Muscular mom-and-son duo
When this mother and son duo flex their muscles, trophies come pouring in!
THEY both have sun-kissed fair hair and when they smile their almondshaped eyes light up in the same way.
But that’s not all Leonie van Jaarsveld and her son Déwayne have in common. Washboard abs, ultra-lean waistlines and rippling biceps are other features they share – as well as the glittering World Fitness Federation (WFF) trophies they both have their names etched into.
This Free State mom and son duo are both world-class bodybuilders.
Last month Leonie (37) and Déwayne (19) flew off to the WFF championships in Singapore, where Déwayne took second place in the under-23 male bodybuilding category while Leonie came sixth in the Superbody Ladies Figure category.
Leonie’s medals and trophies have pride of place at her gym, the Trainher Fitness centre in Welkom, clamouring for space on shelves on the walls.
People are always surprised when they first meet her, says Leonie, who started bodybuilding 10 years ago. “They tell me I’m much smaller than they thought.”
It takes time to pump her muscles up to all their glory before a competition, she explains, and she takes a few hours to get the jaw-dropping, bulging effect that brings in the prizes.
Broad-shouldered Déwayne arrives, taking time out from his work as a partner at Body Fanatic Gym, about 14km away. Although he jokes he wears his mom out in training, she’s quick to point out she can do the same number of pushups in a minute as her muscular son – an impressive 40.
And when the pair hit the road in a 10km race, she usually shows him who’s boss.
Every now and then he manages to cross the finish line first, but more often than not Mom’s the winner.
“He’ll try to overtake me with his last breath, just to show he’s better than me,” Leonie says, shooting a look at her only child.
The recent WFF tournament was a great experience, the pair agree, although Leonie confesses she was “a bundle of nerves” when she stepped onto the stage.
Déwayne enjoyed every second of the competition though. “I told myself I’d worked hard for it for 12 weeks and those 10 minutes on stage belonged to me.”
Back at home, Leonie’s husband Renier (42) was anxiously watching the competition via a live online feed.
“The phone was ringing off the hook,” he says. “All our friends wanted to know how the competition was going.”
Renier, who runs a business that installs flooring, has also competed as a bodybuilder. In 2013 he won second place at the Pretoria championship of the World Beauty Fitness Federation.
But these days he’s happy to sit back and let his wife and son shine. “I’d rather they have the opportunity now,” he says.
THE Van Jaarsvelds’ bodybuilding adventure started when Déwayne was in primary school and mom and dad went to watch a competition in town. “Renier and I were bitten by the bug then and there,” Leonie recalls. “We joined the local gym and started training right away.”
Déwayne tagged along to his parents’ training sessions and was enthralled almost from the word go.
“I loved watching the grown-ups playing with the weights,” he recalls. “By the time I turned 14, I knew bodybuilding would become my career one day.”
In matric at Welkom-Gimnasium, the athletic teen was in the school’s first rugby team and the South African biathlon team – but he still made time for his first love, pumping iron in the evenings in preparation for his future career.
“Perhaps my school marks weren’t always the best,” Déwayne admits. “I almost cried when my parents limited my gym time during my matric exams!”
But his perseverance paid off. Last year he took part in seven local competitions and won two first places.
As for Leonie, she made the Free State bodybuilding team in 2009 after a year of training and since then she’s competed so often she’s lost track of the number of competitions she’s entered.
And the number of first places? She scratches her head. “Probably about 14?”
Earlier this year, mom and son were ecstatic when they both qualified to take part in the WWF. There was just one snag: in their sport, athletes don’t get any financial support from the state. Competing would cost them R30 000 each.
Déwayne shakes his head. “I felt like a beggar going from business to business to look for sponsorships.”
But their community came through for them. Generous donations and sponsorships from local residents and businesses took them all the way to the world stage. “The community of Welkom was wonderful,” Leonie says.
BEING a competitive bodybuilder is no walk in the park. To prepare for the WWF, Leonie and Déwayne followed a tough 12-week programme that involved two hours of training every day.
They stuck to a high-protein diet that included oats, egg whites, protein shakes and lean, white meat. Both their exercise regimes called for small meals six to eight meals a day.
Déwayne often went to his mom for advice about his diet – food is her particular area of expertise.
“I’d say, ‘Mom, my body doesn’t look right, what do I have to eat now?’ I’m an obedient child so I always took her advice,” he says.
Leonie has another view though. “We actually cl;ashed regularly because we’re both quite stubborn,” she says.
“But he kept me strong emotionally when I wanted to give up. The preparation is incredibly tough going. And on top of that there was the stress of finding sponsors, travelling to a foreign place . . . I found it hard.”
Keeping up with their eating and training regime while they were overseas wasn’t easy. One evening in Singapore, Déwayne set out to find a restaurant that would steam chicken for them – the fried foods served in the city were a big no-no in the run-up to the competition.
Thankfully, he found a small eatery not far from their hotel that was happy to oblige. “They took me to the kitchen to steam our food. I was wearing shorts and the two restaurant owners couldn’t take their eyes of my legs,” Déwayne says, chuckling.
“When I told them I was there for the bodybuilding competition, both men started touching me all over to feel my muscles.”
Now their first big international competition is behind them, what does the future hold for Leonie and Déwayne? The pair share a smile. Absolutely nothing – they’re taking a full year off from competing.
Déwayne’s explanation for their hiatus is a simple one. “You have to rest your body.”
But that doesn’t mean they won’t be keeping fit – with these two, that’s not really an option.