The Bionic Body of Classic Physique!
I first saw this man over six years ago when he took the stage as an Open bodybuilder at the Toronto Pro. He stood out in the lineup for two compelling reasons. One, he’s 6-foot-3, and two, Edgard has two prostheses from the knees down. Like everyone else in the crowd, I both applauded his courage and wondered what his story was. It took me this long, but I finally spoke with this remarkable athlete shortly after the best placing of his career so far, fourth place in Classic Physique, once again in Toronto.
One thing that really surprised me was to learn that you earned your pro card as a Wheelchair athlete, as I’ve never seen you in that division.
Yes, I won the Wheelchair division at the 2016 European Championships. Not long after I won, they told me I could never compete in that category again. It was a hard time for me because I was already in prep for the Arnold Classic Wheelchair division when I got that news. I contacted Mr. Jim Manion, and he told me just do something else like Men’s Physique, Classic, or Open.
The first time I saw you was at the 2017 Toronto Pro, which was your pro debut and I believe the only time you went Open Bodybuilding. Some kid named Chris Bumstead won Classic at that show.
Yes, I tried the Open class for fun. Right away I realized those guys were much bigger than me. After that it has always been Classic Physique.
I think I had the same reaction as most people when they first see you, which is wondering what happened to his legs? Was he a soldier in a war, was there some accident or illness? I looked into it and learned you were involved in a horrible car accident at just 4 years old when you lost both legs and your older brother also lost a leg.
Yes, that was 34 years ago in my native French Guiana, which is in South America. We were both very lucky that someone pulled over and drove us to the nearest hospital, or I am I would have bled to death. When I am in America, strangers will often tell me, “Thank you for your service,” because so many US soldiers have lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they assume I am one of those.
I know you have spent most of your life in France, starting shortly after your accident. You went there mainly for medical care. What were they trying to do for you?
My brother and I were there by ourselves for a whole year working with doctors and rehab specialists. The first thing was helping me learn how to balance myself and walk again, which took almost a year in itself. It was actually fortunate it happened to me so young, because it was easier for me to learn than it would be for an adult. I hadn’t gone my whole life with legs and then lost them. All I wanted was to do what the other kids were doing, and soon I could run, ride my bike, and climb trees like them. The only thing that hurt was when they would make fun of me and call me ‘robot legs.’ But I was back home after that year, and life went on.
You started training at age 20 in Paris, France, where you had returned for university. What made you begin lifting?
I knew about gyms, but I was never interested. I was overweight as a teenager. Food was my comfort and how I managed stress. One day I had a final exam the next day and I was more stressed out than usual. I had a free pass to try a local gym so I said, why not? I will never forget that day. It felt really good to lift weights and feel my muscles working. They offered me a great deal for a year’s membership if I joined that day, so I did. I’ve been training ever since. Bodybuilding came much later. First, I just wanted to lose weight and get fit. I started looking online and reading bodybuilding forums to learn about how to eat and train properly.
Where did the nickname “Bionic Body” come from?
I was working as a sales manager in Paris. A colleague of mine knew a photographer who was looking for a very fit man to shoot. At that time only my family and close friends even knew I had prosthetic legs. I was ashamed of them and always wore long pants or sweatpants. I met with the photographer. I told him about my legs, and he insisted we do the shoot in shorts. In some of the photos I was depicted as a runner, and I posted some of those on my Facebook page. That’s how people found out, and the reaction was very positive. They messaged me and told me how I showed that anything is possible. I decided I needed a nickname, and I came up with “Bionic Body” because yes, my legs do look like robot legs. I started an Instagram account, and it went viral. Someone told me there was a disability class for bodybuilding and suggested I compete in that. I said, why not?
Did you get the name from the old TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man”?
No, I’ve never heard of that show.
You’re too young, but I thought maybe you had seen a clip or something on YouTube.
Now that you tell me about it, I will check it out.
When did you know that your physique was developing into something special that you don’t see every day in gyms?
