Pose Down Muscle and Figure Magazine Sept 2009 Issue

MO’S LEG TRAINING

202 CLASS WINNER OF THE EUROPA SUPER SHOW TRICKY JACKSON

REVIEW & PHOTOS INSIDE SEPTEMBER 2009

Objectively Speaking With Bob Johnson

EDITORIAL

Cover page photo: Tricky Jackson Photo By: Ray Rojas Editor in Chief: Bob Johnson Editorial Director/Graphic Designer: Laura Johnson Creative Director: Clark Bartlett Publication Interest: Aaron Fletcher

Photography: Mark Mason This month we feature the Europa Super Show. Our good friend Kevin Martin and Host of Pro Muscle Radio featured on our site, Tricky Jack Wendy Martin son won the 202 Class. Another very close friend, Charles Dixon Dan Ray Photography took the second place win. Finally a great comeback to our friend Kris Dim with a 3rd place win....Congrats!!

We congratulate all three of these individuals for their wins.

Their hard work and dedication was show cased this year at the Europa Super Show.

We will be helping this month at the South Texas Classic in San Antonio. Always a great show put on by the Fontenot’s!

Be sure to go to WWW.CentralTexasShowdown.com for latest show information

Contributing Writers: Angela Dillenberg Michael Bell Senior Writer Contributing Column Writers Sara Long - “Recipe Corner” Joe Leahy - Blue Collar Bodybuilding Steve Kuclo - “The Wolverine” Prince Fontenot- “Talking Candidly” Photos submitted by column writers/athletes monthly Pose Down Magazine accepts photos from individual athletes with the understanding that each athlete own the rights to photos submitted.......

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Laura@posedownmag.com Bob@posedownmag.com posedownmagazine@yahoo.com For

advertising questions go to: www.mbell971@yahoo.com PosedownAdvertising@gmail.com

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Sarah Long’s Recipe Corner: Fit Fish Tacos with Citrus Salsa Ingredients: for tacos 1 package low carb wraps 6 pieces of Tilapia (or other type of fish) Mrs. Dash, extra spicy (or favorite flavor) Shredded lettuce Low fat mozzarella 1 cup black beans (rinse and drain if canned) 1 avocado (sliced) Cooking spray Preparation: first prepare citrus salsa (recipe below) cook fish in large covered skillet coated with cooking spray. About 5 min. each side. Sprinkle with extra spicy Mrs. Dash.

Place low carb wraps on cookie sheet and spray top and bottom with cooking spray.

Broil in oven for 30 sec-1 min. each side.

Watch carefully, they burn easily. Make sure they are slightly cooked and brown.

Smash beans in separated bowl, top with mozzarella cheese and microwave until cheese is melted. Stir together Build your Taco: spread beans onto warm wrap, add fish, lettuce, avocado and citrus salsa (recipe below) and enjoy!!!!

Nutrition: 2 tacos (minus the citrus salsa) serves 4 Calories 450 Fat 9g

Ingredients: for citrus salsa 4 roma tomatoes 1 large orange 1 Vidalia onion, peeled and chopped 3 Tbsp lime juice 2 jalapeĂąo peppers 4 packets of splenda or stevia 1 tbsp chopped cilantro Prep: Bring water to boil in small saucepan and blanch tomatoes for 30 seconds, rinse with cold water, peel and chop. place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Mix again and serve!

Nutrition: serving = 1 cup Calories 70 Fat 0 Carb 12 g Protein 2 g

What’s up iron warriors? I hope this months column of Blue Collar Bodybuilding finds you achieving all your current goals in the gym as well as staying focused at work. Us Blue Collar Bodybuilders know that bodybuilding and maintaining a full time job is hard work and takes the three D’s. Discipline, desire and dedication! Us Blue Collar men and woman in the iron game also know that a sound diet, cardio and being consistent on or daily weight training is also key. So what is missing then? Well let me tell you a lot! This month I want to talk about Leadership. You may ask what in the heck does leadership have to do with competing and winning in bodybuilding competitions? Well my friends Leadership has a lot to do with being successful and if you want to be successful in reaching your goals of being the best you can be then you need to know Leadership terminology.

Get prepaird to get pumped up!

