TAFs GOES BACKSTAGE AT THE CLASSIC!
The competitors pump up for the show!

While Arnold was busy posing with hundreds of VIP holders and fans, it was time for the Men's Prejudging to begin. All the muscle came on stage, flexed and strained until it hurt. Marcus Ruhl seemed to be one of the crowd's favorites since the audience kept chanting and booming "RUHL!"




Jay Cutler and Marcus Ruhl we're the crowd's favorites!

After half an hour we had seen enough to determine our own favorites so we decided to go backstage with our all-access pass. Backstage we saw all the competitors who were onstage minutes earlier. Many were still pumping up before their names were called to enter the stage.


The prejudging.

There were some little offices at our left, where the media department was stationed, but on the right there was a big room with a huge blue carpet to absorb the sweat from such heavy bodybuilder training.

On the carpet, big, muscular, and oiled up competitors were pumping up with a 179 pound curling dumbbell while getting ready for the next onstage performance. One exhausted competitor was lying on the carpet, others were having much needed energy drinks, two guys nearly broke out in a fight, one was doing pull-ups on an unstable water-pipe and others talked to the press. Jay Cutler, Kevin Levrone and Chris Cormier were shaking hands and seemed to really enjoy the attention.


Backstage at the prejudging!

While backstage, we were also able to glance out to the stage where the competitors were still doing their poses and being judged. The families of the bodybuilders were amongst us and were proud of their “little boys”. We also watched backstage monitors to get the best look at the “cuts” and muscles in detail.

Later, after the prejudging was over, the competitors got to their room and were escorted back to the expo by bus. The whole backstage was empty except for Jim Lorimer, who walked back and forth with never a moments rest. Sound tests with Daniel Rodriguez, who would later do a performance during the Arnold Classic show, were performed as we got our first look at the Mens Finals stage which was earlier concealed.

Thanks to Jim Lorimer (and our backstage passes) he made us feel like stars ourselves. Maybe next year we’ll have a star on our own personal backstage dressing room door. TheArnoldFans has much more to share with you so “stick around” for our next Classic story.

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René de Jong & Randy Jennings