GRILL  IT!

We're guessing it goes back to our collective caveman roots. As soon as mankind harnessed fire, eating got a whole lot easier. Carve up a mammoth, toss a shank on the coals and get grease all over your face when you tear into it.

If you ignore the fact that we get our meat from the supermarket and that we now use gleaming steel grills with propane bottles, then not that much has changed. Man and barbecue; it's still a beautifully choreographed outdoor dance. Nothing really ever gets close to the smoky, juicy taste of barbecued meat.

The best part is that barbecuing is an excellent way of cooking meat for a bodybuilding diet. No fat is added, the heat seals in flavour and the cooking gets done fairly quickly. Knowing what to put on the grill is the only dilemma, because, after all, some things, no matter how tasty, just aren't bodybuilder friendly. Here, we break down the best mouth-watering options with side dishes tailored to your goals setting you up for a summer of grilled meals that will fire up your body with all the muscle-building fuel it needs.


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WINDS OF CHANGE

Outside the Tribeca Performing Arts Centre, winds howled in excess of 60 miles per hour in a maelstrom of bitter Canadian air that whipped up vortexes of newspaper and Starbucks cups, creating mini tornadoes of rubbish that sent usually unflappable New Yorkers scurrying for cover. Were it February, such a scene would make sense, but this was early May, and for attendees of the IFBB New York Pro waiting in line outdoors to be let in to the 6 PM finals, it was as unexpected as it was miserable.

Whether it was planned as such by a divine force or merely bad luck for bodybuilding fans, the freakish gale served as a perfect metaphor for what would transpire inside the theatre three and a half hours later. The winds of change weren't just blowing through the streets.

Leading up to the New York Pro, two names figured prominently as frontrunners for top honours: Toney Freeman and Dennis Wolf. Both men have distinguished themselves as members of the elite, with pro titles under their belts and top five Olympia finishes. Both are taller than the average bodybuilder (Freeman at 6'2", Wolf at 5'11") and wider, too; and both are charismatic figures in their sport. So it made perfect sense that theirs was the match-up most pondered, discussed and debated in the weeks leading up to the event. Which is why the announcement coming after Erik Fankhouser's fifth-place award (qualifying him for the Olympia) drew a cacophony of gasps, boos and cheers from the capacity crowd that rivalled the howling winds outside.

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EAT LIKE A PRO

After watching Greene wolf down food for an entire day, it's easy to see how he has grown from an IFBB Pro League afterthought to a two-time Arnold Classic champ and a legitimate contender to win the Olympia this September. What's interesting about this late April day in the heart of Greene's offseason is the fact that offseason actually means consuming fewer calories than during contest season.

I'm not allowing my weight to get out of hand, says Greene, who at the time is tipping the scales at just under 300 pounds, about 20 less than his all-time high of two years ago, before he won his first Arnold Classic. I needed to get my body up there to see how far I could grow, to tax my bodyweight. But I didn't want to continue to tax my joints, my organs and my ligaments.

What we have then, is a mild day for Greene, about a month before he begins to ramp up his eating in preparation for his assault on the Olympia. But, as you'll see, mild is all relative.

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SEPTEMBER ISSUE TABLE OF CONTENTS

TRAINING & NUTRITION

52 THE BLUEPRINT: PART 2
The final three phases of the ultimate offseason training and nutrition plan to help you build your all-time best physique. By Hany Rambod and Dave Lee
64 BACK IT UP Chris Cormier, 1993 USA champ, shows USA hopeful Keith Williams the back-training ropes. By Greg Merritt
90 EAT LIKE A PRO Two-time Arnold Classic winner Kai Greenes offseason diet. By Allan Donnelly
100 BLOODY HELL! PART 2 IFBB pro Zack Khan undergoes a horrifying quad workout in a Welsh dungeon. By Greg Merritt
112 GRILL IT! When protein meets fire, the result is a simple, muscle-boosting way to cook. By Jordana Brown
124 THE H.U.G.E.ª GYM CLASS: POWER UP The top five power training mistakes and how to correct them. By Greg Merritt

FEATURES   
22 THE RETURN OF THE GIANT
FLEX speaks with Gunter Schlierkamp, who recently announced his comeback plans after taking a four-year break from competition. By Team Flex
76 BIG PICTURES Before you look forward to the 2010 Mr. Olympia, we take a look back at the greatest photos of past Olympia contests. By Shawn Perine
154 OLYMPIA QUALIFICATION WAS A MISSION
Lee Powell talks about competing at the Mr. Olympia, his year off and his plans for a comeback in 2011. By John Plummer

CONTEST
140 THE WINDS OF CHANGE Rookies and veterans make their marks at the Big Apple's 2010 New York Pro Bodybuilding,
202 & Bikini Championships. By Shawn Perine    

DEPARTMENTS
16 Editorial    
20 Joe's Page
24 Hard Times
42 Get Big Column
132 Advanced Nutrition
164 Gym Bag
172 From the Trenches
180 ET Column
188 Home Scene
200 Looking Back