Leadership terminology has helped major companies reach there goals and climb to the top and it has helped or Nation’s Armed Forces crush the competition for years. If you become a better Leader at work it well help you be a better leader in the gym and in the end you will grow not only as a bodybuilder but as a person. You must be well rounded to be a champion and to be the best. Some of today’s greatest athletes have tremendous leadership skills and they apply them to there training on a daily basis. Leadership has now taken center stage in my life as I was recently promoted to the position of Sergeant for the Michigan Department of Corrections. This leads us to our Leadership traits which can be applied in the gym, at work as well as in life. Here are my five favorite Leadership traits and some tips for inprovement. Its time to start thinking and acting as a champion:

ENTHUSIASM: This is defined as a sincere interest in what you are trying to accomplish. If you are enthusiastic about your training you will be more upbeat, optimistic, and willing to take on the challenge. My tip to you Blue Collar Bodybuilders is to get focused and enthusiastic about you training and life in general. Remember when you first touched the weights, you were hungry! Get hungry and think about how far you have come not how far you have to go.

INITIATIVE: Initiative is taking action towards a goal without anyone telling you to do so! Pick a show and get to work. Quit worrying about the outcome. Just pick a show and be the best you can be!

LOYALTY: Being loyal means that you will not quit or loose focus during the tough times. Yes, the money will be tight. Yes, you may have an argument with a loved one and Yes, you may even loose but you must be loyal to the goal and to your dreams. The more you become loyal to your goal of being a champion the more people will want to be around you. People like focused and driven people because they are successful. If you know someone that dosent like this Leadership trait then you need to avoid them. They are the hater’s!

COURAGE: Don’t talk the talk walk the walk! Have courage and pick a show or a goal and shoot for it and never look back. Can you remain calm while knowing you are stressed? If you can then you have courage my friends! When life gets hard take a deep breath and allow yourself to relax.

You are making progress. The tough times are just reminding you that you are pushing yourself to new heights.

ENDURANCE: Endurance is mental and physical stamina measured by your ability to take pain, stress and hardship. No one knows this more than us Blue Collar Bodybuilder’s. Have endurance meaning stay strong and true to your goals. Maybe you have to see the show results in your mind and think backwards like the show is already over. Think as if you have already achieved the set goals! Now make it happen.

Well time is up for this month and this is only the tip of the iceberg on Leadership! Put these Leadership skills into action and watch your training go to a whole new level. Knowledge is power so impower yourself and set those goals high. Thanks for checking in this month. Feel free to email me anytime at www.ironjoeleahy@yahoo.com. .

Hey everyone. Hope all is well with all of you. This past month has been great. The diet is coming along great, I am down to 278lbs but I feel my condition is right where it needs to be at the point in the prep. I am up to 60 minutes of cardio a day five times a week.

My training is going great. The main thing about contest prep is no injuries! My training changes a little, I do a few more things that increase the intensity from an 8 to a 10!

First thing I do differently is increase the rep range from six to eight up to eight to twelve. Reps for my back exercises usually go from 10 to 12 in the off season to 20 precontest. I really focus on squeezing and contracting every muscle fiber. However, I think its important to note that I still keep everything as heavy as possible. I also decrease my rest time between sets. As soon as my partner is done I am ready to go.

There’s very little talking, just a lot of hard work. Another training technique I employ precontest is super sets. For example, I like to do a set of leg extensions then go directly to some type of hamstring curl. I also do this a lot with biceps and triceps.

As the show nears to four to five weeks the power movements, like squats and dead lifts, are taken out of my training and we move more toward machines.

Machines are a great training tool for me because they allow me to incorporate drop sets easily. When performing drop sets I like to go extremely heavy on the first set for around eight reps and then drop the weight by half and bust out another 12 reps of really squeezing and etching in the detail.

If you would like to watch some of my training you can visit youtube.com and search for me under my profile name skuklo. I have added a lot of recent videos. I will also be guest posing at the Heart of Texas in Plano, TX on Sept. 12th and then will more than likely be at the animal booth at the Olympia. So please stop by and say hi.

Finally, I want to announce that I am not the proud husband to Amy Peters. We were married the week before the Europa in Michigan and are now back home living as a family. Until next month read the best, train with the best and be your best.

Coming Back To Glory Hey Guys, I know it’s been a while but guess whose back. As you know I’ve been competing for a while and lately I’ve only been competing in National shows. I’m blessed to consistently place in the top 10 but I figured something needed to change to get to that top spot.

Well this year I used an old and new formula to try to regain my winning ways. Texas State shows which I hadn’t done in years, and new was adding Miguel Rojas as a trainer, Pura nutrition as my supplementation program and Olympus Muscle and Fitness in Loredo as my training facility while in Loredo.

Of course in San Antonio where I live Joe’s gym was still where I trained so I was commuting back and forth several times a month but nothing ventured usually results in nothing gained.

