Photos by Eric Guy - Click here to see photos

 

Dolman Theatre, Newport, 29 June 2008

 

The Dolman Theatre is a great venue for bodybuilding and we are always made very welcome by the hardworking staff. The show sponsors were Garnell Nutrition, who were busy all day answering questions and whizzing up shakes in their blenders.

The judges today were Jane Carter, Raymond James, Vicky McCann and Peter Chown.

This wasn’t going to be a great show in terms of quantity of entries, so we were hoping for quality instead, and we certainly got it!

Teens

Sponsored by Hercules Gym - Telford

Prejudging

1 Nathan Barry was muscular, reasonably lean, perhaps the biggest.

2 Nathan Bird was nicely balanced, not showing quite as much back detail, good legs especially for a junior, including calves.

3 Lukas Ehrhardt was good for a tall junior, showing a developed back with wide lats.

4 Greg Kennedy had a better upper body than legs - often the case and not just with the youngsters.

All four had good abs, Lukas and Greg had impressive traps in the most muscular pose. All needed to keep their legs tighter in front relaxed stance – remember that the judges get a great view of your legs from their position – this applies to all the classes. Excellent arms throughout whole class.

Some of the teens need to work on their hand placement in the front lat pose – if the hands are too close together then your arms actually hide your lats.

There was plenty of support for this class from the audience, and not just from friends and family.

 

Evening

Rachael Hayes returned as compere after doing a splendid job last year and introduced first Nathan Barry, who opened the evening show with a solid routine to MC Hammer’s ‘Hammer Time’. It was hard to remember that he was just a teenager, as he was very confident in his posing, with his bi-i-i-ig biceps being particularly memorable.

Nathan Bird had a formidable support team, including a Gladiator, who all made a tremendous amount of noise for him. He coped brilliantly when his CD wouldn’t play, and came back on stage later to pose to a tune he hadn’t practised to. A natural showman!

Lukas Ehrhardt gave an Arnie-esque performance, and is similarly long-limbed. Again, he used the music well, some of the Misters could learn a lot about presentation from the youngsters.

Greg Kennedy gave us another old skool graceful yet dramatic routine, obviously well-though out. He looked tighter than he did in the afternoon, but needs more condition. I feel really mean saying this when these lads have been dieting for weeks, but you do need to show off those muscles once you have built them, and that’s hard to do above a certain level of body fat.

The first pose down of the evening was very competitive but equally good-humoured, especially between Nathan Bird and Lukas. Greg and Lukas enjoyed showing off their ridiculous traps – where do they keep them?! – and such was the quality of this class that the top three were invited to the Britain. Greg was fourth, with Nathan Barry in third, Lukas taking second, leaving Nathan Bird a very popular winner. Nathan has room to improve hi condition for the finals, but he is off to an excellent start.

Juniors

Sponsored by Fitness 101 - Gwent

Prejudging

5 Ashley Smith - I thought he looked the best, especially leg-wise. Crisp condition, with an excellent most muscular!

6 Jason Rose was deceptive at first, as he needed another coat of tan to really show his detail. Very good delts and tris, more work needed on leg posing.

7 Christian Williams had the widest lats, was the softest so looked biggest, but definitely had a lot of muscle.

8 John Williams showed nice back detail, he needs more depth to his back and chest and more leg mass, but looks promising.

The crowd went wild during this class!

 

Evening

Could the Juniors match the high standard set by the Teens? Apparently so. The Hercules Gym and Fitness 101 crowds were particularly supportive during this class, and we were all treated to four neatly executed posing routines.

Ashley Smith made good use of his music, with his dramatic posing style showing off his big shoulders, excellent abs and all-round good shape. Jason Rose followed with some tricky and well-controlled moves, with his traps being particularly impressive.

Christian Williams needed more calves and better condition, but everything else looked BIG, with quads you could see from the back. He posed very enthusiastically, obviously enjoying his time on stage. He is another athlete who just needs a longer diet in order to reveal more of his lean mass.

John Williams was the slightest in the class, but was reasonably balanced; a little more condition would help, and he needs to add some more leg mass, but as a Junior he has plenty of time to do this.

 

The Juniors seemed to each be in their own little worlds during the pose down, all working really hard, until it was time for Andrew from Fitness 101 to present the fourth place trophy to Christian Williams, third went John Williams, and qualifying for the final were Jason Rose in second, with Ashley Smith the clear winner.