I never had any desire or interest to be a bodybuilder, even though I knew a couple of guys when I was younger who were very much wanting to be pro bodybuilders. Once I started applying the things I was learning, my body changed. A friend of mine told me I would do well in a bodybuilding competition if I tried. I agreed to try it once, not having any goal of being the best bodybuilder, the best bodybuilder without legs, or anything like that. That first diet was the worst. I went months without eating any carbs, just crazy stuff because I didn’t know any better. My first contest was the Grand Prix Des Pyrenees. I was allowed to pose but not to compete, because they didn’t have a handicapped category. It was there that the head coach for the French bodybuilding team asked me to represent France in the Wheelchair division at the European Championships three weeks later in Spain. I had to get a wheelchair for it because I didn’t own one. I won my class, then came back a year later and got the Overall. That’s how I won my pro card. It was God’s plan.
I think you turned pro at the perfect time, because Classic Physique was just starting. At your height of 6-foot-3, you would have to be at least 300 pounds on stage to be competitive, and you compete around 225. But Classic is all about shape, proportion, and symmetry, and those are all qualities you possess.
Classic is really the only division for me. I don’t have the size for Open, and with all due respect to Men’s Physique, I train my legs too hard to cover them up.
That’s the most inspirational aspect of what you do as far as I’m concerned. I went on your YouTube channel, and you have a lot of leg training on there. That answers the question a lot of us have when we first see you, which is, how does he train his legs?
That’s what I get the most questions and comments about. People are amazed at all the things I am able to do with the prosthetics. To be honest, my legs are the one part of my physique I had to work the hardest for, so I am very proud to be able to show them whenever I can.
From the videos I’ve seen, it looks like you can do everything for legs except free weight squats. You can do extensions, leg presses, hack squats, leg curls, all of those.
Yes, because I still have my knees. The guard railing severed both my legs below my knees. If you don’t have a knee joint, you can’t train your legs. That’s why I can still do isolation and compound movements for my quads and hams. I don’t have the feeling, or mind-muscle connection of a normal person, maybe 50-60 percent of that.
What about the pain and pressure of that prosthesis pushing on the stumps when you have, say, 1,000 pounds on the leg press? Is it very painful?
I can’t even describe the pain. It’s worse when I’m dieting because with the fat gone, I am getting deeper into the prosthetic. I did an hour of cardio every day for my last shows, and every day I felt like giving up. I was happy because in the end we brought my best shape ever. My coach and I decided to take a rest after Toronto, which was three shows in five weeks for me.
You must get thousands of messages from people all over the world.
I do, and I am so grateful for them. It’s people who are handicapped and many who are not. They tell me things like how they were depressed but then saw my page and it made them feel like they can go after their goals and dreams. I showed them anything is possible. I don’t even care about being famous. Reading messages and emails like that makes me feel like I’ve done something meaningful. It also makes me want to push myself harder. This spring was the first time I competed in almost four years. I had shoulder surgery, and then Covid came along. Gyms were shut down in France and I lost a lot of my muscles. I saw from my social media that people were starting to forget about me. I was starting to think maybe bodybuilding was over for me, and then I met my current coach, Calum Raistrick.
What goals did you two set once you began working together?
I met him in February of this year while he was in Dubai, where I live now with my wife and children. Calum was giving a seminar about training, nutrition, and PEDs. We talked and I told him I hadn’t competed since 2019, and he was interested in prepping me. I explained that I am 38 years old, and I have three children. I want to be around for them for a very long time, so I’m not interested in doing anything crazy or dangerous just to get up on stage when I want to have a long and healthy life after bodybuilding. Calum assured me he wanted me to remain healthy too, and it turned out to be my best prep ever, and my best look on stage so far. He really changed the way I look at contest prep, and now I can’t wait to do another one after I am fully rested and have an off-season. We haven’t worked together for an off-season yet, because I met him right before I started my preps for New York and Toronto. I hadn’t even planned on doing Pittsburgh, but it didn’t make sense to fly 18 hours from Dubai to the USA just to do one contest if there was another one just one week before it. It also gave Calum a chance to figure out my body and peak week better. I was watery in Pittsburgh because we didn’t reduce either my sodium or water. He didn’t want to take any chances. We were able to get better for New York, and by Toronto it was the best I have ever looked in my life.
You’re living in Dubai now, which seems to be a real hot spot for bodybuilding. Andrew Jacked and Sergio Oliva Jr. are two of the many champions who call Dubai home.
