Pro Bodybuilding Weekly, Date: 02/05/07: Guest: Nasser El Sonbaty
Dan and Bob introduced the show and talked about the upcoming pro contests. They talked about the upcoming 2007 Ironman Pro show. Bob said that the contest result from 2006 was controversial with the audience split about 50/50 as far as contest placings go with 50% feeling that Lee Priest should have won and 50% feeling that David Henry should have won. David has a better back than Lee and shows up in harder condition, but Lee has better arms and is no slouch in the mass department. Both are around the same height of 5'4 or 5'5 and are big for their height.
Next up, Dave Bourlet from Max Muscle Venice appeared for his section of the show. Dave talked about Victor Martinez and Phil Heath competing at the upcoming 2007 Arnold Classic. Phil Heath also has a new DVD out:
Dave spoke about what is new with current Mr. Olympia champion Jay Cutler. He said that he is trying to get more exposure for Jay.
Dan announced that Gunter Schlierkamp and Kim Lyons would be getting married next month (March 2007)! Kim appeared briefly in Gunter's new DVD:
Gunter and Kim both appeared on the cover of the new edition of Muscle & Fitness magazine. They are the new golden couple of bodybuilding and both have bright futures, even if Gunter does retire from bodybuilding, I think he will find success in other avenues.
Nasser was then introduced to the show who won the 1999 Arnold Classic, and came second at the 1997 Mr. Olympia.
Nasser said that the main reason that he started improving his placements in bodybuilding contests was due to general muscle maturity and he also cited finally learning how to diet for his physique to come in hard and sliced. He said he was always huge in the offseason, but would lose this mass going into a contest, and learned how to bring his best shape to the stage after years of effort.
Bob Cicherillo brought up Nasser's disqualification at the 1996 Mr. Olympia for diuretics, and Nasser explained that Jay Cutler also tested positive for diuretics at the 2001 Mr. Olympia but Jay had threatened the NPC because the testing company was not IOC regulated as they said it would be, and the NPC backed down and Jay was not disqualified. The end result was that Jay kept his placing and his prize money and Nasser did not.
Dan Solomon brought up the issue of synthol and asked Nasser if he ever used it. While he didn't answer the question directly, he did state that it was a terrible idea but when Bob Cicherillo then asked him directly if he used synthol, Nasser said it was as common in bodybuilding as toothpaste and that anyone with any degree of success in bodybuilding has used it. Nasser said it was used by almost everybody, even at smaller level shows. Nasser said that Art Bedway was the judge who started this rumour and he should not be a judge and is also a drunk...LOL. Art apparently started the rumour at the 2001 Mr. Olympia contest.
The topic of Nasser's back was brought up. Nasser said that his back had been overly criticized through the years and I completely agree! He brought up a lot of politics and I have to say I was agreeing with him on everything. He explained that Dorian had sustained plenty of injuries and that there is no way he should have beaten him in that form. He also said that Dorian had a lot of connections within the NPC and that it helped him a lot. I agree with both of these comments. Nasser then said that in 1998 it would not be a good idea to give the title to a non American bodybuilder because it would keep the title outside of the USA for more years after it had already been there for six. This is another very interesting point which I definitely lend some credence too! There is no doubt politics in the IFBB and NPC.
Some very hard questions were asked to Nasser, one of which was whether or not the used clothing on his website was indeed selling. He said that the items were selling and he had no problem selling his clothes and even his posing trunks and underwear to those who want them, as he said tastes vary and some people have different priorities. He said that if people e-mail him too much and get too sexual in the e-mails, he will not continue conversing with them, but to make a some purchases was ok with him.
Nasser said that when Arnold comes on the show the following week that they should explain to Arnold that Nasser is not an endo-mesomorph as Arnold said in his training encyclopedia, but a pure mesomorph. Nasser also said that even though Arnold is a busy man, he should still do more to promote bodybuilding because he is in such a good position to do so.
Finally, Nasser was asked if he was retired from bodybuilding and Nasser said that he was still working out and he wasn't 100% sure if he was retired. When asked about Shawn Ray, Nasser said that shorter bodybuilders always say that they are more proportional or symmetrical, but this is not always the case, and that tall bodybuilders can have good symmetry as well.
Dan asked Bob if he felt that 95% of bodybuilders did use synthol, and Bob said he didn't believe that number for a minute. Personally, I'm not so sure, but I am sure that the number is very likely a lot higher than we think it is.
Next, Jen Hendershott was introduced to the show. She spoke about promotion of the fitness industry within the NPC and the IFBB.
Overall Review:
Overall, I can honestly say that this was one of my favourite episodes, if not my favourite. The reason for that being that Nasser was so open and honest in his interview and did not hide from the tough questions, and himself was tough and hard hitting in his responses. Nasser is a great bodybuilder who follows bodybuilding in depth and still knows all the gossip and rumours going around in the industry. He is also incredibly intelligent. I have to say that it is not many pros who I am as impressed with as Nasser in terms of intelligence - he is a damn smart guy.
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