Publication Date: August 1, 2006

by Ron Harris
http://www.bodybuilderprofiles.com

Since 1998, Ronnie Coleman has been Mr. Olympia. But over much of his reign, one bodybuilder has come dangerously close to snatching the title away from him time and time again. That man is Jay Cutler, one of the most dominant and popular bodybuilders of modern times. Standing 5-9 and packing 265 pounds of pure beef in contest condition, this blonde behemoth is the All-American bodybuilder. Known for his freaky legs and shoulders as well as his dogged determination and unwavering work ethic and focus, his success in the sport is a result of rare genetics and a drive to be the very best.

Origin of a superstar

Jason Cutler was born on August 3, 1973, in Worcester, Massachusetts, roughly fifty miles west of Boston. The youngest of seven children, Jay had three older sisters and three older brothers. His father was a superintendent for the state’s highway department, while his mother worked as a civilian on a nearby military base in the finance department. The Cutler family lived on a farm in the rural town of Sterling, and in addition to helping tend to the cows, goats, pigs, and chickens, young Jay rode his bike and ATV and played kid games like hide and seek and kick the can. One of his brothers owned a concrete business, and Jay began working for him while still in Junior High School. This heavy manual labor was where his muscles began to form, and by high school he definitely had a broad-shouldered, ‘athletic’ build, though he had never lifted weights. He was introduced to weights as part of his football training at Wachusett Regional High School, where he was a popular student. In senior year he met Kerry, who he has been with ever since, and has been married to since July of 1998.

Destined for greatness

It was the summer after high school graduation, on his eighteenth birthday, to be exact, that Jay joined a gym with the goal of becoming a bodybuilder. He was already a solid 180 pounds when he first stepped through the gym doors. He soon started work on his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice at Quinsigamond Community College, which he completed in 1993, but it was bodybuilding rather than law enforcement that became his passion. The way his body rapidly grew and changed made it obvious that he had been given a special gift, and he knew he had to make the most of his potential. Within a year of training, he competed in the 1992 Gold’s Gym Worcester Bodybuilding Championships, winning the teenage division and taking second place among men up to twice his age. The next year, he traveled to New York to win the teens and Men’s Heavyweights at the NPC Iron Bodies Invitational, a warm-up for the 1993 Teenage Nationals. There, Jay first attracted the attention of the bodybuilding media by winning the Heavyweights at a ripped 220 pounds, losing the Overall to Branch Warren, who would go on to greatness himself in later years. He was already known for his freaky quads, which featured an outrageous outer sweep. They should have – he had gone from squatting 135 to well over 600 in less than two years of training! He was also enormous for someone so young, which foreshadowed his future as one of the most massive men in the sport. By now, the die was cast, and it was only a matter of time before this big diamond in the rough took his career to the next level. A critical turning point had also just occurred when Jay hooked up with a nutritionist named Chris Aceto, at the time married to Ms. Olympia competitor Laura Creavalle and advisor to up-and-coming amateur star (soon to be a winning pro) Mike Francois. Aceto helped guide him into his best condition at contest after contest over the years, being a critical component of his winning formula. From this point on, Jay’s rise was meteoric.

Journey to the Mecca

I had been following Jay’s career and progression since before the Teenage Nationals, thanks to my job at ESPN’s American Muscle show. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to me when the 22-year-old came out to California in the summer of 1995 to easily blow away the NPC Tournament of Champions, a large regional event, at 240 pounds. Photographers literally fought for the chance to shoot with this young, blonde muscle god, and within months his image was on covers and in dozens of training and profile articles. His name and image were as prominent as any of the top Mr. Olympia competitors. This level of exposure was practically unheard of for an amateur, as was Joe Weider’s offer to sign him to an endorsement contract. Joe’s gamble paid off handsomely, as it was just over a year later that Jay became the youngest-ever Overall Champion at the NPC Nationals, and earned professional status. Jay would travel to the LA area many more times for photo shoots, but it wasn’t until 1999 that he and Kerry finally moved to Southern California. Even then, he stayed away from the madness of LA and settled in sleepy, upscale Aliso Viejo in Orange County, where he would better be able to focus on his training.

