Let me start by saying that bodybuilding is not a sport that looks to any one body part to seal the deal. You could have the best back and not be Mr. Olympia. You could have the best arms and not win the Arnold Classic. You could have the best wheels and not win the New York Pro. Having the best body part doesn’t mean that you’re going to win any show, let alone a big three show. because that’s just not how the sport is designed. Physique-based sports are about the full body. They’re not about a particular bodypart or a particular group of muscles. I think that a lot of people sometimes get it twisted because they think that because they have one standout muscle they can put everyone else to shame. It doesn’t work that way. Just like there are people who think because they are the best posers that they’re automatically going to win. Posing is an important factor in being successful but if you don’t have anything to show, then you can have the best posing abilities but it’s almost like having the best website but not having any products for people to put in their cart. What does it mean to have the best sales interface if you don’t have goods? I think everything plays a role. Posing plays a role, outstanding physique plays a role, condition plays a role, etc. The reason why I don’t believe anyone is beating Keone Pearson is simply because I’m floored by the fact that he has striated glutes weeks out. I mean not even days out, but weeks out. The fact he has striated glutes doesn’t mean he’s going to win on them alone, but it speaks to a level of condition that’s undeniable in the terms of what he will likely bring to the stage. It tells me that he’s not employing modern-day tactics, rather, he’s kicking it old-school.
If you look at the way the guys used to prep back in the ‘70s and ’80s, many of them didn’t do a peak week. A peak week is a great idea if you want to run your body through hell and back. A lot of people like peak week because it sells products. They like it because it’s very marketable. I mean you have a competitor who is absolutely dying inside. They’re about to fall apart. Yet they have to keep it together. They have to do those last few sessions of cardio, they have to do those last few posing sessions, they can’t miss chiro or massage. And for some reason, people respect that agony. But why put the body through all of that wherewithal if it isn’t necessary? It’s only necessary if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do on a conscientious prep. Guys like Rich Gaspari back in the day didn’t suffer during a peak week because they suffered throughout the whole prep. They just tightened it little by little. The idea of shocking the body the last week is absolutely unnecessary and could potentially cause metabolic damage. The body is not a machine. I know that a lot of people like to think of it that way because they want to get themselves in the zone, but that’s actually a self-destructive way to go about things. Longevity should be the name of the game – not destruction. Longevity would promote the idea of tightening the prep little by little each week so that the concept of a peak week becomes obsolete. I think that is what Keone is doing.
Usually having striated glutes is one of the last things that takes place during the last week or maybe even the last 48 hours. There are a lot of drug overtones with this part of the body as well. A lot of people back in the day used to believe that in order to reach this level of condition diuretics were necessary. Diuretics are what put people in the ground, not anabolic steroids. Competitors that dabble in diuretics are playing with fire. And they usually don’t just play with one, they play with several, so it becomes almost like Russian roulette. Imagine that, playing Russian roulette in a caloric deficit with your mind all over the place, under-slept, and dehydrated. It’s a recipe for disaster. But I look at Keone and I see him in such razor-sharp condition two weeks before the show and it makes me wonder what he is going to look like on contest day. Because you know that he’s tweaking his diet and he’s tweaking his protocol little by little. Everything is being done intelligently, with time, and that is very important folks because a lot of competitors that have to shock their bodies with the peak week approach don’t have time. That’s the whole reason why hell week is so agonizing, it’s because they have waited until the very end to give the body that one last kick in the ass. If things don’t go right, then they have to resort to any number of chemical enhancements and other bizarre tactics to ensure that the whole prep isn’t lost. Time is the one thing they don’t have. That lack of time is what leads people into doing some pretty crazy things. I’m talking about some real Frankenstein shit that’s been done in hotel rooms the last 48 hours or even sometimes between the prejudging and the finals. It all comes down to that one show. Everything is on the line.
But seeing Keone like this really inspires a lot of confidence in me as a bodybuilding writer because I am seeing greatness before my eyes. You are seeing it as well. This isn’t part of some pay-per-view or some weird studio session where they control everything, where Keone controls the lights and he controls the special effects and we’re seeing AI before our eyes. No, it’s none of that; he’s standing in a room and he’s showing his glutes and there’s no goon lights and there’s no nothing. It’s his physique and it’s maybe a phone or a camera. and it just really gives you that wow factor. It isn’t the best picture, but it shows what needs to be shown. It’s the picture we’ve all seen. I’d include it here, but seeing as I didn’t take it, I have reservations about using it. You can always visit The Prodigy’s IG and see what I’m talking about. But you almost have to live under a rock by this point to not know what I’m talking about. It’s perhaps the freakiest picture of 2026. He’s THAT ready!
Very few competitors can stand next to Keone, let alone win. Even Shaun Clarida, who looks phenomenal, may have his work cut out for him to match Keone’s size AND condition. I mean again it’s not about any one muscle group, but when it comes to striated glutes you’re talking about a level of condition that even puts leaves the death face in the dust. Striated glutes are just on another level.
I’m very curious about what we’re going to see over the course of the next couple of weeks. It stands to reason that Pearson is going to get better and better. He could always stay where he’s now but I just don’t see that. I see Keone doing a prep that is tightening up little by little and the next time we see him we may not even recognize him. He’s going to look so phenomenal that the judges are going to have a very easy time deciding who wins the show. He just has it all!! How can you beat the guy that has it all? You can’t. It’s more a question of who places 2nd, 3rd, and so forth.
Do you agree with me? Is Keone going to absolutely dominate the competition at the 2026 212 Olympia Showdown? As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article, here at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. It’s bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.