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Classic Stealth Mode!
Logan Franklin Is Working Hard in Silence to Win the Classic Physique Olympia
Interview by Ron Harris
Logan Franklin’s journey in the Classic Physique division has been unique. Several other men have attempted to cross over from Men’s Physique, but thus far Logan is the only one to do so with any degree of success. We’ve watched him work his way up the ranks and improve both his physique and posing prowess tremendously. This man actually went from being jeered online for his amateurish posing skills in his Classic debut in 2019 to beating out the reigning King of Posing, Terrence Ruffin, for the Best Poser award at the 2021 Arnold Classic! Though he failed to qualify for the 2021 Olympia, he sealed that deal shortly after with a win. Now, with over a year between that and the 2022 Olympia, Logan has more than adequate time to level up and put himself in a position to be a legitimate threat to the title. We recently spoke about what he’s been up to, life as a family man, and why his best is yet to come.
I have to start by saying that I follow you on social media, and I am so impressed with the improvements you’ve been making to your physique since you won the Shawn Ray Hawaiian Classic last November, as well as how lean you stay while gaining new mass. It shows you don’t have to get fat. What’s even cooler is how you have your family in so many of your posts. You can see how much you love being a husband and a father, how happy it makes you. You put up more pictures and videos of your son Reece than you do of yourself. Talk about that, because so many bodybuilders think you can’t have that family life and still be one of the best in the sport.
It can definitely be challenging to balance being a good dad and being a good partner to Marissa, enjoying being a family man, while chasing my dream. This lifestyle can be extreme when you’re trying to be the best in the world. It requires a lot of dedication and also isolation. Focusing so much on yourself and your goals doesn’t usually go well with being a good family man. But I’m loving it. It’s challenging me in every way possible. I’ve learned to be more patient. I have good time management skills from being in the military, but they are even better now. It’s a whole different life now. It’s like my life just began. Everything changed the day my son was born. You don’t know what life was meant to be like until you’re living for your family.
I won’t make this all about family, but I always remember a story the great Lee Haney has told me a few times. When Lee was visiting the Weider offices in California for the first time, Joe Weider asked him if he had a special someone back home. Lee replied that he had a girlfriend. Joe told him to marry her, because that would keep him grounded and focused so he could be the greatest bodybuilder in the world instead of being distracted by running around after a bunch of girls.
I never heard that, but there’s a lot of truth to that.
OK, let’s get to bodybuilding. Here’s an interesting statistic about your pro career. You’ve only competed in six shows in the Classic Physique division, versus 15 you did in Men’s Physique.
That’s right, and out of the six, one was an Olympia, one was the Arnold, and I won the most recent one. I qualified for the 2022 Olympia not long after the 2021 Olympia.
That raises an interesting question. Should you really wait what will end up being 13 months to compete again? Give me the pros and cons for each, competing sooner or just waiting and doing the Olympia.
I won that show six weeks after the Olympia. This is the first time in my career I’ve ever had as much time to prepare for the next edition of that show as the winner does. All other years, I had to do a show at some point during the season to qualify. When I was competing in pro Men’s Physique, I was doing three to four shows a year. Since I moved to Classic, I’ve only been doing two. But I used to compete a lot, and I never had the opportunity to focus on a strong off-season. Now I have time to work on everything that needs work, and I’m really dialed in mentally. I feel like it is allowing me to make that quantum leap and close the gap between me and the top of the division. That’s why I am taking the entire time off leading up to the Olympia.
13 months is a good amount of time to fix any issues in a physique that need to be addressed. What areas have you already seen improvements in?
Honestly, everything. Overall, my shape has improved. I’m constantly doing touch-up work in my garage gym, working on smaller muscle groups I’m trying to bring up. I can hit them every couple of days and make vast improvements to them. Plus I can practice my posing in there. I really can’t say what has improved the most. But I will be guest posing on August 6 at the Lee Labrada Classic in Woodlands, Texas. That’s when you can see me on stage next, and you will have a pretty good idea of how this off-season has been going.
You post pictures and videos all the time on Instagram and Facebook, and you’re not one of those guys who covers up in hoodies or giant T-shirts. And why would you hide your physique when you stay so lean anyway?
I’m definitely enjoying the process and I like staying in shape. I can post a picture anytime if I want and it still looks decent for where I’m at. It’s also motivating to read the comments, even when they’re telling me to work on things I’m already aware of and working on. If people are still seeing weaknesses, I’m going to target them that much more. Come December, everything is going to be really refined.
I never saw any glaring weak points in your physique. I just thought you needed to get bigger and fuller and keep bringing that condition you’re known for.
There are a couple of areas I see that aren’t glaring weaknesses, but I know if I can accentuate them more, it will make a drastic difference. I’m really trying to target my calves and my lower lats as well, because my lats connect all the way down at my waist. I just need to fill them in, and no matter how long that takes, I’ll get them there. When I do, it will be glorious! With that and better calves, I will have the proportions I want.
Speaking of training, we all saw those insane giant-set workouts you did with Milos Sarcev a couple of months back when you were up in Las Vegas training with him. Who do you train with in Texas?
I’ve been training with Hunter Labrada, Jordan Vanderflier and Ryan Brown training at the Labrada Nutrition gym at their headquarters. Everyone in there is really driven. It’s a change-up from how I was training. I can already see the improvements from that shock to my body of doing things differently.
It has to be incredibly motivating training with Hunter. The guy is so driven and has such an insane work ethic.
The atmosphere in that place is electric. Everyone is mega-focused on getting better every day. We all lift each other up.
