What did everyone think of the Elite Pro Show?

[mr natural]

personally i don't rate Salah.

y dnt u rate?

he is only 24, how old is mike? not that it matter on the day, but im sure they will both only improve

id be interested to know why they didnt take a year or 2 off to put on some size to be more comptitive with the pros... just wanted to do yr pro show? or pressure from the nzfbb to compete in the nz show? just interested to know

yeah perhaps its an age thing,just feel like salah needs afew more years to get some serious mass on him before he is anywhere near pro level.i'm sure if he keeps at it he will be able to go toe to toe with the big dudes.but for now no show.

i think both mike an sahal deserve praise for fronting up and competing.

[Matrix]

I was at the show where Mike and Salah both got their pro cards, if i remember correctly it was the NZFBB Nationals in Auckland. Mike won the over 85's and Overall Mr NZ and Salah the under 85's.

That night both looked really sharp. Mike as a total package and Salah showing huge potential with massive shoulders and the best abdominals in the show.

I think when comparing the two together especially regarding Salahs mass level it's important to remember that he was almost knifed to death about 18 months ago in an altercation and received seven or more stab wounds. Now i'm not sure as to the details of his recovery but I heard that he almost died so that attack must have put him out of serious training for many months.(you can see several large scars on his pecs and abdominals which bear witness to the injuries).

I believe that without this happening he would be carrying more mass than he currently is. As we all know in bodybuilding nothing replaces time for putting on size and muscular development.

One other important consideration to consider is that both guys hold down full time jobs, (Mike manages a division of Elite Fitness and Salah an Xtreme store) so they dont have the luxury of a six figure contract to allow them to eat, sleep and train 24/7. The top three bodybuilders at the NZEBB show are full time professionals via their supplement and apparell endorsements.

This shows you just how much dedication Mike, Salah and Moe(the guys amazing) put into their sport.

I commend both kiwi's for getting their feet wet twice this year and testing the water as professionals and back up 2 Guns's comments that Salah is pretty impressive for a 24 year old and has already shown us that he can compete in a ripped condition, injury free time will add the size to make him place better and at 24 he has plenty of it.

I think its great to have Kiwi's competing again on the world stage as we haven't had anyone doing this in a little while (unless you count Jon Davie the Ex- Pat). Best wishes to Mike and Salah on your future as IFBB pro's!

[mr natural]

alot of pro's are not full time b/b and hold down full time jobs,ie ronnie colman won quite a few olympia's before he stopped working full time as a police officer.Moe's in the same boat and got 3rd at the iron man so working full time should not be a restriction.

like i say time will tell. b/b to get to the top level takes time,it certainly doesn't happen overnight and is not acheived by simply taking steroids as many people think.

if mike and salah keep training and doing what ever it is alot of the pro's do and take then perhaps in 5 years they too could be a top champion.

my point being there are not there yet. best of luck too them though.Would be great for nz b/b to have another top level guy out there.

[Matrix]

You touched on a good point Mr Natural and that is that most athletes take many years once turning pro to achieve the top echelon of their sport. Toney Freeman for example is 38 and his best success has only come fairly recently.

Very few competitors start their pro careers at the highest level (Flex, Yates, Heath are a few), I think however the experience of competing in international pro shows will be invaluable to both the Kiwi guys.

As in most sports at the top level, you can learn so much from veteren top pros by just spending time with them talking training, presentation and dialling in pre comp etc and I think this is one of the greatest benefits in bringing down the top pros to compete, it helps inspire our local guys and gives them plenty of priceless infomation on the sport of bodybuilding.

On a side note, I was hoping Aldeen Brown (winner of NABBA Nth Harbour 2007) would compete in the Elite class but as if turns out he was in the audience. I think with his mass (especially in his back) it would have been interesting to see where he would have placed, what do you guys think?

[2guns]

On a side note, I was hoping Aldeen Brown (winner of NABBA Nth Harbour 2007) would compete in the Elite class but as if turns out he was in the audience. I think with his mass (especially in his back) it would have been interesting to see where he would have placed, what do you guys think?

there were heaps of ppl who did not compete that would have placed better than the guys who did place in the elite show. but they didnt show up so who cares

[Matrix]

Short, conscise and to the point, fair comment 2Guns. Thats one of the beauties of bodybuilding, it's really about who fronts up on the day and what condition they are in.

