Tag: Erin Banks
Jeremy Buendia on 2023 Olympia: “My Goal Is To Be Competitive W/ Brandon Hendrickson & Erin Banks”
Fan-favorite Jeremy Buendia is inching closer to his comeback at the 2023 Mr. Olympia show taking place this November. As the most successful Men’s Physique Olympia on the planet, Buendia will aim to collect a fifth title upon his return. In a recent YouTube video, Buendia shared why he’s coming back now and laid out his primary goal for the season, which is to be competitive against Erin Banks and Brandon Hendrickson.
From 2014-2017, Buendia, equipped with a brash attitude, dominated the annual Mr. Olympia competition. He showcased an impressive v-taper, along with symmetrically balanced arms, and a huge chest. The 32-year-old attempted to capture another title back in 2018 but was denied by the former three-time Men’s Physique Olympia Brandon Hendrickson.
Buendia remains one of the most popular athletes in the category despite not competing in years. He teased a return back in 2020, though it never came to fruition. Last September, Buendia announced that he would again make a play for Olympia’s Men’s Physique title, currently held by Erin Banks. He revealed that his plan was to bulk up to 220 pounds before plotting his next move.
In addition to sharing intense training sessions, Buendia has invited fans on his journey back to the stage with a handful of YouTube videos. In one of his latest ventures, Buendia shared the 4,000-calorie bulking diet he’s implemented in the off-season to hold his own against the best of his category.
Jeremy Buendia Talks Comeback, Motivations, and Competing Against Top Names in Men’s Physique
Buendia admits he had a lot of growing up to do before committing to his latest comeback.
“Man, why now, it’s been five years since my last Olympia, since I competed. I had to go through a lot of growing pains the past five years to get back to this point where I’m at right now where mentally and physically, I had a lot of growing up to do in order to get back in the right mindset to be able to compete again.”
“Now, at this point in time in my life, I think I’m going to be able to bring my best and have a more mature physique and a more mature mindset. I’m excited to get back up there and show the world I still have it. I’ll be 33 coming up in October, so I’ll be 33 stepping on stage this year,” said Jeremy Buendia.
Reflecting on his career, Buendia believes he let others influence the way he conducted himself back when he was an Olympia champion.
“At a certain point in time, you have to grow up, you have to make changes and recognize the things you did in the past weren’t the way you want to portray yourself in the future. I have a family and a daughter I represent now. My daughter, I want her to be able to look back and be proud of the man her dad was.”
“That is the real me, but like I said, towards the end of my reign as an Olympia champion a lot of things got to my head. I started doing really well financially, I had a lot of people coming in and out of my life and feeding ideas into my head. I was trying to fast-track my success do certain things and live a lifestyle that wasn’t really who I am. And people can see through that real easily.”
With 2023 Olympia approaching, Jeremy made it clear his chief goal was to be competitive on stage against Brandon Hendrickson and the reigning champion, Erin Banks.
“The sport has changed a lot, it’s evolved a lot. So, the past few years I’ve been hearing – I fell out of shape, I stopped training for a while, I dealt with a lot of injuries and I fell behind big time. The last couple of years I heard the sport has passed me up. It evolved too much, you won’t be able to hang with these guys in the size. That’s kind of what kept me away from the stage until recently.”
“The past year I’ve been back on my training packing on the size again and catching back up to where these guys are to a point where I can be competitive again. Ultimately, my goal is to be competitive with Erin and Brandon this year. We’ve done a good job of getting myself back to where I am now. Now we’re here 16 weeks out from the 2023 Olympia.”
According to Buendia, Erin Banks might be at a disadvantage in the final call-out this year if most of the men standing next to him are significantly shorter.
“They’re tall dudes, Erin is like 6’2″ and a half, then again, you got Brandon about 5″9′, you got Diogo the same height as me. It’s going to very interesting to see how things shake out this year. I see what’s happening is a median of the class in that top call out. If we have five out of the six guys in that top call out that are 5″10′ Erin is going to stick out like a sore thumb and maybe get pushed out, maybe he won’t, we’ll see.”
