 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
JM: Chris, you started off 1999 quite well by winning the IFBB IronMan Pro Invitational. How did you feel about that? Visit Chris Cormier site at www.chriscormier.com
CHRIS CORMIER
IFBB Pro Chris Cormier first came to prominence in 1993, when he won the overall NPC USA Championships to earn his pro card and follow in the footsteps of such USA Champions as Flex Wheeler, Mike Matarazzo, who had just won the title the previous two years and were already enjoying the fruits of success in the IFBB.
Chris was no stranger to the sport as he had started training when he was 11, and now enters his twentieth year pumping iron. He was a fixture in the NPC California circuit for many years as he worked his way up to the overall USA.
In the IFBB, Chris was a consistent top ten finisher, taking fourth in the 1995 IFBB Night Of The Champions and winning the overall Night Of The Champions in 1997 over a field of 42 competitors. In 1998 he took fifth place at the Arnold Classic and a sixth place finish in the Mr. Olympia.
Chris started 1999 with another overall victory at the IronMan Pro Invitational and then followed that up two weeks later with a third place finish in the Arnold Classic.
I recently caught up with Chris in Atlanta during the month of May when he was attending the NPC Eastern Seaboard Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships where he was working at the booth for LifeSpan Longevity Centers. He had literally just flown in from Japan that very day and was making plans to leave again once he hit L.A. for a few days.
Since winning the 1993 NPC USA Championships, we've never been able to do a feature on Chris in the NPC News because of time constraints or missed opportunities. As Chris laughingly told me when we sat down for the interview, "It's about damn time."
CC: It felt great. I was in my hometown and all my family and friends were there. It was cool and it was a great show to be in. I finished with a perfect score, so it was really great!
JM: Taking that win into this year's Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic, how did you feel about your placing third in that contest?
CC: I was disappointed. I'm a competitor. I don't go to shows to try to take third or fourth or fifth. I go there to win just like anybody else and I believe in myself and my capabilities. I was just as disappointed as anybody else and feel I have one of the best physiques in the world. It's just a matter of opinion as to where I place. It's such a subjective sport that we have here. I put a lot into it, but, at the same time, I still have a little bit more that I can put into it as far as diet wise. I could have been a little tighter and things like that. But just for myself, for once, I wanted to come into a show with hardness and fullness at the same time instead of being hard and flat and not being able to feel your muscles. It was a nice change for me. I was really happy with the package that I presented.
JM: Were you heavier than at the 1998 Mr. Olympia?
CC: Yeah. I was about a good ten pounds heavier. 250 pounds there and I came down just a little too much for the Mr. Olympia and was a little flat. I saw that I lost a little more muscle coming into that show than what I had early on training for the Mr. Olympia.
JM: Since you started competing in the pro's in 1994, you've always been a pretty consistent finisher, usually placing in the top six. Do you ever feel you've been overlooked in any IFBB events?
CC: Not really overlooked because I took sixth in the Mr. Olympia this year. I think I've not been put where my physique should have been put in a few shows because of flatness, or something like that, but I don't think someone can pinpoint a whole lot of weakness on my physique like you can on a lot of other pro's that were placing ahead of me.
JM: Going back to the 1998 Mr. Olympia, it was a free for all for the overall with Dorian out of the running. Did you feel you had a chance to win that title as everybody else going into the contest?
CC: No, I felt my time was coming though. I felt I had a great chance of placing in the top five, which I place sixth. But I thought I could have placed in the top five.
You know, I'm very realistic. I think that now I'm very capable of being in the top three depending on someone's opinion. But I think my time is coming. I'm 31 and my body's just now coming around. It's a slow and sure journey, but it's coming now. I think everyone can see that.
JM: Do you feel that after Lee Haney and Dorian Yates dominating the Mr. Olympia for so long, that somebody, be it Ronnie Coleman, or someone else, can dominate the Mr. Olympia again for that long? Or do you feel that you and the other guys physique's are now all on the same level and you've all caught up to where Dorian was years ago, so that the title could easily change hands from year to year?
