Its time to step out from behind those Instagram filters and the goon lighting to lay it all on the line on stage next to the best in the world. For those unfamiliar, Mr. Olympia and the broader Olympia bodybuilding competition and weekend (in Las Vegas again this year) is the world-wide pinnacle of bodybuilding. It includes a long list of competitor classes, a trade show and a variety of events. It is like Super Bowl of bodybuilding.
Free Live Streaming
This year they are providing a free livestream of the 2026 Olympia events and competitions. The Olympia is sanctioned by the International Federation of Body Building (IFBB), which has it’s amateur/feeder league the National Physique Committee (NPC). The contest itself is owned and run by Jake Wood who is carrying on the legacy of Joe Weider. I think we are seeing quite a few improvements in the show itself. The free live streaming is a good idea and I think only helps the brand, the event, and bodybuilding in general.
More Openness to the Independent Media
We saw some of this over the past couple of years but now we are seeing it in more full use. Even the competitors like Samson Dauda and Wesley Vissers have their own self-produced content and Dauda was interviewing other competitors from the event. It just make business sense.
For what is worth, if I could, these are the changes I would make to improve the event and the culture downstream of the Olympia.
Get the Stage Presentation Absolutely Perfect
Make the stage lighting, background, and overall presentation absolutely mission critical. Maybe its impossible to translate what you see in person to what you see on camera, but it can be much better than it has been in the past. Spend the time and money to get the cameras and camera angles right. How about some “Judge Perspective” cameras so we can see what the judges see. Maybe even some “Jumbotron” like screens from the Judges’ perspectives for the people further back to appreciate. In this day and age of high definition cameras, social media, and 70,000 square feet of LED display space in SoFi stadium,… the enthusiasts for the ultimate visual sport deserve much better that what have seen to date.
Cut Down To the Top 10 or 12 Immediately
There are too many competitors on the stage and the show takes too long with competitors who don’t matter. This makes the show itself less enjoyable for the viewer and more difficult for the competitors to peak if their event gets delayed by hours. Yes these are the best in the world in any given year. Competing in the Olympia may be their dream but if you aren’t in the top 10 or 12, you don’t really matter here and no one else should care. Not every qualifier should even hit the stage and even if they do, please process them quickly. If they are clearly out of the top 10,… then it is simply, “Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your weekend as a spectator.” The top 10 or 12 is enough to judge the best in the world. For clarity here are the current number of competitors in some of the divisions for the 2026 event.
- Mr. Olympia: 22
- Mr. Olympia 212: 21
- Classic Physique Olympia: 47
- Men’s Physique Olympia: 51 (This shouldn’t even be a class. Yes these guys can be huge and awesome, but if you can skip leg day,… then its just no.)
- Ms. Olympia: 10
- Fitness Olympia: 10
- Figure Olympia: 31
- Bikini Olympia: 46
Is This the Olympia or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
We all know that there are loads of PEDs (Steroids, HGH, HRT, TRT, SARMS, Peptides, etc.) in use and these guys and gals are living and walking chemistry experiments pushing boundaries and potentially putting their lives at risk. Yes, we are talking about the extreme of extremes for the Olympia so we can’t really avoid it. Drug testing at the top level of bodybuilding has been tried before and it was a miserable failure. However, site injections with Synthol, PMMA, or any implants are an entirely different matter. This is the Olympia not the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. These volume injections should be flat out banned, disallowed, and their use should be cause for permanent disqualification. Pumping up or pushing out your muscles with oils, encased plastic beads or anything else is synthetic, fake, cheating, and has nothing to do with muscle building. It also can be very dangerous, even deadly. Judges, please down-rate everyone with fake injected muscles that have no striations, limited separation, and don’t move naturally. If it comes down to doing MRIs or some other scan to validate, I say do it. This needs to be eliminated from the sport forever. At least, make the Synthol/PMMA balloons their own division.
That brings up breast implants. The vast majority of the time breast implants are a distraction, out of proportion, and detract from the beauty of the physique and/or entirely obscure the physique from view. This is self-regulating to a large degree based upon proper judging. Once again it’s down to the judges.
Natty Until 27?
It seems like PEDs are in ever wide-spread use at younger and younger ages. This year we have a 20-year-old Olympia Amateur Champion earning his pro-card. He reportedly put on 40lbs of muscle since last year. He looks great in the immediate term, but loading up on gear at that age is simply foolish and dangerous. The IFBB reinforcing and rewarding that behavior on the world-stage is a bad idea and I believe greatly diminishes the sport.
Although you probably can’t and likely shouldn’t prohibit PEDs from the highest levels of bodybuilding, there is certainly a better way to do it rather than gearing up in your teens. Specifically, pushing yourself without PEDs to your genetic limit until you reach your mid to late 20s and then adding PEDs only with a clear goal, limit and purpose is a far better option. Doing it never is an even better option. Look into the health, viability or even lifespan of many bodybuilders of the past.
One option would be for the IFBB and NPC to drug test all competitors until they are in their mid to late 20s (say 25-27). I think it is especially important for the women. In the extreme, a bikini competitor loading up on Trenbolone is a really bad idea but it is done more often than you might expect. The damage that can be done to the aspiring athletes is real, quite significant, and often times permanent.
Freak Factor + Aesthetics
Open Bodybuilding certainly is about the freak factor. Still let’s strive for the freak factor along with aesthetics. Chris Bumstead, the 6-time Classic Olympia Champion looked better than just about every Mr. Olympia (open) Winner since maybe 2008. If judges start rewarding aesthetics, symmetry, proportions, conditioning, as well as the freak factor, then the competitors would respond accordingly. Andrew Jacked might bring that back this year.
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