Novice

Sponsored by Bob’s Gym - Bristol

Prejudging

9 Steve Bonner had the most detailed triceps, overall good mass and balance.

10 Adam Brooks also had good size, but needed better condition. I thought he was slightly too lordotic in the rear double biceps pose, this led to some of his lower back detail being obscured.

11 Martin Fielding was the smallest, a good upper body on less well-developed legs, but with a mighty peak to his biceps.

12 Nick Jones was large and aesthetically balanced, with great chest detail. He displayed a lovely quad wobble going into the abs and thigh pose, again with plenty of crisp detail.

13 Daniel Lloyd showed poor posture compared to others, maybe because he was the tallest – you have worked hard to stand on that stage, stand up proud! He displayed some wicked traps in the most muscular pose.

14 Nick Montgomery had good big legs, possibly the biggest quads, and crisp chest and delts.

16 James Tantram was big but soft, and had the trendiest hair. He followed the trend of hiding his lats with his hands in the fron lat pose – we need to run some BNBF clubs in Wales!

 

The first symmetry comparison was between the two Nicks and Steve Bonner, who were the obvious top three from the outset, with the Nicks being the most aesthetic (according to me). Second comparison was between the other four, with the third comparison adding Adam Brooks to the Nicks and Steve, giving us the likely top four.

 

Evening

Steve Bonner was on first, still too pale to really show his detail but hella crisp with a lovely smile. He showed great leg detail - when he remembered to tense them.

Adam Brooks had awesome peaky biceps and tons of chunky abs, a sizeable chap who needed better condition and more leg size but was otherwise nicely balanced.

Martin Fielding may have regretted posing to Nickelback’s ‘Rock Star’ when the DJ forgot to fade the track after 90 seconds. Martin gamely went through his routine again, and the whole crowd felt for him. He has a naturally thicker waistline which could be balanced better with some more quad sweep, and some of his rear poses made him look narrower than he is, as his left leg tends to point in rather than out.

Nick Jones treated us to a calm and very graceful routine that really suited his physique – classy! Great legs, big arms, OMG traps and the crowd absolutely loved him.

Daniel Lloyd had very vocal support from the crowd and posed well with their encouragement. His long limbs still need some filling out, though he already has plenty of abs; another one who needs to remember to keep his legs flexed in order to make the most of them.

Nick Montgomery has a lovely X-shape that he showed well, his lats in particular, with big detailed legs, and ridiculous vascularity in the most muscular pose.

James Tantram had obviously set out to entertain, and entertain he did, starting with his Superman pants… He has tons of personality and a decent amount of muscle, but needs better condition to really make the right sort of impact. A few more weeks on the diet, and a deeper tan would see James getting the placings his size deserves, but the judges need to be certain that what they’re seeing is muscle.

I found this class as hard to judge in the evening as in the afternoon, so was glad I was just writing the notes and not making the decisions. I had my preference, but wasn’t sure if the judges would share it…

There was a long pose down during which they all really worked hard, again in a good-humoured way, and then Bob from Bob’s Gym came on stage for the trophifying.

Fourth place went to Adam Brooks, and such was the standard that the top three were invited to the Britain. In third place was Steve Bonner, second was Nick Montgomery and first was the very popular Nick Jones, a throwback to the golden age of eighties bodybuilding epitomised by Bob Paris, and a very likely candidate for the Overall title.

 

Miss Figure

Sponsored by Chrissie’s Cozzies

Prejudging

17 Katie Dykes had nicest natural shape but was a little soft on the move.

18 Deb Francis had the hardest condition but was not over-lean and did the best T-walk – more of a T-glide.

19 Yvette Lloyd was the softest but a very pleasing shape, like the others she had a small waist paired with neat hips, and a nice back. Minor point - shoes with an ankle strap give the impression of shorter legs, and as the shortest in the class Yvette would have looked more in proportion with the other two Figures if she had simpler shoes.

 

The T-walk is quite challenging, in that you need to keep everything as tight as possible when on the move, and take it slowly, to minimise potential jiggling and to maximise elegance. All three girls handled it with confidence, all the more impressive as Katie and Yvette were first time competitors.

 

Evening

Having picked all the winners so far, I was not expecting to be able to repeat the feat for this class, as it’s a hard one to judge at the best of times. Luckily Rachael Hayes explained that the judges were looking for “feminine symmetry, toned muscularity and relative leanness”, meaning that the athletes should show evidence of having trained with weights, with visible abs and some leg separation, but must not be overly lean. Then the ladies came on for their individual routines.

