A Miraculous Addition to Classic

Urs ‘The Miracle Bear’ Kalecinski Is Headed to the Top

By Ron Harris

The Classic Physique division is still in its infancy stages compared to the other men’s competitive categories, but already it has spawned several superstars. One of the newest is Germany’s Urs Kalecinski, known to his fans the world over as “The Miracle Bear.” Going into 2022, he already had a pro win and a top-four finish at the Olympia. In March, he followed that up with a third spot at the Arnold Classic, then back-to-back wins at the Boston Pro and Kuwait Pro. I caught up with him a few weeks later to check in on his off-season progress thus far and discuss his growing fame, which has been rather sudden.

First off, are you still 23 years old? It seems like you’ve been 23 for an awfully long time.

I turned 24 at the end of April, but I didn’t make any posts about my birthday.

Still so young! I haven’t talked to you since you won the first Boston Pro. I was so happy you came to my hometown, and so were a lot of fans. In particular, there were a lot of very young guys and they were definitely there for you in particular.

I had such a great time in Boston. For a couple of days before the show, I trained at Gym Hub and got to hang out with Jay Cutler and Jose Raymond. It was cool because the only other times I’ve been to the States before this spring were for the Tampa Pro and the Olympia last year. Every time I seem to be gaining more fans. I remember at the Olympia, my spot at the Meet the Olympians was next to Chris Bumstead. He had a line going around the whole building with people waiting two or three hours to meet him, and very few people came up to my table. It was a little better at the Arnold Classic meet and greet. Then I came to Boston, and the crowd was going wild when I came out. I have so many great memories from my few days in Boston. A week later I went to Kuwait, which was totally different. The Middle East really loves and supports bodybuilding. I’ve been doing guest appearances in Germany too, and it’s exciting to see a lot more interest in bodybuilding and Classic Physique here lately.

Speaking of which, FIBO Power was just a couple of weeks ago in Germany. I’ve never been, but I know it’s something like three times the size of the Arnold Classic expo. I can only imagine how popular you must have been, because you are the most successful IFBB pro from Germany right now.

That was the craziest experience of my life. One guy came to my booth and showed me a timer on his phone for how long he had been waiting in line for me. It was almost four hours! And this was the first post-Covid FIBO, so it was smaller than usual. I can only imagine what it will be like next year. The support I get over here is amazing and it motivates me.

A year ago, very few people outside of Germany even knew who you were. Now here you are, having won three pro shows by the age of 23, with a top four at the Olympia and top three at the Arnold. Do you ever stop and think about how much things have changed in such a short time?

It's crazy for sure, but I don’t let it get to me. I try to keep that underdog mentality. I’m proud of what I’ve done and how far I’ve come, but I don’t rest on that. I have to keep pushing to get better because we have some incredible athletes in Classic Physique right now and there are always more coming up the ranks. There’s no time for me to sleep on anyone. I’m just so grateful to be living my dream and doing what I love the most for a job.

When I heard back in December that you were doing the Arnold, I was honestly worried for you. I wanted you to show up at the 2022 Olympia dramatically improved, and I assumed getting back into prep would jeopardize that. But your recent posts after your back-to-back wins show you have been growing and improving.

The weird thing about that is that I’m in a recovery mode right now and taking it easier than normal. I spent almost all of 2021 in prep. That put me into a place where my body is like a sponge and just absorbing all the nutrients and growing while staying in good shape. My body wants to grow, so I am letting it grow. I’m excited to see how much better I can get in this first real off-season I’ve had in a long time, and excited to see what I can bring to the Olympia in December.

In the most recent progress pictures and the video I’ve seen you post, you have gotten noticeably bigger with condition that’s not far off from contest shape at all. How much heavier are you now than when you won the Boston Pro?

In pounds, it’s like 16 or 17. It’s crazy. And it’s in the right areas where I needed it, too. I made some changes with my arm training and my back training that have really worked well.

We need to talk about your arms. You posted that video hitting a front lat spread, and that’s a pose your arms were exposed as weak points before. Not anymore! That’s important because I don’t think you were blessed with spectacular arm genetics. You don’t have to give away all the secrets, but what helped you get those new gains?

