Late one night I was on the phone chatting with Dave Palumbo about everything from ketones to who's the biggest sham trainer in the sport. The conversation was about as fluid as the Mississippi . . . jumping from one topic to another at nearly the speed of light. It also doesn't help that I talk about multiple subjects at one time somehow believing they are all germane and interconnected to each
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| Paul DeMayo at the 1991 NPC Jr. Nationals |
another. Usually, after one of my all-over-the-place conversations, I realize that I'm not even making sense. This night, the back and forth banter turned to Paul DeMayo and I said, "Yea I worked with him too." Dave, and probably many of you out there, didn't even know that Paul was one of my clients. Well, I met Paul back in 1987; he came to visit me at Springfield College where I was studying the "guru" sciences. A mutual friend had told Paul, "Go see Chris; he knows a lot about nutrition and he can help you get ready for your bodybuilding competitions." In those days, no one did cardio but I always had people do something- usually interval stuff around 40 minutes 4 times a week. When I, initially, told Paul "You gotta do cardio to get the fat off your ass and back," he just looked at me like I was insane. Then he laughed. I'll never forget that laugh; it was so odd. Telling Paul DeMayo to do cardio was like me telling him he had to play with dolls. In his mind, it was so far removed from hardcore squatting, bent over rowing and just going nuts in the gym that the only way he could express himself was with this silly, "This sounds like it's for pussies " laugh. I have no idea what year that was [ed note: It was 1990], but after 16 weeks of contest prep we headed down to New Orleans for the NPC Jr Nationals where he landed in 3rd behind Flex Wheeler and Robert Rothrock. In another story to be told later; this is where my path first crossed with Mike Francois who placed out of the top 10 at that show.
The very next year, Paul came back to the same show (NPC Jr Nationals). By contest day, he was bigger and better than I had ever seen him. I couldn't control myself in the hotel room. I let out one of my obnoxious declarations, "Paul, aint no one gonna beat this! You look nuts."
The next day Paul showed up to the weigh-in and stepped on the scale at an unheard of, at the time, 232lb. And he was ripped! The winner; right? Turns out he ran into a guy backstage who was training for only one year. The kid's name was Kevin Levrone! I remember as clear as day, Paul came back to our hotel room and said " My fucking luc,k some future Mr. Olympia comes out of nowhere. We got a battle on our hands Chris." I really thought he was joking so I never gave it a thought. The next day, Paul steps onstage looking retarded! (see accompanying side triceps pose). I‘m thinking now, with more than a streak of arrogance, "This show's over." Then Levrone (we didn't even know his name at the time) comes out. He hits a classic Levrone crunch shot with the biggest shoulders I had ever seen and the crowd, who was comprised of at least 100 people that Kevin bussed in, when totally ballistic. I mean totally nuts. They were banging the hell out of their wooden seats and blowing those horns they use at the World Cup. The show was in a small high school gym in New Jersey yet it seemed like the noise level for Levrone was deafening. From that first crunch shot impression, which made me sink so deep into one of the old wooden chairs I nearly couldn't get back out, I thought, "Shit this guy's not only got this show; but Paul was right, he's gonna be Mr Olympia." However, as the prejudging dragged on, I became more comfortable with the way Paul looked. When the two were compared, I kept coming back to Paul, which is a good thing. That's typically my gut telling me who looks better. The guy I usually stare at the longest is usually the guy who wins (or at least should win, in my eyes). And this time, Paul had my eyes. After prejudging I told him "I have you winning but I just can't get over this guys crunch shot and delts. I'm worried there will be judges who feel the same way and he may pull it out." But I did reiterate to him, "Don't worry; there nothing you can do now. I have you first." I learned a very valuable lesson that day that still haunts me even to this day. You never ever know who will show up at a show and in what condition. People really can come out of nowhere. It was a great win for Paul; we laughed about it all night after he was crowned the 1991 NPC Jr National Champion.
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