Most of us proud meatheads fall into two categories with bodybuilding, we love the freaks like Ronnie Coleman or Roelly Winklaar or we champion the classic physiques of Frank Zane or Dexter Jackson. In the history of the Olympia we’ve seen that the judges tend to prefer a mix of both from year to year, but when the points get added up-they often don’t reward competitors with physiques in the middle. Such is the case with Cedric McMillan, the man who wins EVERYWHERE except the Olympia and there really isn’t a good reason why.
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| Cedric McMillan, champion bodybuilder and proud member of the United States Army |
McMillan came on to the scene a little over a decade ago winning his pro card in 2009 and won his first show in 2011. Since then he has competed in thirty IFBB Pro League shows and won eight of them, including winning a little show called the Arnold Classic (Columbus) in 2017. In fact, other than two early outings at the New York Pro, McMillan hasn’t finished lower than sixth place at any pro show-EXCEPT for the Mr. Olympia. Since the 2017 Arnold win, McMillan has competed in all three Mr. Olympia contests and finished tenth, ninth and seventh, respectively.
So what is it about his physique that can’t break him into that coveted top five territory in Las Vegas?
Being the torch-bearer of the “classic” physique in the Men’s Open division has presented some headaches for him, but only on one show and only for one set of eyes and that’s at the Olympia. When compared to the men of the IFBB anywhere else, he’s coming out on top quite but his Olympia placings comes down to one salient point…he’s too balanced. As the godfather of bodybuilding Arnold Schwarzenegger infamously said, McMillan has the kind of body that he would want, and really the kind of ideal body that most people would want. Is he big? Sure, but he’s not so big he looks inhuman to civilians like a Big Ramy might. Is he symmetrical? Absolutely he is, but his conditioning isn’t such that he looks unhealthy or lacking in appeal. If we scored bodybuilding like baseball players, McMillan would be a middle-of-the-road player and maybe in bodybuilding, being above average at all things excludes one from getting the Sandow, despite the real-world appeal of a physique like his.
At over six feet, he is always one of the tallest competitors on stage, but he is certainly not lanky. While he might give up a few inches on every body part to a mass monster like Winklaar, if he shows up in shape it will always be the battle of the monster trying to out-muscle the guy who doesn't have to play the mass game the be show-ready. The bigger guys have to play up their size and conditioning to make up for the lack of flow their physiques often possess, while McMillan has lines for days and is blessed with joints that provide contrast to his rounded muscles above and below the waist. Comparing him to a more balanced bodybuilder like current champion Brandon Curry or former champion Shawn Rhoden, he could find himself in an advantageous position, as both of them have packed on mass in recent years and their classical appeal has lagged as a result, so for the judge or viewer looking for something that transcends the norm but doesn’t abandon humanity, McMillan provides a more recognizable blend of musculature and conditioning that hits the mark in both categories.
However, reality has been very disappointing. Rhoden and Curry have both gotten bigger in recent years and have taken home some serious hardware because of it, including a Sandow each. Both men, like McMillan, have a very strong contest history with some high-profile wins, but until they bulked up they didn’t move to the highest level of the sport. With Phil Heath being the resident king of the sport with seven Sandow trophies in a row, the judges clearly had his physique in mind as the ideal being balanced, but certainly not modest. Heath, like his predecessor and mentor Jay Cutler, has a package that is massive though contained and when his conditioning is on point, it’s a lights-out situation. McMillan isn't known for every showing up out of shape to a contest, but coming in slightly less defined and a few pounds heavier than normal for his body type might appear to be way off compared to a hybrid competitor like Heath who could be fuzzy and still have enough mass to out-muscle (quite literally) the competition.
Labelling competitors as big as Heath or Cutler as hybrids is ludicrous to those outside of the bodybuilding sphere but most guys don’t walk around that big or that shredded. McMillan might be suffering in his placements at the O just because his physique is too…well…human. To see him compared to a Frank Zane or Lee Haney would show how aesthetically pleasing and near-perfect a human body can be, but when he gets dwarfed by someone as wide as he is tall, like Winklaar or even a full Willam Bonac, it can make McMillan appear a step below instead of being a cut above. As the sport progresses we see phases come and go of what the judges are looking for and for the first time in a long time, it's not really clear what the standard fro being Mr. Olympia is this year, as we've had three champions in as many years, and that hasn't happened in decades. With Rhoden and Curry being given the nod the last two years, maybe this is the beginning of a phase where aesthetics will be weighted more than mass, and if that is the case, McMillan is a real threat.
But can McMillan’s physique handle another thirty or forty pounds and still retain what makes it unique or should it even have to? At what point do the Olympia judges stop rewarding mass and start penalizing it and how do you know which side of the equation you’re on? There are a lot of mitigating factors to improving his Olympia placings, not the least of which is the bevy of top-tier competitors in this year’s show. With Heath returning, Curry defending and a motivated Jackson saying this contest is his swan song, whatever package Sgt. McMillan brings to Las Vegas this year, it had better be his best-though what the judges think of that, only time and the scorecards will tell.
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