The whole mentality and attitude toward bodybuilding here is incredible. We have some of the best gyms in the world, like Binous Gym where most of the top guys and girls train. We get new equipment every month! People will stop you in the street and say, “nice body!” In contrast, in France they look down on bodybuilders like we are show-offs, and they always assume we are stupid. It’s not a great place for bodybuilding even compared to other European countries like Germany and Spain. Dubai is the perfect place for it.
One thing I wanted to ask you was, how are the judges able to fairly assess you when you are missing your legs from the knees down? I know it’s not a calf contest, but still, is that a factor?
I spoke with Tyler Manion, who was the head judge at the New York Pro. I told him listen, I push myself so hard, but I didn’t place. Should I keep going or not? I can’t compete in Wheelchair because I am able to walk, and I can’t compare to the Open guys with their size. Tyler said I look amazing, just work on your back and upper chest and bring better conditioning, and I will place better. In New York I was 224 pounds, and for Toronto I worked very hard to get tighter and came in at 194 pounds. That’s when I finally made the top five for the first time, with fourth place. I saw Tyler again and he said, that’s the kind of condition we want to see from you.
Are you done competing for 2023?
Maybe. There is a pro show in Dubai in late September. My two older children haven’t seen me compete since they were very small and the youngest has never, so it would be nice to have them there. Right now, Calum and I are planning a good off-season where the goal would be to add about 10 pounds of muscle, which I do need because I am so tall. The weight limit for my height is 247 pounds, and I was more than 50 pounds under that in Toronto. Gaining weight isn’t really that hard for me. Everyone in my family is big. African genetics! Getting the conditioning in the lower back and glutes is hard.
I’m so glad I finally got to talk with you, Edgard. I think you’re going to make improvements and place higher, but that’s nothing compared to the inspiration you provide for so many of us. If you have been able to build a world-class physique as a double amputee, that shows the rest of us that anything is possible if you believe in yourself, work hard, and refuse to let excuses stop us from following our passion.
It’s been my pleasure! If I did it, anybody can do it. You just have to want it badly enough.
Instagram @bionic_body
YouTube: Bionic Body
Contest History
2016 European Championships – Wheelchair Champion
2017 Toronto Pro – 10th Place (Open Bodybuilding)
2018 Toronto Pro – Ninth Place, Classic
2018 Veronica Gallego Classic – 10th Place, Classic
2019 New York Pro – Did not place
2019 Toronto Pro – 12th Place, Classic
2023 Pittsburgh Pro – 14th Place, Classic
2023 New York Pro – Did not place
2023 Toronto Pro – Fourth Place, Classic
The post The Bionic Body of Classic Physique! appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Ron Harris
Title: The Bionic Body of Classic Physique!
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/interviews-training/the-bionic-body-of-classic-physique/
Published Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2023 15:45:31 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/push-yourself-to-be-your-best/
Limitless Bodybuilding
By PJ Braun
Sponsored by Blackstone Labs
Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Experiment and figure out what’s best for you. Pay attention to your body and if something doesn’t feel right, try something different.
By the time you guys read this article, I will have surpassed 18 months in federal prison and working out in the gym is not just a distant memory, but now getting close to being a reality again as the second half of my sentence winds down. I have so much excitement in my heart and mind to get back to training with real weights and machines instead of bodyweight. Since the first time I touched a weight 30 years ago, I fell in love with working out! If I could work out all day, every day, I would! Sex is awesome too, close second, but I give the edge to the gym! Am I that crazy!?! I love chasing the pump and seeing my progress and I love challenging myself to push harder and more efficiently. I hate myself for getting away from that for a few years before my sentence, but I have learned to not live in the past. Time to make up for lost time. Over the years I have tried literally hundreds and hundreds of different exercises from powerlifting to functional to rehabilitation and I have learned what works best for my body through copious amounts of trial and error. So, I have decided to detail my most important exercises for each body part and why!
