Greene, while being bigger than Jackson, has the appearance of a smaller bodybuilder due to his narrow waist and small joints. He took home the Arnold Classic championship over the larger Victor Martinez and Branch Warren.

This year in Las Vegas, the best of the best will be on the stage at The Orleans Arena and amongst the much larger competition, Jackson will find it difficult to repeat. Not only will The Blade be facing the aforementioned Cutler, Martinez and Warren, but Markus Ruhl has recently announced that he will be bringing his monster build to the Olympia. Let’s not forget Phil Heath, who finished in third plce a year ago at his rookie O.

The 5’11″, nearly 300-pound German finished in third place at the New York Pro in May and originally intended on retiring from the sport. But as reported by Muscular Development, Ruhl has changed his mind and will be furthering his career. The 36-year-old will make his legions of fans extremely happy with this decision and brings great presence and character to the stage.

With an offseason weight that can get up to an amazing 340 pounds, Ruhl has a few ‘rules’ that he lives by. It was by no accident that he became the “Freakazoid,” and after hearing some of his training methods it will be no surprise.

Ruhl believes in straight sets using heavy free weights and not resting on his laurels. He believes that getting stronger and going heavier will build more size. As far as reps and sets go, he will go as heavy as he can for as low as four to six reps. Using this method, Ruhl can blow out 25 to 30 sets per body part without feeling that he is overtraining. He also trains to failure, something that he feels makes or breaks the growth spurt.

By hitting each muscle so hard, Ruhl only trains one body part per day. By doing so he can assure that each one will get the maximum effort.

Proper nutrition is just as important as training to Ruhl and he consumes approximately 7,000 calories per day, which includes 400 to 500 grams of protein. Even with all of these calories, Ruhl makes sure to keep his diet clean and it consists of chicken, beef, fish, rice and potatoes.

This may be his last hurrah so expect Ruhl to come in looking more massive than ever before. He will leave a lasting impression with size never seen before even more so than a top six placing.

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

The job, I believe, of a Professional Personal Trainer is to educate, motivate and inspire their clients to improve their lives by helping them reach a higher level of fitness. This is accomplished in many ways, one of them being resistance training. Whether it be with free weights, bands or machines, strengthening the muscles makes them leaner and stronger. Holding more muscle pushes the body to burn more fat. While you’re training, especially in a circuit training style, you WILL burn calories. This article is about training, so I won’t delve into nutrition, but it does play a major factor and any quality personal trainer should address it.

A couple exercises that should never be attempted in personal training session are:

Behind the Neck Barbell Presses and Behind the Neck Pulldowns.

If you learn nothing else from me as a Professional Personal Trainer, please take this: Behind the neck with a bar puts the rotator cuff in a bad postition. The rotator cuff is a group of four small muscles that stabilizes the shoulder.

When interviewing or doing a sample session with a personal trainer take mental notes.

Are they more concerned with locking you into a year of personal training? Are they trying to sell you? Do they listen to you? Will they get in contact with your orthopedic, chiropractor and any other professional you’ve worked with to discover your special conditions? If not, buyer beware.

Be safe. Good luck in finding a quality personal trainer that does it for the right reasons (to help people) and enjoy your fitness journey.

Matthew Sgro, in addition to being a MuscleSport Mag staff writer, is the President and Founder of Elite Personal Training Studios, Inc. and Boot Camps with a Purpose, Inc., located in Exton, PA. For details, visit www.TrainAtElite.com.