Buendia believes the new Men’s Physique height/weight rules set to take effect after 2023 Olympia will delay his Classic Physique ambitions for the future. He shared that in order to make weight for Men’s Physique, he may have to cut back on leg training.
“I got to make sure I bring my weight down [for next year]. One way I do that is to limit my leg training. If I do that, that’s obviously going to push Classic out for a few years if that’s something I decide to do,” added Buendia.
This isn’t the first time the Men’s Physique height/weight cap has reached the headlines. Athletes rep Bob Cicherillo discussed the matter recently. When Dave Palumbo mentioned athletes would start neglecting their legs due to the new rules, Cicherillo disagreed. Cicherillo argued that if competitors ignore their leg training, they would present imbalanced physiques on stage.
The 2023 Mr. Olympia show takes place Nov. 2-5 in Orlando Florida. As one of the most exciting divisions in the IFBB Pro League, fans can’t wait to see the rivalry settled between the reigning Men’s Physique Olympia Erin Banks, and the former four-time champion, Jeremy Buendia.
Watch the full video from the NPCNewsOnline YouTube channel below:
Published: 19 July, 2023 | 4:11 PM EDT
Chris Cormier & Olympia Judge Talk Jeremy Buendia, Brandon Hendrickson vs. Erin Banks at 2023 Olympia
As the bodybuilding season marches forward, athletes are gearing up for the biggest show of the year, 2023 Mr. Olympia in November. In a recent Prime Time Muscle show, Chris Cormier and Terrick El Guindy examined some of the rivalries front and center in the Men’s Physique category, all of which feature the reigning Olympia winner, Erin Banks.
The Men’s Physique division has existed for around 10 years and in that time, athletes have evolved to display the best beach bodies possible. In 2013, Mark Anthony Wingson made history when he became the first-ever Men’s Physique Olympia champion. His victory served as a standard for the division at the time and offered his rivals a clear vision of the ideal physique needed to claim gold.
The intensity of the category only grew in the years to follow. Jeremy Buendia established himself as the reigning champion for four years, from 2014-2017. While there have been talks of his comeback in the past, he’s now formally committed in 2023. He’s shared bulking diets, training sessions, and physique goals ahead of his latest venture.
Before Erin Banks won the recent 2022 Men’s Physique Olympia title, Brandon Hendrickson proved himself as one of the best in the division. He became a three-time champion (2018, 2020, 2021), and like Buendia, hopes to knock Banks off the throne in a few months. With such a competitive group of talent, Cormier and El Guindy took a closer look at some of the top contenders expected to compete in November.
Terrick El Guindy Discusses Diogo Montenegro Accusing Erin Banks of ‘Suspect Shoulders’
According to El Guindy, Diogo Montenegro accused Erin Banks of having ‘suspect’ shoulders because there are no striations or separations in the muscle like his.
“Some guys they don’t like each other. That’s the part of the sport. These guys, they hate each other. Oh Terrick don’t use the word hate, well, that’s how they feel about each other. Diogo Montenegro was very specific in Portuguese because I speak the language and he says, ‘My shoulder has separation, my shoulder has striations when I’m really defined, you don’t get to see that on Erin Banks.
You know, making an assumption that Erin Banks shoulders are somehow suspect or present some type of imbalance. That did not go well with Erin Banks. Erin Banks is a cool collected guy. He’s a family guy. If you come his way, he’s from Fresno. They don’t play. He’s like, ‘You can say whatever you want to me, but be ready for the counter attack’ He went after Diogo, he said, ‘You’re a little man with five abs five little blocks,’ you know,” Terrick El Guindy shared.
El Guidy said the online beef reminded him of when Andre Ferguson and Brandon Hendrickson promised a scuffle in Orlando a few years ago.
