Pavol Jablonicky – Complete Profile, Workout And Diet

Pavol Jablonicky is a retired professional bodybuilder from Slovakia. He competed in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s era of bodybuilding. The veteran bodybuilder is a proud representative of the Eastern European bodybuilding scene and participated in the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition six times during his career. This is his complete profile, biography, workout routine, and diet.

Pavol Jablonicky (Bodybuilder)

Born: January 24, 1963
Birthplace: Borský Mikuláš, SLOVAKIA
Residence: Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC
Nickname: Džablo
Height: 5′ 8″ (173 cm)
Competition Weight: 237 lbs (108 kg)

Pavol Jablonicky Biography

Early Life

Pavol Jablonicky was born on January 24, 1963, in Borský Mikuláš, Slovakia. Growing up in this small village, he was involved in Javelin, ball, and strongman sports. These sports eventually became the foundation of his bodybuilding journey.

Working relentlessly was a part of Jablonicky’s lifestyle in Borsky Mikulas as he was always at it. He carried the wood and chopped it to heat their home with it, he had to work it with a spade. The lifestyle combined with involvement in sporting activities transformed him into a distinguished teenager in terms of physical strength and development.

While reflecting on his rural upbringing, Pavol Jablonicky later said:

“The Záhorie core influenced me in other ways as well. People here are a little too honest, they don’t lie to each other, and after everything I have seen, I realize that they are happier than in the “big world” I later encountered.”

Not only did his time in rural Slovakia prepare him physically, but it also made him mentally more resilient to take care of himself and maneuver through difficult times. A lot of Pavol Jablonicky’s bodybuilding success can be attributed to the years he spent in the Slovak village.

Military Career

But before he pursued professional bodybuilding, Pavol Jablonicky developed a passion for airplanes and enrolled in a military school in Presov. His mother resisted the move as she was not ready to send him away. However, the Young Pavol went ahead with his decision and became a soldier.

Life in military school was more difficult than he imagined and Jablonicky thinks of his decision as a mistake. However, the spartan lifestyle helped him get disciplined. He started going to the gym and moved to Hradec Kralove as a professional soldier. But instead of becoming a test pilot, he worked as a mechanic.

“I was in charge of two planes, fixed their engines, and signed a paper for each screw. I had to be precise and I always watched each plane after its take-off for a long time. There was no room for even one mistake.”

Jablonicky started training during his free time and this led the foundation for his bodybuilding career.

Bodybuilding Career

Pavol Jablonicky kept his training a secret but he soon started participating in competitions. Once his superiors found out about this, he was fired from the army. His coach Pavel Zobac, who was the head of the sports research laboratory center, arranged everything for him.

Jablonicky’s first success came in 1987 when in a single year he won the Championship of Czechoslovakia, the Championship of Europe, and the World Championship in the under 90kg category. Coach Zobac had fled to Germany when Jablonicky won the 1988 World Amateur Championships and earned the IFBB Pro card.

Jablonicky made his professional bodybuilding debut at the 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Holland with a 12th-place finish. He made his Mr. Olympia debut in the same year and walked away with a 16th-place finish. He continued to compete for the next 15 years and produced several memorable performances on stage.

In 1999 he was successful at the final of the Cup Competitions and at the Holland Grand Prix, he received a bronze medal. Jablonicky placed second at the Night of the Champions contest in New York City that same year – right after the gigantic bodybuilder Paul Dilett. A few months later in Toronto, he placed fourteenth in the Mr. Olympia contest – the most renowned and fiercely competitive event in the sport of bodybuilding.

Pavol Jablonicky reached the height of his professional career in 2003 and 2004 when he won the Hungary Gran Prix two years in a row and stood second and fifth at the Night of the Champions. In 2004 he placed 11th at the Mr. Olympia competition. During his professional career, he stood first at three professional competitions and competed at Mr. Olympia a total of six times.

Since 2001, Jablonicky has been the owner of his gym Relax Sports Profi Studio Jablonicky in Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Competition History

• 1987 European Amateur Championships, Light heavyweight – 1st place
• 1987 World Amateur  Championships, Light heavyweight – 1st place
• 1988 World Amateur Championships, Heavyweight – 1st place (Earned the IFBB Pro Card)
• 1989 IFBB Grand Prix Holland – 12th place
• 1989 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 16th place
• 1990 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 5th place
• 1990 IFBB Grand Prix Holland – 3rd place
• 1990 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational – 9th place
• 1991 IFBB Mr. Olympia – Did not place
• 1992 IFBB Night of Champions – 9th place
• 1993 IFBB Grand Prix Germany (2) – 7th place
• 1993 IFBB Grand Prix Germany – 5th place
• 1993 IFBB Night of Champions – 9th place
• 1994 IFBB Arnold Classic – 12th place
• 1994 IFBB Grand Prix Germany (2) – 11th place
• 1995 IFBB Grand Prix Ukraine – 9th place
• 1995 IFBB Niagara Falls Pro Invitational – 2nd place
• 1995 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 16th place
• 1996 IFBB Night of Champions – 8th place
• 1997 IFBB Night of Champions – 5th place
• 1998 IFBB Night of Champions – 14th place
• 1999 IFBB Night of Champions – 2nd place
• 1999 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 14th place
• 1999 IFBB Toronto Pro Invitational – 1st place
• 2000 IFBB Night of Champions – 6th place
• 2001 IFBB Night of Champions – 4th place
• 2001 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 19th place
• 2003 IFBB Grand Prix Hungary – 1st place
• 2003 IFBB Night of Champions – 2nd place
• 2004 IFBB Hungarian Pro Invitational – 1st place
• 2004 IFBB Night of Champions – 5th place
• 2004 IFBB Mr. Olympia – 11th place
• 2004 IFBB Toronto Pro Invitational – 4th place
• 2005 IFBB Europa Supershow – 7th place
• 2006 IFBB Masters Pro World – 3rd place
• 2006 IFBB New York Pro Championships – 10th place