Katie Dykes was very graceful, with the trademark small waist and neat hips that this class favours. With shapely legs, in fact shapely everything, she was just a little soft, perhaps due to over-fast dieting. With a little more firmness she will do very well.

Deb Francis appeared the most confident, with a lively routine that stayed just the right side of sassy, with impressive high kicks and even the splits. Deb has added some size to her slender frame and kept her trademark condition, showing some great back detail.

Yvette Lloyd has a neat structure which is very promising, but she needs to drop some more body fat to really make the most of her shape and development.

After the evening’s most elegant pose down, Natural Olympia women’s masters bronze medallist Dawn Roberts presented the trophies on behalf of Chrissie’s Cozzies.

Third was Yvette, second was Katie, and in first place was Debs, who had initially been thinking of using the Welsh as a warm-up for the Central qualifier. Job done, Debs! And now we have two more quality contenders for the final, in what is shaping up to be quite a busy class.

 

Guest Poser Raymond James

After the interval, the rising curtain revealed Raymond James standing on stage like a bronze statue, taking the crowd by surprise and causing a collective intake of breath.

He was big when he stood still, and the more he moved, the bigger he seemed to get. In guest-pose condition rather than contest-ready he was still amazing to behold, sharp and with a lovely stage presence. He executed his trademark back flip – the audience were stunned – and then went into the crowd to show them exactly how good he looked close up… A popular move!

Back on stage Raymond gave us a second back flip and a master class in posing – he makes it look so easy, but maybe when you have that much muscle, it is easy… Raymond is a middleweight who looks like a heavyweight, even his six-pack looks like a twelve-pack, big but very shapely with it. After a one-man pose down he left the stage, and when Rachael announced afterwards that not only was he a natural pro bodybuilder but also a fire-fighter, most of the ladies in the house swooned…

Masters

Sponsored by 24hr Gym - Swindon

Prejudging

20 Andy Hallahan – well-muscled with massive triceps!

21 Andrew Harrison – not as muscular or as conditioned as most in the class but still in decent shape.

22 Ritchie Hutchinson – good upper body, overpowering slighter legs – which were bigger than they looked but he didn’t pose them much.

23 Ian Scammell - the tallest and, from where I was sitting, the best conditioned.

24 Jeff Worgan - really thick chest and legs, widest back

25 David Williams – more leg size needed to match his upper body.

26 Ted Clifton (Over 60) - I think there’s a rule that says you can’t have a show without Ted, he just loves to compete!

 

Andy Hallahan, Ian Scammell and Jeff Worgan got the first call out, and going into the night show I had Ian and Jeff tied and with the slightly less-conditioned Andy in third.

 

Masters Evening

The Masters had the unenviable task of following Mr James, but they rose to the challenge.

Andy Hallahan looked a bit sharper than he had in the afternoon, posing well even after his music disappeared.

Andrew Harrison was an excellent example of the sort of shape most men would love to be in after 40, but was not quite lean enough for the stage, despite looking very sharp off it. He also needs to work on pulling in his transverse abs, as poor control of this muscle added to his already naturally wider waist. You can’t change your skeletal structure, but you can help to disguise it with careful posing.

Ritchie Hutchinson started his routine by showing us his best feature – his thickly muscle shoulder girdle and arms, - and later showed us another side of his physique when he pulled down his trunks in one of the rear poses. In my notes I wrote ‘don’t pull down your trunks unless you have an awesome ass’ but really the rule is just ‘don’t pull down your trunks’. Other than this distraction, Ritchie’s posing was nicely composed, and he pulled off a tricky splits-into-headstand combination, but none of this could disguise the fact that his upper body overpowered his legs, especially as he hardly seemed to pose them.

Ian Scammell obviously loved being on stage, looking a tad drier than earlier, showing striated glutes and a very nice quad wobble. If I was being really picky I would ask for more upper pec thickness to balance his shoulders.

Ian’s mate Jeff Worgan was next, with a more leisurely posing style and a big wide back. He looked a little softer from the back than the front, but looked big from all angles!

David Williams had a classical posing routine, another decent upper body but needs more leg mass and better condition.

Ted Clifton closed the class, posing to a ballad rather than his trademark ‘Volare’. Ted usually gets tighter as the season goes on, and today was no exception, as his legs appeared sharper than at the Scottish three weeks earlier. I’m surprised he has the energy for competing, given his stated hobbies of crocodile hunting and snake wrestling, but I guess that it’s the bodybuilding lifestyle that keeps him fit and healthy at 66 years young.

