Durban bodybuilder on top of the world – Joe Manjoo
DURBAN bodybuilder Joe Manjoo recently achieved a childhood dream when he became South Africa’s seventh athlete to earn an International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) Pro Card.
Manjoo received an early birthday present – he turns 40 in November – when he joined the select group of male bodybuilders from SA on the IFBB Pro list, following the path of Gary Strydom, Marius Dohne, Andrew Hudson, Hennie Kotze, Earl Abrahams and Cobus van der Merwe. Manjoo became the seventh South African to achieve the honour since the inception of the IFBB Pro League in 1965. POST pumped some iron with the fitness entrepreneur to learn about the accolade and how he maintains his physique.
Q: What is the IFBB Pro Card and what does having “Pro Status” mean?
A: Becoming an IFBB pro is one of the greatest achievements for any athlete. It is an acknowledgement that you are now considered to be one of the best in the world.
Q: How did you feel when you received news about the IFBB Pro Card?
A: I had no words ... just huge gratitude to my Creator for blessing me with the strength, courage and resilience to do well in this sport. It was an impossible childhood dream of mine, and to finally reach this level makes every single hardship, struggle and sacrifice so worth it.
Q: How did you achieve it?
A: I won an overall title in a prestigious International Contest called the Arnold Classic in Johannesburg in 2016
Q: From when have you aspired to achieve the “impossible childhood dream”?
A: My mom’s brothers were both bodybuilders in the ‘80s and they were my role models. They would captivate us with their feats of strength and we used to ask them to flex their biceps for us all the time. I first walked into a gym called Body Image in Overport in 1992. My uncle Iqbal took me there and the owner Kevin took me through my first three-day split. He gave me a blue workout card with all the exercises and sets, which was kept in the gym for us to refer to. It was my uncle Fazal from Vereeniging, however, who moulded our minds and taught us how to be mentally strong and driven – he kept us motivated to train in our youth and led by example.
Q: What’s your day to day profession?
A: I own the Elite Human Performance Centre in Overport. We
specialise in training men’s physique and ladies’ bikini athletes that compete on stage nationally and internationally, as well as now catering for the average person who wants to develop his or her physique.
Q: What other bodybuilding titles do you hold?
A: I am a multiple SA champion as well as one of the first athletes to attain SA colours in bodybuilding.
Q: Which of your competition victories gave you the greatest joy?
A: Definitely my first SA Championships, 2011 in Cape Town. The odds were stacked highly against me as it was a week after the month of Ramadaan. It was extremely difficult dieting and training while fasting and I had to push my mind and body to the limit.
Q: Competing takes you around a fair bit. Where have you been?
A: I have competed all over the country as well as Spain and Estonia. I loved Estonia and how clean and organised everything was and how they all followed rules.
Q: What is the upcoming event in USA?
A: The pro circuit in America consists of contests across the country and I haven’t decided exactly which contest I will enter yet. A win there will qualify me to enter the biggest contest in the world, the Mr Olympia in Las Vegas.
Q: From a bodybuilder to a coach, what has the transition been like?
A: It has been a very natural progression. I love coaching and watching people grow from strength to strength. Athletes that we have coached this year have made it to the covers of fitness magazines and a few have earned their SA colours. Q: What is your diet? A: You need to make intelligent food choices to build and maintain a physique at this level. I have to make sure I get enough protein, carbs and good fats each day. An average day’s protein would be for example around a kilo of chicken fillet and four cups of egg whites. Carbs are mainly rice, potato and sweet potato.
Q: Outside the gym what are your other hobbies / interests?
To compete at this level leaves little time for anything else and every free second I get is family time. Whatever success I have had in this sport is a direct result of the time and effort put into me by my wife Naz. I could not have done any of this without
her.