September 23-25 saw the return of the annual Arnold Classic UK fitness expo, including a Mr. Olympia qualifying bodybuilding show. All eyes were on the Men’s Open category, as a number of top-class competitors took the stage together in hopes of winning their qualification for the Mr. O show in December. In what developed into the defining narrative of the weekend, seasoned professionals like James Hollingshead and Martin Fitzwater were pitted against young stars Chineda Andrew Obiekea (AKA Andrew Jacked), Patrick Johnson and Marc Hector. What would win out, experience or the young guns’ swagger? This week I’ll run down the top placers, and whether or not I agree with their placings.
Marc Hector pulled out the best package we’ve seen from him in quite some time at the Arnold UK with a 5th place finish, making sure to emphasize his crazily small waist and insane V-taper during his posing routines. He also managed to fix his legs, which had historically been a weak point, as he added considerable quad size and definition which allowed his lower body sweep to be far more competitive than it had been in previous years.
That being said, Hector came in very washed out. His shoulder-to-waist ratio may have been by far and away the most impressive on stage, but he lacked any definition throughout the abdomen as well as any chest striations. His back also suffered from a definition point of view as he seemed to be holding too much water. As a result, Marc ended up a distant fifth as the final callout had only the eventual top four placers in it. I was impressed with the improvements he made, but I must say I agree with this placing; he was head and shoulders above Jamie Christian-Johal in 6th, but also a mile off of the next man on this list. That being said, if he can come in dry and shredded, look for Marc Hector to do some real damage the next time he’s on stage.
After his third place finish at the Texas Pro, Martin Fitzwater will be disappointed to have dropped off a further placing in England with his finish in 4th. The physique Fitzwater brought was just slightly below par as compared to his previous performance, as he just seemed to be a little flat. He is known for his insane training intensity, having learned from and worked with the legendary Branch Warren. But he still has some way to go to start winning top tier shows, as he came up well short here.
The closest battle of the day, at least according to the scorecards, was between Fitzwater and James Hollingshead for third place. The difference in the end I think was based on diet. Something in Fitzwater’s diet, perhaps a relative lack of carbohydrates, led to his physique softening more and more as he posed, especially at prejudging. To his credit, Fitzwater did manage an equal score to Hollingshead at finals, meaning that he did manage to learn from his mistakes and harden up his physique to some extent. But even then, he could have no complaints about being outside of the top two.
Fitzwater’s biggest issue is size. He always looks massive in the offseason, but loses significant weight when he diets down. His arms end up disproportionally small compared to his legs, which admittedly are a strong point for him. The same complaint could be leveled against his chest in comparison to his back. This leads me to think that he needs to stop training so heavy and focus more on activating minor muscle groups if he wants to compete at the top level. Again, this one is fair.
As I alluded to, James Hollingshead came in third in his first competition since last year’s disappointing 12th place result at the Olympia and again he did at the Classic. He even did this prep without a coach, which is unheard of at the top level in a sport reliant upon discipline and a strong support system. And yet, somehow, he came in improved.
Hollingshead is known for crazy conditioning, and he brought it once again here, coming in with a Dorian-esque grainy complexion. He also came in bigger and fuller as well, which was great to see given that the biggest complaint with his Olympia physique was how flat he seemed.
However Hollingshead’s biggest struggle has always been his structure. He has comparatively narrow shoulders when placed alongside elite competitors, and it shows as his V-taper and aesthetic qualities suffer. He is unable to hit certain poses like the front lat spread as effectively as more aesthetic guys like Marc Hector, and so relies on pure muscularity and conditioning to place highly. The problems arise when guys with better structure come in close to as peeled, or even as peeled, as he does. In the end this placing was about right, but as I’ll elaborate on momentarily, I believe he should have had a shout at second.
Patrick Johnson was rather unknown to me entering this show, but I will surely know who he is now with his finish in 2nd. He is a very complete bodybuilder, and was rightly in and among the top placers at the Arnold UK. Johnson doesn’t excel much in any one area, but is a very well balanced professional. He is a heavily muscled guy while also maintaining a solid flow to his physique and has a solid V-taper. This allows him to, in the judges’ eyes at least, beat out guys like Johnson who have worse genetic structures than him, as well as guys like Marc Hector who have better structure but less muscle than he does.
Where I have an issue with this placing is that it re-enforces a trend that I find worrying, in which judges are consistently favoring structure over conditioning. It means that guys like Hollingshead, who was more heavily muscled and better conditioned, was beaten out by someone with worse conditioning and less size, all because his genetic base was more favorable. I take issue with favoring natural talent of that sort over hard work. That is no knock on Johnson either; his physique is top class. But he was clearly more washed out on the day, and smaller than Hollingshead. I think Johnson was definitely a top-three guy on the day, but that placing perhaps should have been third, not second.
Andrew Jacked followed up his impressive debut win in Texas with another victory in the UK, and I must say I think it was deserved. The craziest part was that my opinion remains steady despite the fact he came in noticeably off-and admitted to it too. Jacked just has such an amazing structure with such round muscle bellies that even at 75%, he still walks all over most competitors he faces. He has the craziest V-taper in the game right now, paired with deeply separated abs, boulder shoulders and legs big enough to match. The latter portion of that statement is the craziest, considering he is also one of the tallest pros at the top of the circuit right now at 6’2”, and growing big legs is increasingly difficult with increasing height.
His conditioning may not have been up to scratch, but this win was still deserved. I just hope Jacked comes in peeled at the Olympia. If he does, we could see a new champion come December.