WHY I’M A BODYBUILDER
A lifetime of muscle building has led to fitness show success – and some pesky questions.
I have been working out since I was 13 years old because when I was younger I got picked on a lot from elementary school to high school. This kid, Kris, caused me so much grief that when high school finally rolled around I did not take his crap any more. I spoke with a counsellor on multiple occasions, which led to his permanent suspension. This is where my story goes…
I got my first weight lifting set on my 13th birthday from my dad because I was short and skinny as a rail. I knew nothing about working out and I am not sure if I asked for this particular gift but I can tell you that I was excited about learning! I had an uncle who was big into fitness but he lived elsewhere and wasn’t available for instruction so I taught myself since my dad did not know much about weight training. My dad was a gymnast when he was younger and I was getting into gymnastics about this time. I continued both the weight training and the gymnastics into high school and definitely gained some size and grew a little in height.
I did get a lot of flack throughout high school because people would ask if I was on steroids if it wasn’t them asking “are you gay?” I always found it odd that teenagers would ask these questions then they felt I would beat them up because I had muscles and people knew I didn’t play school sports. In my mid-twenties, I quit gymnastics and placed more focus on the weight training but I had no idea what benefit it had besides the aesthetic look! I moved to Kansas City a few years ago with my man by my side and I had been giving much thought to competing in fitness shows and finally took the first step back in 2012. I competed in my first natural bodybuilding show in St Louis, Missouri, and I cannot tell you how nervous I was, though I knew I belonged up there for all the hard work and sweat. I placed second in the Novice and learned I was one point away from being first place in my very first show! I could not believe how close I was and that is when the fitness competitor bug bit me. I competed again in April 2013 for my second show and placed twice in the top three of two different categories.
I am a gay man who cares a lot about what I do and why I do it but others do not (i.e. my family and my gay friends). I have supportive friends and family but those people cannot understand why I put myself through a strict
“Are you on steroids? Are you gay?”
diet, tough workouts and hours of posing. Gay men are all about looking good for themselves and others, yet I’m the one who gets questions both good and bad.
I have been quite the inspiration for many as I’ve been a personal trainer for 20 years and that grew more after I competed. People see determination and drive, but I get told that I obsess too much about my body and that I will never be happy because I either think I’m too small or don’t have enough muscle. I have never been unhappy about what I do and I do it for me; the drive I have to continue is to strive and see improvements in myself but to also continue inspiring others to be active and make lifestyle changes. My current fitness goal is to appear in fitness magazines as a fitness model and to gain my natural pro card.