The January 1997 issue of Flex features the story behind Nasser El Sonbaty failing his drug test, and perhaps the last pictures you will see of the Masters Olympia contest. Other interesting articles include Mike matarazzo's arm training, and Tom Prince's chest seminar. The bodybuilder on the cover is none other than Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates.

Flex Magazine considers themselves the bible of hardcore bodybuilding. Each month, Flex visits and speaks with the champions of bodybuilding at their gyms, at contests, and at their homes, gathering information and photographs, Flex brings you their latest strategies, and the competitive goals that they apply to further develop their title-winning physiques. Flex is the official magazine of the IFBB.

Bodybuilding:

• Advanced Guns: Mike Matarazzo, Boston's number one musclemeister, details his most intense and effective arm routine.
• Front Loader: Here's enough pec-popping ammo for any hardcore bodybuilder. This workout may be chest what you need.
• Peak at This: To get that pinpoint effect in the top of your biceps, change from straight bars to lots of contracting and twisting with dumbbells and cables.

• How to get H.U.G.E. Part 12: The ultimate growth enhancement system for hardgainers. This month: Three top pros raise the curtain on their contest winning routines.

Special Insert

• Rear Delt Reinforcements: Captain Anabolic provides a few alternatives to bent laterals for hitting the posterior deltoids.

Features

• Awesome Encounters: Three generations of bodybuilders relate the experiences that have left them awestruck.
• The Big Picture: The Porter Cottrell File

Pictorials

• The Fifth Dimension: Take a look at what went on behind the scenes at the 1996 Mr. Olympia. Eye opening pics.
• Dream Come True: That's the best way to describe this month's Power & Sizzle subject, Rita Dytuco, winner of the middleweight division at the recent North American Championships.
• Welcome to the Pain Zone: When 320 pound Nasser El Sonbaty and 290 pound Ian Harrison blitz pecs, they step into the pain zone. Are you ready to take the plunge?

Supersection

• Brave New Drug World: To combat all the misinformation being promoted as fact in other publications and floating around in cyberspace on the Internet, Flex has enlisted the finest scientists and researchers to bring the truth to its readers. This is not a bible of drug usage; rather, it is a service to help readers make intelligent decisions and staying up to date on the vanguard of cutting edge research.

• This month: What you need to know about drug testing: the use of external symptoms of steroid abuse as a form of drug testing in Germany: the lowdown on polygraph testing at 'natural' bodybuilding contests: the latest research on albuterol.

Contests / Posters

• The End of an Era: Remember the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre? Then you have some notion of what happened to Lenda Murray in Chicago at the Ms. Olympia contest. After six years on top, Murray passed the torch - with regret - to Kim Chizevsky, the new queen of muscledom.
• Masters Olympia: (1994 - 1996): R.I.P... The 1996 Masters Olympia, perhaps the last one of its kind, succeeded in vitiating itself into nothing more than a pinchbeck sham open to anyone over 40 with a pro card. Vince Taylor took full advantage of a weak field, save for defending champ Sonny Schmidt, and may have closed the book on this 'homage to the legends'.
• Finnegan's Wake: Saryn Muldrow, the finest Danish import to cross the Atlantic since Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales, dethroned Mia Finnegan at the 1996 Fitness Olympia.
• Capital Punishment: John Simmons, the Motown Marauder, snagged his pro card amid a swirl of controversy at the 1996 North American Championships.
• Poster: Rita Dytuco / Nasser El Sonbaty / Ian Harrison

Nutrition

• Food Fight: The high fat versus high carb debate comes full circle - with a new twist.

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