1996 Atlantic States 2nd, Middlweights
1998 Atlantic States Middleweight & Overall Champion 1998 Junior Nationals Middleweight & Overall Champion 1998 NPC Nationals Middleweight Champion (Pro status) 2000 Night of Champions 14thplace
2006 New York Pro 17thplace
2008 New York Pro 2ndOpen, Under 202 Champion 2008 202 Mr. Olympia 2ndplace
2008 Mr. Olympia 16thplace
then cables later on, or else a machine like you see in these photos. I really think you need to use dumbbells to get that thick mass, then you can polish it off later with a cable or a machine. I definitely feel better contractions with the cable or machine, but when you get away from free weights, you start losing size.
RH: At the shoot, whose idea was the behind-back Lee Haney shrugs and the close-grip upright rows?
KE: Kai’s. I do shrugs to the
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KG: I don’t really do those too often. I was just throw-ing ideas out at Per [Bernal] and seethrow-ing what looked good!
RH: Kevin, do you still train chest and shoulders together? You don’t find that the shoulders suffer if you work them after chest?
KE: No, actually for me I find that as I get older, my body needs more recovery to grow. When I was younger, I would train six or seven days a week and do chest and shoulders on different days. There is a lot of overlap between them, mainly in the triceps and front delts. The older I get, I find I am better off doing them together so the muscles have more time to recuperate
between workouts. I only train four days a week now and it’s working out very well.
KG: I will only do that right before a show. In the off-season, I definitely do those on different days, usually at least a couple days apart.
RH: I know Kai works with Oscar Ardon. Kevin, do you work with anyone on your training or diet?
KE: Every other week I am trained by Dr. Michael Camp.
Over the past few months, I have also been working with Hany Rambod, so on alternating weeks I train in FST-7 style. Hany has also made some big changes to my diet. I was never a big eater. For most of my bodybuilding career, I have been eating three meals and a shake every day. I have never really been a big eater, so I didn’t want more than that. Hany convinced me to try boosting my food intake gradually until I was eating eight meals a day plus a
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shake! I couldn’t even imagine getting all that food in every day, but since I’ve been doing that, the results have been amazing. You’ll see what I mean at the New York Pro and then later on this year at the 202 Mr. Olympia.
RH: So you are definitely stay-ing in the 202s?
KE: Yeah. I talked it over at length with a few people, especially Steve
Weinberger. He said, “Why are you going to bang your head against the wall, maybe winning a small show here and there, but never doing too well at the big shows in the open class, when you have the potential to be the Ronnie Coleman of the 202s?” He feels I could dominate that class for as long as I want to, if I work hard enough.
RH: Kai, are you pretty happy
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KG: Overall mass— that’s it.
RH: Kevin, what about you?
KE: I’d like to bring out my front delts a little more. That’s about it.
RH: Last question – Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, NY is now called ‘The East
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Coast Mecca.’ How did it earn that name? Kevin, you manage the place, you go first.
KE: Powerhouse has been there for 22 years now, in which time I have seen a lot of other gyms in the area come and go. Steve and Bev built the place from scratch. It was a lot smaller in the early years, but it has expanded a lot since then. Bev and Steve have been in the sport for so long that they know exactly what bodybuilders need and like, even though the gym is for everyone, from all walks of life. The equip-ment is top-notch, and the atmosphere is unique. You have body-builders, pro athletes from the NFL and NBA, MMA fighters, and plen-ty of regular people. And everybody helps everybody else. It feels more like a family than a gym.
RH: Kai, you know this gym pretty well. Why do you think it’s become the renowned gym that it has?
KG: Any gym’s climate is a direct reflection of the ownership and its vision. Not only was Bev Francis a true icon and pioneer in women’s bodybuilding, but you also have Steve Weinberger. He’s the NPC district chairman, an IFBB judge, and promotes various amateur and profession-al events every year. The pulse of bodybuilding runs strong inside those walls. Anyone who’s ever trained at Powerhouse knows this firsthand. ■