Miguel came up with a hell of a game plan resulting in an overall victory at the Lone star Classic (a show I’d never before done). Of course the quest didn’t end there we had a national show to go after.

The Master’s Nationals show was picked and we went for the gold.

Unfortunately sometimes the best laid plans go awry and though I placed in the top five my ego and pride took a severe blow. You see some very important elements were missing in my prep that hadn’t been accounted for and no trainer in the world can give them to you. It’s something you have to do yourself. I had allowed my own focus to slip and my concentration to be distracted. Though Miguel was calling me daily even at one point almost hourly, I wasn’t allowing myself to relax. I let my own troubles stress me out.

My placing in that show left me hurt in more ways than you can imagine.

Talk about feeling like dog crap, I felt I’d let Miguel and everyone who’d ever believed in me down. First I was depressed then angry, and then determined this would not happen again. There was no way I was accepting this defeat, I had to redeem my self in my trainer’s eyes, in my friend’s eyes and most importantly in my eyes.

Little did I know Miguel was taking it as hard as I was. We were both blaming ourselves for the unexpected result. He was reevaluating all we’d done and put it all under a microscope.

The bottom line was a renewed effort on both parts and we picked The North American Championships (NAC) to be the path of redemption.

We brought the pain. I think my training partner in San Antonio Rob Washington took it personal as well. That son of a gun tried to bury me in the workouts as well as becoming a damn psychiatrist to help relieve stress.

Then one day a very close friend of mine Earnie Stevens filled in a big piece of the puzzle by simply calling and reminding me of a higher power that I had conveniently been leaving out of my life. I was made to realize maybe that’s why the added pressure had come into my life because I had not asked him to help me.

Speaking of help that was another missing component, apparently I had allowed my pride to grow so big that it took a monumental effort to ask for help from anyone. Bear in my when I decided to do the NAC I had no idea how I’d afford to get there. My money was tapped out from the previous 2 shows and I had bills out the butt due.

One day out the blue a friend of mine (Mike Shobel) was just talking to me and just came out with why you don’t ever ask folks for help. You help so many I bet they’d love the opportunity to pay you back. Boy was he ever right.

With all these revelations the fuzzy puzzle became clear. Miguel’s guidance, my family’s support, my friend’s help and God’s blessings allowed me to go to the NAC and bring back 1st place in Masters.

Now with Pura nutrition in my body, Olympus Muscle and Fitness and Joe’s gyms as my training facilities in Loredo and San Antonio and Miguel’s programs and strategies to mold me, Rob’s intensity, Debbie’s’ and my friends support and the lord’s blessings my sites are again set on the Master’s Nationals and my life long dream of finally getting that elusive pro card.

Look out Here I come.

EUROPA SUPER SHOW 2009

The Europa Super Show, promoted by Ed and Betty Pariso, was held on August 15th and 16th at the Dallas Convention Center. Much will be written about the mens open show which was won by Dennis James, and a lot will be discussed about how deep the mens 202 class was. However, I want to give everyone an idea of the entire spectale. This is much more than a bodybuilding show, it also includes one of the best car shows I have ever witnessed.

Cars like the old Mustangs Shelbies and Corvettes. For the person who envies new cars threre were Lamborghinis, Ferraris and even a state of the art Nascar racing car on display.

After taking a look at the cars you could walk over and watch the powerlifting meet that was going on up on their very own stage. Next to powerlifting was an arm wrestling tournament that went on for hours. I spoke with a guy that was part of the Wyoming Arm Wrestling Association who flew down just to compete at this show.

If thats not enough you could check out the MMA bouts being held during the day and possibly get the chance ot meeting some greats like Matt Hughes who were in attendance.

Now if you came just to see outstanding physiques don’t worry because there were plenty of those walking around. On another stage, to the left of the main stage, a model search was being conducted with tons of beautiful people.

On top of all of these things and a great bodybuilding figure and fitness show there was the expo. This was a huge expo with 100’s of vendors and many top athletes from various sports within the industry. While I was there I had the chance to speak with Trish and Branch Warren, Don Long, Steve Kuclo, Monica Brandt, Tricky Jackson, Krissy Chin, Flex Lewis and thats just to name a few.

This is not only one of the best bodybuilding shows around but in my books ranks only behind the Aronld as the best show of the year. If you get a chance next August make your way to Dallas and enjoy the weekend.

