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| Jay Cutler Versus Ronnie Coleman at the 2006 Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Contest |
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Still looking back at some of the pictures found online of Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler at the 2006 Mr. Olympia contest, I'm trying to figure out exactly where Ronnie was off at the show, and why the title was awarded to Jay. I won't go so far as to say that Ronnie looked his best at this show, but I will say that I don't think he was "off" in any normal use of the word. Off usually refers to coming into a contest out of shape or extremely far from a personal best. Ronnie was most definitely not off in terms of overall hardness and conditioning, and while he had been better before, he was really known for his mass over the past few years, and he had never competed as hard at 300 pounds before as far as I'm concerned. Some had said he was holding water, but other than his back which appeared "doughy" and his abdominals which appeared washed out, he looked hard as a rock and in great condition in my eyes. In fact, he had competed at the same weight before with the same flaws in his conditioning and was still awarded the title. I think the few differences this time out was that he appeared to be slightly injured - i.e., he appeared to have a minor injury to both his back and his left triceps, and Jay was also definitely ON. He came into the contest with his 2001 conditioning if not harder, with the same great tan, and with a back which was not only improved, but had even surpassed Ronnie's back in terms of overall size and conditioning - save for the skinfolds on Jay's back.
There are two rules as far as Mr. Olympia judging goes:
1. The reigning champ will always win.
2. The man with the best back will win.
In this case, the reigning champ was Ronnie, but the man with the best back was Jay. While it is not unreasonable that the title was awarded to Jay in my book, it is still a surprise to me that the reigning champ would not win, if you take into consideration bodybuilding history over the past 21 years.
In the photos below, I will evaluate pictures of both Ronnie and Jay side by side and give my assessment of who looks better in each pose. Photos are provided courtesy of Bodybuilding.com:
From head to toe, I would evaluate the front lat spreads by saying that Ronnie had the bigger and harder overall arms, as well as wider delts which were clearly separated from his traps from the front. His chest was fuller and harder and showing deeply etched striations. Both Jay and Ronnie had abs which were not particularly dominant in this pose but that is just the nature of this pose. Jay's legs were more feathered and in better condition, but Ronnie's quads were bigger and rounder. Overall I would also say that Ronnie showed the superior taper due to a smaller waist-to-shoulde ratio so I would give this pose to Ronnie.
The front double biceps I would have to give to Ronnie without any doubt. I can still pick this pose apart for both bodybuilders though. Ronnie's arms were leaps and bounds ahead of Jay's. In fact, it is not even close to not even being close. I think Jay would even admit that. Jay's arms are both smaller than Ronnie's and softer and in overall worse condition, which is not to say anything bad about Jay - it's just that Ronnie's arms are so insanely huge and hard that no pro bodybuilder can compare - not even Frank McGrath whose arms are so big it is just silly. As far as taper goes, both lack a taper in this pose comparable to somebody like Brian Buchanan, and both display a wide waist in this particular pose. Jay's lats appear to originate closer to his waist, but his waist is blocky which takes from the power of this pose for him. Ronnie's torso is shorter than Jay's, which can be seen as a flaw, but all in all, the eyes are usually drawn to the biceps in this pose, and Ronnie most definitely has Jay in this area. As for being soft in the midsection, both Ronnie and Jay didn't look particularly hard in that regard.
Hands on Hips Most Muscular
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Most muscular is normally a pose where I would give it to Ronnie. This year, Jay's amazing delt and chest thickness really caught my eyes though. His delts looked extremely 3-D in this pose and his chest and traps just jumped right off him. Ronnie was hard as nails and as usual, had the better arms than Jay, but Jay had so much thickness, he is hard to ignore in this pose. If conditioning wins, Ronnie's sheer muscle density would dominate, but if we are talking about insane size and muscle just popping off a physique, it goes to Jay.
The back double biceps pose needs to be evaluated from top to bottom. Jay wins from the back - you won't hear me arguing that. While Ronnie's delts and biceps were bigger than Jay's, the eyes really go to the back in this pose and Jay simply outsized Ronnie in that area. Jay still had a softer lower back, but the volume of his back trumped Ronnie, and by a noticeable margin. I NEVER thought I would see the day where Jay would catch up to Ronnie from the back - or any bodybuilder for that matter! As for glutes and hamstrings, Ronnie wins here both in terms of size and conditioning/hardness. Jay's calves were huge, but so were Ronnie's. Jay has the overall better calves in terms of proportion to his hamstrings as well as the separation and conditioning of them. This pose is NOT to be only evaluated by the back alone, but that is where the eyes go, so I can definitely see why Jay would fairly win this pose.
The back lat spread would also go to Jay in terms of actual back development. Jay simply outsized Ronnie in this area on this night. The loose skin on Jay's lower back wasn't visible in this pose. As for glutes and hamstrings, I would give that to Ronnie once again, with calves going to Jay. All in all, I think this pose goes to Jay.
