Chris, what's up with Craig Titus trying to get Shawn Ray bounced out of his position as athlete representative and put himself in there? Did you sign his petition? And do you think someone can represent his fellow athletes while still an active competitor like Craig?

Yes, I do think it's okay for the athlete representative to be someone who is still competing, but I'm not sure it's something one person can do effectively. I would rather see a council of three or four guys to guide us in various decisions and speak for us. But if I can be real here, what can they do for us pros that we aren't already doing for ourselves? To my knowledge, the "athlete representative" doesn't have any special powers or a red phone that goes directly to the office of Wayne DeMilia or Ben Weider.

It's great to try and increase prize money; I'm all for that. But what about health and retirement plans for us? I haven't heard any mention of those, and that's what we really need. All it takes is a serious injury or illness to knock us out of the sport and put an end to our earning power as pro bodybuilders. We have no job security and no benefits. Think about it- you have a lot of pro baseball and basketball players who are signed to multi-million dollar deals over periods of years. And if they get hurt and can't play at any point, guess what? They still get all that money. Compare that to someone like me. I do have my MuscleTech contract, which I'm glad for, but as for money I actually earn from my chosen sport, it's 100 percent prize money. And if I can't compete, or if I compete and don't place in the money spots, sorry Chris, tough luck. 

We need health and retirement benefits, not more "best poser" awards.  If you want to help your fellow athletes, do something to help us in the long term. I would hope that Shawn Ray is working toward substantial improvements like that right now. Otherwise, this position he has and that Craig wants is nothing but a title. I don't mean to sound cynical, because I truly want these things to come to fruition. We bodybuilders in the IFBB are professional athletes. It's about time we had the same benefits and security as other pro athletes.

  I'm 15 years old, 5-8, 130 pounds and need some bigger forearms. I'm pretty sure I'm working them out right. I do reverse wrist curls, behind- the-back curls and hammer curls. How many times a week should I work out forearms to build some bigger and badder ones? Are the exercises I'm
doing okay? 

Yes, the exercises you're doing should definitely help you see improvement. You are working both the forearm flexors (the underside) and the extensors (top side). The forearms are involved in just about everything you do for the upper body and even some lower body exercises. You have probably noticed how they can get pumped quite a bit when you work back, at least if you don't use wrist straps. The straps reinforce your grip and allow you to hold onto a lot more weight, but they do so at the expense of developing a more powerful grip and bigger forearms. Before you get in the lifelong habit of using them all the time, make it a point starting today to only use them on your heaviest sets of deadlifts, rows and shrugs. You will be surprised at how much forearm development you get just from those exercises.

 As for how many times a week to train forearms, I wouldn't hit them more than twice a week. Even then, I'd schedule it so you aren't training anything in the upper body the next day. I would hate to see you compromise the development of your back, chest, shoulders or arms because your forearms are too sore from the day before to hold onto your weights. But you also have to understand one thing. Popeye was a cartoon character. In real life, you can't just build enormous forearms without the rest of your body being very big and strong. It's like guys who are 150 pounds with 14-inch arms who want 20-inchers. There is no way they will get 20-inch arms until they weigh at least 200-220 pounds.

The same principle applies to your forearms. As you gain overall body mass, your forearms will grow accordingly. By directly training them and giving them that extra attention, yours will stand a better chance of being outstanding.  And I always hate to point this out, but to an extent, the eventual size of your forearms depends on your particular genetics. If you understand the concept of muscle belly length, you know what I mean. Nearly all the guys with outstanding forearms have muscles that insert way down near the wrist. Mike Mentzer, Steve Brisbois and Dorian Yates come to mind. And I don't think any of those guys ever trained their forearms. But don't get discouraged, my young buck.  Just be consistent with your training and eating, and everything will grow. Oh yeah- don't forget to eats yer spinach!

I found an article about a different way of carb loading. As opposed to the final week of carbohydrate depletion and loading, it said a preferred method is to go through a gradual carbohydrate loading phase one to two weeks away from competition. It also said this approach is a safer and more effective technique for coming in tight and full. I'm thinking about doing this because the day after my competition I head on vacation. Doing it this way might help prevent looking bloated after the competition. If I have already attained my desired body fat and look very flat right now (with my competition 12 days away), do you think this method would be more effective for me now than a three-day carb depletion followed by a three-day carbohydrate load prior to competition, as most bodybuilders do? If you agree with this method, do you think starting at around 150 and working my way up to around 500 grams of carbs would satisfy this gradual loading? My contest weight is 165. 

