This past week, I received some of the best news ever. For quite a while now, I’ve had my eye on a competition set to take place this fall. “The Cronus: God of the Stage” is a show that plans on uniting all of the world’s top professional natural bodybuilders, and putting them on one stage to compete against one another. For several years, there has been an ongoing debate about who is truly the best natural bodybuilder in the world. Each natural federation has its own top shows and top athletes. So we can all say we are the best, but in reality, we are only the best in our selective organization. There has been so much talk over the years of all the federations coming together to put on one show, allowing all the top guys from each organization to compete against one another. However, this was all talk. Each respected organization has its own set of rules and for some, competing anywhere outside of that organization is prohibited. So with this rule in effect, the hope of uniting these top athletes was merely a dream… Until now!

Professional natural bodybuilder Jason Powell has decided that he is tired of all the talk. He and his organization have decided to create a show that would bring all the top pros together to compete for the title of #1. Everything is set. The date, the venue, and the sponsors are all lined up. The show is taking place on August 20th at the Stafford Centre in Stafford, TX. With all the logistics taken care of, the only thing left is gathering the competitors, the “top” guys in the sport. Since so many organizations have rules against competing in other federations, Jason knew he had to give the athletes a great reason to compete in this contest. So, all competitors would have their show expenses, including testing and tanning, covered. For the winner, there is a $10,000 prize, along with the coveted title of the true World Natural Champion. This great prize was sure to attract hundreds of applicants.

Picking the competitors might sound like an easy task, but Jason and his team have a lot of work to do here. There are so many great athletes, and there’s no way to accommodate all of them at once. To narrow it down, Jason and his team announced that they would accept applications from any athlete interested in competing. They would look through all the applications and choose 12 athletes they deem worthy. The submission process required each athlete to provide a ton of information about their career as a bodybuilder. All of this information would be read over by Jason and his team, and if your credentials were good enough to label you as one of the best, you would be granted an invite.

I decided to throw my hat in the ring. I sat, waited, and thought to myself, “How cool would it be if I was chosen out of hundreds? What would it be like to be a part of such a prestigious event, an event that is going to be considered the Olympia of natural bodybuilding?” This is the opportunity of a lifetime. To my surprise, two days after submitting my application, I got an email from Jason stating that I was chosen as one of the athletes to compete at the Cronus. Elated by the good news, I immediately emailed Jason letting him know I was honored and looking forward to competing at his show. You can only imagine how my motivation has changed. Knowing that I will be up against the best of the best, I have to step up my game. I really have to bring my best to the stage. Once I was chosen, I was so motivated that my journey started immediately. I announced to my closest friends and family that I would be participating in the event. I also did a 10-minute interview online with Jason, where I introduced myself and gave a quick bio.

Speaking in regards to my motivation for this show, I have decided that I must pull out all the stops if I want to be the last man standing. This show will have the best natural bodybuilders in the world going head to head. There is no room for error. My training and nutrition will be kicked up several notches. Along the way, I will be competing in several local competitions. I’m doing this to stay competition ready the whole time. This way, come time for the actual Cronus, there will be no way of saying I’m not in shape. I followed this game plan in 2009 when my goal was to win the WNBF World Championship title. I had to force myself to diet for nine months and compete in three other shows along the way. By the time I hit the World’s stage, my conditioning was unbeatable. So, I am treating the Cronus like the World’s and dieting harder than ever to prepare for an event of this caliber.  

Thus far, only six of the professionals have been announced and the talk of the show has been picking up more and more on the boards. As mentioned, this show has been a mere thought for so many years. So many people have wondered what it would be like to see all these great athletes compete against each other. Now that it is actually happening, you can only imagine how things are going to turn out. I can see people from all over the world flying down to Texas to see the event live. Knowing how important this event is to my career, I’m not letting the pressure get to me. I’m not doing anything substantially different. I’m just continuing to do what I’ve done in the past as far as show preparation because what I’ve done in the past has made me who I am today. This show could possibly go down as one of the greatest natural shows ever, and for my name to be mentioned in the lineup is mind boggling.