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How did you get started with bodybuilding?

Actually I got interested in personal growth and discipline at a very young age. About 10 or 11. I was a fat kid although I was involved in many sports and a good athlete I just was a bit chubby lol. I ate like all my friends and family but the difference was my body did not respond the same. I have always been really sensitive to sugar, especially the processed garbage that is in food now days. I refused to except this as my lot in life. I wanted to be big and powerful like comic book heroes and Arnold and all my favourite pro athletes. The only knowledge I had at the time was ‘an apple a day kept the doctor away’ so whenever I would come home from school I used to always eat cookies and I changed that habit from cookies to eating apples and that’s how my journey began. By the 9th grade I was the strongest kid in my school and had many of the best times, lifts, and jumps etc…. I was always an introvert so I preferred training over going out when I was growing up. Learning more and more about my mind and body. I ended up blowing my knee out playing football my senior year, which at first I thought was no big deal, but during the recovery it got injured again caused me to need a second surgery. Long story short, because the injury was back to back, and we waited a while to do the second surgery my leg became severely atrophied due to the couple years of complete non-use.  I did not want to quit my athletic life though so I kept weight training. I always saw myself as an athlete and I thought that is what I was going to do with my life. So I had to find a way to stick with it some how knee or no knee.

What made you decide to start competing?

When I was around 18 or 19 I think, it was then I met Chris Jalali who is a top national competitor. He taught me a lot about bodybuilding and said I should compete. It took me a while due to the fact I had such serious issues with my right leg. In the end it was a full four year rehabilitation process. I never gave up on it! This year I finally have gotten it to a point where I can do everything I could do prior to my injury, and even better than ever. Deep squats, dead lifts etc…. So I was talking to my trainer and he was like alright lets get you out there and see what happens. I love the idea of competing because I am such a competitive person by nature and bodybuilding is just about the hardest sport in the world so what better way to test myself.  So I competed in my first show at the Ronnie Coleman Classic 2009. Now I think I am hooked:)

Did you have a bodybuilding coach help you get started?

Yes, I always use as many people as I can and try to stay fresh with an open mind. I have someone who helps me power lift, someone who helps me with diet, and whatever else I can learn I am always open. I believe that once you think you know it all you’re done. Herman Steele has been such a huge help to me and a great friend and trainer. Thanks to him I got my leg working right again and without pain.

So what is the bodybuilding training routine that you use to have that killer physique?

Once again I’ll try most anything and try to keep an open mind about training. I always seem to do best with volume training while incorporating the three main heavy power lifts as well as dead lifts, squats, and bench press.

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When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?

Same principle; I do whatever is working for my body at the time. Usually just a moderate paced cardio will do for me. 25-40 min. I have a clean diet year round, so I normally am not that out of shape when I need to cut. Because of that, cardio is not to difficult for me. I prefer the slow, consistent, and steady wins the fat burning race routine.

What is your Diet/Supplementation like?

My diet is high protein and vegetables with plenty of healthy fats and moderate carbs year round. I don’t enjoy eating bad and it makes me feel gross and sluggish. I don’t just do this for the look, I care about my health as well so I don’t eat garbage unless its a scheduled cheat meal. Supps: I stick to the basic usually like protein, waxy maze, bcaa, glutamine, creatine and that’s about it.  Plans for the future? I am 6 foot so my main goal is to keep adding thickness over my whole body and especially my legs so I can be competitive at a higher level. So I just want to keep at it and keep working hard while being as patient as possible. Which we all know can be tough. I am also proudly sponsored by speciesnutrition.com, check them out if you get the chance.

Favourite Quote?

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”

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