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pound-for-pound, I am the best bodybuilder compet- ing today in the IFBB. I appreciated those comments very much.
RH: Lee, now that you have seen the 202 class really take off in 2008, what do you think about it? Good idea or bad idea?
LP: I think it’s a great idea. So many times, we see a smaller or shorter guy with a very complete physique lose to a bigger guy who’s missing entire body parts. It’s because people get so easily over- whelmed by mass. They say, “Oh, wow, he sure is huge!” That leads them to forget about symmetry, condition and other important factors. We have been seeing this at the Olympia for years. So now that there is another option and a class for lighter guys who do have all those attributes, I think it’s excellent. I only wish they would have started the fucking thing 15 years ago when I was starting out as a pro!
RH: Dave, even though Dexter is 2 inches taller and a little over 30 pounds heavier, I think a strong argument can be made that you are just as thick overall.
DH: I think so. Put me up onstage in my best con- dition against anybody and I think I can hang, what- ever his height and weight may be. I’ve been in the top five at many open shows and was top 10 in the Mr. Olympia last year. How I didn’t get that again this year is a controversial topic. I spent a lot of time answering fans’ e-mails asking why I was down in 15th. I even had guys in the top 10 who were con-
fused. Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer for it. RH: Did you think it was close between you, Kevin and Flex Lewis, or did you dominate that particular show?
DH: I know that those guys look good from the front, but when we turn around I have a major edge. But they looked fantastic, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. I want to win at my best, but if I don’t win, I’d rather it be when I was at my best, too. That’s better than losing and knowing I didn’t push myself hard enough. And you can take more pride in beat- ing others when they are at their best rather than catching them on an off day. But I brought my A- game, and the scorecard showed that it was enough to win with all first-place votes.
RH: A perfect score, like Ronnie used to have for years at the Mr. O.
DH: This was the fourth time in my career it’s hap- pened. I won with perfect scores at the 2002 NPC Nationals, the 2005 Wildcard Showdown at the Olympia, the Tampa show a few weeks ago and then the 202 Showdown.
RH: Lee, getting back to Kevin English and Flex Lewis for a minute. How do you rate them in terms of strong and weak points?
LP: I’m glad that they are getting some exposure
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and doing well, but they are very lucky that they are start- ing their pro careers at the same time that this 202 class is taking off. I never had that when I was an up-and-coming star and had to go up against freaks like Dorian, Shawn, Kevin, Flex, Ronnie, Paul Dillett, Chris Cormier, Nasser and later, Jay. Kevin and Flex are getting a nice break by being able to compete
against the smaller guys like them- selves. I am sure they will both rack up a few wins in this class before it’s all said and done, but would they ever have won a pro show with no weight classes, going up against the really big guys? I’m not so sure. Kevin has some good body parts, and so does Flex,
but they both still need a lot of work if they were to truly hang with the bigger guys.
RH: Dave, you nearly beat Lee the last time you competed against him at the 2006 Iron Man. What improvements have you made since then, and assuming Lee hasn’t made any, could that be
enough to edge him out the next time you two compete?
DH: Let me say that Lee is a great competitor. The man is thick as hell from every angle. We really have two very dif- ferent physiques, one of those apples-and- oranges situa- tions. He looked fantastic when he beat me at the MD
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Iron Man, but I don’t know if he’s changed since then. I know I have. Over the last couple years, I have put on size in the right places and my confidence level is much higher. If they go by structure alone, I have him there. Lee has nailed his condition a few times, but he’s also been a bit off more than once from the waist down. He just isn’t con- sistent with that yet to the point where it’s not an issue.
RH: When you compare strengths and weakness, it’s odd that you have superior chest and back thickness to Lee, while he does have a better lower body. What type of challenge does that present to the judges when they have to decide who should win?
DH: Well, I have been bombing my legs hard since the last time Lee was onstage with me, and they are no longer a flaw. With the upper body, I am wider across the shoul- ders and do have more thickness and roundness to both the chest and the shoulders. His arms have always been straight-up freaky. It’s funny; you could swap some of our body parts and create the world’s greatest 202-pound bodybuilder who ever lived!
RH: But again, how would the judges be able to choose who’s better?
DH: One thing I know is that when we turn around, I have the upper hand. When you talk about back thickness
and detail, glute-ham tie-ins, all of that, I have the advantage. Neither of us have a blocky midsection, but my back and wider shoulders give me better overall shape.
RH: Lee, David Henry is the reigning 202 champion of the world. How do you rate Dave? What are his strong and weak points, and what would it take for you to beat him?
LP: He is the current champion. You’ve already said what his strong and weak points are. I know for me to beat him I would really just have to be in my best condition. He has me on a couple areas maybe, but it’s not a body part contest. It’s a physique contest. Overall, I feel I have a more complete- looking physique and better overall shape. He thinks he does, and that’s fine. We all have to be confident that we can win. The truth is, anybody can be beaten on any given day if they aren’t at their best and the other guy is.
RH: Dave, Lee mentions condition. For a couple shows earlier this year, you weren’t your usual shred- ded-to-the-bone self. What happened?
DH: I wasn’t prepared the way I should have been. That’s
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I’d rather it be when I was at my best, too.
That’s better than losing and knowing I didn’t
push myself hard enough.” —Dave Henry
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it. It’s my fault and I blame no one or nothing else. But I am the type of person who learns from my mistakes, so that’s in the past now.
RH: Conditioning is definitely a strong point of Dave’s, Lee. He’s very consistent with it and that’s where you will really have to shine to beat him, at least in the opinion of many fans. Do you think you have finally figured out how to duplicate that type of condition that won you the Iron Man so that he won’t edge you out in that department?
LP: If you look at all the old contest photos of me, you’ll see that I was always in shape. It did take me a few years before I got that ultra-shredded look to my legs, but my upper body was always where it needed to be. Have I fig- ured it all out? No, you never do. Your body reacts differ- ently at every show. Look at the last Olympia and how a couple guys really screwed up while oth-
ers were in the best shape of their lives. If we could figure it out once and for all, no one would ever show up off his peak. We would all have cross-striated fucking glutes and you would be able to count the muscle fibers in our eyelids.
RH: Dave, you have made tremen- dous improvements since turning pro six years ago, adding over 25 pounds of pure muscle. You have also gone on record many times as saying that you give much of the credit to your training style, DC, which is based on high-intensity and low overall volume. Lee trains in the standard high-volume style and has never used a logbook to force him- self to be accountable and make strength gains. I know you don’t care whether or not DC would work better for Lee and he isn’t interested in it anyway, but just being hypo- thetical, do you think that maybe his physique could be better if he had switched over to DC a few years ago like you did?
DH: There seems to be a common misconception that I am the guy who thinks DC Training is the only way to train, and that I am trying to preach it to everyone. So not true. I really don’t care if Lee or anyone else uses DC, or what they think about it. I know what it’s done for me since I started using it in July of 2004 when I started working with Dante Trudel. I continue to make gains and I know I haven’t yet maxed out my frame. These other guys can sneer at DC and say, “That’s not enough training for me.”
Yet they look the same year after year and I improve all the time. I honestly don’t know if Lee would look any different. I suspect he has probably put on just as much muscle as his frame will hold before he starts looking blocky.
RH: Lee…response?
LP: He’s right in the sense that I do have all the mass I need and that my structure can carry without starting to look like a refrigerator, though Jay won two Olympias with that look! No comment on the training. He does what he
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