3DMUSCLEJOURNEY - Muscle Mayhem Review

IFPA Pro USA & NANBF California Natural Muscle Mayhem Review

By Eric Helms, media contributions by Paul Tomko and Alberto Nunez

Bob Bell and Tina Smith have been hosting the premier natural competition in California for over a decade. It is excellently ran, and draws out some of the best natural competitors from in and out of state. Alberto Nunez won his pro card there in 2008, beating Brad Loomis in the overall in a close decision. Myself and Jeff Alberts competed there in 2009, winning our divisions but losing to Moji Oluwa in the overall. This year the sanction changed from the INBF to the NANBF/IFPA and became a pro/am. The show has been steadily getting bigger and better and this year, with the addition of the pro category, it reached absolutely insane proportions. The prejudging started at 9am and ran straight through to the night show, which ended after 10pm. There was no break for the judges and each class was stacked with quality competitors; they certainly had their work cut out for them.

The show began with the pros. Now to give a little background, the IFPA has been growing with incredible speed and recently many Pros from other organizations have decided to compete there. This show was a collection of pros from many organizations. Team 3DMJ client NGA Pro Robbie Sardinia made his pro debut that night and the stage was littered with ex WNBF Pros who had decided to jump ship. Because of this migration of pros from other organizations, the level of competition was incredibly high. The top 3 in the men's division were world champions and the top 2 in women's bodybuilding were also. In the men's division, the top 6 literally were good enough to win any average pro show. The eventual winner in the men's was Phillip Ricardo Jr., who has won top honors in every pro championship event except the WNBF Worlds (only because the WNBF doesn't allow competitors to cross-compete). In second was Kiyoshi Moody, who has won his division in the NPC Team Universe and also won the PNBA Natural Olympia title. In third was Cleveland Thomas, who won his class at the IFPA Yorton Cup and placed a close second in the overall to Doug Miller. In the women's bodybuilding division, Katy Wayman-White (formerly Katy Holmes) won first in a close battle with Liza "Herculiza" Reichenberger who took 2nd. Both prior WNBF Pro champions, these two impressive ladies battled it out in front of an awe-struck audience. In the figure division, Trish Woods took second place on the same stage that she won her pro card in 2009. Chrissy Zmijewski won the figure title displaying perfect symmetry and a combination of hardness and presentation that was unbeatable that night.

The top 5 from left to right: 3rd Cleveland Thomas, 1st Phillip Ricardo Jr, 2nd Kiyoshi Moody, 4th Moji Oluwa, 5th Panexce Pierre

From left to right: Bob Porzio, Cleveland Thomas and Robbie Sardinia

You could see Phillip Ricardo's glute striations from the nose bleeds

Cleveland and Robbie's striated glutes

The top 5 hitting a side chest

Phillip Ricardo Jr. with Bob Bell and Tina Smith

Katy Wayman-White is center left and Herculiza is center-right.

Trish Woods is the shortest competitor in the center and Chrissy is on the far right, although she didn't stay there long!

After the pros left the stage, the amateur portion of the show began. Every class had standouts and many in-state and out of state top amateur competitors battled it out. Team 3DMJ Posing Client Alex Cosentini won the teen division and was a 4th place finalist in a very large novice division. He returned to the stage this year with a vastly improved physique, carrying much more muscle. Our close friend Brian Bousman looked his best ever, placing 3rd in the very tough open and master divisions. Lanell Martinez, who was my coworker as a personal trainer for 2 years, won the women's masters bodybuilding division displaying improved fullness and muscle mass from her last showing. Tony Quincy, a veteran competitor from Washington was a finalist in the open and masters, placing 5th in each. William Schmidt, who I frequently train alongside at Powerhouse in Rancho Cordova, presented a greatly improved physique from his showing earlier this summer and took second in the highly competitive masters division. Team 3DMJ posing client Karim Rasool had a strong showing in both the open and masters divisions; and Team 3DMJ supporter and seminar attendee Scott Brown had his best showing to date in the stacked novice division. To give you an idea of the competitiveness of this show, Team 3DMJ Posing clients Vinny Corlioni and Luke Ehlis took second place in their classes. Vinny won the INBA Silver and Black overall title earlier this year and the NGA California light heavyweight title, and Luke is a 2x INBF WA State Heavyweight title winner (only losing by 1pt in the overall to Jeff Alberts last year). This show was easily the most competitive amateur show I'd seen in person.

Luke Ehlis in the center, the class winner on the left and Tony Quincy on the right.

The class winner (and eventual overall winner Christopher Gaines) in the middle, Karim Rasool on the far right, Bill Schmidt on the far left and Vinny Corlioni between him and the class winner

Alex Cosentini in the teen class on the far left

The masters class, Karim Rasool in the center, Brian Bousman on his left, Bill Schmidt on his right and Tony Quincy on the far right

Luke Ehlis' back double bicep showed his impressive conditioning

Karim's v-taper was on display when he hit his front double biceps

Luke Ehlis displaying a Christmas tree in July

Alex really put in the work over the offseason, last year he competed nearly 50lbs lighter!

Luke Ehlis has been a friend of mine ever since we competed in the INBF WA State last year. Myself, Jeff Alberts and Alberto Nunez hit it off with him right off the bat backstage. He had competed against Brad Loomis in the overall the year prior and they also developed a friendship. He has been a featured athlete on our website and also a contributing author. Not only is his physique impressive, but his outlook, humility, and desire to improve the sport as a whole is to be commended. He has been pushing very hard and working on perfecting his posing with Jeff Alberts for months. It was awesome to see him take the stage as he achieved his best conditioning to date and displayed it with top quality presentation. Luke is taking another shot at getting his pro card in three weeks at the WA State Championships and is a favorite going into the show. Team 3DMJ will be there to support him and report on the results.

As we have always said here at 3DMJ, the most important aspect of this sport is the journey we take and the character we build from it. The people you meet along the way share an understanding of the dedication and commitment it takes to step on stage and truly, the community support and camraderie in natural bodybuilding is something that always inspires me. We would like to thank Bob and Tina and all the competitors for their contributions to this great sport and we hope to see you all again next year!