Bodybuilding & Fitness News Blog

Mr. & Mrs. Jones Beach USA Contest to be Held Next Weekend
By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

Jones Beach on Long Island is known for the hot women that frequent it during the summer months. Across the sand of every field located there, every day is a sizzler. But on Sunday, August 24, the stage will take the place of the sand when bodybuilding and weight lifting legend Dan Lurie will bring a little bit of California to New York with the Mr. & Mrs. Jones Beach USA Bodybuilding Competition.

(www.jonesbeachusa.com)

Classes are Men’s Bodybuilding (short, medium, tall); Women’s Bodybuilding (short, tall); Master’s Bodybuilding (40 and over, 50 and over) and the Beach Body Contest, which will bring the same beauty and intensity as fitness and figure competitions.

Ken Jones, an IFBB professional and a past winner of the Mr. America and Mr. World titles, will be a guest poser. The panel of judges will include Steve Michalik (head judge), Leon Brown, Anibal Lopes, Freddy Ortiz, Mario Strong, Angel Evans, Paul Bernstein, Lidia Szczepanowski, Joseph Reaiche, Amy Llinas, Tony Coppeta, Dr. Gerard D’aversa, Dr. Elias P. Bonaros, Mark Lurie, Dr. Tony Badal, Matthew Kantar, Dr. Mitchell Herman, Dr. J. Alexander Jarbath, Stephen Kucker, and Robin Cristo.

Admission is free to the public and only $20 for contestants to enter the open competition. There will also be a casting call for a new reality television show, “So You Think You Have a Good Body.” Team Tug-of-War will also be held, with teams of ten able to enter for a fee of $10.00.

Best of all, proceeds will be donated to the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

Bodybuilding.com will be providing a free webcast!

Estimated time for the webcast:
All Divisions Prejudging: Friday August 15, 2008, 5:30pm
All Divisions Finals: Saturday August 16th, 2008, 1:45pm

Event location:
Dallas Convention Center
650 South Griffin Street (Hall F)
Dallas, TX 75202

For more information on the show and how to get tickets and visit the expo:
www.supershowexpo.com

The First Three Mr. Olympia Contests Proved Weider’s Vision Correct

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

The world was a very different place in 1965. The Cold War was raging, Vietnam was beginning to brew and bodybuilding was in need of a ‘real’ title to crown its champion. Before then, Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe all reigned supreme next to one another. It was more confusing than finding the one unanimous overall king of college football every year.

Joe and Ben Weider changed all of that by sending out invitations and placing ads in their own magazine, “Muscle Builder,” which was the pre-cursor of “Muscle & Fitness.” With Mr. Universe being the highest-acknowledged contest at the time, all winners of that illustrious title were invited to take it up a notch. Take it up another level. Take it to the heights of Mr. Olympia.
[ Read More... ]

Mr. Olympia Rages at Gold’s Gym
by TMZ Staff

Ronnie Coleman, who has been crowned Mr. Olympia (do they crown them??) eight times, is suing Gold’s Gym for allegedly using his muscles to lure in members.

In a lawsuit filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Coleman claims Gold’s used a photo of him to advertise Gold’s … a photo that was plastered on posters.

Coleman is suing for misappropriation of image, invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment. He’s seeking unspecified damages and an injunction putting the kibosh on the poster.

Bill Phillips Publication was a Good Read, Still Missed

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

When it first burst onto the bodybuilding scene, Muscle Media 2000 looked and read different from the other publications sitting on the newsstand. Bill Phillips was the right type of voice for the gym set and didn’t pull any punches, coming straight out and admitting his own steroid use. Where as the others tried to sugar coat the use of performance-enhancing drugs in bodybuilding, MM2K seemed to embrace it. They claimed to be a trend-setter by not being held hostage to advertising, a welcome break from the norm.

While all of this seemed to be a great variation, Phillips ultimately used the magazine as a platform to promote the supplements he was behind. Met-Rx and EAS were promoted liberally throughout the slick.

[ Read More... ]

Men’s Line-Up Looking Strong in Radio-Sponsored IFBB Show

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

With the Mr. Olympia a little more than two months away, bodybuilding fans jonesing for a summer show will get their wish on August 9 in Tampa, Florida. Pro Bodybuidling Weekly, the radio show exclusively covering the sport since 1995, brings us the IFBB-sanctioned event during the ‘dog days’ of summer.

The Men’s line-up, as of today according to the official IFBB website, consists of 44 names, many of which jump off the page. David Henry, Darrem Charles and Fouad Abiad, just to name a few.
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“The Black Prince” Throws Barbs at Arnold and Weider, Steroids in Bodybuilding and Baseball

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

To be considered one of the pioneers and a legend in your sport is something that can never go away. Even if he never picked up a weight again, Robby Robinson would always be one of the elite bodybuilders of all time.

While most men at the age of 62 find more time to sit around than exercise and have a diet that make their doctors turn red, the man known as “The Black Prince” still busts it in the gym and has not ‘enjoyed’ as much as piece of pie in over 20 years.

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5th Place Finish in ’07 for Young German

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

Dennis Wolf will not turn 30 years of age until the month after the upcoming 2008 Mr. Olympia contest in Las Vegas on September 28. The up and coming bodybuilder finished in fifth place last year, and although his official website states that he was “proud to have finished” in that spot, some observers felt that he had enough to place higher.

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“The Blade” is Coming Off Three Strong 2008 Victories

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

After finishing in third place in the 2007 Mr. Olympia, 38 year-old Dexter Jackson knows that the window of opportunity may be closing on him. In September, he will give it another go, this time coming off three consecutive first place finishes in the calendar year.

Earlier, Jackson won the Arnold Classic, IFBB Australian Grand Prix VIII and the IFBB New Zealand Grand Prix. While that is a nice accomplishment, the Mr. O is a whole different world. [ Read More... ]

Frank Zane Still Going Strong at 65

By Joe Pietaro, MuscleSport Mag

In the sport of bodybuilding, champions have come and go at a steady pace over the years. To sustain a lengthy career is quite an accomplishment in any form of athletics, and to be a top competitor in a period of time that spanned three decades in this field is definitely outside the norm.

That is if you’re name is not Frank Zane. The 65 year-old Pennsylvania native is still working out, and has no intention of stopping. “I am one of the very few people (former competitive bodybuilders) still training,” Zane said. “There’s Larry Scott, Bill Pearl, and me. Have you seen Arnold (Schwarzenegger) lately?”
[ Read More... ]