Let me tell you, I struggled with my arms for nine years, ever since I started training. I thought I had tried everything you could to make them grow. In the end, I figured out the problem was my ego. I always lifted too heavy for arms. Instead, I focused on perfect execution of the exercises, and I also trained my arms more frequently. I worked two or three times a week, but not much volume each workout. To work them more, I had to pull back on my leg training. Now I train them only once every 10 days. And I love leg day. But it’s important that I optimize all the pounds I have left for my weight limit on the areas that need it. The goal is to have perfect balance and proportion, that’s what a Classic Physique is to me. I have to give my coach Stefan Kienzl a shout-out. He’s been a huge help in me making the gains I have. He also coaches another top Classic pro, Fabian Mayr, as well as Diogo Montenegro, Thiago Lins and Tim Budesheim. Stefan is one of the most well-respected coaches in all of Europe and beyond. Check him out at @bossofoutlaw on Instagram!

Back is an area a lot of bodybuilders struggle with. What changes did you and Stefan make with your back training that yielded results?

Again, perfect execution was so important. We really made sure we were hitting the back from all angles of attack and put a lot of focus on getting the best contractions possible on every rep. I always wanted to row five plates on barbell rows like Ronnie Coleman and get a back like his, but not everyone is Ronnie Coleman. Sometimes you need to try new things to get your physique to the next level.

One thing I love to see is the camaraderie in your division. Some people might think you and Ramon Dino hate each other because you beat him at the Olympia and he beat you at the Arnold. But I saw you were down in Brazil training with him!

Yes, he’s a cool guy and we had a great time in that workout. The only sad thing is that he doesn’t speak any English, so we could only communicate through a translator. For me, all of us – Ramon, Terrence and Chris – are all close. We all text each other. I trained with Terrence the day after the Arnold. On stage we are all trying to beat each other, but the rest of the time we all get along very well. We’re all doing the same thing, so we have a lot in common.

You’re also very close in terms of how good you all are. I think on any given day, anyone in the top five from the Olympia can beat anyone else if he really nails it.

That’s so true. If you come in 5% less in your condition or even your posing, one of those guys will take your spot. That really keeps me motivated.

I know you still had a good amount of weight left last year before you maxed out at your limit for Classic. What is your weight limit, and what did you weigh at these recent shows?

I can be up to 222 pounds, and at the Arnold I was like 212 or 214. I still have room to grow. My coach compared pictures of the 113 kilos I have right now with the last time I weighed 113 kilos (248 pounds), and it’s totally different. It’s crazy how your physique can look so different at the same weight. An even better example is Terrence Ruffin. He was like 10 pounds lighter at the Arnold than he was when he won it last year. He had Covid during prep and couldn’t get all the size back in time. But he still looked phenomenal. That tells you weight isn’t everything, which is why I don’t focus on that to mark my progress. I need to build up my arms and back if I am going to go to the next level and win the biggest shows.

Your legs are done, I can tell you that.

I wouldn’t say they are done, but I had to cut back on them to give more time and focus to my arms and back. I train them much less frequently now, and they are still growing. I don’t know what else I have to do. I think they even grow from my 30 minutes of cardio in the morning.

Maybe do what Tom Platz did at one point, which was to train them just once a month. His still grow too. I can tell you I honestly believe that when your back and arms are as good as your legs, it just might be all over for the other guys.

That’s my mission for this year.

Again I have to say how impressed I am with how lean you are staying. I know you are still guest posing, but most guys are not very sharp two months after their last contest.

This was the first time in my life I didn’t eat a bunch of crap after a competition. I’m really being a professional! I had a couple of treats but I have been eating very clean.

That’s tough. Most competitors have a stockpile of junk food ready to eat as well as a whole series of restaurants they want to visit once the show is over. How did you get away from that mentality?