We've all seen plenty of huge guys (and girls) at the gym who would do very well at competitions but if they dont compete or have no interest in competing its all conjecture.

In turn this gives those who aren't genetically gifted for bodybuilding(narrow clavicles, ectomorphic etc) a chance if they train hard and consistently watch their diet and lifestyle.

[blairandkelly]

inother words put up or shut up

[MasterTel]

It's great to see most people really enjoyed the show and appreciated the quality of not just the competitors on show but the amazing efforts Mark and Moe have put in to make it possible.

It's great to see it is coming back next year - apparently with 50% more prize money (US$30,000 for the Pros and US$15,000 for the Elite).

I certainly enjoyed the event - even though I spent most of it up in the sound booth loading and playing the music, plus recording and processing the registration details on my laptop.

Although the amateur event was low on numbers, I think the concept of combining amateur, Elite and Pro classes in the one event is awesome and surely a wonderful experience for the amateurs to rub shoulders with the "big boys".

Those Polish guys were freaky - Robert (the winner) is the current Mr World IFBB overall champion which is not a surprise. Many reckon (quite rightly) that we would fit easily amongst the Pro ranks, but he does better financially as an Amateur by getting grants to train/compete, plus cleaning up in the many Elite shows he competes in. I heard he has won over US$100,000 in the past year or so doing the Elite shows - much more than he would win as a middle-ranked Pro.

It seems many of the Pros are keen to come back next year, and hopefully this event will continue to grow with bigger and better line-ups. Surely this has to be the best thing to happen to NZ bodybuilding for some time!

[Pseudonym]

There's some really good, thoughtful, balanced debate going on in this thread. Keep it up! :clap:

My gut feeling is that more amateurs will compete next year now they know a bit more about the format of the show. This year it was all a bit frightening and unknown.

[michaelk]

he is only 24, how old is mike? not that it matter on the day, but im sure they will both only improve

id be interested to know why they didnt take a year or 2 off to put on some size to be more comptitive with the pros... just wanted to do yr pro show? or pressure from the nzfbb to compete in the nz show? just interested to know

good and fair question 2G, I'm 36, but in saying that have put on more size in the past year than the previous 10- and eaten a small chicken farm in doing so.

the reasons I threw my hat in the ring on this occasion rather than wait was because i knew that judges reward improvement, and because experience is priceless.

Whilst I was weighing in the mid 90's for these shows (at the 06 Nationals I was 85.5kg onstage) and I knew that would be a bit light, I felt that turning up next year in front of many of the same judges they would notice and appreciate my planned gains. Put me onstage at 100kg and then I'm similar in mass to Troy, (and that man is the walking depiction of Mass with Class) and then they might look a little closer rather than have me pay my dues, and accordingly place me higher.

Hope that makes sense to you and you can understand my reasoning there.

Also the experience gained, even from one week to the next was invaluable, it's fair to say that in Melbourne I was shitting myself, at the gym when I first met all the boys, backstage pumping up (Dex is the man- but when you see Ronnie Rockel up close, especially his legs, they'll break your heart, I simply tried to avoid even looking at him its that scary), and then onstage. My first group posing round was against Melvin, Oliver and Troy, and when i walked off I was laughing thinking "how the hell did i end up here", I was in disneyland. A week later, I'm in a group with Melvin and Troy again, except this time, I'm following the posing advise Mel gave me in Melbourne and giving it everything going as hard and putting on as much of a show as I could....EXPERIENCE.....it doesn't come in a spray on tan bottle.

I felt guilty sitting there nibbling on my M&M's while they were all on stage! :wink:

Dont feel guilty, we're nibbling on the same things backstage!

[Marcus]

I thought you looked awesome at the NZ show Mike & I felt your placing was unfair.

What are your plans from here on?

[2guns]

sweet as, was just wondering. thanks mate

[michaelk]

I thought you looked awesome at the NZ show Mike & I felt your placing was unfair.

What are your plans from here on?

Onstage in Pro shows next year at 99kg, same condition....around 3%. This'll mean gettin up to around the 110k mark off season, I hit 104 off season for these shows so I can't see it being unobtainable.