When he was commentating for the 2021 Mr. Olympia, bodybuilding icon Lee Haney made it clear that he was not exactly impressed with what he was seeing onstage. Now he explains further what it is about the current state of bodybuilding that bothers him.
Haney is one of the greatest athletes the sport has ever known, and he has 8 Mr. Olympia titles to back that up. In his time since retiring, he has managed to stay a relevant figure in the sport, speaking out on the various issues.
One of the main things that he has spoken out about, is the fact that the he feels like current generation of bodybuilders tends to put too much focus on size, sacrificing their shape and conditioning. This is something he continued with, after commentating for this year’s Olympia, with a post to his Instagram page where he blames this issue on athletes getting coaches who have never been bodybuilders.
“After close evaluation of the Olympia, It’s my professional opinion that the training systems used lack the ability to create muscle maturity or quality muscle separation. No so with the top 10 during the eras past. Yes, athletes are bigger but lack quality,” Haney wrote.
“I later had a conversation with the coaches that worked with one of the top athletes. I asked: what type of training system did he used for his athlete (top (5)?
And behold😳 he gave me an answer that was total out the realm of what was used to create some of the greatest physiques ever.
Of course he himself looked like a dancer. There in lies the problem with the quality of 95% of open class bodybuilders. The problem with most of the current coaches is that they haven’t been there done that. I said it and stand by it. I have the hardware to backup what I said🎤”
There is a certain element of truth to what Lee Haney is saying here, especially when you look at how the competitors were scored specifically at the Mr. Olympia this year. After all, you have people, Lee included, feeling that Hadi Choopan had the type of physique to win, but he only came in third.
On the other hand, there is a tendency for older bodybuilders to constantly say that their generation was the best, which could very well be the case here. Either way, he brings up interesting points about the state of bodybuilding today.
Lee Haney Bodybuilding Titles
- 1979 Teen Mr. America
- 1979 Teen Mr. America Tall, 1st
- 1982 Junior Nationals Heavyweight & Overall, 1st
- 1982 Nationals Heavyweight & Overall, 1st
- 1982 World Amateur Championships Heavyweight, 1st
- 1983 Grand Prix England, 2nd
- 1983 Grand Prix Las Vegas, 1st
- 1983 Grand Prix Sweden, 2nd
- 1983 Grand Prix Switzerland, 3rd
- 1983 Night of Champions, 1st
- 1983 Mr. Olympia, 3rd
- 1983 World Pro Championships, 3rd
- 1984 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1985 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1986 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1987 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1987 Grand Prix Germany (II), 1st
- 1988 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1989 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1990 Mr. Olympia, 1st
- 1991 Mr. Olympia, 1st
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Lee Haney NEVER compared or insinuating in comparing eras. It isn’t about this. It’s about disproportion of these bodybuilders’ bodies and why they choose, most of the time, trainers that’s not experienced in the bodybuilding field. I wholeheartedly agree. These bodybuilders need to focus on less size and more symmetry and better condition…develop the muscles more. That’s how it should be. These bodybuilders eat so much when they really don’t have to. And they have inefficient conditioning, and huge size has something to do with that. More size provides less symmetry. Then these bodybuilders have to lose plenty of water to bring out definition of muscles, which is pretty difficult to do.
Jest wiele legend Lee haney . Arnold . Dorian. Roni. I teraz terz są wielkie chłopy phil. Jay. A ramy dopiero drugi raz wygrał. Liczę na to że cai .Green. Jeszcze wystąpi bo jak flex. Jest zawsze 2. A zasługuje na Olimpię.
This may partly be the coaches but it is definitely the judges also. Judges for decades have awarded size over symmetry and conditioning in a majority of situations which has led to where we see several high level pros coming into I a show more worried about size and fullness then separation. This hasn’t been positive for the sport imo
Yep give me Haney Mentzer Arnold lebrada the list goes on