Now aged 42, Chris Cormier began competing a quarter of a century ago and since then has become USA Teen Nationals champion, overall USA champion and the winner of eleven IFBB pro shows. A serious spine injury in 2006 curtailed his career but he’s planning to make his comeback at the New York Pro Show in May. Despite his inactivity on stage, he’s been busy off it, becoming a brand ambassador of the US brand Quality Nutrition Technology. QNT has just been launched in America and besides helping to establish it, Chris has spent a lot of time in Ireland and England, where he has been training with six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Here he looks back on his career and talks about what’s to come.
What have you been up to since your last show in 2007?
I’ve been keeping busy with a lot of travel to and from the UK and throughout Europe. Last year when I was in Europe for FIBO, I signed a contract with Quality Nutrition Technology. I had met the company at a French Expo then we talked again and made it official shortly afterwards. Now I’m planning on making my comeback.
What are your plans for 2010?
I was going to try and do the Ironman but it got cancelled so I’ve had to redirect my training. Mentally and physically it’s been tough because since the Ironman was cancelled I have had to rechannel everything. I won the Ironman four years in a row so it was a big let-down that it got cancelled. My body was really up at the time but you try and peak and when you get a let-down you have to redirect your mindset and see what you have left to give.
I’m now thinking of being ready for mid-May and the New York Pro Show, where I believe the top five go to Mr. Olympia. I’ve needed a bit of time to prepare because everything wasn’t adding up the way I wanted it to. I spent a lot of time with Dorian Yates training at his gym and with the travel I was running myself ragged, going to countries such as Poland and up and down England and Ireland. You can burn yourself out.
What keeps you motivated?
I started in 1985 with my first competition and I’m going to close with the record for the most pro shows. I think my next show will be number 73 and that will beat Milos Sarcev’s world record. And I have done 56 posedowns, which is way more than anyone else. Altogether, including my amateur years, I’ve done close to 100 shows. I don’t know what keeps me going. People say bodybuilding is a career or a lifestyle but as a teenager I wanted to see if I could win the Teen Nationals then when I did that, I wanted to see if I could win the USA and I won that. Then I won at pro level. It’s all part of the journey now to compete as a master at the age of 42. It’s a different look now to what I had as a teenager and then in the open division: a more mature look. The way I look at it is I’ve got to complete my journey. The next show is not the end of it but it will be the start of my last lap round the block. Let’s see how it goes. If it’s not doing me any good I won’t be there.
Looking back, are you proud of what you’ve achieved or disappointed not to have won either the Olympia or Arnold?
I’m proud of it but I’m disappointed about other things that kept me from winning the Arnold. It took me a long time to get there and everyone knows I deserved to win it. Do you think I should have won? Of course I should! I might not have that title on paper but the world knows it should be. But look at the guys who competed then, guys like Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone who never got the title of Mr.Olympia. Any one of us could have been Mr. Olympia today. The sport hasn’t got better. We were full of striations and shape; now they’re blobs of massy physiques.
You’re spending a lot of time in Ireland. How did that come about?
I did some seminars there and formed a relationship with Platinum Gym in Londonderry and they had me come back again. I’ve spent a lot of time training there doing things like seminars and bringing other bodybuilders to Ireland. I go for a couple of months or a few weeks at a time.
How do you find life in Ireland?
Yeah, quite different! Let’s say the weather, the food, the tans… everything is different. I’m a warm weather guy. I don’t do that well with rain and cold but I know that’s a normal day there. A lot of time I found myself wanting to stay indoors and cosy up. They stare at me a lot. How do I cope? Barely! But there’s a lot of history out there and the people have been good to me. They like to have a good time.
Have you tried the Guinness?
Once. That’s kind of strong for me. I’ve never been a beer drinker.
How did the sponsorship from QNT come about?
I know Fabien Debecq, the chief executive, from years ago. I did exhibitions in France so we were already familiar with each other. They wanted to go to the United States and open up a new line of products so they asked me to help. They have given me a chance to resurrect the final stage of my journey and I appreciate that so much. I’ll be hitting the stores with them soon, promoting the products.
How did you come to train with Dorian Yates in England?
