Photos by Calum Mackenzie - Click on class to see photos

 

Sponsored by Extreme Nutrition

 

Report by Brian Lewis

 

The Scottish has to be the most special of all the BNBF qualifiers. Hugely popular, with competitors and spectators coming from all over the U.K, this is as close to the standard of the British finals as the qualifiers get. It is now the 2nd time that Glasgow’s prestigious SECC has played host and 50 competitors would be contesting. Once more, the show was a sell out and as the queues of people waited to get into the auditorium, you could sense the anticipation of an audience that knew they were about to see something special.

 

Teens

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The first class of the day and in only the second year of this newly introduced teen class, the number of competitors and the standard were already up on last year. With 8 competitors, this is great news for the future of the sport, and confirmation that the addition of this class is more than justified.

 

Taking 1st place in this class was David Lang who was a standout straight away with nice dry crisp condition, showing great detail in every pose, deep cut legs and chiselled abs. David was not the biggest in the class but his well balanced structure and superior conditioning were enough to prove that it’s not all about sheer mass. 2nd -4th places were harder to separate but James Wylie took home 2nd showing nice condition particularly in his abs and quads, as well as a great v-taper especially apparent in his knockout front lat-spread. In 3rd James Cumming had improved on last years showing and if he had managed to display as much detail in his legs as his upper body would have placed higher. Again, James is well balanced and with continued improvement his potential is very promising. In 4th place was Darren Cox who was let down by his tan being a little light which tends to obscure condition. Darren has great thickness front to back and huge chunky quads which can be rare at a young age. He may have also cost himself a place as the judges looked to be still deliberating on their placings well into the pose-down, while Darren carried on a little too much when he could have been working harder, unaware how tight the decisions were.

 

Also competing was Nathan Barry, the tallest in the class, with big legs, great arms & chest, and a particularly impressive rear double bicep pose. With better conditioning Nathan would have done well. Kevin Cowan was the smallest in the class but displayed nice condition and great width. A little work on the posing, in-particular his front relaxed, and Kevin shows promise as a future lightweight. Lukas Ehrhardt had a great upper body & overall structure and with improved presentation and condition could do well. Greg Kennedy had some nice thickness and a pleasing structure. Needs to bring the legs up a little and work on his posing to show himself at his best. Kallum Lowe had a great set of wheels, in particular had great calves but also needs to improve on condition. However, loads of potential from Kallum.

 

Juniors

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Now for the under 23’s, again in its second year of existence, and with 3 in the class, this category will no doubt spring a few surprises on us in future, as it did today. In 1st place was Robert Waterhouse who was really in a league of his own as soon as he set foot on the stage. Fantastic leg development, a huge full upper body, great presentation topped off with more than adequate condition and Robert should be aiming for top honours at this years British finals. In 2nd place was Gordon Greenhorn who showed good condition and had notably good legs. Lacks a little thickness in his upper body but if brought up will have a tidy well balanced physique which will see him challenging in the Mr. classes in years to come. 3rd place went to Martin Dunwoody who really let himself down with some poor condition which is such a shame as his presentation is superb. Martin has potential to do well if he can get himself in shape and hopefully he will do and make the most of his more than generous invite to the British.

 

Masters

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This class was one of the hottest prospects of the day with 2 times Scottish Masters Champ and 2006 British Masters runner-up Davie Reid, in a class of 5 competitors which included 2005 Scottish Middleweight and Overall Champ, Irishman John Rafferty, who was making his debut as a master. The top two places would be fiercely contested. It took the judges until the evening show to decide which way this one went. 1st place on the day went to John Rafferty, arguably in his best shape ever. John has great balance with a ton of muscle on his frame, topped off with superb condition and masterful presentation, John will have his eyes set on first place at this year’s British finals. 2nd place went to Davie Reid who was challenging all the way to make it a hat-trick of Scottish masters titles. Davie has a huge thickly developed upper body and had made notable improvements to his legs since his last outing almost 2 years ago. However, in as good condition as he was and as full he was, he shouldn’t lose heart at losing out on the day. 3rd place went to Charlie McKee. Charlie gets better each year but still needs to bring his legs up to match his incredible upper body. He has managed to make significant improvements to his back over the last few years and on this occasion performed a much more composed and suitable posing routine to show his physique at its best. Also competing was John Adams who has potential to do better but needs to get a bit more muscle on his frame as well as improve his condition. Gary Kidd had nice quad development and a great v-taper and on any other day would have faired better. Unlucky for him to be in such a tough line-up.