CHEST
I started out like most kids in the gym obsessed with the barbell bench press. It was an exercise that determined who was the worst ass in the high school gym and I hated not being good at it. When I was in my late teens, I started training under a powerlifting coach named Rob DeLavega in Brookfield, Connecticut at a Powerhouse Gym and he taught me the key fundamentals of the squat, deadlift and of course the bench press. I was not a great bench presser until years after my powerlifting career. My best max was only 455 pounds, but I was pleased when I could work out with 405 pounds for sets of eight and really proud when I did 225 pounds for 50. I was always better with stamina then low reps. The problem with the bench press is that ergonomically it is inferior to many exercises for building the chest because of the angle and stress on the shoulder joint. Most great bench pressers have massive front deltoids but often develop shoulder injuries. I destroyed both shoulders bench pressing and to this day still have lots of pain. So going back in time, if I could do things a little different, I would have spent most my time on the incline barbell press. This exercise really isolates the chest and is safer on the shoulder joint. Of course, you still need strong delts and triceps because like any compound movement, the body must work in synergy, but by keeping your scapula down and back, the stress is just unreal! It’s much harder than the flat version but it will blow your chest up!
Honorable mention: The incline dumbbell press is a close second because it’s so important to incorporate unilateral exercises to work out imbalances, and you can place the dumbbells exactly where you need to really feel the muscle work.
SHOULDERS
I love the dumbbell press and the Hammer Strength shoulder press. However, you can press all you want but if you really want them to look awesome, you need to do tons of lateral raises. The medial and posterior delts need that extra stimulation or you will be very imbalanced. My favorite is the seated dumbbell lateral raise done slow and strict. I start with the dumbbells under my legs so I can get a farther range of motion, and it’s hard to cheat when you’re seated.
Honorable mention: Reverse pec deck. Most people do this way too heavy and get too much trap involved. Done very light and strict, you can really engage the posterior delts more than anything else to round out the back of the delts!
QUADS
For many years I focused on the barbell squat. I loved squatting heavy and would often work up to 495 pounds for sets of 10. I squat deep and love the feeling of exploding out of the hole. However, it wasn’t until a great bodybuilder named Ben Pakulski and I did legs together that he talked me into opening my mind about training. In 2006, we did legs for a Muscular Development video at Gold’s Gym Venice. I told him I mostly just do lots of squats, but he got me to start incorporating more variety and splitting the days up. I started experimenting and that’s when I really started growing. What was the key? The hack squat! Nothing overloads your quads the way the hack squat does and it’s much safer on your back!
Honorable mention: Close-stance leg press to 90 degrees. A lot of guys either use too short of a range of motion or too deep of a range of motion where the spine starts to curl off the back support, which is very dangerous. Keep the knees together and come down to 90 degrees and explode up to really overload the quads!
HAMSTRINGS/GLUTES
OK guys, you are going to be really surprised by this one. But if you really want thick hamstrings, the key exercise here is a wider-stance squat! Yes, that’s right. When you learn to sit back into your glutes and hams and perform the reps slow and efficient, the hamstrings get a different kind of stimulation. You’re probably thinking, I thought squats were a quad exercise? Squats work the entire lower body and when you open your stance, sit back and push through your heels, you will blast your hamstrings like crazy too. Want to really intensify it? Check out this tip in my honorable mention! Want to get more glute involved? Try the dumbbell plié squat or sumo variation.
Honorable mention: Lying hamstring curls done before you squat, so they are engorged with blood. Either superset or just done as straight sets, this combo really brought out the thickness in my side poses and the lying hamstring curl is essentially like doing a barbell curl for your arms. Explode up and control the negative. Learn to do hip thrusts properly, and the stimulation to the posterior chain will be superior to doing squats alone.
BACK
I absolutely love training back, and I had a hard time coming up with my number one here, so I am going to first say that your back needs lots of volume and angles but most importantly, you must row like crazy to grow. I love all variations of row exercises, from barbells to dumbbells to Hammer Strength to cables!! They all have their place, but I am breaking this down for width and thickness. For width, you have to barbell row with an underhand grip. Oh yeah, baby, like the great Dorian Yates in those crazy Blood and Guts workouts that really brought the lower lats thickness out. I have gone up to some sloppy sets of 405 but prefer to be stricter with the weight. For thickness, I switch over to the old-school T-Bar row. Not a machine. It must be done with a 45-pound bar in a corner with a V-Grip handle near the top.
