Gun shop: N.R.A. stands for no rest allowed, as a quintet of bodybuilders arm-wrestle barbells and dumbbells after the Night of Champions

Muscle & Fitness, Sept, 2004 by Jeff O'Conncll

"Show 'em, Darrem," says George, smiling. "That's what I mean. Beautiful."

"Darrem has awesome arms, and what I like is that you can tell they're real," he continues. "A lot of guys have arms these days, but God knows what's in 'em. If they don't have the striations and the veins, you know somethin's wrong."

Before the training session had begun, Darrem, whose physique was cut to ribbons for the show, had vented frustration over not winning. "Second is maybe the toughest spot to swallow," he'd said. "You just keep thinking that one spot further, you would have done what you came to do. I just thought I'd come to a stage where I'd finally get my due. I thought I was better than the guy who was No. 1, and a lot of people had the same view. To be honest, I didn't think it was close."

Now, with the session unwinding, Thomas approaches Darrem, clearly thrilled at the chance to talk shop with a star he has admired from afar for years, even if their conversation consists mostly of smiles and gestures. Darrem is a worthy role model, one whose praises have been undersung for years. Lee and Thomas are still young enough perhaps to compete one day for a major title, and Tony and George have overcome obstacles to get back on the wagon. But Darrem, who started at 17, turned pro at 23 and is now 35, has scratched and chipped his way forward as deliberately as that Clint Eastwood character who tunnels his way out of Alcatraz prison.

That kind of persistence and determination is a hard sell these days. Pills, injections or implants that promise to inflate their arms as easily as a bicycle tire can easily distract young bucks. Some would have you believe that actually training hard and eating right to sustain growth long term is a waste of time. Archaic. Old school. Just so ... 20th century.

Bull. Rep by rep, workout by workout, year by year, inch by inch-that's the only way you build strong, striated arms with peaked biceps like Darrem's, and that's how you build a career in his sport as well, assuming you want to and are blessed with some decent genetics. Just ask him. "I'm a very good planner, and I'm very patient," he says. "I look where I want to be a year from now, two years from now, whatever it might be in my life, and I look at all the steps I need to get there, and then I concentrate on each step at a time. The way my body works and the way I do everything where this sport is concerned is a lot different than a lot of other guys. And my body reflects that onstage. What takes another guy six months might take me 15 months. That's my choice, and that's why I've been able to stay in the game so long and be consistent. I'm trying to do it the right way."

PHOTOS BY DAVID HARRY STEWART