Another area I want to ask about is your posing. You’re already one of the best of your generation and you have such a high level of skill. Are you working on taking your posing to yet another level?
Of course! I am one of the most competitive people you will ever meet, and I always want to work harder to be the best I can be. Last year I beat Terrence Ruffin for Best Poser at the Arnold Classic, and many consider him the best poser today. We are speaking in May, and I’m already working on my routine for the Mr. Olympia in December. I’m about three-quarters done with it. I plan on it being the most epic routine you’ve ever seen. I know how that sounds, but I mean it and that’s my goal. I feel like I have to shock the world with this routine. A lot of people thought I shouldn’t have beaten Terrence. I might be the only person right now who can push him for the honor of being the best poser in the division. It’s vital to me that I bring an amazing routine to the Olympia.
I love how so many of the men in Classic take the time to put good routines together. I see more than a few Open bodybuilders just winging it with no routine, and it’s embarrassing. I like to see routines that everyone will talk about and remember. Didn’t they have you do your routine at the Texas Pro as a guest-posing spot during the finals for Open Men?
No, what happened was during the Classic finals, they cut my music off when I was only six or seven poses into my routine. I thought it was a problem with the sound system or something and the music would pick back up, so I kept on posing. It never did, and I thought, well this is awkward.
What’s the time limit for your routines in Classic?
It’s two minutes, and the Open guys get three. I wish they would give us three, because we do put so much time and effort into our performance. But for the Olympia, I made sure it was exactly two minutes so that doesn’t happen again.
I say this about your division all the time. Every year we get an infusion of incredible new talent and stars emerge. A year ago I had never heard of Ramon Dino or Urs Kalecinski, and now they have both won multiple shows and are placing near the top at the Arnold and the Olympia. Does that motivate you, knowing there are always great new athletes arriving to your division?
For sure! At the same time, I try to focus on who’s at the very top, which would be Chris Bumstead, and trying to figure out what it will take to beat him. I know these new guys are dangerous and there will be more we probably don’t even know about yet, but I focus on the champ. How do I close the gap between my physique and his so I can take him out? That’s all the motivation I need. I’m not really looking at anybody else.
Recently you became part of the GAT Sport team. How did that come about?
I had briefly talked with someone from the company last fall around the time of the Arnold, but we didn’t talk about a deal or a contract at that time. We returned to negotiations more recently, and I could tell they were a very motivated and driven company. That’s how I am as well. I also like the way they have supported their athletes like Big Ramy, Regan Grimes and Sadik Hadzovic. It’s cool how they partnered with their athletes and built each other’s brands. I’m super excited about signing with them.
Do you have a favorite GAT product yet?
So far I am enjoying them all, but I really like the combination of Nitraflex and Pumptropic as my go-to for pre-workout. I also love the Carbotein for intra-workout nutrition. Nitraflex is really hardcore, I’m not gonna lie. The label on the bottle said to use a half scoop at first to assess your tolerance, but I went ahead and did a full scoop.
You didn’t climb up on the roof of your house, did you?
No, but I was up until about 3:00 a.m., and I had taken it at noon. It’s pretty powerful. I should note that I’m caffeine-sensitive and I don’t take a lot of pre-workouts. I just went all in.
It's cool that you have a new sponsor, your own family, and great new training partners. It feels like everything is really coming together for you now.
That’s how I feel about it too. Everything is falling into place. I’m in a great place right now. This was the biggest signing of my life with GAT. I feel like I’m finally in tune with my physique and I know I have what it takes to go all the way with this. That belief is what’s going to carry me. I’m going to keep busting my ass every single day until all my goals and dreams are a reality. It’s been a journey changing divisions and finding my way. I remember at the 2019 Tampa Pro, everyone was knocking me on how bad my posing was, and now I am staring at a Best Poser trophy from the Arnold Classic. I’m not an easy gainer, but I’ve worked really hard to put the mass on while still keeping my shape and my small waist. I still have a lot of work to do, but I am so grateful to have the life I do right now and the opportunity to become the best in the world at what I love. With my family, my coach Milos, GAT, and Hunter and the guys every day in the gym, I have the best team behind me. I plan to make them all proud this December in Las Vegas.
Instagram @logan_franklin
YouTube: Logan Franklin
Contest History
Men’s Physique
2014 Formula 1 Classic - D Class Winner
2014 NPC Nationals - D Class and Overall Champion
2015 Pittsburgh Pro - 11th Place
2015 New York Pro - Did not place
2015 Governor’s Cup - Second Place
2015 Dallas Pro - Third Place
2016 Karina Nascimento Classic - Second Place
2016 Dallas Europa - Second Place
2016 New York Pro - Fourth Place
2016 Men’s Physique Olympia - Ninth Place
2017 New York Pro - Sixth Place
2017 Dallas Europa - Winner
2017 Men’s Physique Olympia - Seventh Place
2018 Arnold Classic - Fourth Place
2018 Tampa Pro - Winner
2018 Men’s Physique Olympia - 11th Place
2019 Arnold Classic - Fourth Place
Classic Physique
2019 Tampa Pro - Third Place
2020 New York Pro - Winner
2020 Classic Physique Olympia - Ninth Place
2021 Arnold Classic - Third Place
2021 Texas Pro - Second Place
2021 Shawn Ray Hawaiian - Classic Winner
Logan’s GAT Sport® Stack
GAT PUMPTROPIC™
Mega-Pumps and Laser Focus
FLEXX™ EAAs
Advanced Essential Amino Acids
NITRAFLEX®
Advanced Pre-workout
For more information, visit gatsport.com
Instagram@gatsupplements>
Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram
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