It's true, and that was me too. I have been guest posing at a lot of regional shows here in Germany, and I see the competitors with their bags of candy and cookies. I try to tell them to be careful with that, and to drink a gallon of water after the show before you start eating anything like that. I’m so motivated right now. If I start craving something I shouldn’t be eating, all I have to do is think, is someone else from the top five staying on his diet and eating more clean food instead of junk? It also helps that I am still doing appearances and photo shoots. I definitely don’t want to have to start cutting calories at 20 weeks out like I did last year to get in shape. The leaner I stay, the longer I can keep my calories high and eat plenty of good food. Finally, life is just easier in general when I don’t carry so much body fat. I sleep so much better and I’m not sweating all day in the summer. Right now we have 223 days left until the Olympia, so I like to stay in my routine every day.

That’s funny, most guys talk about how much time is left in terms of weeks, but you have it down to the day. That precision is why you Germans build the best cars, like Mercedes, BMW and Porsche. Years ago, I wrote a training article about Markus Rühl called “German Engineering.”

What a coincidence! In three days I am going to visit Markus to do some training and some video. He was the biggest guy on the stage for sure in his time. I remember seeing the shaky video showing when he won the 2002 Night of Champions when I was 13 or 14 years old. I stared at my computer thinking, what the fuck is that? He was the freakiest bodybuilder I had ever seen.

I know the Olympia is still many months away, but do you have a good feeling about it?

I do. I have to be the one who has the confidence and belief in myself, and I do have that. I’m not saying I will win the Olympia, but that’s what keeps me motivated and grinding every day to be better.

I love the Classic division because the top guys are all so good and so close to each other. You never know what’s going to happen.

It is interesting. We all have our own characters. It’s almost like pro wrestling. Some guys love The Undertaker, others are fans of John Cena, and so on.

You’re right. Think about it – the whole top five from the Olympia has cool nicknames: C-Bum, Ruff Diesel, The Miracle Bear, Ramon Dino and The Black Swan!

That’s true, I never thought about it like that.

I thank you for your time, especially because you did this interview fairly late at night your time. Congratulations on all your recent success and I can’t wait to see what you can do in the next few months.

You’re very welcome. I love talking to you guys in the States, and I am looking into getting to Las Vegas a few weeks before the Olympia to maybe do some training camps with Jay Cutler. That’s still in the works but I hope we can make it happen. In the meantime I will be working hard every day and fixing everything that needs to be better.

Instagram @the.miraclebear

YouTube: Urs Kalecinski

Website: http://www.urskalecinski.de

Contest History

2018 German Championships - Winner

2019 Amateur Olympia UK - Fourth, C Class

2019 Iceland Pro Qualifier - Winner

2019 Dennis James Classic - Sixth Place

2021 Extreme Championships - Second Place

2021 Tampa Pro - Winner

2021 Classic Physique Olympia - Fourth Place

2022 Arnold Classic - Third Place

2022 Boston Pro - Winner

2022 Kuwait Pro - Winner

Urs and the VAYU Connection

“In my career I always want to get the best of everything: my training, my posing and presentation on stage, and of course my recovery.

Vayu is a big help in a lot of aspects as they only deliver high-quality supplements with patented raw ingredients and formulas, which are tested in the field with high-class athletes to ensure maximum effectiveness. My coach Stefan Kienzl is also one of the heads of the brand, so I can be 100% sure the products are ideal for bodybuilders like me.

One of my favorite products right now is the Vayu Nootropic. It totally supports focus for my high-intensity training style without having stimulants in it. The perfect combination is to boost the intensity with the Vayu Intra to be sure you keep the power and pump level through the whole workout!”

Urs’ VAYU Stack

Meta +: In the morning for activating his metabolism.

Nitro: Pump booster pre-workout. 

Nootropic: Cognitive enhancement and maximum focus pre-workout.

Intra: Highly developed intra-workout formula to boost performance and keep pump stable.

Instant Rice Pudding: Main fast-digesting carb source pre- and post-workout.

Final Protein: His favorite fast-digesting protein (Isolac and Optipep).

For more information, visit https://www.esn.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. Facebook Instagram

DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS
SUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAY
GET OFFICIAL MD STUFF
VISIT OUR STORE

ALSO, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM 
YOUTUBE