A humbling start to his pro career

Jay took all of 1997 off to train and improve before making his pro debut, working out at a private gym built just for him by a local Worcester bodybuilder and businessman named Bruce Vartanian. Based on the prodigy’s fast climb through the amateur ranks, a process that takes most bodybuilders a decade or more, Jay was a heavy favorite going into the 1998 Night of Champions. Alas, he was off his best condition, making the common rookie mistake of worrying more about being as big and full as possible than being in top condition. He tied for eleventh place with Milos Sarcev. He and Aceto went back to the drawing board to make sure that his next outing would be more successful. 1999 was a momentous year, as he took third at the Ironman and fourth at the Arnold the following weekend, though he finished off the season with a less than stellar fifteenth at the Olympia. That year he had moved to California with his new bride Kerry, who went to work as a nurse in a hospital in Newport Beach while Jay focused 100% on bodybuilding. By this time he was a true full-time professional bodybuilder, and his entire daily schedule revolved around training, eating, and sleeping, while weekends were fast filling up with appearances across the USA and beyond where he posed for throngs of screaming fans. It wouldn’t be long now until he came into his own and asserted his status as one of the very best in the world.

A new physique star for the new millennium

Jay Cutler won his first pro contest in 2000 at the Night of Champions. He cracked the top ten in the Olympia with eighth place, but the stunner was on the grand prix tour that followed, when the young upstart placed second to Ronnie Coleman at both the English and Italian stops on the tour. Jay was now establishing himself not only as one of the sport’s premiere athletes, but also a shrewd businessman, signing a lucrative endorsement deal with ISS Research as well as other agreements with companies like Scheik belts. In time he would be one of the handful of pro bodybuilders in the world earning an excellent living worthy of a top professional athlete and an example that it could be done, with the right combination of a great physique, a marketable look, and a humble, engaging personality. The real breakthrough came in 2001, when Jay Cutler very nearly won the Mr. Olympia, a contest he had trained all year long for. Judges and audience alike were unsure that Ronnie would be able to hold on to his title, and Jay was actually in the lead following prejudging. Coleman maintained his grasp on the Sandow trophy, but Jay’s cache had grown exponentially. From here on in, people wouldn’t just mention Ronnie’s name when discussing the greatest champion in the sport, it would always be ‘Ronnie and Jay’ spoken in the same breath.

Three-time Arnold Classic Champion

Jay competed just once in 2002, winning his first of three consecutive Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic titles. Many journalists called 2003 ‘The Year of Cutler’. He seemed to dominate the pro season with wins at the Ironman, Arnold, and San Francisco Pro, as well as grand prix events in England and Holland. Again he was second to Ronnie at the Olympia, and second twice more at the Russian Grand Prix and the GNC Show of Strength to Dexter Jackson – to date, the last time The Blade was able to defeat him. When the season was over, Jay signed with Muscletech and became the biggest and highest-paid star in their considerable stable. He also moved to Las Vegas, where at last he was in the optimal environment to train for the Mr. Olympia title. The show seemed to have permanently settled there, for one thing, so Cutler would never be more than a short drive away from the competition. He installed cardio equipment and tanning beds in his luxurious new home so that both activities could be done without leaving the house. He even adopted a radical schedule wherein he trained, ate, and did cardio around the clock, sleeping in multiple short periods of about two hours, rather than all at once as most of us do. Thus, he was able to fit in a mind-boggling ten nutrient-rich meals every day to feed his ever-growing body. In 2004 he won his third Arnold title, coming in considerably lighter than his usual 265-270, but shredded beyond belief. He finished the season off with yet another runner-up to Ronnie at the Mr. Olympia.

