Muscle Talk

2016 Vancouver Pro Predictions

By Branden Liezart

1. Fred Smalls – Placed 10th at the Toronto Pro. “Biggie” keeps on improving, which is a rare narrative in the IFBB nowadays. He has some structural flaws, but makes do to the best of his ability with what he has. Smalls looked great in South Africa last weekend conditioning-wise and carries a lot of bulbous muscle. His strengths are his brimming pecs, delts, and back. Where he still needs to improve, and if trends continue he eventually will, is in the limbs.
There’s still a little ways to go for him to be deemed “peeled” onstage for me. But given the depth of field in Vancouver, I can’t see enough top-tier talent here to move him out of the top.

2. Iain Valliere - Some are pegging Valliere as the next big thing to come out of the Canadian bodybuilding scene. That’s a hefty title without much proven at the pro level. Iain looked good in both Orlando and Toronto in 2015, but he stills needs more time to be a threat in the IFBB pro circuit shows, which now brings us to the 2016 Vancouver Pro Show.

Iain drew a tough lineup to make his season debut at the Toronto Pro, but he came out with an impressive seventh place finish. Iain is a good bodybuilder no doubt, but patience will be the sermon preached afterwards. He needs more width in the lats to get the eye-catching look in the front double-biceps and a little more density in his torso from the front and back, but the good news is he’s still young in the sport. Time will grant this with hard work and consistency.
The future could be bright for this slowly rising star. I’ve had my eye on him for a while now and am excited to see what he can offer to his next Canadian show.

3. Paulo Almeida - Almeida has a great frame to build on, but it just seems he can’t pull it all together onstage. He just keeps making it a game of horseshoes when it comes to onstage conditioning: close, but not close enough. He brought a full, crisp, ripped and polished look to Toronto, and managed to place either in a deep lineup. I think with only 10 competitors in the show, Paulo will 100% crack top 3.

4. Daniel Toth - If this guy ever brought really sharp conditioning he would be top 5 at almost all the IFBB Pro circuit shows. Looked good in UK at Bodypower. Still want to see him keep dieting and competing until he does. I think he’ll make Top 5 in this line up.



5. Renaldo Gairy
 - Renaldo hasn’t competed since the Vancouver Pro show last year year, where he placed an incredible 3rd in a really deep line up. Renaldo brings a perfectly well-rounded combination of full muscle-bellies, symmetry, proportion and conditioning. His posing is always on point, and his stage presence is also veteran-quality. I see him placing Top 5 for sure as long as he had a solid off-season to make improvements!