The Conqueror's Back

William Bonac Is Ready To Step Onto The Mr. Olympia Stage For Another Shot At The Biggest Title Of All. When He Turns Around, He’ll Reveal A Back Locked And Loaded For Battle, Thanks To This Workout.

- Michael Berg, N.S.C.A.

Phil Heath. Shawn Rhoden. Dexter Jackson. Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay.

Those are the four athletes who stood between William Bonac and his ultimate ambition last September—the Mr. Olympia title, the most coveted trophy in bodybuilding. It’s the contest that mints legends.

And while they are big names all, with a six-time defending champ at the very top of the list, they all also have one key thing in common. They’re human. They sweat, they bleed, they have their own moments of doubt, and all of them to a man, whether they like to admit it or not, can be beaten on any given day.

 Bonac knows this. It’s what keeps him grinding six days per week in the industrial-gray gym near his small but comfortable home base in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The 35-year-old Ghana native, with the ever present help of trainer Neil Hill and his Yoda 3 Training (Y3T) system, is ready to take on all comers, planning to enter a few solid pounds heavier than last year’s 230 (at a height of 5'7"), with additional improvements. The Conqueror’s focal point? “My condition,” he says succinctly. “I will be in better shape—full and hard.”

He will also have an even better back, a body part he’s improved tremendously already as he climbed the Olympia ranks, from 15th in his 2014 debut to eighth in 2015 to that aforementioned fifth.