by Christian Duque
I have to be honest with you, I’m not a huge fan of writing this type of article. And I also have to pay homage to the great professional bodybuilding writers that would never start an article with the word I. That being said I’ve got to be me. Have you ever heard that saying before? I just got to be me. I don’t try to be the most scholarly writer in these articles because I don’t think that that’s what you guys want.
I don’t think that you want to read an article from a writer that’s talking down to you. I know that you guys are probably just as smart as I am – if not smarter – but we’re not talking about inflation or the price of rice in China or why Pluto is no longer a planet, we are talking about bodybuilding. We are talking about the sport that we all know and love and we want to be able to talk about it as if we were sitting in a locker room or maybe having a couple of beers at the bar.
The reason I don’t like writing this type of article is because a lot of people just don’t get it. They don’t understand that each division has a very special place in the grand scheme of things. Everybody wants to compare The 212 to open bodybuilding. Just like they want to compare men’s physique to open bodybuilding or they want to compare classic physique to open bodybuilding. And while classic physique may be more popular in certain settings it does not mean that it will ever replace the flagship division. Bodybuilding, open bodybuilding, will always be king. But what about the people that say that the 212 days are numbered? What do we say to them? More importantly, what do I say to them since I’m the one writing this article?
Well please forgive me if I dare speak for you as a collective group but I would say that most fans love the 212 because it’s a place for shorter bodybuilders and bodybuilders that maybe are lighter than the average open competitor. Now I know what you’re going to say, you’re going to say well what about Shaun Clarida? He’s probably the lightest guy weight-wise in the 212 and he has been able to win open bodybuilding shows like the Reno Sports Fest. I would agree. Shaun can win open shows. Nathan Epler, a former 212 competitor, just recently won an open pro show as well. And we can’t forget the fact that not one but two former 212 Mr Olympias have gone on to win the open Olympia. We are of course talking about Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan. And I would say that we would be hard pressed to find any open competitor that can easily beat them today. Most open competitors have to settle for being third or fourth to them because of the fact they are so advanced. So if more and more 212 guys are making the cross and never come back, why should there be a 212 at all? That’s a valid point, let’s talk about it.
I think that the 212 needs to be around for the simple reason that bodybuilding has always had a short and tall division or an under 200 lb division and over 200 lb division. I understand that that was disregarded for quite a few years but I think that the 212 offers a phenomenal opportunity to a lot of competitors who otherwise would not have a stage to compete on. I think the more divisions that we have speaks to the inclusivity of bodybuilding as a sport. This is why we have wellness, this is why we have the bikini, this is why we have figure. The women have more divisions than the men but the reality of the matter is 212 needs to be around for guys that fit squarely in the parameters of that division. Otherwise the alternative would be to either suck down to classic which most of them cannot do or bump it up to open where they will not be competitive. All we need to do is look at the current 212 Mr Olympia and that will pretty much makes the case.
Keone Pearson is a phenomenal champion. Keone is proof positive of why the 212 is necessary. For a long time he tried his hand at classic physique and had great difficulty meeting the weight requirements. He was not a physique competitor even though he did very well in that division. Then he tried competing in the open where he was out-sized and had a very hard time. There’s no question he could have added-on considerable amounts of mass but then I believe he would have lost that amazing symmetry and flow to his muscle that has made him a household name.
In the 212 I think Keone hit his stride going all the way to the top, even being able to defeat living legend Shaun Clarida who looked absolutely amazing. And this is because Keone was able to give it his all in a division that was meant just for him. Many of the guys in the 212 would not be able to compete elsewhere. If the division came to an end where would they go? They would have to lose substantial amounts of muscle to compete in classic or they would have to gain so much weight for open that they would probably not look anything like they normally would. Therefore if we truly are about inclusivity, the 212 needs to stay and will stay. But what about the fact it is not as popular?
This is something that comes up over and over again largely because Arnold Schwarzenegger took the division out of the Arnold Classic and never brought it back. Arnold also took out women’s bodybuilding and never brought it back. Even though Jake Wood, promoter of the Olympia, is a huge women’s bodybuilding fan Arnold still didn’t bring the division back to his sports festival. And that is because Arnold only thinks about money. He has always marched to the beat of his own drums and he doesn’t really care about what the fans want. If he cared about what the fans wanted he probably wouldn’t say as many divisive and incendiary political opinions as he does. We cannot base the future of a division simply on whether or not a single promoter wants it included in his event or not. And most detractors of the 212 always point out the fact that Arnold got rid of the division. I don’t think that that is a legitimate argument. Because he also got rid of women’s bodybuilding and we don’t hear anybody talking about getting rid of that, now do we?
The bottom line is that 212 was the division that was largely hinged upon James “Flex” Lewis. And when Flex Lewis retired the division took a big drop. Shaun Clarida stayed the course and tried to grow the division but other 212 Champions like Derek Lunsford for example got the title and then left the division. There is not a very real rivalry that has been seen there since the days of Lewis and as soon as we see one I anticipated division will have new life breathed into it.
Just a few weeks ago Nick’s Strength And Power, the biggest YouTube channel in the land, suggested the idea that maybe the division’s days were numbered as well. Again this is not just some random article that you’re reading at iron Magazine. We have our finger on the industry pulse and unfortunately talk about the future of this division does tend to come up every so often. I have to tell you I don’t think it’s warranted but it’s not going to stop!
I think the division draws a lot of fans and even though there are not any 212 standalone events, another point brought up by the detractors of the division, I do not believe that that alone is a basis to remove it. We also don’t have men’s physique standalone shows or classic physique standalone shows. Then again maybe there may be one or two but that’s still not a justification for whether or not a division is successful or not. The only real standalone division is open bodybuilding. Everything else is basically a novelty act. And I know that that offends people and it ruffles other people’s feathers but it is what it is. Bodybuilding will always be the flagship division and the 212 is part of bodybuilding. Therefore I don’t think it should go anywhere but up.
As always I appreciate you reading my article here at Iron Magazine. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. I would copy and paste the URL to this article to all your social media feeds. While it may not seem like a very hot topic at first, I think you’d be surprised as to howw many people would love nothing more than to bury this division six feet under and never talk about it again. I think that is a very small but vocal minority. I think the 212 has a great deal of promise and just needs one good rivalry to set it on fire once again.