Pavol Jablonicky Workout

Mass and size became the most important criteria, especially in the Men’s Open division over the last few decades. However, Pavol Jablonicky belongs to an era when aesthetics and proportions were the foremost criteria for winning bodybuilding competitions.

“The champions looked like racehorses, but over time the desire shifted towards as much mass as possible. If you had a circumference of fifty centimeters across the biceps or calf, you were just a beginner. In my eyes, it changed for the worse, transforming to absolute unnaturalness. You see the stars on the covers of magazines now and you don’t think it looks good. You can’t admire it and there’s no way you would want to look like that.”

The goal of Jablonicky’s training at the peak of his bodybuilding career was to get a physique that looked aesthetically pleasing and desirable. The Slovak bodybuilder thought of himself as a representative of bodybuilding culture and refused to be just a competitor willing to make a carer in the sport.

When he was younger, Jablonicky trained twice every day and rarely took off days. He still follows the same routine even if the competitive bodybuilding days are over.

Bodybuilding Philosophy

The veteran bodybuilder strongly believes that bodybuilding is a profession that requires strong inner motivation and discipline to move the needles financially. It is not possible to adhere to a bodybuilding lifestyle unless you enjoy diet, training, and other aspects of it as ceremonies with precise procedures.

Pavol Jablonicky has a strong belief that bodybuilding is not only about muscles and weights but it is about the charisma of a bodybuilder that is borne out of the harmony between body and mind.

Training Split

At the peak of his bodybuilding career, Pavol Jablonicky trained six days a week and his weekly training routine had a session dedicated to chest, back, arms, shoulders, legs, and abs.

Typically, the training week in Pavol Jablonicky’s routine looks like this:

Chest

• Incline Smith Machine Bench Press – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Decline Dumbbell Press – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Dumbbell Chest Flyes – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Pec Deck Flyes – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Machine Chest Press – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Cable Crossover – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Back

• One-Arm Dumbbell Rows – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Lat Pulldown – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Close-Grip Seated Cable Rows – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• T-Bar Rows – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps

Shoulders

• Seated Behind the Neck Barbell Shoulder Press – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Seated Bent Over Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps
• Cable Upright Rows – 4 sets of 6 to 15 reps

Biceps and Triceps

• One Arm Cable Triceps Extensions – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Cable Triceps Pushdowns – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extensions – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Dumbbell Curls – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Barbell Curls – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Curls – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps
• Dumbbell Concentration Curls – 4 to 5 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Legs

• Barbell Squats – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Leg Extensions – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Leg Press – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Lying Leg Curls – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps
• Standing Calf Raises – 4 to 5 sets of 6 to 15 reps

Abs

• Hanging Leg Raises – 4 to 5 sets of 15 to 18 reps
• Sit-Ups – 4 to 5 sets of 15 to 18 reps
• Decline Crunches – 4 to 5 sets of 15 to 18 reps

Pavol Jablonicky Diet

During his time as the Air Force mechanic, Pavol Jablonicky took first steps into following a bodybuilding diet as he spent most of his free time in the gym or reading bodybuilding material related to diet and training.

“I learned to train and eat according to various books and tables, which I collected wherever I could. I ate half a kilo of meat a day. Fish, whole chickens, beef. I dived into this and speculated on what and how it could move me forward.”

While explaining his thoughts on the bodybuilding diet, Pavol Jablonicky once said:

“It’s hard to explain. It’s like explaining sex to a virgin. How to train, how to keep a diet. You have to do it first. Only then will your thinking change. The feeling when you are almost sugar-free for several months and you can’t sleep from hunger. The feeling when you are lying on a bench press, you have to push out your maximum, your whole nervous system is tense and it’s just you.”

Jablonicky maintained a high-protein, moderate carbohydrate, and low-fat diet throughout his bodybuilding career. Although he no longer follows a similar diet plan, the emphasis on protein is still there.

To Conclude…

Pavol Jablonicky has been one of the strongest representatives of the Eastern European bodybuilding scene and he competed successfully at a time when Western sports were frowned upon in the communist block.

Although Jablonicky did not win major bodybuilding competitions like Mr. Olympia or Arnold Classic, his legacy will live on because of the sheer energy and intensity he brought to the competitive stage.

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