Written by Justin Miller
13 December 2020

 REDCON-GEORGE-PETERSON-RTO-Part-4

 George ‘Da Bull’ Peterson

Road To The Olympia, Part 4

The Time Is Now

 

By Justin Miller

 

I wrote my last article (part three) six weeks ago in early September when George Peterson III was 14 weeks out from the Mr. Olympia. Today is October 21st, 2020 and we are just over eight weeks out now. I went back to my notes and George was 228 pounds that morning, five weeks post Tampa Pro victory. George came by for a check-in today and looked great. He is clearly leaner and appears much bigger now than he did in the pictures and video from six weeks ago that I just watched before sitting down to write this.

           

Before sitting down to write part four, I decided to quickly reread part three. In the end of part three of this series, I wrote how George has had the greatest post-contest rebound and progress I’ve seen yet in him since his win. So, I decided to fact check a bit before writing this article. George has been dieting for a while now, so I found it interesting looking back that he had actually gained 2 pounds since that article because he is much leaner now. I also remember him being over 240, but I guess that was a couple of weeks later before we started his full-on Olympia prep. The statistical info backs up what I already knew in that George continues to add muscle even while dieting. Despite dieting for over a month now, George is heavier and leaner than he was six weeks ago.

           

This bit of research made me look back a bit further. I ended up going all the way back to five weeks before the 2019 Mr. Olympia. Looking at George today, I feel his condition was about equal to what he was five weeks prior to that contest where we filmed episode two of the New England Muscle Media YouTube series “Da Bull … The Best Is Yet To Come.” In that particular video, George weighed 205 pounds at five weeks out. We always got George down in weight and ready early, in order to prevent him from losing too much muscle while making his 192-pound Classic weight limit. We wanted the weight loss to be less dramatic at the end so that he could keep his muscle better for the stage. George is about three weeks ahead of that and 23 pounds bigger now, 14 months later at 230 pounds today.

 

20 Pounds of Muscle in One Year

           

So, George has added roughly 20 pounds of muscle in the last 14 months. A feat currently only matched by one other top pro in the IFBB. I can’t remember the last time a top-five IFBB athlete has added 20 pounds of muscle in one year. Dorian made a 15-pound jump from his 1992 Olympia win and his second win in 1993, but this kind of a leap in one year from a top pro is rare. In this crazy year we have two. The 212 division seems to be exploding with new talent. The IFBB Classic division has spawned a host of new successful 212 pros in 2020. In this past weekend’s Chicago Pro alone, three of the top six guys were former top Classic competitors. The 212 division is arguably the fasted-morphing division in the IFBB at the present time.

           

The 2020 Mr. Olympia lineup will have a much different look this year. With basically all the top guys from last year returning along with some of new blood, this has the makings of a very competitive and unpredictable show. Classic Olympians including George, Keone Pearson and Jason Lowe will join other newcomers like Bo Lewis, Derik Oslan and others who will all be making their first appearances in the 212 Olympia. This makes for an exciting mix of the new and the old for the showdown in the Las Vegas desert in December. At the forefront of this “changing of the guard” is George. A Classic Olympian who starved to make weight has now grown into a top of the weight limit 212 competitor, as well as a 212 Olympia front-runner. Both George and I embrace this position and are fully prepared for this coming battle.

           

The top 212 Olympia finalists see all this commotion and chatter going on and are out for blood, no doubt. Those guys don’t want to slip in their placings; in fact, they want to move up! The champ doesn’t want to give up his title so he is going to work harder to make sure that he is improved! This is what makes this 212 division so exciting and unpredictable right now. How will all these guys respond under pressure? Not only do they have to beat the guys from last year, but they also have top Classic Olympians bumping up adding 20 pounds of stage weight in one year … it’s unprecedented! It makes this division an intriguing one where the young hungry lions meet the savvy veterans of the 212 to see who is the best bodybuilder on Earth under 212 pounds.

 

Prepared for Battle

           

I feel like there was so much to say in the first three articles, but in this one it’s more basic and simpler. George and I respect all the other competitors and we know they are all great. My job as his coach is to have him prepared for this battle. Meaning to bring him in so good that even if all the other guys bring their all-time best, George still wins it. Now will that be an easy thing to do? Of course not, because all these guys are amazing! They are the best on planet Earth at what they do. George and I are ready for that challenge, however. Our experiences have brought us to this place and time. The job now is to go out and to get it done.

