on the Classic Physique Olympia Title

 

Interview by Ron Harris

 

We already knew Terrence “Ruff Diesel” Ruffin was the best poser in Classic Physique, but presentation is only part of the puzzle. I’ve been impressed with his structure and lines for a couple of years now, but felt he needed more size. At the 2020 Arnold Classic, Terrence served notice that he was a lot more than merely a dazzling entertainer. Showing more mass and fullness along with deeply hewn cuts, he pushed eventual winner Alex Cambronero to the wire. At just 26 years old, Terrence is on track to become one of the biggest stars in the Classic Physique division. I spoke with him in late June, as most states were coming out of quarantine, to check up on the young man who is now in the conversation when we discuss favorites for the upcoming Classic Physique Olympia in December.

 

Let’s start with what was your fourth pro win in Niagara Falls last November. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was surprised you did that show, considering you had been out of action for the entire 2019 season. Why did you jump into the Niagara show?

           

My plan after the 2018 Olympia was to take all of 2019 off and return at the 2020 Arnold with major improvements. Then in May, my coach Matt Porter suddenly passed away. That threw me into disarray for a while. I was training infrequently and I wasn’t on a meal plan. Then I linked up with my new coach John Meadows, and I knew I wanted to get back into it. I knew the easiest way for me to get back to 100 percent was to compete. My biggest fear is coming into a show and not being ready. So we looked at the calendar, and Niagara made sense. It also qualified me for the 2020 Olympia.

           

Next up was the Arnold Classic, which was a breakout show for you. Your stock rose after that contest. The funny thing is, that was supposed to be an easy win for the 2019 runner-up, Steve Laureus. But from the first callout, it was clear to me the show would come down to you and Alex Cambronero. It was so close! Did you ever see the scores to see how close it was on paper?

           

I never did. I spoke to Tim Gardner, who was judging, and he said that from his perspective, Alex won the judging and I won the finals.

           

I’d say that was based on your posing, because the Arnold Classic events are the only shows where posing is scored. But then I remember, it’s only for the Open men.

           

Yeah, that doesn’t make sense. Posing and presentation is such an integral part of the Classic Physique division that you would think it would be judged for us.

           

My guess would be it’s because Classic guys do tend to already put plenty of time and effort into posing, whereas the Open guys often get lazy and need an incentive. They will hit eight crab shots and peace out. Did you get feedback from any other judges?

 

Really just Tim, who also told me I was flat in the judging and fixed it for the night show, and Tyler Manion. Tyler told me I needed to bring up my back a little bit and hit my side chest pose differently.

           

We all had plans for 2020 that were put on hold or cancelled due to COVID-19. What were your plans that got messed up?

 

The Arnold was supposed to be the kick-start for my year. I had guest-posing appearances booked every other weekend from then into the summer. Also, I had been invited to Athleticon, which was postponed until next year. Hopefully I can get into that again. Another thing I was looking forward to was branching out from posing at bodybuilding shows to other arenas. There is a series of events called RAW Artists, which features musicians and a variety of different types of artists and performers. I was set to be part of the events they were holding in Orlando and Miami. Those would have been a great opportunity to expand our audience and show people what bodybuilding is all about and what it can be, artistic and cool. Those were cancelled.

           

The real question is, how was your training affected by the quarantine and shutdowns?

 

In the beginning, I was fine. I get to train with Joe Bennett aka The Hypertrophy Coach, and he coaches Dave Bautista. Dave has his own gym here in Tampa, and for the first two weeks of quarantine he was cool with everyone training there. Then things got more serious, and he decided to limit that to only the trainers and his personal assistant. I had to figure something out fast, so I rented a storage unit and spent about four grand on a Smith machine, T-bar row, hack squat, and some other equipment for my own little gym. I only trained there a little over a month before gyms in Florida started opening up again, so now I’m working on selling all of it. I don’t have room for it where I live, and I don’t want to keep paying the storage fees every month. Training in there wasn’t the same, even though the equipment was fine. There were no windows, and it would get hot in there after a while.

           

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Joe Bennet. What’s he like as a trainer?

 

Joe is all about the execution of the exercises. The first thing he did when we started working together was fix my form. He’s also all about progressive overload. Joe has trained some of the best people in the game, like Flex Lewis, Dallas McCarver, Luke Sandoe and George Peterson, plus plenty of high-caliber athletes in other sports. My physique really took off in the fall of 2018 when I moved to Tampa and started working with Joe. My next two shows after that were Niagara Falls and the Arnold, so it’s been going really well.

 

Are you much stronger now as well?

 

Oh definitely. Hunter Labrada came down here and trained at my gym not too long ago. He’s a little stronger than me, but we’re pretty close and he had almost 100 pounds on me. I know bodybuilding isn’t all about the weight you lift, but I still take pride in being pretty strong on a lot of stuff. I got to train with Luke not too long before he passed at the Redcon1 gym in Boca. He was way stronger than me. I would be on my heaviest set and he would still be warming up with that like it was nothing. He took me down a couple of notches! But I like training with super strong guys. It motivates me.

           

I saw you knocking out reps on the Hammer Strength incline press on your Instagram a few days ago with five plates on each side. You can’t weigh much more than 200 pounds right now, am I right?

 

I’m right around 185. My legs are pretty strong. I can do seven plates on the hack squat, and a couple of years ago when I was squatting more often, I did 455 for six at 180 pounds. A friend of mine told me I should try powerlifting, and I might do it one day just for fun.

           

Are you good at all three lifts?

 

I’m good at bench pressing and squatting, but I’ve never done enough deadlifts to even know how strong I could be.

           

You have also been staying very lean since the Arnold. Is that intentional?

