2005 – a year Markus would probably like to forget

This year began with everything looking up for Ruhl. He had finally broken into the top five at the Olympia, granting him elite status among his fellow pros. Marriage had united he and longtime girlfriend Simone as man and wife, and they moved into a beautiful new home outside of Frankfurt, Germany. Ruhl began negotiations to buy the Ottwald Gym in nearby Kelsterbach, his training headquarters that was featured in his best-selling training DVD, Made in Germany. In the spring, things began to slowly unravel. That’s when the IFBB issued a mandate informing all athletes that from that point on, distended abdomens would be marked down, and V-tapers and pleasing, aesthetic shape would be rewarded over sheer bulk. Since brutal mass was Ruhl’s trademark and he had never been known for having a particularly small waistline, it sounded like the IFBB was coming down on him personally. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had better somehow morph his physique into a smaller, more streamlined version, or else. Going against everything he believed in, Markus stopped training as heavy as he was accustomed to. He hated it, but gradually he saw that his waist was coming down – along with everything else. As if all this weren’t bad enough, in late August he had to undergo surgery of the nasal passages. Constant use of nasal spray to ease free breathing while he trained had eaten away the membranes, resulting in nosebleeds that would not stop. Markus also suffered a slight muscle tear in an undisclosed region (he isn’t saying) just weeks before the Olympia. Still, he managed to keep it all together and arrived in Las Vegas in very good condition. He knew he was smaller, but he had given the judges what they asked for by improving his taper. At the last minute, an error in his carb-up caused him to spill over. With the clock ticking away to the moment he had to get on stage, Ruhl did his best to shed the excess water, but went too far. In the end, he took the stage smaller and flatter, and knew in the pump-up room before the show started that any hopes he had of remaining in the top five had gone up in smoke – or down the drain, to be more precise. All of us in attendance that Saturday afternoon were in shock at his appearance. That night, he finished fifteenth, the lowest he had ever placed in the Mr. Olympia. Actually, this was the worst placing he had ever had since he began competing. A dejected Ruhl returned to Germany, where he soon regained his motivation and vowed to redeem himself.