Honorable mention: Pull-ups, which are great for starting the foundation of your back. Wide-grip, close-grip and underhand chins done early in your bodybuilding journey will provide a great deal of strength. Sadly, I can barely hang from a pull-up bar without a great deal of pain in my shoulders now, but that’s from all the old injuries. For all you young guys starting out, form is most important! Don’t swing, and use a complete range of motion.
TRICEPS
Later in my career, I got really into cable variations for the triceps to warm up my elbows. If you look at my photos, you see that triceps were one of my best body parts and they grew almost too fast for me and made my biceps look smaller. The exercise I feel did the most for mass is the overhead dumbbell extension, done with both arms at the same time. I would often go up to the heaviest dumbbells in my gym, which was 130, and could do it strict and slow for 15-20 reps.
Honorable mention: The rope pushdown, which is the most versatile exercise for the triceps because you can change the stress of the exercise so easily. I prefer to start literally every triceps workout with rope pushdowns to really warm up my elbows and find that it’s really easy to pump up fast this way!
BICEPS
I see so many people train biceps too heavy and because of that, they don’t maximize the contractions and the full range of motion for the biceps. I was guilty of this early on in my career and it wasn’t until I started doing lots of incline dumbbell curls that my arms really grew. The incline curl when done properly takes the delt out of the exercise and from a full range of motion, the stretch at the bottom makes the muscle really isolate. I love dumbbell exercises, and this is by far my favorite.
Honorable mention: The dumbbell preacher curl. They key on this one is locking your armpit onto the top of the preacher bench and keeping your shoulders pulled back. Another awesome unilateral isolation exercise.
The best of the rest: I have trained calves, abs, and forearms hard and thorough, but my position is slightly different here. These are areas that simply can be ignored if they are genetically superior because of all the stimulation they get. I know so many guys who don’t train abs because they get lots of stimulation from compound exercises and their abs are sick. It’s easy to overtrain the ancillary groups too. Specifically forearms, because your grip is involved in so much! I developed major tendinitis from doing forearm work and don’t isolate them anymore. You want massive forearms? Don’t use straps on back day!
My calves were massive before I even touched a weight. EMG studies show that the donkey calf raise recruits the most muscle fibers, but many gyms don’t have that machine, so you got to make do with what you got. Variety is key for calves and abs, and if I really had to pick a number one ab exercise, it would be the kneeling rope crunch because you can really exaggerate the range of motion and contraction. If you want to really hit your core, you need to involve reverse curvature of the spine, meaning your lower body curls up toward your head instead of the standard crunching down!
So, there you have it. My most important exercises. Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing. Experiment and figure out what’s best for you. Pay attention to your body and if something doesn’t feel right, try something different. What works best for me may not work best for you and the best part of the bodybuilding journey is learning the keys to success in the gym to unlock your true potential. Just because I have been training 30 years doesn’t mean I have stopped learning. When you stop learning, you stop your growth. That goes for the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Until next time, I love you all. Peace out, bye.
Instagram @pjbraunfitness
blackstonelabs.com
Instagram @blackstone_labs
The post WHICH EXERCISES REIGN SUPREME? appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
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By: Team FitRx
Title: WHICH EXERCISES REIGN SUPREME?
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/which-exercises-reign-supreme/
Published Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:33:45 +0000
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The post GlycoLog appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Team FitRx
Title: GlycoLog
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/nutrition/supplements/glycolog/
Published Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:13:46 +0000
Did you miss our previous article…
https://mansbrand.com/when-the-weight-stack-isnt-enough/
The Giant Killer
By Two-Time 212 Olympia Champion Shaun Clarida
Sponsored by MUTANT
Q: I see you use something called a GymPin to add weight to both machines with stacks as well as plate-loading machines like Hammer Strength and Arsenal Strength. Which machines do you need to do that for, all of them? Every post of yours I see it looks like you have every plate a machine can hold!
