QUESTION 

After a contest, do you watch videos to see how you looked onstage? Did you watch your Olympia performance?

 ANSWER 

Honestly, if I can find a contest online somewhere afterward, I’ll watch it. To see how I did with my own eyes. With some contests and, of course, with the Olympia and all that happens over the O weekend, there are legalities involved, and so videos of those contests get pulled really quickly because they’re unauthorized. It’s usually something someone shot from the audience. That night after the O, I did watch a video, but the link was taken down before it was morning.

 QUESTION 

Does posing and flexing in front of a mirror help with muscle development?

 ANSWER 

Posing in front of a mirror can be either a mind mess or a help in many regards. I personally have two mirrors in my life—the one I look into when I brush my teeth and one at the gym to judge my physique. I always use the same mirror set in the same position when judging my physique because changing mirrors, changing mirror positions, can make self-assessment more challenging. As far as muscle development, that happens in the gym. Posing is all that happens in a mirror.

_PB41696wtmrk

 QUESTION 

Other than winning, what was the highlight of the 2016 Olympia?

 ANSWER 

Without a doubt, it was bringing my daughter up onstage with my wife. Some background here: Long ago, I’d seen a photo in FLEX of Sergio Oliva onstage with his son, Sergio Oliva Jr., when he was only a few weeks old. That was in my head when I promised in 2015 that if I was blessed to return to the O and win again, I would bring Adiena up onstage. I fulfilled that promise for myself and for my fans, who, seriously, throughout the months of the year have been saying, “Hope you get the chance to bring your daughter onstage.” It was a dream come true.

FLEX