Introducing Richard "Magic" Jones: how the 2003 USA overall champ conjured up a groundbreaking win and how he's arming himself for future glory

Flex, Dec, 2003 by Shawn Perine

Las Vegas is a magical town. In fact, it's probably safe to say that no other place in the world can boast as high a population of prestidigitators as Sin City. Starting at the top, with fey felinophiles Siegfried & Roy, and moving down the fabulous scale to guys bearing the title "The Amazing ...," there are no less than half a dozen headline magic acts being performed on any given night in Vegas, baby.

But surely no feat of illusion occurring on the evening of July 26, 2003, either on or off the Strip, was as impressive as that staged by Richard "Magic" Jones at the 2003 NPC USA Championships.

Jones' 2003 USA performance actually began backstage, the moment he entered the pump-up room. Dressed in street clothes, he appeared to most as a well-built guy--pretty big, but not a freak. Then something miraculous occurred. As he began to disrobe in preparation for the competition, he slowly but unquestionably transformed. No longer a 5'7" light heavyweight, the man appeared to expand and stretch, like a nascent butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. By the time he was tanned, oiled and pumped, the perfection of Richard Jones' proportions rendered his true physical size irrelevant. Never mind the fact that some of his competitors were nearly half a foot taller and 70 pounds heavier than he was. They could have been eight feet tall and 500 pounds for all it mattered. The way he looked, even Goliath himself wouldn't have stood a chance against this veritable David.

Upon taking the stage with the 25 other competitors of the light. heavyweight class, Jones warmed up the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall audience with his impression of a chameleon. Blending into the muscular melange of fellow athletes, he waited patiently for the right moment to shine. Then came his introduction: "Number 96, Richard Jones!" With the wave of a muscular opened hand, he hit a Bob Paris-like double-biceps shot, and in doing so made his 198-pound frame appear as that of a super-heavyweight while at the same time making his competition disappear before the audience's very eyes. And so it went, as he returned to perform his free-posing routine, and again for the class and overall comparisons. With each new pose--from front double biceps to abdominals and thigh--he seemed to distance himself further from the confines of class structure and to hover closer to physical perfection. In a sport whose mantra is "bigger is better," Jones convinced both audience and judging panel that less is more, and that both the light" heavyweight and overall titles were his for me taking.

With a combination of shape, mass and detail not seen in amateur competition since the emergence of his mentor Shawn Ray at the NPC Nationals 16 years prior, Jones would go on to perform his act with the flawless precision of a Vegas showgirl kickline and the unwavering control of Wayne Newton's coif. In fact, so impressive was this magic man that he accomplished the unprecedented feat of taking the USA overall title as a light heavyweight on his very first attempt at the national level.

Yes, Richard Jones, in earning a pro card at the first time of asking may very well have been the greatest illusionist in Las Vegas the night of July 26. Unlike his more nattily clad (if rhinestone-encrusted tuxedos can be deemed "natty") peers, this magician is quite willing to reveal the tricks of his trade. SECRETS REVEALED Despite the magical aura Richard Jones brings to a contest stage, he doesn't keep any closely guarded bodybuilding secrets. There's no smoke and mirrors, no tricks up his sleeve (not that he could fit anything other than his massive arm in there), no Penn and Telleresque revelations to be told. With the kind of levelheaded pragmatism that so often typifies winners, he makes it clear that his current successes were not built on a house of cards.

"My goal from day one was to be complete," Jones reveals. "A lot of guys start off just wanting to train their chests and arms because that's what looks good in a shirt or at the beach. I wanted everything from an early age. I had a passion for every bodypart and wanted them all to complement each other.

"For me, starting out as a smaller guy, Lee Labrada and Shawn Ray were what bodybuilding was about," Jones continues. "They were complete and that's what I wanted to be. I knew the size would come through training, but my main focus was to present a total package. I'm still working toward that goal."

It was in 1991 as a 17-year-old football running back at East Boston High School looking to bulk up that Jones discovered bodybuilding and began formulating the no-nonsense training system that would eventually lead him to a national title. "I stick with the basics," Jones says. "I'm a free-weight type of guy. I like heavy compound movements, such as deadlifts, squats, bench presses, straight-bar barbell curls and standing military presses. That's my favorite kind of training."

So where does that leave machines? "I do use machines when I'm training for a show or when I'm recovering from an injury," he admits. "I'll also switch off when I feel the need to mix things up. Machines are good for variety. They hit the muscles from a different angle." QUALITY ACT Although Jones has gravitated to traditional powerlifting and weightlifting movements as the core of his program, he's not lured off the bodybuilding course by the siren's song of plate-jangling maximum lifts. "I train with quality in mind rather than quantity," Jones confides. "I can't forget the fact that I am a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter," he continues. "How much I can bench is irrelevant to me, as long as my muscles are growing and improving. When I'm up there onstage, it won't matter whether I can bench 100 pounds or 500 pounds." Which isn't to say that Jones trains light. "I do understand that heavier weights, to a point, can stimulate more muscle growth than lighter ones. So although I usually don't go below six reps and often as high as 12-15 reps per set, I use the heaviest weights I can handle while maintaining good form.