Thanks for the compliments. They're always appreciated. I have kept a lot tighter on my diet in the off-season this year and stayed stricter with my cardio. By that I mean my cardio has been intense enough to be burning fat constantly. For a lot of years I didn't really put a lot of effort into my cardio in the off-season. I would always do it, but I was basically just on the machine and taking it pretty easy. I would be talking on my phone the whole time. Now that I'm getting older (I turned 37 in August), I find that doesn't cut it anymore. I need to sweat and get my heart rate up for cardio to be effective.

            As for my diet for the Olympia I started out leaner than ever at 6.5 percent. (Read my Road to the Olympia section at the end of this to find out what happened with the GNC show.) My body fat was 2.3 percent at the Arnold this past spring and I always like to be close to two percent. That's where I'm just crazy peeled and no one can talk shit about me being off or whatnot. Getting under two percent is something I have never done yet, but it would be awesome, assuming I could keep all my size and fullness in the process.  Right now, I'm on track to be my biggest and leanest ever at the Olympia. My lean body mass is 261 pounds. I had my body fat checked the other day and it was five percent at seven weeks out from the O. That's where I was five weeks out from the Arnold, so I'm ahead of schedule. 

            Getting back to the body fat percentage, people love to argue about how the numbers aren't always accurate. But if the numbers are off by one or two percent, who cares? The judges don't get up on stage with Fat Calipers, they are going entirely by what they see in front of them. So I use the body fat readings as a gauge and nothing more, just to see if I'm staying the same or losing fat. I do go by the mirror, and the areas I focus on are my quads, hams, lower back and lats, in general. When all those are dialed in and detailed, I know I am ready to take on anybody in the sport. I am never one of those guys (and they know who they are) who go around thinking they're shredded because their trainer tested them at some real low body fat percentage. What you see is what you get in bodybuilding, and if you can't see all the cuts, you aren't in shape no matter what your body fat test comes out looking like.

            I have started working out abs two times a week in the gym. I've never really worked them out, so I figured it might help me tighten up. I'm already doing cardio in the morning so I would think it has to help cut down body fat around the stomach. I want it to get flat and tighten. Will doing abs help this? I see some weightlifters in the gym who are fat, but have abs on top of it and I don't ever want that. Can working out abs cut down weight in that area? I'm doing one exercise for the top (like crunch machine), one for lower (leg raises) and one for sides (bends). Does this sound like a good plan? 

            You ought to know by now that getting a nice lean stomach is 95 percent eating a clean diet and doing enough cardio to burn the fat off, right? I would hope so, because me and all the other pros who have columns in MD must have repeated that fact 100 times by now! Your observation of guys with big fat guts and "abs on top" is not accurate. What you are seeing there are men with a lot of internal organ growth, usually from a combination of overeating coupled with steroid and GH use. Unfortunately, that look has become all too common among bodybuilders in recent years. I believe that being a top professional bodybuilder means you should look presentable all year, with a nice small waist and a flat stomach- not having a belly that sticks out past your damn chest. But that's just me, what do I know? 

            Along with eating clean and keeping up with your cardio regimen, I also feel it's important to train the abs every other day to keep the midsection nice and tight and toned at all times. With that in mind, allow me to revamp your current routine. First of all, ditch those side bends right away. They thicken your obliques and build them out to the sides, giving you a wider waist. Start with four sets of rope crunches, either standing or kneeling, holding the rope behind your head and making your abs do the work. Get 15-20 reps each set, blowing out as you crunch down and contract your abs.

            Next up do four sets of frog kicks. Sit on the edge of a flat bench. Extend your legs out while leaning your torso back, then bring the knees in toward you and lean forward to meet them. Go for 15 reps on those and a nice burn. Frog kicks help the hip flexor tie-ins, as well as the abdominals. The last exercise I want you to do is for your serratus and obliques. Again, you will use a rope attached to a cable pulley. This time, instead of crunching straight down, you will kneel and bring your right elbow to your left knee for 10-15 reps, then switch sides for another 10-15. Four sets of those for each side with pretty low resistance (remember we don't want to build bulk on the obliques) is all you need. That's a complete ab routine, the one I use. Follow it every other day, get on your diet right and your abs should start tightening up fast.

