Chris Cormier and Terrick El Guindy are taking a closer look at how to observe imbalances in a bodybuilding physique. In a recent Prime Time Muscle podcast, Cormier and El Guindy explained why glute implants/injections are a form of cheating in the IFBB Pro League.
Judging in bodybuilding has become a hot topic in the sport as of late. Discussions on how to score a contest swelled following the conclusion of the 2022 Mr. Olympia contest that saw Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elssbiay lose to Hadi Choopan. The podium was rounded out with Derek Lunsford and Nick Walker taking second and third, respectively. Given the results, fans suspected that judges were beginning to favor balance and conditioning rather than size and freak factor.
These observations were brought into the limelight again after the 2023 Arnold Classic. Samson Dauda‘s shape, balance, and proportions sealed the deal in Ohio, where he outlasted Walker and third-place finisher Andrew Jacked. Bodybuilding veterans and fans of the sport took issue with Dauda’s victory. Chris Aceto, Jay Cutler, and Samir Bannout thought Walker could or should have won.
Walker implored his fans to stop harping on the results days after the contest. In a recent Mutant & The Mouth Podcast, Walker, joined by Guy Cisternino and Nick Trigili, called for a more transparent judging process. Meanwhile, event announcer Bob Cicherillo took to his own series of podcasts to not only lay out why Walker lost but also explained in detail how to score a bodybuilding contest.
In light of the judging controversy, Cormier and El Guindy tackled the subject and laid out strategies for detecting imbalances related to glute injections/implants.
Chris Cormier, Judge Terrick El Guindy Explain How to Look for Injection/Implant Imbalances
According to El Guindy, the breasts of a female competitor are not being judged in any capacity, and specified that the Olympia in female categories can be won without implants.
“The section where a woman breastfeeds or accumulates natural fat, that’s not being judged in any category. What that means is, whether you have large breasts whether you don’t have large breasts whether you have an implant, it’s up to you, it makes zero difference on the judging.”
“It doesn’t matter at all,” says El Guindy. “I don’t know if Marueen Blanquisco has augmentation or not or the girl in 10th place has augmentation or not – I don’t look at it, I don’t judge it, I don’t even have time to look at it. What I am looking at — the abdominals section, I’m looking at glutes, I’m looking at legs, is she over-conditioned? Is there too many veins and this or that.”
“I couldn’t tell who had augmentation and who doesn’t It’s not important, you can win the Olympia without it,” El Guindy stated. “As judges we don’t have the time to look at it. Now going back to the difference between glutes and breats, is that we are judging the glutes. We are judging the glutes. So, if you show up on stage with an imbalance which is not natural to the anatomy indentation… exactly, there is, and Chris and I talk about it, the human anatomy where the glutes connect with the hamstrings.”
El Guindy explained that judges are trained to look at the natural indentation connecting the glutes to the hamstrings.
It doesn’t matter, men and women, if you look at a famous picture of Ronnie Coleman when he squeezes his glutes, there’s a natural indentation of the glute going into the hamstring. You look at Franciella Mattos – the current Wellness champion, there’s a natural indendation into the glutes going into the hamstrings.”
“When you don’t have what a lot of girls call the teardrop when it just goes down and just stops and there’s extra volume, that’s an imbalance and judges are going to catch it. You’re going to go from, ‘Hey, I never had butt implants, I was winning shows, I was in the first call-out.’ To now, hey, ‘You have an imbalance and now you end up on the last call-out,” El Guindy added.
Another telltale sign of imbalance that El Guindy revealed was physiques whose legs and glutes don’t match in terms of development.
“I’m not sure I could quite reveal some of our strategies to identify it – I have no problem because first of all, just the facts,” El Guindy said. “Then, you look at the development of the leg, it doesn’t match the development of the glutes.”
“And it’s going to get worse as you get older,” Cormier said.
Lastly, El Guindy highlighted that judges can identify an implant or injection by the way someone walks on stage.
“Whether you like it or not, you have to walk to that spot [on stage]. And when you walk and stuff doesn’t move naturally, like we’ve seen for the last thousands of years, something is wrong,” El Guindy explained. “So, I want to understand why some of them try to do it. Because it’s really cheating, right?”
“This competitor who just used some type of you know, imbalance, did not do what you’re supposed to do which is bodybuilding. You’re building your body; it’s not called implant-building. It’s bodybuilding. It requires the breakdown of protein and building muscle.”
Given his expertise, El Guindy has witnessed competitors who were on the verge of winning drop to the last call-out due to injection/implant imbalances.
“You’re absolutely right, we’re trained to identify not only when you pose but when you walk. It’s sad because a lot of times, I’ve judged some shows where I said, ‘Man, this person had the potential of winning, men or women, the potential of actually winning the entire show,’ but somehow because of an imbalance they actually lost and went into the last call-out, we see that a lot.”
This isn’t the first time that Cormier and El Guindy joined forces to discuss site-enhancement oils and physique imbalances. Urging competitors against substances like Synthol, ‘The Real Deal’ underlined the damage he sustained to his calves earlier in his career. He stressed that the practice causes lifelong damage to the muscle due to poor blood circulation.
RELATED: Chris Cormier Warns Hadi Choopan to Bring ‘Different Look’ In Shoulders Due to Synthol Accusations
Simply put, Cormier and El Guindy believe glute injections and implants are cheating. They emphasized that the sport’s Olympia titles can still be won without resorting to these types of shortcuts.
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Steroids isn’t cheating? 6 of 1 half a dozen of another. I’ll take the surgery over steroids and last call out