All-time Arnold

By now, we all know the Arnold Classic brings out the best of the best. But who’s the best among those best? Heading into the 20th edition of what has become one of the biggest events in bodybuilding, we decided to go to someone who’s seen them all – FLEX Group Editorial Director Peter McGough – in ranking the five all-time best physiques to ever step onstage at the Arnold.

NUMBER ONE: RONNIE COLEMAN, 2001
Simply the best physique I’ve ever seen onstage. At 245 pounds King Ron was full and shredded from head-to-toe: his cuts being deeper than Bill Gates’ pockets. His delts, arms and chest were spectacular, his back really beyond description. Ten seconds after he first walked out the contest was over.

NUMBER TWO: FLEX WHEELER, 1993
This was Flex’s best ever shape. He was chiseled to the max, exhibited more balance than the Cirque du Soleil, and his back double biceps was a thing of beauty. Although he competed until 2003 he was never again as good as he was in his second pro contest that dramatic Columbus night in 2003.

NUMBER THREE: JAY CUTLER, 2002
Apart from the 2001 Mr. Olympia contest maybe the hardest he’s ever been. With deeply embedded abs and full thighs more ripped than Britney Spears’ copy of Hide and Seek For Dummies, Cutler relegated Chris Cormier to the third of what was to become a run of six consecutive runner-up spots.

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Police officer Dennis Hopson’s back casts a shadow over New Jersey crime and a light on the amateur ranks.

In his bliss, Dennis Hopson can be found sequestered in what he calls his “Loud Library.” There he peruses the classics, contemplates their wisdom, recurs the techniques that gave the physiques of Flex Wheeler, Bob Paris, Shawn Ray and Kevin Levrone their ancient Greek aesthetic of perfect symmetry and dramatic proportions. Immemorial volumes of bodybuilding are written there in the chalk-smeared walls of the gym, in the rough cast-iron plates, in the glorious symphony of crashing weights — their inspiration is palpable to Dennis. “It’s weird,” he muses. “As much noise as there is in the gym, I don’t hear anything because I’m so involved in my workout and my own zone.”

Dennis had that ability to tune out external sounds, he says, right from the start. New Jersey has long been home, and still is, for the extended Hopson family; it was there, at age 12, that Dennis first touched weights. “I happened to be at my older cousin’s place,” he recalls. “He had a gym in his garage, and he had friends who were close to Rich Gaspari. I was told I could have a glass of iced tea afterward. I never forgot that experience. Ultimately, I asked my parents for a weight set, which I got for Christmas, and it went from there.”

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