2005 – knocking on the door

At the 2005 Mr. Olympia contest, Jay Cutler matched a record I am quite sure he never wanted to, which was to be a four-time runner-up at the world’s top bodybuilding contest. Only one other man can claim that distinction – Kevin Levrone. But while Kevin split those four near misses up evenly between Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, Jay’s nemesis in each case has been Ronnie. This time, Jay brought his best package ever, and even managed to vastly improve the thickness and detail of his back, the only area where Coleman had been clearly beating him to date. Cutler as well as his legion of loyal fans was confident that at last the king would fall and he would assume the throne at last. As the show wore on, Jay even managed to win over some fanatic Ronnie fans – including me. But in the end, Ronnie’s hand was held high for an eighth consecutive year. Jay’s spirit was wounded but not broken, and even though he felt he did everything possible to ensure victory over the last year, he has already resolved to improve even further. And though he was extremely disappointed not to win, he was still quite satisfied with the improvements he made as a result of taking an entire year off to focus entirely on this event: "Of course I feel it paid off. The strategy was to bring a different package, and I did. For the last three times I have done the Olympia, I haven’t been at my very best because of what’s entailed at competing at two or more shows a year and trying to peak at both, especially at my bodyweight. It’s a little easier for lighter guys like Darrem or Dexter. When you add all the traveling and guest posing I do into the picture, there’s not enough time to train and rest the way I should to be the very best bodybuilder in the world. My back condition and separation was much better, and so was my overall balance. My legs were down in size a little bit because I pulled down a little further than I wanted to in order to ensure my condition was exactly where it needed to be."

Jay is also hesitant to buy into the widely accepted belief that Ronnie Coleman can’t lose the Olympia title, and that Cutler’s only hope is to patiently wait until the champ decided to retire and pass the torch on to the next worthy successor. "You always hear about how you can’t beat a Mr. Olympia on stage, simply because he is Mr. Olympia. You also hear the analogy to a title match in boxing, where you have to knock the champ out to win. Honestly, I am tired of that one. We’re not fighters and we don’t punch each other. But I did feel that I had to demolish him onstage for the judges to see me as the new Mr. Olympia. Many people felt it could have gone either way, and despite what the scoresheets indicated, it was actually even closer than it was between Ronnie and I in 2001. All I feel I would have to do is come back next year with the same package and that would win the show. But my plan is to be better, and then there will be no question. It’s just a matter of making consistent improvements like I have been. After Saturday night, I was really down and felt there was no way I could win the Olympia while Ronnie was in it. But once I had eaten and calmed down a little, I realized I should go for it again, that it was indeed within my reach. Any man can be beaten on any given day under the right circumstances."

And when he does become Mr. Olympia?

Many in the bodybuilding world feel that Jay Cutler is the next logical successor to Ronnie Coleman, and will win the Mr. Olympia title soon. But how long will he hold on to it? He has made statements in the past to the effect that he planned to retire from the sport by the age of 35, and he heads into the 2006 Olympia having recently turned 33 years old. Luckily for his legions of fans, he has reconsidered this decision. "I’m going to stay around for a while. When I’m no longer competitive, I will walk away from the stage and never look back. But for now, I am still doing very well, so that time isn’t here just yet. The Mr. Olympia is the only title I have never won. People keep asking me, why don’t you do the Arnold again? I know that to be my absolute best, I need downtime from contest dieting. I need to rest and do just the Olympia for my body to be at its true peak of size and condition."

Regardless of whether or not Jay Cutler becomes Mr. Olympia, his place in the pantheon of bodybuilding legends is firmly established. His powerful physique is known and admired by millions of fans all over the world, and Jay’s clean-living life of hard work and dedication to his wife make him one of the sport’s true role models. He serves as an inspiration to many who aspire to build their bodies and make their dreams come true, and that’s an even more significant accomplishment than his titles of financial success. Jay has come a long way from that farm boy he once was, and he shows the rest of us just how strong the combination of goals and grit can be.

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