The Arnold Classic '24 Mega thread

[luki7788]

After the 2022 olimpia James announced that he would take a year off and 2024 would be his last year and he would retire, but maybe he changed his mind.

J.P also claimed that he will never return to bodybuilding - never say never, especially when you are a bodybuilder - it is a virus that cannot be cured lol

 

[BigDogDave]

Love the Arnold

 

[Eguz22]

It makes no sense to Milos' obsession that a pro athlete must always compete, in this sense Walker and Derek are an example, Nick preferred to do New York but then he rests for Olympia even though he could win them all, but it doesn't make sense, Olympia is the one race that really matters

If Milos really believed Samson could be the MO, he wouldn't have him doing so many shows, none of the others in the top 5 have that strategy. Samson likes to compete, but I guess he'd rather win the 2 big shows and not destroy his body with so many preps.

 

[bbxtreme]

If Milos really believed Samson could be the MO, he wouldn't have him doing so many shows, none of the others in the top 5 have that strategy. Samson likes to compete, but I guess he'd rather win the 2 big shows and not destroy his body with so many preps.

You don’t know Milos. Lol he loves to compete and for his guys to do the same.

Maybe his position has changed, but it used to be that by competing so often that you used the rebounds to put you in a more anabolic state which is when you really pushed to improve and add size.

He believed this was more effective than a year offseason as you may have to do mini cuts etc throughout that. So why not get on stage and use it tactically instead.

Nobody can argue with Milos’s ability to pack size on guys as he proved this with Samson by taking him to a top 3 bodybuilder in the world in lightening speed with his approach.

Does Milos know how to bring guys in peeled? Of course he does. Could Samson push back on him and have him work on conditioning? Sure. But Milos is very passionate about his approach and methods.

That’s why it’s so important to make sure you and your coach are on the same page and constantly communicate- especially after each show. You both learn a lot. And it’s ok if you aren’t and have to do what Samson is doing here. Time is money in this sport and age is our enemy.

 

[Eguz22]

If he loves competing, I don’t see why he’d stop. He just brought his best look yet.

He’ll never be Mr. O, but neither will 99.99% of bodybuilders

He can still win some shows, and he's not someone who competes too much so he shouldn't be too burnt out.

In this show he outperformed Akim, who is genetically superior, and the most he could have achieved would have been fourth place, he was beaten by Delarosa who looked incredible.

So, there is no reason to withdraw unless your health is in trouble. I don't understand that "unless you are among the best of the best, you should retire" thinking. Athletes in all sports enjoy competing.

We've almost gone from one extreme to another, where there is extreme caution about health and longevity...

 

[Eguz22]

You don’t know Milos. Lol he loves to compete and for his guys to do the same.

Maybe his position has changed, but it used to be that by competing so often that you used the rebounds to put you in a more anabolic state which is when you really pushed to improve and add size.

Milos was in the second or third level in his time (obviously the hardest in history) and he never grew too much in his whole career, so I don't see that his strategy of competing so many times worked too well for him.

Milos has never led anyone to win the Olympia in any class: open, 212 or classic, why?

Aceto, Rambod, Chad, Farah, Jansen, the Oxygen Arabs.... all of them have several O champions. Their athletes follow the strategy of doing few shows a year.

For the record, I consider Milos maybe the smartest of all these gurus, I think there is some bad luck in him not having a champion, I don't think anyone matches him in his knowledge of nutrition and drugs, but his strategy of having his best athlete compete so many times doesn't make sense. Specially when his condition is always bad.

 

[bbxtreme]

Milos was in the second or third level in his time (obviously the hardest in history) and he never grew too much in his whole career, so I don't see that his strategy of competing so many times worked too well for him.

Milos has never led anyone to win the Olympia in any class: open, 212 or classic, why?

Aceto, Rambod, Chad, Farah, Jansen, the Oxygen Arabs.... all of them have several O champions. Their athletes follow the strategy of doing few shows a year.

For the record, I consider Milos maybe the smartest of all these gurus, I think there is some bad luck in him not having a champion, I don't think anyone matches him in his knowledge of nutrition and drugs, but his strategy of having his best athlete compete so many times doesn't make sense. Specially when his condition is always bad.

Milos competed a lot more than he has his guys compete.

These are all things I discussed with him as I was a huge fan coming up of his and his era.

He knew he had shit genetics and had maxed out his physique. He overdid synthol in his biceps and was not going to ever be any better than he was (his words).

So instead he focused on ironically enough “conditioning” and coming in as one of the sharpest guys on stage because he was maxed out. And he just loved to compete so he figured “let it rip”.

He then poured his passion into helping the other guys who had great genetics push the limits on their physique, hence he became one of the best coaches.

IMO Milos likely doesn’t think Samson has achieved his full size and potential (he hasn’t on his back) so that’s why you haven’t seen a super sharp conditioned Samson on stage yet.

Now don’t get me wrong- I work with AJ now and not Milos for many reasons. But I am the first to speak objectively and give credit where it’s due.

 

[aHarness]

We've almost gone from one extreme to another, where there is extreme caution about health and longevity...

Agreed completely. Everyone acts like if you don’t have Mr O potential now it’s not worth it.

Are we not all doing this in the first place because we love the process?