 

Over 50’s

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George Kerr took home 1st place, successfully defending the title he won last year. George has become known for his level of conditioning and on this occasion was in more than ample condition to win, but not quite as “razor” sharp as he has been. George has great upper body development for such a small man but still needs to bring up the legs to improve on his balance, something he has been getting closer to in recent years. In 2nd place was Ronald Cooney who presented nice condition with some great detailed legs, low lat attachments and overall good balance. Ronald Cooney also took the award for best over 60’s competitor. In 3rd place was Ted Clifton who was the oldest competitor in the line-up. Ted always shows up in similar shape and if he can improve on his condition will fair better in the over 60’s category. For a man of Ted’s age to be in such healthy shape year in year out is not to be scoffed at, and many a younger man would do well to follow Ted’s example.

 

Novice

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Although slightly lower in numbers compared to recent years, this category proved to be just as much of a headache for the judges as it always has been. As proven since the first Scottish qualifier in 2003, this class has always delivered a winning physique of exceptional standard. Today would be no different with 9 competitors taking the stage and some fantastic physiques in the mix. 1st place went to David Kaye who was a big standout as soon as this class lined up on stage. The sweep on his quads was almost ridiculous but his shape was well balanced with nice capped delts, huge full chest and arms, with a tiny neat waste, as well as what seemed like tiny joints, to add to the freaky, almost cartoon-like proportions he had. Top that off with great condition, confident, precise posing, and you have a winning physique. The only fault that could be made was that he seems to have a slightly long torso which is more apparent from the rear making his lat attachments look a little high. Apart from that, there’s no questioning David’s pedigree. In 2nd place was Peter McDougall who was one of the most conditioned athletes of the whole show. Although one of the smaller competitors in the class, Peter still had plenty of well balanced muscle. He needs to make improvements with his posing as at times he seemed to forget to keep his lats flared and legs tensed in the front relaxed pose. This was also evident with his rear poses as he seemed to pinch his shoulders together causing him to look narrow, especially in the rear double bicep pose. There is no question, however, that he has great potential to do well as a future lightweight. In 3rd place was Alastair Holding who had a tonne of thick, chunky muscle. He had huge legs and although he was a little soft, his abs were so developed there was no hiding them! In 4th place was David Reid who was the tallest competitor in the class. Was a little unlucky to place as he did as he was in great condition and had plenty of muscle for such a tall man, but didn’t seem to hold his legs properly much of the time which in turn prevents that hard earned detail from being displayed, and this cost him dearly. Definite potential to do well at this years British finals, as well as a future heavyweight. Also competing was Allan Blue who had a decent physique but poor posing and tanning don’t help. Richard Connolly, who had improved on last years outing but still has room for improvement. Paul Gardener, who was too soft but has good pecs and also needs to bring up his posing. Bernard Hume who could do really well with better condition and Greg Thompson who had great width but again needs better condition.

 

Guest Star Kerry Napier

Having stayed very close to contest condition all year and at one stage even suffered pneumonia, Kerry Napier showed true blood and guts determination to carry on his training and get himself in great shape for his guest spot at this years Scottish. His apperance was greatly anticipated as many of us have been keeping tabs on his training with his regularly updated training blog on the BNBF forum. Not more than a few pounds away from his absolute best, Kerry took to the stage looking superb. Kerry has an incredible amount of dense muscle on his frame, the kind of thickness and muscle maturity only seen on the top natural guys. Although not one to wow us with the most graceful posing routine, he did deliver a physique more than worthy of a prestigious guest spot. Great quads, miniscule waist, mega thick back, ridiculous most muscular. A guest poser needs to have that something extra, and theres no doubting Kerry's a thoroughbred!

Miss Figure

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In 1st place was Layla Docherty who was a real standout. She had great muscle tone and shape and had the best structure in the class. She also looked super confident on stage as she strutted her stuff. 2nd place went to Julia Rayner who was also in great shape. Has great potential for the future if she can improve her tone a little and execute her posing with a little more conviction. 3rd place went to Helen Sharpless who was really tall but with good proportions. Had a tiny waist and was very well presented, had a knockout smile and executed her poses well. Also competing was Somi Abedinzadeh who looked a little nervy on stage. Needs to assert herself more and get the shoulders back instead of hunched up and get her legs working better. There’s potential there but all the potential in the world won’t matter if you don’t present properly. Christine Gosman had a nice structure but needs to improve her tone to do better.