I was meaning to come out to England to do it years and years ago before I got injured. Dorian was always telling me I should be Mr. Olympia, I just needed to get away from everyday life. I just had to hide away and train. He said, ‘You gotta blast it, come and stay with me’. It was good. I learned a lot about the way you can put yourself through mental and physical changes. He put me in a different climate. I’m usually wearing headphones and I didn’t do that with him so that threw me off because for twenty years I’ve been listening to music in my training. I couldn’t breathe because it was like a dungeon. I’m used to the Californian sea breeze coming in through the windows, working out in big warehouses with big TVs on the wall. Dorian kept reminding me, ‘You’re not in Venice any more, Chris, you can’t bring your gadgets in here’.
There’s a video online of you throwing up during one of Dorian’s workouts. Was it as tough as you expected and what did you learn from it?
Oh yeah, I learned a whole lot. I changed my rep style. A lot of people don’t do reps to full advantage. It can give you a totally different feel to the muscle. I totally changed the way I train and I still follow a lot of it. It makes a lot of sense. I’m big on common sense and there’s a lot of common sense in what Dorian says. If you are willing to walk through that kind of pain and basically walk through fire it’s gratifying, particularly if you are 42 years old. But the caveat to that is you have to be careful about pushing yourself too hard. I know that with some of the weights I do, bad things can happen and you don’t want to end up injured.
Is there a big difference between European and American attitudes to training?
I find English bodybuilders have a whole different attitude to other parts of Europe. I think it’s a bit more underground. I’m not saying they train harder but they have different approaches. The people in Dorian’s gym all train with that same grittiness and they push. Even the girls in there were wearing a heavy sweat and doing squats with their asses to the floor; some people were cussing their way through their sets and there was always loud music pumping. Some places might be super clean but they’ve still got that hardcore attitude. It’s like a little muscle factory. The gyms are tiny but they are really well equipped. They had like three or four T-bar row machines. They fit it in there.
Why don’t more Europeans break through to the top in America?
We are built differently. You take on the look of a country. You can tell if someone looks American, or African. You take on a different genetic chemical make-up that goes along with the climate, the food you eat, whatever it is that makes up people. The other difference is knowledge. It was in America first and when European countries get hold of the same information they end up doing things like we were doing back in the 1980s.
How has your training changed over the years?
I’ve done it all, man! I started out doing five days a week for the first five years then I went a few years training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and taking the weekend off, then I did two days on and one day off, then four days on and two off. I’ve tried all rep ranges – I found heavier 6 to 8 reps weren’t working because it put strain on my muscles. To try to get legs like Tom Platz, I tried to do 50 reps at 315 pounds on squats. I got to two sets of 40 twice. High repping put on some serious size. Now I probably train four or five times a week on average. I like to stay around that. My training time in the gym has got shorter. I’m fast through the sets and my reps are usually around 10 to 15 and I’m using more explosive movements. I’d say it usually takes 45 to 50 minutes. I train at Gold’s Gym in Venice and in Palm Springs right now but I do plan on coming back to the UK to do the last bit of my pre-contest training with Dorian in April and May.
What do you think you need to work on now?
As you get older you have to take your age into account and work accordingly. You always have to take your waist into account – it gets a little wider. Your legs get a little smaller and your back gets flatter. So I’m doing back and legs mostly. After my accident the nerve damage meant that these were the most affected areas of my body. Now the blood doesn’t flow as well to the muscles so I’ve got to get a lot of massage and treatment to get ready. Does it get harder? Oh heck, yeah! Now if you miss two or three days, you struggle to get back up!
What’s been the highlight of your career?
All the travel. All the shows and all the different countries I’ve been to. Doing stuff I wanted to do and never thought I would. I came from a small town and never thought I would see the world. I won a few shows, It’s been fun. It was a little hobby for me and it became my lifestyle
What are your ambitions?
I just want to finish my journey and I will be okay with that. I’m working with QNT very closely and getting into the sales department. That’s what I want to do afterwards – work in the office. I’m not making any predictions about contests. You’ve got to be positive and see where you land and at the end of your career see if you are a Hall of Famer, an Olympian or a mediocre bodybuilder. That’s when that stuff will come out.
What advice would you give an aspiring bodybuilder?
Just be yourself. You don’t have to be like anybody else or get a funny haircut. Don’t be a sheep: bodybuilders tend to copy everybody, thinking they have to come up with a nickname. Just use the one your mama calls you. Make it a positive step instead of having that negative meathead attitude some bodybuilders have.
What do you think of the top guys today and who do you think will win the 2010 Olympia?
You can never tell who the flavour of the year will be. As for today’s guys. I don’t want to say! I don’t want to sound like an old timer. Things are just different. FLEX
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