“Things are getting hairy here. Remember, when we had Andre Ferguson and Brandon Hendrickson they were going to scramble in Orlando a few years ago. Everybody had their board shorts rolling, like, ‘Oh this is going to happen,” El Guindy added.
Chris Cormier & Olympia Judge Talk Jeremy Buendia, Brandon Hendrickson, Erin Banks Rivalries Before 2023 Olympia
After El Guindy explained that Banks blocks people online such as Buendia, Chris Cormier suggested that it probably wasn’t personal.
“He had arguments with Jeremy Buendia, he blocked Jeremy Buendia. Then, I think he [Erin Banks] blocked some other guys. If you come to his social media and you don’t like him, he blocks everybody. I mean, it’s his social media he does whatever he wants but that’s his strategy.”
“It’s competition and I’m sure a lot of it is not totally personal. I just – I don’t know, I like going back and forth. It fueled me to look even better than I probably would have if I different have some kind of edge or some type of chip on my shoulder getting ready for a show. I wanted it. I invited it,” said Chris Cormier.
Cormier said back when he competed, those who talked trash to Flex Wheeler would receive a ‘personal block’ since social media didn’t exist then.
“I would probably have to [trash talk] go with Flex Wheeler. Because just knowing him so well, I know what buttons to push and what buttons to not push, and just like we would go into the posing room together, myself, him – Rico McClinton, and Flex, I mean we’d be in there till we’re falling asleep in between. But we knew if you said one thing negative to Flex, he would at that time defriend you or do a personal block on you back in the day, he wouldn’t talk to you for a few weeks,” said Cormier.
Given Hendrickson’s history on top, El Guindy believes he has the potential to upset Banks at the 2023 Mr. Olympia. He said he felt a lot of tension between the two Men’s Physique competitors during an Olympia TV live show.
“We might have a shake-up. You never know, Brandon Hendrickson, don’t discount the champion. A lot of times people place second place and guys start talking about new guys, he can come back and he can regain that title. Him and Erin Banks, they dislike each other to the max. There wouldn’t be anything more perfect for Brandon Hendrickson to be the last man standing and to take that trophy from the heart of Erin Banks,” said Terrick El Guindy.
“I did a live with them and there’s a lot of tension between those two guys.”
Even though Jeremy Buendia has proven himself as an elite champion, Cormier said he’s facing a very ‘steep hill’ because his peers, Hendrickson, and Banks, have been competing consistently as of late.
“He’s put on a lot of muscle. I just hope it’s going to turn out right because these guys have actually been competing and he’s actually not been competing,” said Cormier. “I didn’t say he couldn’t make an impact. I’m saying it’s a steep hill to climb when things guys have been competing. I said he’s going to have a steep hill to climb when these guys have been competing competing competing,” shared Cormier.
In the past, Erin Banks and Buendia have gone at it in a heated Olympia TV interview. Banks argued that the category had moved on and evolved since Jeremy’s time in the sport. However, Buendia took issue with Banks lacking respect for champions who paved the path he now walks on.
The IFBB Pro League announced a new height/weight cap restriction for the Men’s Physique division. Following the 2023 Olympia event, the new regulations will go into effect. In an appearance on an NPC News Online YouTube video, IFBB Vice President Tyler Manion laid out why the changes are being implemented. Most importantly, it’s to keep competitors from retaining too much size.
While some in the community such as Dave Palumbo believe the changes would discourage Men’s Physique talent from training legs, Bob Cicherillo disagrees. In a recent Voice of Bodybuilding Podcast, the event announcer explained that ignoring leg training would result in an imbalanced physique despite legs not being a part of the judging criteria.
The rapid growth of the Men’s Physique division has made it one of the most talked about events on the Mr. Olympia schedule. With Erin Banks at the center of at least three rivalries, fans are looking forward to seeing how he fares in what could be his first title defense.
RELATED: 4x Physique Champion Jeremy Buendia Gives Tips For Rear Delts
You can watch the full video below from the Olympia TV YouTube channel:
Published: 15 June, 2023 | 11:43 AM EDT