Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
It’ll be out of this world if 4th baby born before my Mr Universe bid...
Ulster bodybuilder sweats on arrival of his newborn
AN Ulsterman’s bid to muscle in on the Mr Universe title is hinging on the birth of his fourth child.
Mark Getty, 38, already has a series of titles including Mr World, Mr Britain and Mr Northern Ireland under his belt.
But his wife Leigh is expecting the couple’s third child together – two days before he is due on stage in England as he vies for the ultimate bodybuilding prize.
The Newtownabbey man said: “I’ve been doing this for 22 years.
“It’s all been culminating in this. I won Mr World in 2014 and this is the last one I need to complete the trophy cabinet.
“I started training last October and then we found out she was expecting in April/may time.
“I was well into the preparation at that stage. We talked about how it would be my last show and I was getting ready to concentrate on business and family.”
After a long conversation with his 35-year-old wife, Mark said they both agreed he would keep going.
The baby is due to arrive on October 26 and Mr Universe takes place two days later in Birmingham.
CONTEST
But Mark would have to leave his wife and possibly newborn on Friday morning to have enough time to get ready for the contest. He said: “We can do that. The diet and training is the easy part – it’s the waiting on the new baby coming along that’s hard. “Hopefully we’ll be back in touch with a nice trophy and a new baby. “First and foremost I will be at the birth of the child.
“Leigh’s convinced she is going to go a week early.”
Mark also told of his gruelling exercise regime as he bids to land the Mr Universe title. He said: “I do weight training six days a week, cardio seven days for about an hour and keep a clean diet.
“It’s hard work but it’s very rewarding and it’s great to be competing with that level in the world.” Mark’s hobby has even spilled over into his work life as he and Leigh run Lisburn gym Elite Health and Fitness. He also heaped praise on sponsors Dynamic Nutrition and his training partners with helping him to get this far.
Mark said he is the only person from Northern Ireland competing for the title, which was won by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the late 1960s, and the “only person at the pro level” in the country.
With his eldest son Conan, 18, named after a role Arnie played, you could be forgiven for thinking the movie star is something of a hero to Mark.
But family life is very important and Mark is also dad to Claea, six, and four-year-old Odhin.
He said: “We have a nice family life. A lot of people in bodybuilding are very self-centred and selfish, but my family is everything.”