 

Lightweight Mr

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Another headache for the judges as 7 lightweights stood before them. 1st place went to Philip Bell who, bar a proper tan, looked incredible. Philip had one of the best genetic structures in the show, great width, capped shoulders, neat waist, flaring quads. Overall, no body-parts particularly lacking development or out of proportion and his posing is superb, one of the best front lat spreads you’ll see. Having really improved on condition and looking like he had added some mass since last years Scottish, goodness know why he failed to tan up properly as he has been competing for a number of years now and surely knows this is an absolute must. This could have cost him dearly as without proper tanning, such a pale physique can almost reflect the stage lighting and obscure all that detail. Hopefully he won’t make the same mistake come the British. One more thing I’d scrutinise would be his execution of his rear double-bicep pose, in that he needs to open it up more and stop pinching his shoulder blades together. In 2nd place was Stuart McCulloch who was shredded and vascular. Although not the biggest, Stuart has a nice balance of muscle and symmetry, tightly packed on a pleasing frame and presents himself superbly onstage. He may have felt a little hard done by with 2nd place due to Philip’s poor tan but shouldn’t lose heart as he will certainly challenge at this year’s British Finals. In 3rd place was Darren Loxton who was in good condition with nice sweeping quads, tight abs and a really impressive most muscular. Darren is another who needs to work on flaring his lats properly, not only with lat poses but also with the front and rear relaxed symmetry poses. He also has a pleasing shape and with continued improvement can place higher in future. Morgan Dunn picked up 4th spot and was in good condition but being quite tall for a lightweight, he needs to fill out his frame and get some more meat on his legs to really contend. Also competing was Christopher Flanagan who had decent width, a good chest and legs but needs to improve on condition to fair better. Andrew McCauley has a good upper body and decent legs but still needs to make improvements to his back thickness as well as improve on condition. Iqbal Hussain was far too soft but had a fair amount of muscle on a small frame which was structurally pleasing.

 

Middleweight Mr

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In 1st place Tissot Regis looked incredible with his amazing shape and structure. Huge full muscle belly’s and improved posing made this class a walk in the park for Tissot but he will need to achieve a little sharper condition to challenge for top honours at the British. Having made improvements since his last outing, most notably his back thickness, there’s no reason why he can’t go all the way this year. In 2nd place was Ryan Caddow who hasn’t quite achieved the level of condition he attained in 2004. He has, however, made some serious gains since then and improved his posing quite considerably but without nailing his condition, he can’t take full advantage of the hard work in the gym. His rear poses are especially good and he also executes an excellent quad wobble. Ryan has every chance of doing well at the British if he can nail his condition. In 3rd place came Marc Lynas who had nice balance, displayed reasonable condition and nice posing. Marc is quite tall for a middleweight though, and needs to fill out his frame more as well as take his condition a step further in order to place higher. Also competing was Felix McAlinden who came in a little fuller this year at the expense of being a little down on the razor sharp condition he was in last year. You can’t fault Felix for effort though as he is there every year, trying to be better than before despite not having the most favourable genetics.

Heavyweight

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With only 2 in this class, it was Tony Skelton who took home 1st place. Tony was only persuaded to enter the show about 2 weeks beforehand and had never even practised the poses before, never mind planned to step on stage in front of 500 people and do it. Tony had a thickly muscled chest, back and abs, on which he showed some great condition but he needs to bring the legs up to match the upper body as well as get some good posing practise under his belt, in order to not look out of place if he contests the British. 2nd place was Scott Williamson who has a great structure, poses well and has plenty of mass on his big frame but he was miles off condition on the day. If Scott could do himself justice and get into proper condition, he may place well at the British.

 

Physique

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3 contenders in this class and 1st place was taken home by Carol Adams. Although not the biggest contender, Carol was certainly in the best condition of the 3 displaying nice detail on a neat structure and in particular great back detail. 2nd place went to Crow Dillon-Parkin who’s upper body showed some good detail but she still has some work to do to get more detail in her legs before getting to the British stage. In 3rd place was Hazel Kidd who had by far the most muscle in the class with the best structure but was a bit down on the condition that had seen her take this class in 2006. Hazel also received an invite to the British so should not be disheartened as she has the chance to do herself justice on the same stage in 4 months time.

 

Best Wheels

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David Kaye

 

Best Male Presentation

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John Rafferty

 

Best Female Presentation

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Layla Docherty

 

Overall Mr

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In the end it wasn’t the closest of contests for the overall and David Kaye took it home to go with his 1st place novice win and Best Wheels award. An outstanding debut and he is surely the hot favourite for the British Novice title and must surely be in with a shout for the coveted Pro Card. A great start to the year for the BNBF and with 4 more qualifiers to go, Glasgow’s SECC will be the final destination as it hosts the British Finals for the first time, and the year can round off where it began.

 

With Thanks!

 

As always, special thanks must be given to those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes making sure all of the competitors were tanned up and organised to ensure a smooth running show. Hopefully none of you take for granted the volunteers who give their time and energy for the love of the sport! Thank you and goodnight!