You know how I often speak about how competitors need to have more respect for the stage? Well, in this article I’m going to talk about a man named Jo Palacios. Jo is a competitor that has been really knocking on the door. He has been earning top placings and he has also been getting accolades for a variety of reasons. Initially he received a lot of blowback because of some big talk that he unleashed leading up to the Tampa Pro. The big talk being that he thought that he was going to defeat Nick Walker. This is not a sport for the humble. You can be humble but it isn’t recommended. And why do I say that? Well I say it for the simple reason that competitors need to have a tremendous amount of self-confidence because if they don’t have it they will all but disappear on stage. The sport isn’t really geared towards humble people. There are competitors that like to have the facade of being humble, even of being meek. It is pious and it looks good but in reality this is a sport all about vanity. It really doesn’t matter how you try to sell it. Again we’re talking about striving for excellence but it’s more than that. Bodybuilders are actually striving for perfection. That’s the whole purpose of symmetry. It’s the idea that one side of your body is comparable to the other side of your part body. In other words, one side of your body has to be the exact same as the other part of your body. That is what symmetry is. Flow means that it all comes together. Balance means that your body is in equilibrium. In reality you can phrase it in a million different ways but the goal is to look as perfect as possible. Perfection may seem unattainable but that is the cat and mouse game that every bodybuilder finds themselves in. When I speak of bodybuilders I’m speaking of physique-based athletes. Everybody wants to look perfect even if it’s just for a few seconds on stage. Now tell me that you can be humble while trying to look perfect. I don’t think it’s possible. At the same time if you’re too overly confident then you can run into trouble.
That’s exactly what happened to Jo. Jo didn’t focus on the fact that Nick Walker had been in the top three of the Olympia or that Nick Walker had won the Arnold Classic. He couldn’t afford to do that because if he did that then he would lack the self-confidence necessary to go toe to toe with him. He needed to really believe that he could win and as a result of that he also started to talk the same game that he was supposed to use to psych himself out for the stage. Now guys like William Bonac didn’t really appreciate that. Like I said it’s very difficult to have a tremendous amount of self-confidence without maybe getting some blowback in the process. This blowback isn’t just important for Jo’s personal mindset but it’s also important for media attention. Look at the case of Charles Griffen. Charles has a phenomenal physique and he put in the work and looked really good in the weeks leading up to the contest, but nobody really cared about Charles because he just was too quiet. He didn’t have that bravado and he didn’t have that almost overzealous self-confidence. So as he got closer to Tampa very few media outlets gave him the time of day. Jo, on the other hand, was talking a big game the whole way through. Media outlets couldn’t help but talk about him and by talking about him his stock was slowly but surely rising. It was rising so much so that Nick Walker who was the favorite to win took offense at Jo’s self-confidence. But this is what you have to do in today’s world of bodybuilding.
Back in the day if you could land the magazine contract or if you landed a big enough supplement contract then they would take care of you in terms of buzz and hype. But now magazines are a thing of the past. There is only one magazine left and it is nothing like the old ones. That’s not because of a lack of heart or anything like that, it’s just simply because it’s a totally different time now. Back in the days of Flex and Muscular Development those magazines had stables of their own athletes. The magazines promoted the athletes because the athletes helped them sell magazines and in turn help them sell ad space. Everybody was making money. Everybody from the writers to the photographers to the publishers ate. But those days are gone. Also gone are the days of massive supplement contracts. Back in the days of CellTech and BSN, their top guys were making so much money that the companies pushed them through ad campaigns and through collaborations with the magazines. But since those days are long gone now it falls upon the athletes to get that buzz. And that’s exactly what guys like Jo were doing. And guys that don’t do it, wind up like guys like Charles – totally ignored.
So what happened in Tampa? Well, what happened in Tampa was what we expected would happen. Nick Walker emerged victorious with an Olympia qualification. Many of us thought Bob was going to be second place but in reality he was third. It doesn’t really matter because he brought a good physique and he was able to hold his head up high. Even though he lost the contest he had nothing to be embarrassed about. All of the people lining up to say I told you so had their moment in the sun but I don’t think that anyone including Jo really thought he was going to win the contest. All he really did was play the game. He played it better than Charles, he played it better than James, he probably played it better than anyone else on that stage. And as a result, even though he didn’t win the contest, he earned a tremendous amount of interest from the media and the sport. But then what happened after that?
Well when Jo went to Atlanta he again came up a little short, but nothing to be embarrassed about. Jo continued to bang on the door in hopes of getting an Olympia qualification. I think anybody that has followed his career will tell you that he has been making improvements all along. But the judges told him that his waist was too wide. They may also have had some issues with his midsection. And this is because Jo is what is known as a mass monster. As is very often the case with mass monsters, they are too busy putting on size to focus on the aesthetics. It’s very difficult to build a massive amount of muscle while focusing on the midsection, the abdominals, and the waist. It’s one of those things where you’re either huge and a little blocky or small and shredded. In any event, competitors will usually take the judge’s advice and incorporate it into the next year’s prep because there isn’t enough time to make any real improvements from one show to the next.
But there’s something very special, almost unexpected, about what Jo did. Instead of going to the Texas Pro where he very well may have defeated the favorite there, Regan Grimes, he totally packed it in for the year. In other words, he stopped competing. So therefore his chances of going to the Olympia are gone because he’s no longer trying to qualify. Is that the right move for Jo?
Well it really depends on who you ask. Most competitors would tell you that you don’t give up until the very end. Other competitors, probably more old school competitors, would tell you that it is very smart to heed the judges’ advice. It not only shows good character but it shows that you are in it for the long haul. Maybe Jo would have won his qualification in Texas but then what? Was that physique going to get him into the top 10 at the O? Was he going to place last? The judges had told him what he needed to do and he did it. And you have to admire that. You have to admire the fact that he didn’t ignore them and keep going in an almost nonsensical race to qualify. Now, what he has done is he has shown the judges that he is serious about making improvements to his physique so that in 2027 he can actually be a formidable force. And I have no doubt that he will.
Bodybuilding is not a sprint. Bodybuilding is a marathon. I think that Jo Palacios has done the unthinkable, but he’s also done probably the best thing he could have done for his career. I think 2026 was a great year for him. He put himself on the map as a result of his mouth but also his physique. He may not have won any shows and he may not have qualified for the Olympia but he held respectable placings and he was in the mix. But beyond that, and probably more importantly, he listened to the judges when it really mattered and he did what was necessary. He made a very tough decision that most other competitors probably couldn’t have made. Or at least they wouldn’t have made. And for that he gets tremendous accolades.
So what do you think about Jo’s decision? Do you agree with it? Do you think he should have kept on going? 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 is 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.
