Search - Shawn Ray Bodybuilding: The Final Countdown on DVD

Great Insights for Beginning and Experienced Lifters Alike

Michael D. Mallinger | Woodbridge, VA USA | 03/31/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Final Countdown" is a DVD featuring professional bodybuilder Shawn Ray as he prepares to compete in the 1998 Mr. Olympia contest, which is the "Super Bowl" of professional bodybuilding. The video features Ray lifting weights, discussing his meal plan, and explaining principles to follow when choosing dietary supplements. Ray offers outstanding, detail-oriented insights on each of these topics to help beginners and veterans alike.

This makes "The Final Countdown" unique among professional bodybuilding documentaries. The video offers valuable advice not only to experienced bodybuilders preparing for their first contest, but to beginning- and intermediate-level weightlifters looking to achieve success in the gym. It serves as a great introduction to how bodybuilding works and how it can improve participants' lives over time.

Ray begins by explaining the training split and individual workout plans he uses to isolate specific body parts. Clips and detailed explanations from his back, chest, leg, and abdominal workouts are featured. He focuses on hitting each muscle group from a variety of different angles to better stimulate growth.

He addresses setting appropriate goals and expectations when choosing a workout partner. Finding a partner with similar intensity, drive, and ambition is vital because many free-weight exercises require the presence of a spotter. Finding someone who pushes their partner to try harder and to maximize the intensity of a workout can make the difference between getting good results and great results. Emphasizing this point is excellent advice for less-experienced bodybuilders who want to get off to a great start right out of the gate.

On diet and nutrition, Ray shows examples of meals he eats throughout a given day. Many bodybuilding DVDs offer protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake goals by listing target statistics, but "The Final Countdown" makes it much easier for the viewer to actually see what works. Ray explains which nutrient sources are good for building mass and when to take them in. Beginners who watch this video will see how much easier it is to follow a well-designed bodybuilding nutrition plan than many statistical guidelines make it sound.

The most outstanding section of the DVD addresses dietary supplements. Ray views supplements as minor tools that can be used to tweak an already well-balanced diet. He does not view them as a secret weapon for building mass. Most of the products he uses are micronutrients frequently exhausted by intense workouts that are difficult to obtain from foods. He emphasizes that whole-food sources of protein such as lean beef, chicken breast, pork tenderloin, and tuna are more valuable for building mass than protein powders, which should only be used when no food is available.

These are extremely important points. Many top-level bodybuilders understand the logic behind them, but seldom point them out to beginners and intermediates. Ray deserves an enormous amount of credit for highlighting them here.

In the end, Ray loses in the Mr. Olympia competition to Ronnie Coleman. But Shawn Ray remains one of the most consistent professional bodybuilders of all time - setting the record for most consecutive top-five finishes in the Olympia contest. He is also one of the sport's greatest ambassadors - providing outstanding advice to young people who are interested in pursuing bodybuilding to improve their lives.

"The Final Countdown" is an excellent introduction to bodybuilding strategies proven to work by a wide variety of celebrities and professional athletes from many different sports. People who view this DVD will understand the most important principles for building muscle over time.

This video is one of the top professional bodybuilding DVDs available on the market today. Other top-notch videos offering valuable insights to young lifters include "Titans Vol. 5: From Dream to Reality" featuring Darrem Charles and "Driven" featuring Mark Dugdale. But Shawn Ray has done the best job of cutting right to chase and showing exactly what works. Other professional athletes would do well to emulate his commitment to giving back to the fans."