Written by Peter McGough
02 March 2015

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"I Will Win the Arnold"

Evan Centopani's Game Plan for Victory

 

 

Evan Centopani won his IFBB pro card by dominating the 2007 NPC Nationals and then won his fist two pro shows; the 2009 New York Pro and the 2011 Flex Pro. Two weeks after the Flex Pro he was fourth in the Arnold Classic and he was spoken about as a leading top six Olympia contender. But in his only thus far Olympia outings in 2012 and 2013 he finished 8th and 13th respectively. Here he speaks of his drive to kick start his career. (Originally published in the March 2015 edition of MD)

And kickstart may well morph into KICK-ASS as this shot shows what Evan looked like this past weekend, seven days out from the contest. You and his competitors have been warned!

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PM: There’s a sense out there that you’re at a major crossroads in your career – almost a make-or-break point. Would you agree with that?

 I would. In my amateur days and the start of pro career I progressed very quickly. And there was a lot of speculation about how good can this kid be, how far will he go. The Olympia was talked about. The promising talk continued in 2011 when I won the Flex Pro and got fourth in my first Arnold but after that something got in the way.

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 What got in the way?

 After those early 2011 contests it’s true to say I pulled back a bit. On July 13 that year my daughter Alana was born and a month or so afterward my father was diagnosed with cancer -- which he’s still fighting. Those happenings changed how I looked at some things. I’d never been reckless with my bodybuilding but I sort of changed my perspective a little – you can say I tried to do a little bit more with a little bit less. Unfortunately the nature of any professional sport may not exactly be do or die, but whatever you’re not willing to do the next guy is. There are guys more genetically gifted than me – I’m not the freakiest bodybuilder. To be at my absolute best I have to push everything training, diet, the whole thing. For a time I wasn’t.

  At the Arnold I’ve taken fourth (2011) third (2012) and fifth (2014). After last year’s show I just said to myself, “C’mon man, you know you can win this thing. Cut out the nonsense and let’s do it.”

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 Does the general feeling that Evan has something to prove act as an “I’ll show ‘em” positive spur or is it a negative?

 Neither really. I hate to say it; it’s all about me. That’s the nature of bodybuilding for me – it’s always been about me. It’s a fine line that you draw as to how far are you prepared to push it? You live on the edge a little. I’m not prepared to go hell for leather because I don’t feel bodybuilding totally defines me. I love bodybuilding and its something I will always do but being a bodybuilder is part of me not all of me.

 After competing last March [fifth in the Arnold Classic, third in the Australia Pro] you decided not to compete again in 2014. What was the thinking behind that?

 I knew to produce my best I had to take a longer run in to my next contest, which I decided would be the 2015 Arnold. The thing is you come away from a contest after four months of flat to the boards work and your body needs a rest. The last thing I want to do, and the worst thing I could do, is jump right back on the merry go round and start prepping for another contest. Some people said I should try and qualify for the Olympia in September but I knew my body needed a time out. I needed to listen to myself and follow my instincts. I knew if I delivered another lackluster Olympia performance the prophets of doom would be writing me off.

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 You’ve been, unusually for you, outspoken in saying you’ll definitely win the 2015 Arnold. That’s unlike you, why the confidence?

 I feel very strongly about this contest. A major reason for my confidence was bypassing contests after March last year and having just about a full year to prepare. I didn’t hold back – it wasn’t an offseason in the sense of throttling back. I was driven by the thought that I had the potential to win the Arnold Classic – I really believe I will win the show. And its not really about comparing myself to any of the other competitors and saying well I’m better than so-and-so in this area and I’m going to beat him this way. I have the same mindset I had as an amateur and early pro. I didn’t know how I was going to win, I just knew I could do it and I would do it. I’ve reached the reality that I can win this show by just doing what I needed to do. I feel so confident and so strong mentally. The only time I felt the same way was going into the 2007 Nationals and maybe the 2009 New York Pro.

  So the key is this longer offseason to prepare?