            I recently took two whole months off from the gym because I was grossly overtrained. One reason I'm sure I was overtrained is that my chest had shrunken greatly from its normal size and I could no longer get a pump in it. My chest workouts were up around 30 sets total for a few months. I used to be pretty proud of my chest, but now I look at it and I'm embarrassed. Basically, it's tearing me apart because I just can't find the answer to get my chest training back on track. I came back yesterday and I still couldn't get the pump in my chest. It felt as if I hadn't hit it at all. I was advised by someone to go really light on my chest for a few weeks, just four sets of 10 with really light weight on the vertical seated bench press machine. He said that gradually the pump would come back and my chest would respond again. Does this sound like a good idea? Will my chest ever respond the same again, or have I done some permanent damage to it by training it with too many sets for so long? Do you think I should take even more time off? 

            Okay, calm down. Unless you tore a pec or something of that magnitude, I can't see how you did any lasting damage. I think the problem is mainly in your head and you are worrying way too much about this matter. You took plenty of time off, so no matter how badly you may have been overtrained, your body has fully recuperated by now. Take a deep breath and blow it out slowly.  Everything is going to be fine, player! You should start back light and gradually get back into heavier weights week by week. As for your total sets, you don't want to do any more than 16 from now on for your chest.

Here's the routine I suggest you do to get your chest back large and in charge. Start with an incline press, either barbell or dumbbells. I feel the upper chest is often neglected and needs to be worked first for best results. Pyramid up in weight after warming up for four work sets of 10-12 reps. Your second exercise is going to be the flat barbell bench press. One trick I have picked up over the years- and it's an old-school thing the bodybuilders from way back used to do- is to lower the bar not so much toward the sternum, but almost to your neck. You get a better stretch and a better pump. At first, you won't be able to go as heavy as usual, but soon you get used to the different movement track and can handle your normal weight. If for some reason these bother your shoulder, you can do flat dumbbell presses instead. Four sets of eight to 12 reps here, and be sure you have a spotter if you do bench presses to the neck.  I don't want to hear about you getting choked by a barbell, son!

  Next up, three sets of decline barbell presses - use a spotter again and go as heavy as you can for sets of 10-12 reps. The last exercise is either a pec flye machine (the kind that you can also face into and use for rear delts) or a cable crossover. Do three sets of 12-15 reps, really squeezing the contraction in the middle. If you still have a little bit of gas left, get up on some dipping bars, lean forward and flare your elbows out, and do two sets to failure with your bodyweight. This is a very thorough routine and you will definitely get a very good pump with it.  In fact, I am going on record to say it's foolproof.  Start on it and go get your pecs back. 

  Recently, while attempting to lift heavier than usual weight for shoulder presses, my left wrist snapped back and I dropped the dumbbells. I fear it's a damaged ligament. I think I know so because I had damaged ligaments in both wrists a year back and it feels just like that. I want your advice regarding healing through it. What should I do to get through it and get back to the gym as quickly as possible? I'm on my vacation from work now and I don't want to waste this time I have to try and get in really good shape while I can sleep and train a little bit more than my work schedule usually allows for. Secondly, what should I do to minimize the loss of muscle during the time I'm not working out? Do you think I can work out with injured wrists? If yes, what exercises should I stick to? 

With any question like this, I have to state up front that I am not a doctor, so you can't take my advice as being medical. But I have tweaked my wrists on many occasions over the years, and I do have a lot of experience with the type of ligament strain you have right now and training through the injury. The most important thing I do is wear Schiek wrist supports (http://www.schiek.com/) whenever I train. They keep my wrists locked in place once they're cinched up, so there's no way they can "snap back." I wouldn't even dream of doing any type of pressing movement these days without them on. Also, you should be icing your wrists regularly to keep the inflammation down. At night, when you're watching TV or something, ice them for 15 minutes on, put the ice pack back in the freezer for 15 minutes, then take it out and repeat. I would do this so you ice them a total of 45 minutes to an hour. I always say, when in doubt, ice it!

