At Guest Posing at the 2013 St. Louis Pro, Branch Warren was asked to comment on critics saying he may have won the most muscular titles but he will never be Mr. Olympia, Warren readily replied, “I don’t give a damn what they think.”
The big bald hulk further added that these contests can measure how tall one is, how much one weighs, how tapered one is from shoulder to blades, and Warren pointing to his chest, “One thing that they can’t measure and what matters the most is here, it’s the soul, it’s the heart. So, they can’t count me out. I’ll be there. I’m in one hundred percent.”
We remember how the warrior in Branch Warren, also nicknamed “Quadrasarus,” bled just weeks before Mr. Olympia in 2011 when he injured his quad tendon. The fans who were rooting for him were downcast but were optimistic that he would recover in time to defend his title in the 2012 Arnold Classic, which he successfully did.
Bodybuilders who suffered severe injuries could not easily recover without muscle-building therapy like those provided by steroids. It is unfortunate that with the banning of these drugs, the public is only made aware of how the drug can be abused, but if used properly, can help champions with the heart and soul like Branch Warren.
Branch Warren is up and raring, being one of the seven bodybuilders who were featured in the Generation Iron docudrama, a revamp of the same genre that catapulted Arnold Schwarzenegger in Pumping Iron. In the documentary, he is acknowledged as a strong contender to the 2013 Mr. Olympia, where he eventually placed 9th and the title went to Phil Heath. During filming, the crew followed Warren doing 500-pound bench press and 225-pound barbel curls.
Eventually, the film went deeper as to showing all seven bodybuilders in their struggle to sustain their rigorous training and regimen while maintaining their family and social lives. It was all forms of struggle personified, including the stigma of steroid use. “That’s the biggest misconception,” says Warren of his sport. “The media and the press present bodybuilders as meatheads.”
However, it was not the first nor would be the last that bodybuilders would be associated with steroids. Branch Warren had a brush with steroids investigations in 2007 when one of his training partners, David Jacobs, entered a plea agreement where he admitted to selling steroids to professional athletes and bodybuilders. Jacobs was indicted, but his fate took a twist when he was found killed with multiple bullet wounds in 2008.
William Branch Warren was born on February 28, 1975 in Tyler, Texas. His first stint at a very young age was in 1992 when he won the 1992 AAU Teenage Mr. America competition. He used to sneak in and out of the local gym because he could not afford membership fees. He got his pro card in 2001. Today, Branch Warren is one of the top bodybuilding pros who keep moving forward, and as his heart and soul would have it, with or without steroids.