            I have never heard of this alternate method of carb loading, but I don't see how it would be any more effective than the normal way. If anything, it sounds to me like it wouldn't even work very well because it gives the body too much time to adjust and regulate itself. Let me tell you a little bit about how I handle my carbs toward the end of my diet and hopefully, the logic behind it will make sense. 

In the final weeks, I am going very low on carbs. I actually like to stagger days of extremely low carbs with other days when I eat more. I get to the point where my skin is really tight around the muscle, as all the fat has been burned away. I still look flat on the days when my carbs are low, of course, but the skin is tight and you can see a lot of detail in the muscles. I start carb depleting on the Sunday before a show, which is usually on a Saturday. On Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I go as close to zero carbs as possible. I continue training, doing more of a circuit-training type of workout with light weights and very high reps, with the goal of totally depleting all the glycogen from my muscles. Toward the end of the depletion phase, I actually start looking both flat and soft, as I tend to hold some water. Then, when I wake up on Wednesday morning, I start putting the carbs back in.

By two or three meals in, I can already see a difference. For the next three days my carb intake is higher than normal and I don't bother eating as much protein. Carbohydrates spare protein anyway, plus, it's not like I'm going to grow any new muscle in that short time. What's happening now is that my muscles are sucking up those carbs like a sponge and really filling out. They actually push up against the skin like Saran wrap. I won't go into exactly how many grams of carbs to eat, because you have to keep a constant eye in the mirror to gauge your progress as you load. If you're looking good, stay with the amount of carbs you're eating. If you are still flat, you need more. If you are full, but starting to look a little watery, you are overdoing the carbs and need to reduce the amount. 

The bottom line is that you have to deplete before you load and both the depletion and loading days have to be pretty brief and extreme for this trick to work right. Loading over a period of a week or two is too long. You can only fool your body into doing something for a little while.  As for looking bloated on vacation, just don't eat a lot of junk after your show and keep an eye on your sodium intake. If you're really concerned about looking your best on the beach, or wherever it is you're going, stay on your contest diet for another week.  Personally, I think that defeats the whole idea of a vacation, which is supposed to let you relax and have a good time after all the hard work you put into your show. But like I always say- to each his own.

Ever notice how gyms have snubbed us, the bodybuilders? They all seem geared toward fitness and skinny guys and totally don't give two craps about us. What the hell is wrong with this scenario? Here's an example. I was 15 years old when I started training at this gym that was hardcore to the max. Over the years, the gym was sold many times. Now, the new owner has invested in a lot of new equipment, which is great because I always like a variety. So the other day I come in and notice the standing T- Bar row is gone. The owner walks up to me and asks what I think of the gym now. I say it's great except why did he get rid of the T-bar row? He tells me no one liked it, anyway. So, I tell him I liked it and I know a few others liked it too, friends of mine who are all serious trainers and who have been members for over 10 years. "Well, we don't cater to your type anymore," he told me. I was like what!? The gym was started by guys like me. Anyway, I just wonder why gyms today snub their noses at us bodybuilders?

Yes, I have noticed this. I try not to get offended, because I know it's all about business and the gyms wanting to make money. Think about it. How many hardcore bodybuilders are there in a given area? Unless you live in Venice Beach, not a whole lot. Gyms and health clubs are very expensive to operate, from the monthly lease and payments on the equipment, to insurance and staff salaries, just to name a few expenses. To make a profit, they need to sign up a lot of members on a regular basis. So, they turn to mainstream men and women who wouldn't know a T-bar from a T-Rex.

 It's very true that without bodybuilders, there wouldn't even be all these gyms and health clubs in the world. We were the ones who brought weights out of musty basements and made nice big gyms to train at. But catering to bodybuilders now would not help them make money. Let's face it, a lot of regular people are intimidated by us. We may be the nicest guys in the world, but they look at us training hard and only see big, scary, mean thugs. So having a lot of hardcore bodybuilders would probably scare away a lot of potential members who come to check out the club. Another thing is that our sculpted bodies tend to make a lot of regular folks insecure and self-conscious. They would feel a lot more comfortable working out around others who are skinny, flabby, or obese like they are.

