Dayana Cadeau may be making the switch at the right time and announced it last month on her Facebook page:

“I would like to thank all my fans for their support for all these years of my bodybuilding career. This weekend was my last Olympia show as a bodybuilder. I’m gonna do Women’s Physique as an IFBB pro. Much better for me.”

Throughout her 16-year bodybuilding career, Cadeau has competed in numerous shows each year and was a regular at the Arnold Classic and Ms. Olympia. As recently as the last Arnold, she finished in the top 10, and was in the top six at the 2010 Olympia.

But now she is delving into a new class that people are still curious about. Physique is said to be in between bodybuilding and figure, so someone with as much muscle mass as Cadeau will have to a lot of modifications to her routine and diet in order to bring it down.

It remains to be seen the effect that WPD will have on the industry and if other female bodybuilders will follow Cadeau. And then there is the question of how many amateur competitors will go into physique instead of bodybuilding. These are all things that will play themselves out.

But for now, it will be very interesting to see the transformation of Dayana Cadeau.

After finishing in third place in the 2007 Mr. Olympia, 38 year-old Dexter Jackson knows that the window of opportunity may be closing on him. In September, he will give it another go, this time coming off three consecutive first place finishes in the calendar year.

Earlier, Jackson won the Arnold Classic, IFBB Australian Grand Prix VIII and the IFBB New Zealand Grand Prix. While that is a nice accomplishment, the Mr. O is a whole different world.

Persevering through his career, Jackson finished third in the 1992 NPC Southern States Lightweight Division. He next took the stage three years later, which was also his first victory in the NPC USA Championships Light-Heavyweight Division.

Jackson turned professional in 1999, which included a ninth place finish in his inaugural Olympia show. He would not taste victory again until the 2002 Grand Prix England, and has finished first on eight different occasions since then.

Competing in eight out of the last nine Mr. Olympia contests (he missed the 2005), Jackson has finished ninth, ninth, eighth, fourth, third, fourth, fourth and third. To break into the top two, he will need to come into Las Vegas looking the way he has all year, possibly even better.

At the Australian Grand Prix, Jackson’s thighs were extremely impressive, as was his abdominal section. His obliques appeared as if they were carved away from his midsection and all of his 5’6″ frame looked to be in peak condition.

Having his eye on the prize, Jackson knows what he has to do in September. “I’ve beaten everybody else and Jay (Cutler) is the only person I haven’t beaten and he’s the Mr. Olympia, so he’s the man to beat,” he said. “I don’t look behind me, I only look what is in front of me.”

And the time in front of him is getting shorter.

Photo credit: wikipedia.com