Canada's Amazing Amateurs!

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I have more interest in amateur competitions than professional ones. Why? It’s mostly because there are very few pro bodybuilders today who I think look any good. Most current pros try to go for all-out size, sacrificing shape and symmetry along the way. Furthermore, very few know how to pose well and present their physiques appropriately. There are some exceptions to this, Darrem Charles being one, but most of the pros lack the polish that they should have. Out of the few dozen who participate regularly on the pro circuit each year, I only want to watch a handful of them compete. The rest I could care less about.

I believe that there is also no one competing today who will be remembered like the greats of the past – guys like Larry Scott, Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane, Lee Haney, and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those guys were legends who are still remembered and revered today even though they competed decades ago. On the other hand, most of the current pros are forgotten moments after they leave the stage.

As a result, I’d rather focus on the amateur ranks, where there are many competitors who are more interesting to watch than the pros even though most can’t match the pros in terms of size. However, many amateurs can outclass their professional counterparts with shape, symmetry, and posing ability. One just has to attend an IFBB world championship event to see what I’m talking about. The quality of competitors there is extraordinarily high, although most North Americans never see these guys because the contests are held in faraway places. The last men’s world championship event was held in Bahrain!

However, you don’t have to get on an airplane to find great amateur competitions. Canada has dozens of high-quality amateur competitions each year and I’m in the enviable position of seeing more of them than any other Canadian-based writer/photographer. So, with the 2009 season about to begin, this article is a reflection on three amazing amateur competitors from Canada who caught my attention in 2008.

One was Ontario’s Rob DeLuca, whom I saw compete in the IDFA’s Canadian Classic IV event in Toronto in November (the IDFA promotes only drug-tested events). I was so impressed by Rob’s physique, I made sure he got featured on our cover this month and have included this picture below.

I don’t know how old Rob is, but I do know that he’s over 40, because he not only competed in the regular competition with some guys probably half his age, but in the masters class as well, which is reserved for men over 40. He won both competitions quite easily with muscle density that was awesome and conditioning that was out of this world. Muscle striations were visible everywhere on his physique and veins were dancing on his skin with every pose he hit. He also posed with such ferociousness and intensity that I turned to the person beside me and said, "If he poses this way onstage, he must be an animal when he trains in the gym!"

Another over-40 competitor who defeated much younger competitors is Quebec’s Marc Lavoie. We featured Marc on our October cover after he won the masters category, the heavyweight class, and, ultimately, the overall title at the 2008 IFBB North American Championships. Immediately after he won, an official there told me that no over-40 masters competitor has ever won the overall title at the North Americans. Obviously, Marc’s got a lot to be proud about.

Finally, there’s Ontario’s Ben Pakulski whom we featured on our cover in September. I first saw Ben compete a few years ago when he won the Ontario Championships, but I wasn’t very impressed back then. I thought he looked pretty good, but I also thought he lacked symmetry and balance. In particular, his legs were too overpowering for his upper body. He’s improved greatly since. In 2008, Ben placed second in the super-heavyweight class at the IFBB North Americans (in my opinion, he should have won the class), and then a week later he won the super-heavyweight class and the overall title at the Canadian Championships to become the 2008 Canadian Men’s Bodybuilding Champion. It’s not often that you see competitors improve as much as Ben did. In fact, I thought enough of Ben’s improvement and accomplishment this year to write an article about him for Inside Fitness magazine, which is available on newsstands now.

Those are the three Canadian amateur competitors who impressed me the most in 2008. Now here’s the irony – because of their wins, all three have now turned pro. DeLuca’s a pro in the IDFA and Lavoie and Pakulski are both IFBB pros. Given what I said at the beginning of this article about my general disdain for the current-day pros, how will I view these three guys in the future? Hopefully, they’ll join the handful of pros that I do enjoy watching. On the other hand, it’s time for the 2009 season to begin and there are undoubtedly going to be some new up-and-coming amateurs ready to make a mark. Chances are you’ll read about them here first.

...Doug Schneider, Publisher
das@seriousaboutmuscle.com

Doug Schneider is the publisher and chief photographer for SeriousAboutMuscle.com, BodyBuildingLive.com, and SeriousAboutFitness.com.