Now, I'll tell you what really bugs me. Venice Beach was made world-famous by bodybuilders. It wouldn't be a tourist hot spot if it hadn't been for guys like Steve Reeves, Arnold and Joe Gold. Not long ago, I was down on the boardwalk trying to shoot a little bit of footage for my new video. A city employee comes up right away and stops us, saying we need to go buy a permit for $300 or we can't shoot there. That disgusted me. I felt like saying, "Dude, do you know why this place is called Muscle Beach and why all these people are down here spending their money? Because of guys like me!"

  Like I tell the young guys coming up, don't expect everyone to respect you for being a champion bodybuilder. Most times, unless you are putting money in someone's pocket, they are going to snub you and treat you badly.  There are still some hardcore gyms left out there, but you really have to look for them. I know the place where Ronnie trains, Metroflex, is all about bodybuilders. Sorry to hear your gym owner isn't supportive of hard trainers like you, but that's just the way it is. Remember that it's all about supply and demand, and there isn't much of a demand when it comes to bodybuilders. To steal a phrase from the Marines, "We are the few, the proud." 

            I'm writing from New Zealand. I'm working toward two bodybuilding competitions later this year. I've been eating heaps of good food and my gym work is mostly compound exercises with heavy free weights. I have just started using a bit of gear this year after training clean and building a solid natural base for four years. For the first couple of months, I put on three kilos of muscle and lost a bit of fat. Now, it's been another six weeks. I've put on another kilo of muscle, but stacked on kilograms of fat as well! As you might imagine, it's bloody frustrating. What do you think the problem could be? P.S. I have been at the Melbourne Grand Prix show for the past three years, and I thought you got shafted this last time; no disrespect to Dexter.

            Thanks, my man! I know I should have won that show and I appreciate the support. I'll be back next year to get my title back, don't worry. As for your problem, I would really look at your diet in this case. I have a feeling you may be eating too much junk. Sometimes, especially when you're first using gear, you can get away with eating crap and still manage to put on muscle and stay lean.  But, eventually, it catches up to you as you have seen, and you start getting fatter.

I would clean up your diet so about three-quarters of what you eat is clean. You don't want to put on too much body fat, especially since you are competing later this year. The leaner you stay now, the easier it will be for you to get shredded. If you allow yourself to get too fat, you are going to have one miserable time trying to get in shape in time. Another suggestion I have is to keep cardio in your program year-round. Some guys don't do it in the off-season because they're afraid it will keep them from being able to gain, but I feel it's important to maintain some degree of cardiovascular condition at all times, for health purposes. Cardio also gives you a little leeway to eat some junk and not have it go right to your gut. Best of luck to you in your shows!

MD Exclusive!
The Real Deal Strikes Back

            Entry: Early May, 2004

I am now in my off-season leading up to the Olympia, so there's not a whole lot in that area to report on. My weight is back up to about 280 and I am getting plenty of rest for now, so I can go balls to the wall starting in about July.  But this month I would like to take the opportunity to rebut some things a friend and fellow MD writer has been saying about me in these very pages. Of course, I'm talking about Flex Wheeler.

I will be referring to things Flex has written himself in recent contest reports, as well as quotes he has given Dirt Diggler in Diggler's Rage Page column. Okay, first, Flex was irritated that I didn't stay on my diet 100 percent after my devastating loss at the Arnold Classic, so that I could be in top shape for the San Francisco. There was a comment about how I was pigging out on Chinese food or sushi the night before the show. To this I say, why was I going to put myself in harm's way by holding my condition from the Arnold? For what, a show with only 10 grand for first place, a show that meant nothing to me? 

Flex needs to think back to just before the 1998 Mr. Olympia. Dorian was retired and that show was supposed to be a slam-dunk for Flex to step in and take the title. He had also just signed a nice contract with Biochem and they would have loved for him to win the Olympia, as everyone predicted he would that year. So what does he do? Flex calls me up two weeks out from the show crying because he just went to McDonald's and damn near ate everything on the menu. He sabotaged himself because he couldn't handle the pressure to win. And he talks about me going off my diet? Trust me, the way he was looking right before that, even Ronnie wouldn't have had a prayer against him. So, the Wednesday night before the show, he's holding all this water. Between then and Saturday he dropped almost 20 pounds doing whatever it took to accomplish that. It was stunts like that that contributed to the health problems he is having now, which by the way, I feel terribly about. 

