It has been a long summer without a site update but we have been very busy working, running our lives and trying to make ends meet.  Am I the only one who seems to be spending more of my time filling in forms for the government?  I would like to think that some of the form filling had a point to it but, on the whole, I think it is stretching the bounds of credibility too far to start to believe that.  I heard on The News today that I am not alone in complaining about government regulations and form filling.  Apparently, we now have 643 regulatory bodies.   What do they all do?    Even the government thinks we have too many so has set up two more bodies to organise the regulators!!!!!    The lunatics are running the asylum again.

With such a long gap since our last update, there are lots of bits of news and many happenings in the bodybuilding world that we want to comment on.

Full members of The Forest Gym have been much less active in contests this year than in many previous years.   Many have said they were going to compete but their preparations have often petered out or gone on hold until next year.   Undoubtedly, one factor is the high cost of competing seriously these days and another seems to be the influence of wives and girl friends — choose me or the bodybuilding.    “Bye, bye, dear”

Danny Poole has put lots of effort into improving on his showing at his last contest in 

2003 and is much improved, particularly in his legs.  This was apparent when he appeared in the Gravesend Classic on 28th August.  An intermediate level competitor,Danny only managed 5th in the HW — but it was a very high quality class.  It was an even higher quality class when he went up against the likes of Chris Wall and Stuart Core at the Leamington Show on 18th September.

Gym manager Harold Marillier is getting quite well-known now in bodybuilding in the UK because of the quality of his physique — at 280lbs+ in contest shape he must be the biggest competitive bodybuilder in the UK at the present time — amateur or pro.     But he is also getting known for being one of the best training and competition diet gurus in the country.   We have more on page 3 about his coaching.  Harold is also one bodybuilder without an ego problem, able to bounce back from every setback and with a real commitment to the sport.

Wade Stafford is a native of South Africa and he decided this year to go back home for a holiday and at the same time try to qualify for the SA national championships.   He competed in the Natal State Championships in Durban but was only placed 2nd in the U80 Kg Class.    Judging by the pictures, Wade had a bit of rough deal here and the class winner went on to win the overall.  Wade was invited to the Nationals but declined, deciding to concentrate on the EFBB Finals — for which he is already qualified.

Eric Guy

This month, we have a good few pictures on the site of our competitors on stage.   The majority of these have been supplied to us by ace photographer Eric Guy, whom most of you will have seen at all the EFBB shows and a few others as well, complete with his camera, video set-up and merry quips.   Eric has thousands of photos taken at contests over the last six or seven years or so and many of his show videos are now being made available on DVD.  If you want more information contact Eric at eric@ericguy.wanadoo.co.uk    

RIP

The early summer was a bad time for sudden deaths of top level bodybuilders.  In addition to Paul de Mayo, we heard from America of the deaths of 34 years old Charles Durr [r], Mr America in 1996 - the last year that the AAU gave out such a title - and 51 years old Don Youngblood [above], Masters Mr. Olympia in 2002.  Don had his own transport business and came to bodybuilding when he was in his 30’s.  He committed himself 100% and as can be seen he built a tremendous physique.  Charles Durr was a graduate electrical engineer who did lots of charitable work and was highly praised by all who knew him.  The death of each of them is a sad loss to bodybuilding and to their families and many friends.

All Great Physiques are Remembered

RIP Paul de Mayo

The great American Bodybuilder Paul de Mayo was found dead recently, killed by an overdose of recreational drugs.  He was only 37 years old.    Paul had the potential to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time but his career went off the rails in 1996 and he has had ever increasing problems with recreational drugs.  Known as Quadzilla because of his astonishing leg development it was his triceps development that set standards that no one else has ever matched. Our sympathies go out to his family and friends and hope that he can now truly

Rest in Peace.

News Pages

October 2005

EU Directive

2002/46/EC

If you have read the May News Pages, you will have read that the EU Advocate General attacked the European Food Supplements Directive saying that the proposed legislation was seriously flawed and unacceptable.  You will also note that we suggested that the Commission and the bureaucrats would not accept this and would keep coming back until we all did as we are told.    I did not think they would do it immediately.    But that is exactly what they have done. They have rejected the advice of one of their most senior law officers and ploughed ahead anyway.     Such is the extent to which these faceless officials operate from the pockets of big multinational companies.     Their actions are totally scandalous.    They have ignored every democratic and legal approach made to them and we have to start to believe that they are totally corrupt — not entirely unknown in the EU.   Everyone in the food supplements business knows that this legislation is entirely unnecessary and will have no effect other than to cut the availability of food supplements, increase the prices of food supplements and put many small specialist companies out of business.    Such are the many advantages of membership of the European Union.    The legislation has now to be enacted by the UK parliament.    The legislation cannot be rejected but the parliament can be slow in finding time for the proposals.  

Open Day

Along with many other groups in the Tilgate Forest Recreation Centre, we had an Open Day on 17th September.   This was our second such event and yet again we were blessed with good weather.     The Mayor of Crawley, Councillor Ben Clay visited us and spent over 2 hours walking round the whole recreation centre to see everything that was going on.  The Forest Gym is well-known to serious Bodybuilders in Sussex and probably everyone in UK Bodybuilding but we are less well-known to Joe Public in Crawley and we have to work hard to get our name around.    Councillor Clay was quite impressed with the equipment we had squeezed into our gym area and the standard of competitors we were turning out.   He was also slightly gob-smacked by Big H’s size and condition.   However, we have to admit that we were completely unsuccessful in persuading him to take out a membership.

The Open Day looks like becoming an annual event and we will be thinking next year of having seminars and more activities.