Fouad Abiad: 5th Place's a Charm

Over the years, as I've perused the numerous bodybuilding forums (I'm thinking of Muscle Mayhem in particular here), Hoss aka Fouad Abiad seems to have been one of the constants on the boards with his training insights, supportive comments and progress pix.

In 2006 after rising up through the amateur ranks, Fouad won both his super-heavyweight class and the overall at the 2006 Canadian National championship in Saskatoon, SK, finally earning him his IFBB pro card. He quickly followed this up with a "test run" against the big boys at that years Atlantic City Pro just over a week later, but placed an unfortunate 15th.

Being one of those off season mass monsters who can really put on the pounds, Fouad regularly gets close to the 300 mark (which is a pretty fair amount for a 5'10" guy), before then dieting down to his contest weight of around 230 or so pounds, a feat requiring much determination to achieve such conditioning.

The results of his hard work could be seen this past weekend at Montmorency College's André Mathieu Auditorium where Fouad blew away some of his more experienced competion with a 5th place finish at the 2007 Montreal Pro Classic. Though narrowly placing out of a slot that would have qualified him for the Olympia (only the top three qualify), Fouad earned the respect of many, including MD's Dave Palumbo, for his "thick, dense, muscle and superb conditioning [which, Palumbo acknowledged] was enough for the judges to overlook his less than perfect symmetry." Huh? Looks pretty damn symmetrical to me!

Responding to his Mayhem fans Sunday Fouad posted the following:

"Thanks everyone for your support I could not have asked for a better outcome. Posing next to guys that I have looked up to for years was one of the most thrilling things I have done in my life and I will never forget it," while also acknowledging that "I know I still have a long way to go and I also imagine myself with more quad sweep, thicker hams and calves, fuller arms and shoulders and more thickness in the chest and back. Did I miss anything... lol." At 29 Fouad has a bright, bright future in the sport!

Up next the Atlantic City Pro at the Trump Taj Mahal.