It was never my dream, or my
intent to become a competitive body builder. The thought of the sacrifice, dieting,
the entire lifestyle of preparing for a body building competition did not seem worth the few minutes of standing half naked
on stage. I vividly remember telling a Dr. Friend while working out that I would
never compete. Who would have thought?
Humble beginnings
In 2000 I was fairly serious about weight training. I was managing a small
x-ray department and had worked in acute health care for 6 years. I was serious
about my health, I was strong, but I was out of shape. One day while moving a
patient, I was struck with tremendous back pain. I learned that I had a fairly
serious spine disorder that I was most likely born with. After considering my
options, I decided I would take this challenge very seriously and do everything I could to not undergo surgery. I went through 2 months of physical therapy and learned what it took to make a strong, flexible core. Then I applied all that information to my weight training.
I was still floundering a lot, as most of us do, not sticking 100% to my program.
My back was better, but only about 90% of what I was before I learned of my condition.
Then in late 2001, opportunity knocked as I learned of a transformation challenge that was put on by AST Sports Science. This was just what I needed to really buckle down and apply all that I had learned
consistently. I enrolled in the AST 2001 World Championships, made a plan, and
begun a quest that would spark a passion in me so intense I would equate it to a forest fire.
In the end I did not win the challenge, but I got fantastic results. Using
my electric impedance body fat analyzer, I figured that in twelve weeks, I had shed 11 pounds of body fat, and built greater
than 4 pounds of muscle. I was absolutely amazed.
I had accomplished in 12 weeks what most work all their lives for and never attain.
I was so excited I wanted to share this knowledge with anyone and everyone who would listen. In early 2002, I organized my own challenge called the “Time for Talk is UP Challenge.” I invited all the employees at the hospital I worked at to participate. The turnout was tremendous as 29 people enrolled. After 8
weeks, 11 people lost a combined 37 pounds of fat. But the ball had only begun
to roll.
The Birth of Healthy Bodies Fitness
After the challenge was complete, I bought a struggling little gym in town, moved it to a better location and cut my
hours down to part time so I could work my new business. I dedicated all of 2002
to my new business, and body building. I learned all I could about nutrition,
weight training, and operating a small business. I was passing my newly acquired
knowledge to my clients, but more importantly I was applying all that I learned every day.
I quickly learned that body building was not about standing on stage and showing off.
It was about the journey. It was about what you learned, experienced,
and became as a person as you were living your passion. It was time to experience
this growth first hand and in December, I decided to do a show. I would use the same tools I used for the AST 2001 Championships. However,
I would use the knowledge I gained from the AST Challenge to exceed what I had accomplished.
I created a nutrition and training schedule along with a plan that was so easy to understand, a monkey could do it. I spent a good month calculating what food I would eat, when I would eat it, when
I would train, when I would do my cardio, I planned out every detail. Almost
as soon as the calendar turned from 2002 to 2003, so I turned from fitness enthusiast to intense, competitive body builder
preparing for his first show.
First competition
The next five months would be tough. Very early in my preparation my son
was born prematurely. Now I had to try to balance a very busy small business,
semi full time job, preparing for my show, and now I had the demands of a family. My
time was hard pressed and I was struggling to maintain balance. As the months
passed, my physique was getting lean and hard and that motivated me to not give up, but the mind games starting creeping in
and the energy levels started to drop. I was not sure I could do it. It was difficult to say the least, but I put the blinders on, executed my plan day in and day out, and
with the help of my wife, my family, my clients, and my coaches I made it.
I stood on stage on June 8th 2003 and I was not nervous. I was at peace, almost like I was at home. I was prepared and there was nothing to be nervous about. That day will stand out in my mind almost as vividly as the day my son was born. My competitors and their families were literally shocked at the condition I was in. My coaches had taught me well and I won the overall for the Novice Division for the ABA/INBA Northern Nevada
Natural Body Building Championships. I had beaten body builders who outweighed
me by quite a bit. I remember literally crying tears of joy as I was walking
back to the hotel after prejudging.
The competition Saga continues
2003 was
tough and I had not planned to compete again in 2004, but now I was addicted and I wanted that feeling again. My business was really thriving, I was being paid for my coaching, and I quit my full time job and started
working weekends at a trauma center in nearby Reno Nevada to devote more time to my business. With some minor
adjustments to my original plan I had made in 2003, I started again in February. Preparation
was quite a bit easier this time around, but the result was the same. I showed
up ultra ripped and shocked a lot of people. This time though the addiction had
really set in and I did two shows in stead of one.
After 5 months of preparation, I traveled to Sacramento California to compete in the 2004 ABA/INBA Western USA Natural Body Building Championships. I had to compete in the “open” division because I had won the overall the novice division the
year before. It was just as before, I was ultra shredded, competitors and spectators
made comments about my incredible condition, and again, I won my class, the middle class, and went on to compete for the overall. I could literally feel the overall title in my hand, but the winner of the tall class
was almost as ripped as I was, but he had about 50lbs more muscle. I really can’t
blame the judges for choosing him as the champ. The experience was incredible
just the same though.
1 month later, I traveled to San Diego California to Compete in the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Muscle Madness 2004.
I was just as ready for this show as I nearly matched my condition from 1 month earlier. This was by far the toughest competition for me yet though and I placed a very respectable third in the
middle class.
The theme was the same for all three shows. I was the most cut, most ripped,
and most shredded body builder there. Many of the spectators thought I should
have won; I just did not have the size that the other body builders did. So that
is why now my quest in 2005 is 205lbs
Passion and Determination
As you can
tell I am very passionate about what I do. I literally love coaching my clients
and have to pinch myself every day when I think about actually being paid to coach them.
I pass everything I learn on to them from the mental/motivational strategies I learn, to the intricacies of weight
training, cardiovascular training, nutrition and human performance. I further
my passion for what I do by writing about it. I have completed a book on nutrition
and have been fortunate enough to land an agent in Florida who is feverishly working to get it published. I have a second book I call “The guide to a Healthy Body” which is about 85% complete and I
am working on an instructional DVD/Video on weight training, outlining my techniques and approach. “Healthy Bodies Fitness” has grown to the point that I need a larger facility, and the money
from my business is rolling in so consistently I am on the verge of quitting my full time job.
Just like my quest for 205lbs all this and more will become a reality, just give me some time, because it is inevitable.