I don't know why, but Flex seems to be on a rampage against me these past few months and he needs to settle down. You'd think that with all his health issues he wouldn't have time to be talking all this crap and trying to embarrass me, talking about how the judges in San Francisco were laughing at how I looked at prejudging. I may have strayed off my diet a couple of times when a show wasn't that critical to me, but Flex was never known to stay on his diet. He was constantly cheating on his diet and then using diuretics to compensate. Flex needs to look at himself and what he did in his career before he talks about me. The guy was never at the top of his game and never did everything strictly from A to Z the way he could have. If he'd been like Dorian, a machine, I could take the criticism. And speaking of criticism, Flex was so touchy back when he was competing that if you tried to offer any critique at all, he wouldn't talk to you for months.

Flex says I cheated on my diet and basically threw away prize money that could have been mine for the taking. Well you know what, dude? It ain't always about money. My health is more important to me and always has been. I have been doing this for 20 years and all my blood work is good. My organs are healthy. I have been far more careful and conservative with sports supplements than Flex ever was. There is a safe and responsible way to use those products.  It doesn't have to be reckless and suicidal, using 10 times more than your body needs. I am still healthy and at the top of my game. Flex is bitter because I did things right, did them smart, and he didn't. I hate to make this sound so grim, but the poor guy has one foot in the grave and he should be trying to make peace with everyone. 

            And if I can point one more thing out, at the 1995 Olympia I was sixth and he was ninth because he wasn't in shape. I have never been as low as ninth at the Olympia. Then he went to Spain for the Grand Prix and saw he was going to do very badly there, and he bailed out of the show. He faked having these horrible cramps. The next day, me, him and Kevin Levrone were at the airport waiting to fly back to the States when he put on an act so good he deserved an Academy Award. He was sitting there shaking and pretending he didn't have the strength to open up a package of cookies. So when Flex makes a comment that I have only gotten in shape a few times in my career, I take offense. If anyone only got in great condition a few times, it was him. 

            I have to let one more cat out of the bag. Do you remember the 1997 Olympia, where Flex had to pull out of the show at the last minute because he got carjacked by some Asian gang members with nun-chucks? It's time to tell the truth now; there never was any carjacking, no big martial arts fight in the street with Flex beating down a whole gang like he was Bruce Lee. Didn't you notice he never mentioned the incident in his book? That was strange; you'd think something so dramatic would be in there, right? But no, it was just another time when he couldn't stay on his diet and wasn't in shape when he was supposed to be. He told me, Rico and Paul Dillett that he punched a wall and went to the doctor to have a cast put on his hand. Come on, really, did you all believe he fought off all those guys and didn't get a scratch on his body aside from that?

            Flex also likes to talk about how perfect his physique was. Everyone could see how he had put so much oil into his delts and calves, among other places. One time, he had a peak on his hamstrings like a Snow Cone. Another time, he had a rear delt that stuck out so far you could set a coat hanger on it. It really irks me that Flex can't even give me a compliment now without including himself in it. The only time he says anything good about me, he has to add that he understands now, looking at me and my structure, why he won so many shows. Then, after I took second at the Arnold, he came up to me and pretended he was upset for me. I could see in his eyes he was happy I didn't win. All he was pissed about was that his boy Dexter didn't win. 

I just want to say for the record that I am not mad at Dexter even though I feel I should have beaten him in Australia. Both of us feel we were the best man on that day. And on any given day, either of us can beat the other one. I don't feel bad losing to him, but I do wish Flex would stop talking about how perfect Dexter is. He's a very, very good bodybuilder, but perfect is a real stretch.  His lower body just doesn't have deep cuts and separations, for one thing.  How can you be perfect when you are lacking something like that?

            In closing, I hope I didn't come across as hating Flex. I don't hate him at all and I still consider him a friend deep down. All I want is for him to really think hard before he casts aspersions on me as a pro bodybuilder. He thinks I don't know his career? I was there from day one and every step of the way after that.  And if he feels like offering me an apology, he has my phone number.