Now, you also need to protect your wrists and work around the injury.  You are going to have to do some experimenting in the gym to see which movements cause pain and tenderness, and which ones don't. Obviously, you can always do legs and pulling movements for the back. It's basically chest, shoulder, and arm training that will be a challenge. You may want to use mostly machines and cables for those areas for a while, since you don't have to balance a barbell or a dumbbell that way. And I wouldn't worry a whole lot about losing muscle. You should be able to train around this problem. As long as you keep your protein high and continue training hard, you should be straight. 

            What are your thoughts on Soy protein? Do you use it? A weight gainer I've been taking has Soy isolate listed as the main protein. I have read that Soy contains "phytoestrogens," which almost scared me away from taking it. Other studies seem to say they block stronger estrogens from binding to the receptors, so they lower estrogen levels. Should I just stick with plain
whey? 

            I confess I don't know a great deal about Soy, but I do know that whey protein has a lot of studies showing how effective it is at assisting in muscle synthesis. If you are in doubt, why don't you just use whey protein? I use Nitro-Tech; I love it and I recommend it to anyone who asks me. I'm friendly with many, many top bodybuilders, and pretty much all of them these days use whey as their primary protein supplement. I have never heard any of them ever talk about Soy.  Enough said.

            I have a question about booze. I'm 37, lift regularly and take lots of supplements. I was wondering how much occasional drinking hurts body fat, and bodybuilding in general. It hasn't seemed to affect me much, as I usually drink about three scotch and waters on Wednesday evenings, and on either Friday or Saturday night I usually have five to 10 of them, but never both nights. I do work out hard, so I can't help but wonder: Should I give this up entirely or is this occasional drinking harmless? Thank you for your input.  From what I have read it seems like you have more of an open mind when it comes to living life and not being so uptight that you can't have a drink or two.

            There I go again, preceded by my reputation. I don't mean to sound pompous when I say this, but do you really think I could be one of the very best bodybuilders in the world if I was going out and getting wasted a couple of times every week? I'm not saying you were assuming that, but a lot of people do. It's just ridiculous. Yes, I am genetically blessed and yes, I train my ass off and dedicate myself to eating properly each and every day, but even I would not look anywhere near my best if I was poisoning my body at night and sabotaging all my efforts during the day. I'll chill out on that, because you didn't really ask about me, you want to know about your own particular situation. 

            Do I think occasional drinking is a terrible thing for a bodybuilder? No, I don't. But what you have described to me goes way beyond occasional drinking. I'm not calling you an alcoholic, because you don't drink every day and you do seem to have some control over when and how much you drink. But three shots of hard liquor in the middle of the week, then as many as 10 on a weekend night, and doing this every week, sounds excessive to me and counterproductive to your goals. Of course, you didn't really define your goals very clearly. Maybe all you really want is to have a little bit of muscle so people know you work out, in which case I suppose your drinking isn't such a problem.  I mean, there are a lot of college kids who get drunk all the time and work out.  They don't have bodies that are anything special, of course, they just look like regular guys in the gym- a dime a dozen.

            But I have a feeling you want more than that, because you distinctly asked if your drinking was having a negative impact on your bodybuilding. So you must consider yourself a bodybuilder. If that's the case, you need to cut way back on the booze. It's a lot of empty calories that go straight to your gut and alcohol also raises estrogen levels significantly. Higher estrogen means you get less muscle and more fat from your efforts in the gym, which equates to self-sabotage.

Another thing I think you should consider is the type of ambassador for the sport you make when you're out getting tanked. Do me a favor and go to the bar one weekend night sober and take a good look around at the drunk guys.  Take note of how sloppy and messed up the guys who have put down five to 10 drinks are, their faces all drooping and slurring their words. That's you, bro. If you have any kind of a physique, you are going out there every weekend and showing the public an out-of-control drunk with muscles. Not too cool, is it? All right, I'm the last person to lecture anyone because your life is yours to live. But you asked me about your drinking and whether I thought it was hurting your progress. The answer is yes, it is. If you cut back on the booze, you would have more muscle on you and less fat, no question in my mind. Why don't you really make your drinking occasional, like once or twice a month at most. Twice a week is way too often. I hope you didn't think Chris Cormier is the big party animal and I was gonna give you my blessing to drink it up. If so, you really don't know much about me at all, dawg.

