1999; 89 minutes.
Availability: DVD and download. https://usamuscle.com/men/products/index.php?DVD=1&CatID=6The Rep series is a showcase for male bodybuilders in competition settings. This video mixes pump room and stage posing. None of the guys is identified, nor are the contests, but observation indicates that the two shows covered are both in Florida: one is the Florida State Bodybuilding Championship for 1999, and the other is Mr. Tampa Bay, presumably the same year. Repetrope does contest videos available at the shows, then edits the footage down to a tape that presents the best material here.
A synth beat is overlaid on the pump room video footage after the credits. The starting competitors are impressive. The lighting gives the darkly tanned bb's a reddish glow -- a pump room in hell? Pump rooms are the purest bodybuilding environments, where many competitors have reached their peak shape, with months or even years of preparation finally coming to its logical conclusion. Some don't peak: their diet didn't work, or water retention is too great, or carb or fat depletion gives them too gaunt a look. But most guys here look shoehorned into their skin, and their final prep involves basic movements with a dumbbell, barbell, a towel pulled with a partner, pushups, chinups, handheld cables, anything for a pump. Pumping up alternates with oiling down. At most local or regional NPC shows now, no one is permitted backstage except competitors and contest officials, so the guys either help each other, or a contest official does it. These guys aren't that big, but they're in great shape.
The camera follows two of them (both teens) onto the stage. The first (#3) is a fine poser, using a Latin rap song. He responds to the shouts of friends, family and fans in the audience. Terrific abs. Then #4 follows, with peaked biceps on a compact build. The posedown reveals they're the only ones in the class. Neither looks like a newbie to the stage as both give it their all, lines of sweat pouring down their torsos. It's announced -- #4 wins, and grabs his trophy.
What looks to be the novice class hits the pump room next. You can compete as a novice as long as you haven't won your weight class in another NPC show, but you can also register for the open competition. Occasionally a novice will show up those in an open class. We get the usual rhythmic, fluid pumps of dumbbells, standing flyes, towels, and pushups in every direction. Completely focused, controlled movements hint at the many months, the thousands of hours it took to get here. The camera tends to pick a competitor and stay with him, or frequently cuts back to him, so we get to know some of the competitors' builds and styles. A couple guys pose for the camera, but most are oblivious to it, deeply ensconced in their prep.
Back to the stage. Competitor #12 has a nice routine to quiet music, doing sinuous movements. A nice smile on a good poser. Competitor #13 has more dramatic music; under the lights he looks smaller than he did backstage. The lights on a bodybuilding stage are cruel, shrinking many competitors down. Big guys I've stood next to in a contest lobby didn't seem as big onstage. Competitor #15 has solid cuts. He makes freaky expressions as he hits his shots to heavy metal grunge, showing off his yin/yang bicep tattoo. I doubt the judges missed him. Competitor #19 has excellent lines, heavy quads, etched abs, doing a routine to a heavy metal "Star Spangled Banner." Competitor #22, smaller than the last guy, shows off his traps and full biceps to a soulful ballad.
At 25:00 in we're back in the pump room, where the competitors are getting bigger as they go. We can hear the show off camera, and see the lineup at the side of the room for the next class, ready to walk onstage. We get a good look at competitor #36, whom I'll call Mr. Quads because of impressive legs.
Back onstage, #21 is posing to a rap song. He has thickness and cuts, with the Christmas-tree lower back. Mouthing the words, he bumps and grinds to the music. Competitor #23 is bigger, with a wide back and solid quads. Next, #35 has an andoid-looking shaved head, and the synth music adds to the effect. An intricate tattoo crawls across his upper back.
Back to the pump room. Here are the heavyweights, and they're bruisers. We see more shaved or buzzed heads than on the smaller guys. Everyone is in contest shape at the Florida show, as it should be for a state-wide NPC contest in one of the best bodybuilding areas of the States. The tight closeups reveal a superb contest on display. Even as they line up, the guys keep pumping with isometric exercises; it's no time for the blood to leave any major muscle groups (or minor ones). No one stands still.
Back onstage. Competitor #30, a big guy, starts in the football "hike" position, then stands for a lat spread. His upper and lower legs are solid; he poses well. Next is #38, with a pirate look (bald, goatee). He too has good legs, as many at this show do -- it's a giveaway for a good contest, since legs are often the part that do not get attention. Mr. Abs, #35, is next, doing deliberate moves to a soul ballad. He does a complete leg split to the floor for the wowed audience. Who says big 'builders are musclebound? Now #37 hits the stage, using classical guitar music to show off excellent cuts. The next guy, #29, is clearly a serious competitor with a future. He hits hits poses in startling fashion, locking in each body part in dramatic form. He has great arms, a good overall look. The next guy's number isn't visible; he's in red posing trunks. He does the archer pose (without the bow), and is solid all over, with fine skin tone. I'd hate to be judging this class. Now for the real monster -- #33. His legs are freaky, almost overwhelming his torso. He's a casual poser without much of a routine, but who cares? He mainly just stares down at his legs as he poses. Wouldn't you?
At 52:00 in, we shift to a different pump room. The walls are white, like a 30's RKO dance film. We start with teens again, who usually begin shows. These are local guys in Tampa Bay. It's a bit disappointing after seeing Florida's best, but you have to start somewhere -- and it takes courage to go onstage in a contest, especially one that exposes your physique and contrasts you to others in good shape. Only one teen is shown onstage, which has a medieval castle prop behind the posers. Back to the pump room, we get somewhat bigger guys, most looking like they're in their first show. Several have cuts but lack size. These are mostly local heroes who won't go any further, but they want in on the rush of competition. We do get good moments in this part of the tape. One guy has solid arms well shown by alternating standing dumbbell curls. Another really pulls on an E-Z curl bar, lightly loaded. Yet another doing bench presses has impressive pecs. The synth music fades to the clanking sounds in the room, as staffers help oil up a big guy. Finally we're seeing some size, and the room feels stoked as we get the endless, uncounted reps. This video is perfectly named. One guy has a tattoo radiating like a sun around his navel; another bald guy stands, unself-aware, in his gym pants.
Onstage, some of the bigger guys we just saw in the pump room are doing their routines. It's brief, for we're whisked back to the pump room, where more seasoned guys are working out. One does crunches for grated abs; he has a bicep tattoo. Contest staffers are everywhere offering oil and last-minute pep talks. We see contestant #71 get prepped; he's the one I'd give the show to. The lineup call comes. Standing in a row, the competitors wait for their chance to walk up onstage, get hit by the lights, music, screams, ready to give it their best shot. There's nothing like it.
Mike Emery
January 2001
