Before sitting down to write part four, I decided to quickly reread part three. In the end of part three of this series, I wrote how George has had the greatest post-contest rebound and progress I've seen yet in him since his win. So, I decided to fact check a bit before writing this article. George has been dieting for a while now, so I found it interesting looking back that he had actually gained 2 pounds since that article because he is much leaner now. I also remember him being over 240, but I guess that was a couple of weeks later before we started his full-on Olympia prep. The statistical info backs up what I already knew in that George continues to add muscle even while dieting. Despite dieting for over a month now, George is heavier and leaner than he was six weeks ago.
This bit of research made me look back a bit further. I ended up going all the way back to five weeks before the 2019 Mr. Olympia. Looking at George today. I feel his condition was about equal to what he was five weeks prior to that contest where we filmed episode two of the New England Muscle Media YouTube series Da Bull ... The Best Is Yet To Come. In that particular video. George weighed 205 pounds at five weeks out. We always got George down in weight and ready early, in order to prevent him from losing too much muscle while making his I92-pound Classic weight limit. We wanted the weight loss to be less dramatic at the end so that he could keep his muscle better for the stage. George is about three weeks ahead of that and 23 pounds bigger now. 14 months later at 230 pounds today.
20 POUNDS OF MUSCLE IN ONE YEAR
So, George has added roughly 20 pounds of muscle in the last 14 months. A feat currently only matched by one other top pro in the IFBB. I can’t remember the last time a top-five IFBB athlete has added 20 pounds of muscle in one year. Dorian made a 15-pound jump from his 1992 Olympia win and his second win in 1993, but this kind of a leap in one year from a top pro is rare. In this crazy year we have two. The 212 division seems to be exploding with new talent. The IFBB Classic division has spawned a host of new successful 212 pros in 2020. In this past weekend’s Chicago Pro alone, three of the top six guys were former top Classic competitors. The 212 division is arguably the fasted-morphing division in the IFBB at the present time.
The 2020 Mr. Olympia lineup will have a much different look this year. With basically all the top guys from last year returning along with some of new blood, this has the makings of a very competitive and unpredictable show. Classic Olympians including George, Keone Pearson and Jason Lowe will join other newcomers like Bo Lewis, Derik Oslan and others who will all be making their first appearances in the 212 Olympia. This makes for an exciting mix of the new and the old for the showdown in the Las Vegas desert in December. At the forefront of this “changing of the guard” is George. A Classic Olympian who starved to make weight has now grown into a top of the weight limit 212 competitor, as well as a 212 Olympia front-runner. Both George and I embrace this position and are fully prepared for this coming battle.
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