A: I use it on almost every machine that has a weight stack that you use a pin to adjust the weight for, because most of the stacks were designed to accommodate a certain level of strength that very few people go beyond anyway. A lot of times a weight stack will only go up to something like 200 pounds and the GymPin lets me add 25 or 45 more pounds to that. I do also use it for plate-loading machines like the Hammer Strength Incline Press for chest so I can add a sixth plate to each side since there’s only enough room for five 45s. It also comes in handy on certain leg press machines when the posts don’t allow me to put enough plates on to really challenge me. On most models I can push 13 or 14 plates a side if I’m going as heavy as possible. I’ve seen people do crazy things like using bungee cords or duct tape to secure extra 45s. The GymPin is a much safer and more convenient tool to add extra resistance. I feel it my duty to mention that no one should be adding weight to anything if you are sacrificing form, range of motion, or mind-muscle connection just to say you used x amount of weight. But if you are genuinely maxed-out with what a machine holds or allows for, use my code GK20 for GymPin at www.gym-pin.co.uk!
The Heat Is On!
Q: Your new home state of Texas went through a record-setting heat wave less than two months after you moved there. How did you handle all those days in a row that were well over 100 degrees outside?
A: Honestly, I love it. I’ve always been a fan of the heat. I love Florida and Texas weather. What isn’t so fun is that summer is also the rainy season in Texas. The storms here are just ridiculous. They are so loud I thought the windows were going to shatter! I wake up and it’s 70 or 80 degrees. It gets up to 100 or more by noon. I prefer the heat. You know I stay covered up almost all the time when I train. So don’t feel bad for me, I’m fine even at over 100 degrees!
Olympia Prep: Bigger and Better
Q: You are starting your prep for the Olympia, where you will defend your 212 title and hopefully earn your third win. Where are you at with your physique this year as compared to your starting point in 2022? I believe you hit an all-time high for your off-season bodyweight and strength.
A: I did get up to 215 pounds, which is crazy. I never thought I would be that heavy in this off-season with having a new baby and moving across country. I had assumed my training would have suffered a bit here and there with all that going on. But I have been able to get my training, meals, and cardio in every day without fail. I’d always heard “everything is bigger in Texas,” and now I believe it! I remember sending Matt Jansen my check-in when I hit 215, and I was surprised. That’s a lot for me. I will come in a little bigger at this Olympia than ever before, but the most important thing for me is conditioning. Nothing else matters if the condition isn’t top-notch. That’s why I never focus on my bodyweight. I’m more concerned with trying to improve certain areas like my chest and hamstrings. As I get stronger on those movements and add new lean muscle tissue, the weight does creep up. It’s been a great off-season and I also feel I’m going to grow into the show. I’m one of those guys who gets stronger in prep, so sometimes I have to be mindful and stay safe, so I don’t get injured. But I’m going to keep pushing hard, stay strong, and hold as much size going into the show as possible. Despite being 40 and already being as strong as I am, I still find I’m able to make strength gains.
How Being a Dad Changed Me
Q: Has being a dad changed your outlook on life at all yet? Most men say they feel like an entirely different chapter of their life has begun.
A: I feel like an adult now! I actually had this conversation with Branch Warren recently at Destination Dallas. I thought I was motivated and had purpose before, but becoming a father was like turning a switch. From now on, everything I do moving forward isn’t for me anymore. It’s for my daughter. Now she’s the reason I’m determined to improve and win my third Olympia title. She gives me a whole new fuel and drive to be the best I can be.
Home Gym, Texas Style
Q: Do you have any equipment at home?
A: My new home in Texas has a four-car garage, and I set aside two of the bays to be my “home gym.” In the past in New Jersey, I always had to drive to the gym for my morning cardio. It wasn’t a long drive, but I always thought I would save time by having cardio equipment at home. Now I can do that as well as abs, calves, and adductors. At home I have a Matrix Stairmaster, a Hammer Strength leg raise, an old-school Hoist seated calf raise, an Icarian calf press, an Atlantis ab crunch, a Nautilus ab machine, and Magnum abductor and adductor machines. I also got a new Nautilus hip/glute drive machine. This saves me a lot of morning trips to the gym, and of course I still do all my heavy training there.
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The post When the Weight Stack Isn’t Enough appeared first on FitnessRX for Men.
——————–
By: Team FitRx
Title: When the Weight Stack Isn’t Enough
Sourced From: www.fitnessrxformen.com/training/athletes/when-the-weight-stack-isnt-enough/
Published Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:58:27 +0000
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