Strike a Pose by Jerry Brainum 8/26

 

 

 

The 1990 Mr.Olympia contest remains the only drug-tested Mr.Olympia contest. Drug testing was supposed to be a regular part of the Mr. Olympia contest, but the perceived decreased physical condition of the competitors that year led the contest officials to shelve the idea of drug testing at Mr.Olympia permanently. The quality of the physiques that year was noticeably less than at their usual best. However, what was more interesting was what transpired between the pre-judging of the contest and the final results. After the pre-judging, Lee Labrada, one of the pre-eminent professional bodybuilders, received more points than the incumbent Mr.Olympia, and the man expected to win Lee Haney. Haney had already won the contest six times and was going for his seventh victory. At 243 pounds, Haney was the heaviest man in the contest. Labrada was considerably smaller at five-foot-six and 186 pounds. Labrada winning the contest over Haney would have been a major upset. However, at the night finals of the contest, Haney was announced the winner. 

After the contest, I interviewed an official from the contest. My first question was, how could Lee Labrada have lost the contest to Haney when Labrada was ahead after the pre-judging? "The last round of the contest was the posing round," the official told me. "Lee Haney won that round and, because of that, won the extra points needed to win." This was curious because Lee Labrada had an excellent physique and was easily the best poser in the contest, with a balletic display that was second to none. His posing and timing mesmerized the audience. While massive and in great shape, Lee Haney could hardly be called a great poser. His posing involved the standard muscle poses, but the segue or transition into each pose can only be described as wooden. So how did he defeat perhaps the best poser in bodybuilding? When I posed (pardon the pun) that question to the contest official, he explained that the posing round didn't represent actual posing ability but rather how well the body was displayed. The official then said that the judges thought that Haney's body display, or how he showed his muscular development, was superior to that of Labrada. So he won. 

Whether or not Haney displayed his body better than Labrada is a matter of debate, but for the uninitiated, Labrada was clearly the better poser. But if nothing else, this story shows how vital posing is for bodybuilding competitors at every level. Bodybuilding posing is radically different for certain classes of female competitors, such as bikini women, who don't have to show their bodies in the same way as male bodybuilders. Indeed, posing even differs between male competitors. Men who compete in the Men's physique category are warned not to overdevelop their muscles. When they pose, they should avoid "hard-core . . .