CC: I think it can if the powers that be let it change hands. I think, like you said, that we are all closer now than we were a lot of the other times. Dorian was way ahead of us and everyone was trying to get bigger and bigger and bigger, but I just laid back and kept my same game plan and, so to speak, let everyone blow their wads. (Chris laughs at this statement.) Now it's my turn to come up and make some changes in my physique and I think I'll be noticed a lot more now than I would have if I did it before.
In other words, I do think we can all take turns at taking strikes at that title now. I think I'm going to be a strong competitor for that title also.
See, everyone up there, we've all beaten each other before. I've beaten Ronnie a few times. I know he's made a lot of jumps and improvements, but facts are facts. We've all beaten each other. I've beaten Nasser before. I've beaten Flex before. It depends on the day that you come into that show. So now everyone has to be on their P's and Q's about their conditioning and everything else. I for one plan on putting in 100% of my time from twelve to fourteen weeks before the show from now on in my career. I think it's going to make more and more bigger strides for me.
JM: You hadn't done that before?
CC: Mentally I've always tried to push myself to the limit and if I feel that I have a little more to give, then I'm not going to claim that I put 100% into it like some people do. They say, 'Oh, I trained the hardest in my life and I'm in the shape of my life'. I still don't think I've seen the best I can be. I would give myself about 85% effort in this past year.
JM: What gave you the motivation to make that change?
CC: I'm not a loser, I'm a winner. I've always excelled in every sport and everything I've ever tried and I'm not done yet. That's it. Mentally I go into the show ready to win, wanting to win and I have a will to win no matter what I do, be it video games, bodybuilding or anything that I do.
JM: Did you train with anybody leading up to the IronMan and Arnold Classic?
CC: No. I trained only under Charles Glass. I don't find anyone else in there that's going to push me. I could go into the gym and train with someone, like my closest buddies in there, and I want to push hard. They don't exactly want to do what I want to do. I want to get pushed beyond what I think I can do. I want to get under a rack and get a little nervous about whether I can do this or not. Charles has a lot of confidence in me and my ability to go beyond what most people can do in that gym. And I like that. I like that better.
JM: Any different strategy leading up to the 1999 Mr. Olympia? Or are you going to follow the same game plan you had leading up to the IronMan and the Arnold Classic?
CC: Same game plan and just tighten up a little more on my diet.
JM: Do you plan on coming in as big again, or somewhere in between last year's Mr. Olympia and this year's IronMan Pro?
CC: Somewhere in between there. I'm going to be bigger than what I've been, but a lot tighter. I've put the last eight weeks before the contest to stay at home and not do any appearances.
JM: What other activities are you involved in these days besides training?
CC: I'm doing a lot of work with the military overseas. We're selling NPC Active Wear over there and doing a lot of work in Japan with Iron-Tek. They're doing a lot of business over there with their launch and it's going great. We service the military throughout Korea, Okinawa and the rest of Japan. They're really blowing up on their fitness industry and hopefully we can get a lot of involvement from the NPC over there with the military.
JM: Is there a company that you work with overseas?
CC: Yeah, they're called Body Works and we're based out of Okinawa.
JM: How did you get involved with them?
CC: I did an appearance over there, and the owner, Tony Freed, wanted to meet me and talk about some possible business ventures. And me, the kind of business man that I am, I was very happy and much obliged to take on the offer. I just got back yesterday and then flew into Atlanta yesterday also.
When I go back, we're bringing Flex Wheeler and Mandy Blank over there to do some appearances and we're going to bring some stars from the future there also. We have Dennis James going to appear there and hopefully keep it rolling with the military over there.
JM: Anything else you'd like to add?
CC: Just let my fans know that I really appreciate their support. All the places I've been going, they've been really receptive and the number of fans have been growing rapidly. I'm going to make a promise to be 100% in my diet and training from here on out to make some bigger changes. I hope I can help inspire people to do the same in their own career's.
Ed. Note: Chris Cormier can be contacted for appearances through Weider Athlete Promotions/Lynn Conkwright at (310) 821-8004 or fax (310) 821-8884. Or you can call 1-888-975-5510 and leave a voice mail message up to a minute's length.