 Absolutely. Having this long run in is fundamental to how I feel about this contest and how I’ll look at this contest. The times I’ve done really well are after long bouts away from contests, which allows me to lift heavier weights in the so-called off-season. I get stronger and can train with heavier poundages. When I’ve competed more often and have had less time between contests I just don’t get as heavy or as strong. I know some say you’re a bodybuilder not a powerlifter -- its not about how much you lift. Well for me it is, because being at my strongest and being able to do heavy squats, heavy deadlifts, heavy bench pressing is important for me. When I do them my physique looks how it’s supposed to look. When I’m not able to lift as heavy things are missing and people say stuff like, “How come his legs don’t look quite then way they did?”

 You talk about getting big and strong this past year – expand on that?

 The drive was to get my bodyweight up into the 290s but still have decent quality. I hit 295 early in the summer and pretty much held it for several months. I was able to squat, deadlift and bench real heavy, much heavier than I had been able to do during the last couple of off seasons. I stayed at 295 but I got harder and gained a thicker more fortified physique. I felt this is how I should look at 295. By starting dieting at a decent looking 295 I will blow away what I looked like in 2014. For the 2014 Arnold I started dieting ten weeks out at a soft 280. This last offseason and contest prep has been my best ever.

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 Any idea what bodyweight you’ll compete at in Columbus on March 7th?

 Around 270 pounds. The highest I’ve ever been onstage was 262 pounds when I finished third at the 2012 Arnold. I think you’ll see dramatic improvements in my legs; my back will be thicker and my chest will be better. Overall there’ll be a better distribution of muscle and despite being heavier my waist will remain the same.

 What else has changed in this offseason?

 It was like resetting the clock a little back to 2009 because I also got back with Oscar Ardon, who I worked with to win that year’s New York Pro. I’d worked with Chris Aceto these past years and me making the change was an amicable one. Chris is a really great guy who I respect a lot.

 So how does the dynamic between you and Oscar work?

 We train together three times a week. So instead of just keeping track of me via photos he physically sees me three times a week, which is a much greater guide. He also gets to see my progress close up and pick up on everything, like, “Wow you seem stronger than last week” or, “You’re dragging a bit today, what’s going on?” It would be arrogant, and wrong, of me to say I could train just as hard by myself as with someone else. It’s great having someone who knows exactly how to get the most out of you, how much of a touch you need on forced reps. The intensity is very high. He doesn’t train with me he trains me. He’s very hands on. For instance on legs we’ll be squatting five plates. Its like he’s saying, “Look if you’re putting five plates on your back I’m not going to sit over there and watch you. I’m hovering right behind you going through each rep with you. When you get to six I’m going to push you to four more and I’ll pull you up myself if I have to.” He’s in it. He can read me, know what I’m capable of what my standard is.

 The way we train is all about making me feel uncomfortable – making me feel like I’m suffering. You’re going into a place your body doesn’t want to go. I always equate those feelings of being uncomfortable and suffering with making progress. You feel uncomfortable and you suffer but the payback is you see yourself getting stronger, and denser and leaner every week.

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 So encapsulate your mindset as you look forward to the Arnold on March 7th?

I’m just in a different place right now. I feel good about everything and don’t doubt for a second that come Saturday I will not only be the best I’ve ever been but also be more than good enough to win that show. I’m not saying I’ll be the biggest, the shapeliest, the one with the most rounded muscle bellies, but I believe that people will look at me and say, “There’s the winner.” I will be bigger than I’ve ever been and be full and shredded. I will bring a certain quality and I believe it will be a direct result of the commitment to training, where I’m willing to go workout wise. And of how much I am prepared to suffer. Suffering brings a certain quality to the physique. I was in such brutal condition that two weeks out from the show there was nothing left to do. I’ll just be ready. I’m not afraid of working hard, I’m not afraid of suffering.

 

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SEE EVAN TRAIN BACK 4 WEEKS OUT FROM THE 2014 ASC

SEE SOME OF EVAN'S TRAINING VIDEOS FROM THE 2012 ARNOLD