 

After a lively pose down – they may be older but they were just as lively as the other classes, with some lovely pose-trading going on. Vernon from 24hr Gym presented the Over-60s trophy to Ted Clifton, along with another invitation to the final, and then gave invitations to the top three Over 40s. Chunky-abbed Andy Hallahan was third, and I’d have had to toss a coin to decide between second place Ian Scammell, and the winner, Jeff Worgan. Both excellent in their own way.

Misters

Prejudging

As there was only one entrant in each of the weight classes, all three were brought on together.

Lightweight

Sponsored by www.naturalpromuscle.com

27 Chi Wong had nice abs, good traps, crisp condition, just needs more
back and shoulder width to balance his naturally wider waist, and a bit
more leg mass would help to create an X-shape. You can’t do much about
your clavicle width, but adding more mass to the delts will help create
the illusion of wider shoulders.

Middleweight

Sponsored by Udo’s Choice

28 Felix McAlinden seemed to be as lean as he was at the Scottish three weeks earlier, but was much fuller, thanks to taking on more carbs in the last week, and this really suited him. As a tall chap, Felix could use some more mass to fill out his frame, but he continues to improve steadily. I’d like to see him take a year out, to see how much mass he could add with a longer off season, but he is another one who just loves to compete.

Heavyweight

Sponsored by Tone Zone Fitness - Yeovil

29 Neil Andrews was big! Nice shape, big legs, some back detail coming through but soft in the lower body. Good legs and glutes when he was reminded to tense them, and a lovely most muscular, but he really needs a few more weeks of steady dieting to get his condition to match his size.

 

Misters Evening

Chi Wong came out of his shell in the posing routine, though he needs to push his knees out and bend his legs more to make the most of them. He has time to add a bit more leg size and to improve his condition for the Britain.

Felix McAlinden looked the best I have seen him over the last three or four years, and I hope he can stay on this trend this season.

Neil Andrews brought possibly the loudest fans, and made great use of a robotic-style tune with matching posing. Neil showed a touch more back detail in the evening, though his upper and lower half still didn’t match each other for condition. However, if he gets leaner for the final, who knows what other mass will be revealed? Neil’s was a nice routine to end on, as the promised Miss Physique entrant didn’t arrive, alas. Although all three Misters had automatically qualified for the final, they worked very hard at the compulsories and the pose down; after all, there was the overall to be decided next and this was also a great opportunity to prepare for the experience of the final. Last year’s British Physique and Natural Olympia winner Jane Carter presented the trophies and those coveted white envelopes to three very happy chaps.

 

Finally it was time for the overall, with the three top contenders getting the first callout – Nick Jones, Jeff Worgan and Neil Andrews. Jeff was the widest, Neil the biggest but without the condition to prove it, and Nick was the most aesthetic. Everyone in the line-up gave their all, the top three were probably the most enthusiastic but everyone worked hard, and again it was fantastic stage experience being in a bigger line-up. A taste of what is to come at the finals!

 

With the comparisons over, there was a mad pose down to a new mix of The Prodigy’s Firestarter, and the enthusiasm was impressive, both from the guys on stage and from the audience. Nick Jones seemed to get bigger with every pose, pushed hard all the way by Jeff and Neil.

They all wanted it, and only one man could get his hands on the Overall trophy, but before the final decision was announced The Bodybuilder Formerly Known As He-man aka Sam Bond aka Atlas the Gladiator came onstage to award Best Presentation to Nick Jones and Best Wheels to… Nick Jones. Darren from Garnell Nutrition made it a hat-trick when he took the Overall trophy to Nick Jones, who was joined on stage by his nephews – good job they were there, to help carry all his swag.

Finally, it was time for the Figure winner Deb Francis to come back on stage to pose for photos with this year’s Overall Welsh champion, whose victory was well-received and well-deserved.

 

All that remained was the dismantling of the BNBF road show (which must have felt like Groundhog Day for those who had run the Armed Forces qualifier the previous day) and the tidying of the dressing rooms – a much easier task since the adoption of Jan Tana as the tan of choice for the BNBF. The athletes played their part in keeping the backstage area clean, so many thanks to you all for that.

 

Two qualifiers, two Novices as Overall winners, both Best Wheels winners too – is this the beginning of a trend? We’ll find out on 13th July when the BNBF crew roll into Manchester for the Northern qualifier. With over 50 competitors, I will be happy to hand the report-writing back to the inimitable Kerry Napier.