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by Christian Duque
If you know anything about the world of classic physique then the name Ramon Dino is one that you have heard of quite a bit. Here is a competitor that won the Arnold Classic in 2023 and has placed as high as runner-up at the Olympia. But what does he need to do in order to get that final step? What does he need to do to win the Olympia title? After all, every competitor, regardless of the division, that competes at the highest levels hopes to one day earn the highest honor on the planet. And that honor is winning an Olympia title. Unfortunately, it is harder said than done for many competitors. This does not mean that the competitors lack the discipline and the commitment to make their goals into reality. When it comes to discipline and commitment one does not get to the elite levels of the sport unless they are able to sacrifice.
Competitors that are part of this elite few must be able to take their diet to the next level, their training to the next level, pose as if their lives depended on it and still have more gas in the tank left for whatever else they must overcome in order to be one of the last men standing in their respective divisions is. That being said, only open bodybuilding gives competitors the opportunity to compete pretty much at whatever weight they want. Then of course you have men’s physique but if we’re talking about a competitor that’s having trouble keeping to a particular weight category then I don’t think that men’s physique is going to be the right fit either. Classic physique competitors like Ramon are not able to grow beyond the cutoff for their weight limit. In his case it’s 227lbs. That’s well over the 212 bodybuilding criteria and would pretty much just leave the open as his last resort. So why won’t he make the jump?
It’s difficult to make the jump when you’re at the top of your division. We have seen this for years with competitors that quite frankly may do better in a heavier division but do not want to leave the comforts of being the best where they currently compete. As we said with Dino, he has won the Arnold Classic, the second most prestigious title and physique-based sports. He has also placed runner up at the Olympia. That means that only one other competitor was able to defeat him and everyone else was beneath him. It’s kind of a messed up way of looking at it because a lot of the competitors that placed third, fourth and beyond, may not see themselves as beneath the runner-up. But unfortunately such is life. If you’re second place that means only one person beat you. It also means you beat everybody else.
Prudent advisors would say not to leave the division. They’d urge to keep doing whatever they’re doing. If you’re second place it’s because judges believe that you could win. Otherwise you wouldn’t have that runner-up spot. And again that might be good advice and it might be rational advice but to a competitor that wants to be the best it may not be the advice they want to hear. But there’s more to it than just that.
If a competitor feels like they can build a lot more muscle, then the weight constraint may be an artificial ceiling that doesn’t need to be there. If a competitor has been able to rise through the ranks to the very top of one division, it stands to reason they would be able to do that in another division, especially if that other division allowed them to grow into their true potential.
I have no doubt in my mind that Ramon can grow well over 227 pounds and be extremely competitive in open bodybuilding. But he’s going to have to go from being runner-up at the Olympia in classic to uncharted waters in the open. For some guys that’s too much of a gamble, for others it’s the only way they know how to live.
Many people believe that when The Miracle Bear, Urs Kalecinski decided to make the change from classic physique into open bodybuilding that facilitated Ramon making the same decision. Some people believe that being second to do something or third to do something isn’t as daunting as being the first. Perhaps Dino would be the first of the current crop of top guys to switch over to open, but he certainly isn’t the first classic physique competitor to go to open bodybuilding.
In fact the G.O.A.T., Chris Bumstead, himself, decided to compete in an open show before finally retiring for good. Had he won that open show he most definitely would have gone to the Olympia and if he would have won the open Olympia I have a feeling he would still be competing. Nonetheless, there have been other classic guys that have moved up and have done very well for themselves. Some have gone to the 212 and others have gone straight into the open. The question is will Ramon do it in 2025 or will he compete one more year in classic and then bump it up in 2026?
At the end of the day I believe both Urs and Ramon have the potential to be top six open bodybuilders. Now that may not sound super groundbreaking considering that they are the very best of the classic physique division, but once again I must remind everyone that we are talking about a move from a division where weight is closely monitored to a division where guys can get as big as they want. The temptation for guys coming out of classic is going to be to grow and grow and grow. The problem, however, is if they lose their signature lines and aesthetics, then they will just be one more mass monster in a sea of mass monsters.
What people love about classic physique is that it embodies the physiques of the golden era of bodybuilding with some of the better elements of bodybuilding today. It is not a bodybuilding division although it really is one. I know that the Federation likes to draw a very bright line between classic and bodybuilding but let’s face it, classic is what bodybuilding should be. The problem is it’s not a division where you can come in as big as you want. If guys like Urs and Ramon are okay sacrificing their impressive flow, that’s on them. I personally don’t see why they would want to take the chance of sabotaging themselves to switch divisions.
The only thing that separates classic from Open Bodybuilding today is the prize money. The fact of the matter is bodybuilding is the flagship Division and always will be. As a result of that, it will always generate more prize money than classic. Can that change? I don’t see it changing. I don’t see them changing the way it has been forever. That being said, if you were to poll most competitors at the local, regional, and national level amateur shows, you will almost immediately see that classic commands the biggest numbers.
So could the prize money one day flip? Perhaps, but again I don’t see it. That being said, prize money is not what most of these top tier athletes rely upon to make a living. I would argue that they rely upon contracts with supplements sponsors, lifting equipment sponsors, and so on and so forth. Also there’s any number of private clients that will pay an arm and a leg to be able to train with one of the top guys in any particular division. Ultimately I don’t think money is the deciding factor in going from classic to open. If it’s about money, there’s plenty more money to be made as a top-tier classic competitor than being one out of a sea of other disproportionate and ugly-looking bodybuilders. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but that’s where we are today as a sport. There’s one or two guys with aesthetic physiques and the rest are nothing to write home about.
Only time will tell if these guys are making the right decision for their careers. As a commentator you know where I stand. That being said, these competitors are living their best life. If they can’t make themselves happy, it really doesn’t matter who else they appease. I believe Ramon wants to follow Urs’ footsteps and go into the open. Let’s wish him the best of luck. Whether he takes the plunge in 2025 or 2026, that remains to be seen. But I very much believe that if they are able to continue on the path they have started in classic, that it’s only a question of time until one or both of these guys break into the Olympia top 6. Now from there, can they win a Sandow? I guess that’s really going to depend on the direction of the sport. If Nick Walker wins the Sandow they’re going to be looking for that type of guy to beat him. If Andrew Jacked wins the Sandow they’re going to be looking for more aesthetics and symmetry. It really depends who is the reigning Mr O.
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