Patrick Bernard: Three Times a Charm?

For the past few years now, I have attended the Canadian Championships. I have been working with a few guys in preparation for the Championships and have been impressed with the level of talent that I’ve seen. However, for some reason, it seems that when a Canadian finally gets that elusive pro card, they disappear.

The first two Canadians I ever worked with were Dave Fischer and Bruce Patterson. Dave Fischer really shocked the crowd at the first North American he did way back in what I believe was 1991. He was truly striated from head to toe. I mean, totally! The other Canadian, Bruce Patterson, got his pro card at around 21 years old. I was working with him around the same time I began working with a very young Jay Cutler. In comparison, Bruce had the mental focus to train hard and achieve great conditioning but Jay had the added feature of sheer determination- something you can't train for but just comes from an internal desire to compete. If there was a way to put Jay’s rock solid determination into Bruce’s psyche, there is no doubt in my mind that he would be fighting for IFBB pro wins today.

Patrick Bernard, of Quebec City, is another bodybuilder with that rock solid determination like Jay’s. I met him through a mutual friend, Sam Zebib, who has one of the freakiest physiques ever. Sam, who knows I love to work with workaholics and intensely disciplined athletes, told me that Patrick was exactly that type and that I should work with him. .Shortly afterwards, I started devising a nutrition plan for Patrick for the 2007 Canada show. After prejudging that year, I told Patrick, “You are either going to win the class and the overall or there will be someone who will beat you in the class and he will win the overall." The outcome: Patrick got second in his class and the class winner took the overall.

In 2008, Patrick came back to take the class but not the overall. This year going into the 2009 show, he’s more determined than ever with better balance and ability to retain his rock hard quality that should give him a very strong edge. I work with Patrick year round, so to say that I have a pulse on where his body is at, is an understatement. One thing that I demand of all of my clients is that they 1) Follow the exact plan that I provide with no deviation 2) Don’t pay attention to the pre and post contest peanut gallery 3) Always trust that everything I do for them is sound and 4) Always strive to elevate the sport. Patrick does all of these. I have no doubt from the level of sheer determination and discipline that he has shown that he will accomplish exactly what he’s set out for.

The Pics: The pic in the top left corner is Patrick in off season condition. The second and third pics were taken a month out from the show, so there is still a considerable amount of time for improvement. He looks denser than ever. His weight here is just 189 pounds so he is only two pounds away from the class limit. I’d like to be a servant and say “Patrick this year you can take the overall.” However, as I mentioned there are a lot of great bodybuilders in Canada and I am sure, from seeing how hard many of them train, anything can happen and the show is totally wide open.