Road to the GNC and Mr. Olympia
Journal Entry: Mid-September, 2004

            The big news is that I'm no longer doing the GNC Show of Strength. For those of you who were hoping to see most of the top Olympia guys in that show, I am sorry to tell you that you probably won't see any of them now. The reason is that barely a month away from the show date, they announced the prize money was being reduced. This is not a minor drop in the prize money.  Listen to this, if you haven't already heard. First prize last year was 100 grand.  What is it this year? Fifteen grand. You read that right. The check went down a full 85 percent. Second prize last year was 35 grand, now it's only seven. Third place went from 15 grand to four and fourth dropped from $12,000 to $3,000 bucks. All I can say is, good luck finding anyone to do that show. I am sure you will still get a lot of the guys there who do contests like the NOC and the Ironman, but I will be shocked if you see any of the A-list pros on stage. 

            This is really upsetting. I have done the GNC for the past two years it has been held. It was good money and they paid you right away, unlike some show promoters who you have to chase down or even sue to get your check. I spoke to some higher-ups in the GNC corporate offices about this and they told me cutting the prize money was a necessary business move. Supposedly, they didn't get the sponsorships they were counting on and the IFBB raised their sanction fees. Fine, but I don't see how a billion-dollar company like GNC can't still come up with the money. It all comes down to the athletes getting the shaft, as usual. These supplement companies rake in outrageous profits and in the meantime we pro bodybuilders have to jump through hoops and kill ourselves training and dieting for peanuts. I give MuscleTech a lot of credit. At least they recognize the role we play in all this and have a few of us top guys under nice contracts. As for the contracts any of us may have signed to compete in the GNC, they are now void because they reneged on the prize package. 

            In happier news, I recently got back from an appearance in Japan.  Promoter Pat Coleman, a good friend of mine since even before I turned pro in 1993, brought me out for a contest featuring bodybuilders from the U.S. serving at the Yakota Air Force Base as well as some very good local Japanese athletes. I also got some extra work doing appearances at a couple of Gold's Gyms in Tokyo. I have to say I was treated like royalty and the fans out there are incredible. Pat has brought a lot of pros out there and the soldiers and locals truly appreciate seeing them. All in all, it was a great trip and Pat is a class act.

            The filming for the "Malcolm in the Middle" episode went very well. I was on the set for four days and they worked the hell out of us. Even though I did end up playing the stereotypical "dumb bodybuilder," it was still a great experience. Chris Cook and Bob Cicherillo were in it, too, and they had speaking roles. I guess it wasn't a show for the brothers! We all took pictures with Frankie Muniz and the rest of the cast.

            Training with Charles Glass is also awesome lately. As lean as I am, I am feeling really strong. The other day I was doing flat dumbbell presses for chest and my last warm-up with a pair of 100s felt like nothing. Really, it seemed like they were made out of paper or something! I went to 125s and those felt light, too. So I went to 160s, which is about as heavy as I have been going lately, and those were no problem. I said, "Charles, let's go find the 190s." We had to look for them. They were off in a corner under the dumbbell rack, all dusty because nobody had been using them. What do you know? Bam! Eight reps with those babies. I have done 200s for flat and inclines in the past, but it's been a long time. Overall, both Charles and I are feeling really confident that I will bring my best-ever package to the Olympia in seven weeks. Next time we talk, I will be just a couple of weeks away from the biggest show in bodybuilding. Peace!

            Real Deal tank tops for sale. These are the old-school white wife-beaters with the logo in black, suitable for the gym, the club, or anywhere you want to wear them. If you want to pick one up, send a check or money order for $15 to: Chris Cormier, 1801 Lincoln Blvd. # 120, Venice, CA 90291. Be sure to specify your size. We have small for women, and for you guys, there's small, large, extra-large and 2XL for you big boys. Wear it with pride!