As far as the abs and thigh pose is concerned, Jay obviously has the better abs and I don't think anyone would refute that. HOWEVER - and this is a big thing to note - Jay's taper is practically nonexistent in this pose. Ronnie's lats have far better flare, and Ronnie doesn't have overdeveloped obliques or a waist as wide as Jay's. Ronnie wins on taper, but Jay wins on abs. Going back to what I said originally, the eyes naturally land on the abs in this pose so it's not a surprise that Jay won. But if we ignore the abs and look at taper, I would give it to Ronnie. Jay's thighs were showing some insane cuts in this pose, so as a tie breaker I would probably use that to award the pose to Jay. This is one pose that can really go either way depending on exactly what judging standard you use. Both bodybuilders have strengths and weaknesses here, so it comes down to how you choose to evaluate it. I would say taper is more important than abdominal development, but I think it is perfectly reasonable to look at abs first and foremost. With that, I can see why Jay won this pose.
The side chest pose goes to Ronnie. Aside from being bigger and harder, Ronnie's fullness really caught the eye. Muscle was popping off the big man, just as muscle was popping off Jay in his most muscular pose. Also, this pose needs to be evaluated from head to toe, and Ronnie's hardness from traps to calves really dominated and made this shot. Ronnie's insane arms were a sight to behold.
Now there are obviously other factors which a bodybuilding contest is judged on, so let's examine some of these in greater detail:
Conditioning
Conditioning must be broken down in terms of many factors such as hardness, dryness, vascularity, and separation of individual muscle groups. Ronnie beat Jay on vascularity everywhere - I don't think Jay has any vascularity to speak of. This is just genetic of course, but some vascularity is desireable, i.e., the veins in Ronnie's arms really catch the eye. Too much vascularity like what Paul Dillett has can be gross. Ronnie was harder. There will never be a time where Jay comes in harder than Ronnie. Again, this is genetic, and I just don't see Jay somehow changing his genetics since magic doesn't exist. Now when we look at dryness, Ronnie was dry in many areas, but not every area. Jay's abs were defintely dryer, and his quads were also dryer, showing conditioning that Ronnie's quads never showed and will never show (genetic also). Fullness is another issue. A bodybuilder can be in great condition but look flat. That said, the muscles need to "pop" in order to make anything of conditioning. Now that I've given a quick rundown of the different facets which make up conditioning, I will examine who had better conditioning in what areas:
Traps - hard to really pick here since traps can't show much in terms of separation. I would consider this a push.
Shoulders - Jay had some damn good separation in his shoulders and Ronnie's were big and hard but not as separated. I would give this to Jay in terms of conditioning alone. Overall impressiveness is another issue, but for sheer cuts, Jay's delts were damn good this night.
Chest - this goes to Ronnie with ease in my opinion. The fullness and hardness of his chest was out of sight. Let's not forget that Ronnie had striations in his chest that Jay will never have. Again, genetics plays a role here and no matter how much dieting and cardio a bodybuilder does, some signs of conditioning will just never show up.
Arms - Ronnie wins again. Jay's arms didn't show any vascularity or hardness to speak of, with minimal separation. Ronnie's arms were better in every possible manner, all facets of conditioning being among them. Ronnie's arms were just sick. Possibly the best they had ever been.
Back - I would have to give the nod to Jay here. Jay's back was showing the same amount of detail and separation as Ronnie's and it was as hard and even harder in some respects. Ronnie's back looked "doughy" as it has over the past few years.
Abs - This is another easy victory for Jay. Ronnie's abs were washed over and smooth while Jay's appeared to be etched from stone. Since Ronnie doesn't have genetically superior abs to begin with, they need to be in top condition to look good. This was not the case tonight. Both Jay and Ronnie kept their stomachs in check in most of the pictures I've seen, with Jay showing the most improvement over last year.
Quads - Jay again. The feathering in Jay's quads is somethign Ronnie will never see. Never has, never will. Jay's quads had conditioned muscle packed on more conditioned muscle. Jay really owns the pose as far as quad cuts go.
Hamstrings - This goes to Ronnie. Jay's hams were good, but not as hard or detailed as Ronnie's and his ham/glute tie-in was also not up to par with Ronnie.
Glutes - Ronnie. Jay's glutes showed striations but not to the degree that Ronnie's did. Also keep in mind that Jay's glutes were at their best and Ronnie's were probably at their worst and Ronnie still won. This is just one of those areas where Ronnie is very far ahead of Jay and always will be.
Calves - Jay. Jay's calves show separation that Ronnie's never will. Ronnie's do have some cuts in them, but with no clear separation they look more like big blobs, as opposed to Jay's calves which show all the trademarks of a calf - just like an anatomy chart.
So all in all, you can see that both Jay and Ronnie have their strengths and weaknesses. To me, that is why it is strange that Jay won. In the past, you could have argued that many Mr. Olympia titles could have gone to somebody else. In 1987, I could have seen Lee Haney placing third behind Rich Gaspari and Mike Christian. Both were harder and fuller than Lee - in the hardness department BY FAR this statement was true, and Rich was far more muscular and Mike had the better arms with an even chest. Of course, Rich lacked Lee's symmetry and Mike lacked leg development compared to Lee. No matter what, debate has been around for ages when it comes to the Mr. Olympia contest.
So why did Jay win this time? You could argue it could have gone to Ronnie - no matter what anyone says, I would still give this title to Ronnie because of his incredible hardness and sheer size. But I can see someone else giving it to Jay due to his amazing back and feathered quads and deeply cut abs. But why? What made this year different? That is a question I think I will be asking for quite some time.
Take care,
webmaster@bodybuildingpro.com
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