Introduction into bodybuilding: When I was young, I always
liked contact sports like boxing and kickboxing. When I was 16 or
17, I started amateur boxing, but I was skinny. My trainer told me
to start lifting to put on weight and build up my arms, because you
get hit on the arms a lot and it helps if they are bigger.
I started
training and, as it would turn out, I have good genetics for bodybuilding.
My arms started growing like crazy, and all I was doing was chinups,
pushups and dips. People started asking me if I was training for bodybuilding,
but I said, "No, I'm just boxing." They would say, "Wow!
Your arms are huge for your body!" So then I started lifting
weights, and I bought some books and magazines to learn about training
and dieting. I began to really like it and, after six months, I entered
and won my first show. Now I love it. I'm so happy to be a bodybuilder!
Role
Model: Shawn Ray was the guy I most wanted to be like. He's
not too big; but he's not too small; he's just perfect. Plus, I like
his attitude. He would always smile, he's well-spoken and he was also
a great poser. So when I first started bodybuilding, I said to myself,
I want to be like him.
Now my
role model is Milos Sarcev. he is my trainer and my friend. He is
like a big brother to me and he's taught me so much, not just about
training and dieting, but how to enjoy bodybuilding. He's taught me
to enjoy bodybuilding no matter what the result of a contest. I am
just so happy to be competing and doing what I love, and he is the
same way. He's a real inspiration to me, and I feel fortunate to know
him and his family.
First
Gym: Iron Gym. It was really an old fashioned gym. There
were no machines, just free weights, and the barbells were bent. When
you'd drop the dumbbells, they sound like they were going to fall
apart. But everyone there trained heavy. They weren't worried about
symmetry or shape, just getting big and strong.
Current
Gym: Las Vegas Gold’s Gym 3750 E. Flamingo Rd. and
9310 Eastern Ave.
Favorite
Bodypart to train: I love training every bodypart, but my
favorite is hamstrings. It's such a beautiful muscle, especially when
you're doing a side-chest or side-triceps pose. So I really enjoy
training them. People think I'm crazy, but I do five or six different
hamstring exercises, from squats to deadlifts, to walking lunges.
I do all thse things while concentrating on my hamstrings in addition
to different kinds of leg curls. Sometimes I spend and a half training
them.
Proudest
Achievement: My nephew, Charlie, has Down syndrome. I wanted
to take him down to the gym and show him how to train. Everyone at
the gym said to me, "Why are you even trying?" They didn't
think he could do anything.
Sometimes
I couldn't communicate to him with words, but I'd show him how to
do things by example: breathing, form, contracting, up and down. then
he really started to like it, and he's gotten really good at it. He
uses great form and everything. It makes me feel so good to see how
happy it makes him! I love him very much, and he's my number one fan
- he has all the magazines I've ever been in.
Toughest
thing about being a bodybuilder: Being noticed and judged
all the time. When you're a baseball player, unless you're really
famous, nobody notices you. You don't stand out. As a bodybuilder,
you are so much bigger than everyone that you stand out. Wherever
you go - to the bank or to the supermarket - people notice you. Some
people tell you how good you look, but other people start talking
about steroids.
It bothered
me when my son came home from school and said, "Papa, a bunch
of boys from school said the only reason you got big is because of
steroids." So I said to him, "Well, what do you think? And
he said, "Well, you eat six or seven times a day and you train
so hard every day and you take a lot of protein." It bothers
me when people tell my son that they don't respect what his father
does. They respect baseball players, but bodybuilding is harder than
baseball. Baseball is about having a talent and playing a game. But
with bodybuilding you have to train and diet and get enough sleep
and take supplements and do cardio. Bodybuilding is not just a sport
- it's a lifestyle. You have to live it all the time.
Best
thing about being a bodybuilder: The people that you meet
as a bodybuilder and the mutual respect bodybuilders have for each
other. Everyone is so supportive within the community; it's a great
feeling.
Philosophy:
Bodybuilding is a lifestyle. It's not a contest. I want to be a professional
bodybuilder all my life, to live this way all my life.
Goals:
I want to be the best bodybuilder I can be, not to win contests, but
for me. It would be great to be Mr. Olympia, but I can't say "I'm
going to win" or "I'm going to be in the top five."
you never know what the judges think. I want to show everyone how
good I can be. I just want to always get better and show everyone
how good I can be. I don't want to get bigger, just always getting
better.