           

The talk and the hype leading up to the event will happen, fans will pick their favorites, and all the predictions/arguments will be made. At the end of the day, however, it comes down to execution. If we do what we need to do over these next eight weeks, good things will happen. George knows this, as do I. Four years ago, next month, I sat on an airplane with George flying home from Miami. We didn’t know exactly what his Overall Nationals win meant but we knew we were where we were supposed to be. We both clearly knew that this didn’t happen by accident. A guy doesn’t go from being retired just wanting to do one last amateur show to beating over 100 guys to become the first-ever National Champion is his division by mistake. The universe had larger plans here. It was something we both felt in our bones. What we have to do now is keep working hard while allowing the universe’s plan to evolve and manifest.

           

This may sound overly spiritual or something, but George and I both believe we came together in June 2016 at a chance workout in my home gym for a reason that was bigger than the both of us. As we flew home on that airplane, 180-pound George Peterson and I knew something cool was coming, but admittedly neither of us quite knew what it was. Four years later, we sit here eight weeks out of the 212 Mr. Olympia and George is 50 pounds heavier with striated glutes. OK, sure he’s holding a bit of water, but 18 pounds down from here the bodybuilding world is about to witness something special. Not because I’m so brilliant as a coach and not necessarily just because George is such an amazing athlete … but rather just because it was meant to be.

 

The Biggest Contest of Our Lives

           

We’ve come a long way in the four years since I started coaching George. Sure, George may have added somewhere around 40 pounds of muscle while growing everything except his waist, but more than that we’ve gone from the very bottom to the very top. From a retired amateur doing one last show to his fourth Olympia appearance and going in as one of the favorites. It’s been a crazy ride for us both. I never had an Olympian before George … we succeeded together. We became famous (in the bodybuilding world) together and we ride into the biggest contest of our lives together. The 2020 Olympia will be our 12th show. Twelve is a magical number for many reasons. The name of our team is Team 12. Named after a conversation I had in 1995 with my first athlete I ever coached, Ken Dubicki, a week before he passed away at 25 years old in a car accident. My first amateur competitor to compete in 2017 after officially naming our team, my friend Toza, drew the number 12 and ended up winning the Arnold Amateur Overall at that show. At George’s first Olympia in 2017 he drew number 12 as well. It is poetic that this would end up being our 12th show. Perhaps a subtle reminder of how far we’ve come and that we are where we are supposed to be at the appropriate time.

           

George has his own journey that has led him here and I as his coach have mine. 2020 has been a crazy year for everyone … crazy for the whole world. It’s a year none of us will ever forget. I lost my original coach, Bob Gruskin, who helped me for my very first show in 1994 after my mom had suddenly passed away at only 43 years old. He helped me win that show. He helped a hurting 21-year-old young man out who was reeling from the loss of his mother. He helped me elevate beyond the moment and reconnect to a deeper part inside. Bob lost his life in 2020 in his nursing home in New York. He was the greatest bodybuilding coach of all time. I carry his spirit with me as a coach. Maybe the greatest bodybuilding, as well as life, influencer in my time as a competitor was my dear friend Celina Martins. She also passed away in 2020. Celina was one of the best friends I ever had, and I never even had the chance to say goodbye. I learned she was no longer conscious the night we went out to celebrate George’s 2020 Tampa Pro victory.

           

For me, Celina’s memory, as well as the memories of friend and first athlete Kenny and my first coach Bob, are all somehow tied into this moment in time. Celina is the reason I started writing again after many years away. After her passing, I was inspired to do so and Muscular Development gave me the platform in this four-part series. The timing was right. If anyone considers me a good coach, it’s only because I stood on the shoulders of giants so that I could see. I’m honored to take George into the 2020 IFBB Mr. Olympia 212 battle. I also take with me the memories of Bob, Celina and Kenny. Somehow, reinforcing the belief that George and I are exactly where we are meant to be at the moment we are supposed to be, here in this crazy year of 2020.

 

This Is George’s Time

           

George Peterson III is great. He’s a great guy as well as a great athlete. It’s an honor for me to be on this ride with him. We know there are a lot of top competitors looking to win this Olympia title in the 212 division … but we both firmly believe that this is George’s time. In eight weeks, we get to complete our journey together from the bottom to the top. We started together at the bottom, but now we’re here. The time for talk is coming to an end. It’s the execution of our plans that will determine our destiny.

           

I’ve never trained anyone quite like GP3; he’s a special athlete. Besides being a great bodybuilder, George is also a true role model and a leader. I predict he will become a great champion and ambassador for our sport. When I think of the movie “Troy” and the part where the little boy says to Brad Pitt as he gets on his horse to go into battle, “This man you’re fighting, he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to fight him.” Brad Pitt looks at the kid and replies, “That’s why no one will remember your name” … the scene reminds me in some way of George. He has that indomitable spirit, strong, focused, fearless and confident. George knows he was brought here for a reason and he knows that his time is now. I know that bodybuilding history will remember his name.

 

IG: georgep_dabull

 

md 2 copy stack

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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