Joe Pietaro
Joe Pietaro Contributer
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Old school bodybuilding fans may be rejoicing with the joint announcement from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Manion and Jim Lorimer that the posing round will once again be part of the competitor's final score...but only at the six Arnold Classic shows in 2016.
Over the years, the bodybuilders spent less and less time preparing their posing routines and it showed, so much that the IFBB did away with scoring it in 2009. So guys like Melvin Anthony and Kai Greene were few and far between while the leg stomps (Branch Warren) and pandering to the crowd for applause (Dexter Jackson) became commonplace. Why not, especially since it was an exhibition only?
But now that Schwarzenegger has once again influenced a major decision in the industry (the creation of men's classic physique can be attributed to The Austrian Oak's criticism of the wide waists on bodybuilders), it appears to be another case of giving in just enough to make him content.
Is this going to "fix" the problem? Not at all and to have the posing round count in some shows but not all of them sends a contradictory message to the competitors and fans alike. But it is a start and choreographed posing routines has become a lost art like the vacuum pose.
Back in the days of Chris Dickerson and Ed Corney, their posing was the highlight of the night and those routines have been lauded for decades. To see the decline of this has been a detriment to the legacy of the pioneers of the sport. Schwarzenegger has been bringing more shows all around the globe to the IFBB calendar and he has garnered control for at least part of it to bring back one of the important aspects of his era.
Written by Joe Pietaro
01-23-2016
Over the years, the bodybuilders spent less and less time preparing their posing routines and it showed, so much that the IFBB did away with scoring it in 2009. So guys like Melvin Anthony and Kai Greene were few and far between while the leg stomps (Branch Warren) and pandering to the crowd for applause (Dexter Jackson) became commonplace. Why not, especially since it was an exhibition only?
But now that Schwarzenegger has once again influenced a major decision in the industry (the creation of men's classic physique can be attributed to The Austrian Oak's criticism of the wide waists on bodybuilders), it appears to be another case of giving in just enough to make him content.
Is this going to "fix" the problem? Not at all and to have the posing round count in some shows but not all of them sends a contradictory message to the competitors and fans alike. But it is a start and choreographed posing routines has become a lost art like the vacuum pose.
Back in the days of Chris Dickerson and Ed Corney, their posing was the highlight of the night and those routines have been lauded for decades. To see the decline of this has been a detriment to the legacy of the pioneers of the sport. Schwarzenegger has been bringing more shows all around the globe to the IFBB calendar and he has garnered control for at least part of it to bring back one of the important aspects of his era.
Written by Joe Pietaro
01-23-2016