 

Yes and no. With everything going on, John was nervous with the gym situation, so we were just kind of maintaining. We’re gonna do a growth phase now and try to get up to 195 before I start cutting down. I’ve been competing for eight years now, and as I get older, I seem to stay leaner and leaner. It’s not because I eat clean all the time. I still eat whatever I want a few times a week. Every year, I have to do less and less cardio in my prep and I can eat more food. I couldn’t tell you why.

 

My best guess would be that you’ve been adding muscle mass, which burns more calories at rest. Getting back to your coach, John Meadows, he had a heart attack in May. I’m sure you were deeply concerned.

 

The weird thing was that it was almost a year later to the day from when Matt passed. It broke me down a bit. I just kind of sat around and didn’t do anything until I found out he was going to be OK. I was so happy to see him able to get back to training and playing with his kids a couple of weeks later. John is such an awesome guy. I’ve known him for six years and I’ve always had so much respect for him.

           

I know you weighed in at 174.8 for the Arnold, which means you’re maxed out at the weight limit for Classic for your height. Some would say you can’t improve anymore because you can’t get any heavier. Others like Giles Thomas point to past greats like Shawn Ray, who did improve throughout his pro career without his scale weight changing much. Are you confident you can get better at 175?

           

I remember saying in an older interview that Breon couldn’t possibly get any better because his weight was maxed out, but Breon proved me wrong on that. Look at George Peterson. He was also able to improve while continuing to somehow make weight every time. At the last Olympia, he was incredible. Remember, he would be peeled at six or eight weeks out at around 210, but somehow he got down to 192 all those times. I’ve never had to struggle or suck down to make weight yet, so that tells me I can put on another 5 to 7 pounds of muscle before I need to worry.

           

Speaking of worry, Classic has already lost George and Keone Pearson to the 212 division. Can I get your assurance that you will at least remain in Classic for another year or two?

           

Yes, I enjoy Classic and right now it’s the perfect fit for me. I haven’t done anywhere near as much in Classic as I want to. Look at Flex Lewis. He could have moved up to Open a long time ago, probably when William Bonac did, but he stayed in the 212 and made his mark first. I’d love to stay in Classic and do the same thing. I still haven’t been in the top five at the Olympia or won the Arnold. I have a lot to prove and accomplish in Classic before I think about moving to 212.

           

People still talk about your “Survivor” posing routine at the 2018 Toronto Pro, which was breathtaking. That was the only time you ever did that routine in a contest. Do you ever feel like a rock star that the crowd always yells at to do his big hit song from 20 years ago? Do you want to top that routine, so the fans stop talking about it?

           

I do! I’m so happy and flattered that so many people loved that routine, but I don’t want it to be the best routine I ever do in my entire career. I’ve done six other routines since then, and I liked the one I did at the Arnold a little better, personally. Sometimes I think about Kai Greene. People still talk about his “Dirty Diana” routine, but I don’t feel like that takes away from all the other fantastic, creative routines he has done. I’m fine with people liking the “Survivor” routine, but I do want to top it. It’s funny, I had a little anxiety after that show because that routine did so well, I was worried people wouldn’t like whatever I came up with next. Luckily, they did.

           

What goes through your head when you hear guys say they make up their routines right there on stage?

           

It’s not too different from performance art, dancers and musicians when they freestyle. It’s never as good as something they planned and rehearsed. Even if someone is a good poser, I guarantee their routine would be better if they put it together and practiced. Kevin Levrone says he never put a routine together ahead of time. He had good routines. But look at someone like Lee Labrada, who did compose and practice his. You can look at those routines 25 years later on YouTube, and still say, “wow!”

           

How did you become part of Steel Supplements, owned by USA champion and IFBB Pro Jason Huh?

           

I knew his younger brother Paul, who has mixed some of my posing music. Paul came down to MI40 Gym in Tampa to train with 212 pro Cody Drobot, who is a friend of mine. We hung out and talked for a while. I had been watching the company for some time. I like to see what they’re all about, from the people who run it to the products. This might sound rude, but one reason I finally reached out to them was that I respected the fact that they dropped Jeremy Buendia when the scandal came out about him. That made me see these guys weren’t just all about the money. They have values, and they stick to them. I appreciate that. We started talking, and now I’m part of the team. Another cool thing about the company is that they were already about 90 minutes away from me in Florida. It’s always good to be able to visit the company you work for in person whenever possible.

           

Here we are, with the Olympia exactly six months away as we speak. That’s a long time, so what’s your plan?

           

I went over that with John not three days ago. We’ll be putting on some muscle over the next six weeks, with the goal of getting to 195 pounds. I want to hold that for four weeks, and then start my 16-week prep for the Olympia. I’ve been training arms with Joe every Saturday because that’s been a focus of mine, but at 16 weeks out I will start training with him every day. I’m really excited. I wish it was still in September so it would get here sooner, but it is what it is. I’ve never been in the top five before, and I don’t think too many people ever talked about me as possibly being able to win the show eventually, so I am pumped to show everyone what I’m capable of.

 

Contest History

2014 NPC Nationals                              

Lightweight Winner

 

2016 Dayana Cadeau Pro

Second, Classic

 

2016 Kentucky Pro

Classic Winner

 

2016 Tampa Pro

Classic Winner

 

2016 Classic Physique Olympia

Ninth Place

 

2017 Classic Physique Olympia

Sixth Place

 

2018 Toronto Pro

Classic Winner

 

2018 Classic Physique Olympia

Ninth Place

 

2019 Niagara Falls Pro

Classic Winner

 

2020 Arnold Classic

Second, Classic

 

Terrence’s Steel Supplements Stack

Adabolic
Pumped-AF
Whey-Iso
Veg-Pro
Shredded-AF (pre-contest)

 

For more information, visit steelsupplements.com

 

Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. FacebookInstagram

 

 

 

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