I was going through contest pictures on RxMuscle.com, the other day, and I had an inspiration for my article this week. I want to touch on two bodybuilders that stick out in my mind as the best in different aspects of the sport. First, Kai Greene is clearly one of the few athletes in bodybuilding that has made the most out of his physique. There are lots of other guys out there that have capitalized on their genetic potential, but I think Greene has taken it to another level. Secondly, Jay Cutler has the ability to promote his physique like no other bodybuilder I have seen since Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some people have criticized my opinions in the past as if I have presented them as fact. Remember, these are just my opinions and they matter just as much as yours does. In response to those people, I’m going to take a page out of Arnold’s book. In Conan The Barbarian, Conan was praying to Crom and he says. . . “The hell vit you!”
For all intent and purposes, Mr. Greene has totally maxed out his genetics. For Kai, it’s just a matter of showing up in shape. As we have seen in some of Kai’s best showings, he can bring ungodly conditioning and striations from head to toe, literally. This guy has striations in places I have never seen before. Lately, it has been that level of conditioning that has eluded him. His physique is blown up to the max for his frame and there is very little else that he can add. I think that he has gotten to this point largely because of his training methodologies (Yeah, yeah, I know genetics and supplements too). Kai has been able to reach this level because of how he uses biomechanics, form, poundages and all-around fiber recruitment. This guy trains with beautiful form, activating all the muscle fibers in the target muscle. I have observed and trained with some of the best in the world. What is remarkable about Kai is his fluidity and concentration of the reps he performs in any exercise. It’s observable that there is not an ounce of wasted effort, his concentration is unmatched and you can see he really has a mind-to-muscle connection with every part of his body.
You can try to duplicate this kind of training effect in yourself. Obviously, not everyone has the genetics that Kai Greene does; that’s a given. If you look at how he trains, he does a lot of free weight exercises and really concentrates on form, contraction of the muscle, and visualization of what he wants the muscle to look like. Currently, the majority of pros are using machines and straying away from free weight exercises. I think that’s a huge mistake. I remember watching Kai when he was training with Charles Glass in Venice a few years back. Charles had him doing a lot of machines and Kai just seemed uncomfortable with it to me. It seemed like he didn’t like being stuck to one arc of movement. He seems more comfortable training with basic free weights and with very heavy poundage. Every time Kai is in the gym, he is visualizing what he wants his muscles to look like. I always check out Kai’s training videos when I come across them on the net because even I can learn from them.
Jay Cutler has marketed and promoted himself better than any other pro on the scene with the obvious exception of the Iron God, Schwarzenegger. He obviously considers his body his business and he treats it as such. He has covered every marketing and product avenue. If you are an aspiring bodybuilder, you should try to market yourself as much as possible. In today’s landscape, marketing yourself is easier than ever with social media applications everywhere. Just don’t get stuck trying to promote yourself on a dead piece of software like MySpace. It’s totally different than when I was coming up in bodybuilding and you had to actually go to Venice or get covered in a magazine to get anything going. What really makes Jay different is that he is a self-promoter. He even refers to himself as “Jay Cutler”. Sometimes, however, that isn’t the best idea.
Jay has the most training videos out there, probably more than any pro. Not only that but he has a number of other DVDs that don’t even center on training like My House. It’s basically a long episode of MTV Cribs where he goes through his house and does the usual thing. For a guy that is so humble, it is strange that he’s always in front of a camera and even stranger that he would expose his personal life. But Jay is like a chess master; he rarely makes any move without having a plan or a reason. He even has his own clothing line and a virtual training site. Jay is a good role model for anyone, in any level of bodybuilding, fitness/figure or bikini. His success speaks to that fact.
Sometimes, I think he might be getting a little carried away. I just saw that he came out with a music CD called Beats By Jay. It’s basically Jay talking over some beats on a CD. You gotta give it up to this guy though; he has really penetrated every hole in the market. The great thing about Jay is that he never turned to the dark side of the sport and did gay-fo- pay or sell his used underwear on ebay. I have to be honest, I listened to the samples on his website and it wasn’t motivating to me. But, it takes all kinds to make this world go round so maybe people will buy it. Here’s his youtube video; maybe you’ll get a laugh or maybe you’ll be motivated, I don’t know:
Music CD aside, Jay has made a more than adequate living from bodybuilding and his physique. He didn’t sit back and get comfortable off of his contract money; he went out and turned himself into a commodity. The mistake so many bodybuilders make is that they go through their time in the sport without capitalizing on their bodies which have a finite amount of profitability. Your body is only relevant in this sport for a couple years. Jay has created various streams of income and capitalized on his physique while making smart investments and setting himself up for life. A huge piece of advice that I think I can lend to anyone that will listen is that you can’t rely on your contract money to get you by. The contract money is just a bonus; you should have other streams of income coming in that keeps you comfortable. Then, you can use your contract money to buy big ass rims for your big ass truck. Until next week little Kovacians, stay stiff.
All articles by Greg Kovacs have been edited by Jeff Pearce since April 2011. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions e-mail him at [email protected] .
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