MO’S LEG TRAINING ROUTINE

Leg Workout

Leg Extensions – 4 sets 15 – 20 reps (90 – 120lbs) mainly as a warmup Reverse Lunges in Smith machine – 3 sets 12 – 15 reps ( 65 – 95lbs) (nice and deep and explode) Supersetted; Walking Lunges w/ barbell overhead - @ 30 – 40 steps (20 – 30 lbs) Reverse Hyperextensions – 15 reps Leg Press w/ feet high on platform – 20 reps (2 – 3 plates a side) Leg Extensions – 5 sets of 10 reps with only 20 to 30 seconds rest in between sets (105 – 135 lbs) Calves Standing Calve Raise – 3 sets (135 – 180lbs)

Tips I normally switch between straight leg movements and seated bent leg movements each time I train calves. I normally train calves 3 times a week.

I also like to include some supersets in my leg workouts I love the old saying “A figure girls glutes can never be too tight”.

Try adding a final burn exercise to try to get as much blood as possible into the muscle.

I will normally go back to the leg extension machine and do 5 sets of 10 reps with a 20 to 30 second rest in between

Triple Play

By Ray Joseph

There’s no precise term to describe what happened in Pittsburgh on the weekend of July 17-19, 2009. But a few phrases from the world of sports come close -- triple play, hat trick, grand slam. Or maybe “clean sweep.” Or “triumvirate.” Or, to paraphrase Julius Caesar in the plural, “They came, they saw, they conquered.”

Such was the fate of the three Dallas - Ft. Worth area teens who took their chiseled physiques to western Pennsylvania to see how they stacked up against the best teenage bodybuilders from across the rest of the United States.

And when the dust settled in the Steel City, the verdict was clear. Dallas, Ft. Worth and Grand Prairie were home to the three best teenage bodybuilders in the nation.

Middleweight Uriah McGee from Dallas dominated the middleweight class and won the coveted overall teen title as well at the 2009 NPC Teen Nationals Bodybuilding Championships. Lightweight Ft. Worth bodybuilder Chris Hunte captured first place in the teen lightweight class and took home an additional first place trophy in the collegiate lightweight class. And Grand Prairie bodybuilder Jonathan Irizarry rounded out the DFW area domination of the event with a first place finish in the teen light heavyweight bodybuilding competition.

Jonathan Irizarry

2009 NPC Teen Nationals Light Heavyweight Bodybuilding Champion Like many other young bodybuilders, Jonathan Irizarry, the 2009 NPC Teen Nationals Light Heavyweight Champion, participated in a variety of athletic activities before concentrating on bodybuilding.

Jonathan’s interest in bodybuilding didn’t begin until he attended the Europa Supershow in 2005.

“I went to that show and have been hooked ever since,” Jonathan said. “Prior to that I had never followed the sport. In school I had played almost every sport except golf. I started playing baseball when I was eight. I played lineman on the fooball team. I started playing tennis my sophmore year in high school and worked my way up to number one on the team and played in some U.S. Tennis Association tournaments.”

So what aspect of bodybuilding impressed Jonathan?

“It was the fact that people can be relatively normal sized, look good, and get into that type of condirtion,” he explained. “I started training regularly after that and started eating a little more.”

He decided to do the 2006 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic and started his diet eight weeks before that show.

“Robert E. Lee, Ronnie Coleman’s friend, told me to do that show,” Jonathan said. “He sent me to Metroflex Gym to speak with Brian Dobson about posing and training. Brian showed me how to do the mandatory poses and we worked on those several times before the show.”

Jonathan stepped on stage at the 2006 Ronnie weighing 160 pounds and placed fourth in the teen class at the age of 16.

“I really didn’t know much about dieting. My food was pretty bland back then. I took a nutrition class in high school and read some articles in Muscle and Fitness and the other magazines and picked up more inforation from websites like Bodybuilding.Com.” Soon after that Jonathan started training on a regular basis with natural bodybuilder Trenton Taylor.

“That helped me tremendously. Having a reliable workout parter kept me motivated, get that extra rep in, and show up when I might hot have felt like training,” he said. “I got a lot stronger during that eight month time frame. And when I did the Ronnie the following year I placed second. I had put on a lot of size -- about 10 pounds -- but dieting wise, I wasn’t quite there yet. And then I did the 2007 Europa and won the teen class there. I was eating a lot cleaner but, looking back, my diet wasn’t on point because I was doing it all myself and I had lost a lot of size.”

In 2008 Jonathan again competed in and won the teen class at the Ronnie “to redeem my second place finish,” he said. “I did my own diet but became a lot more konwledgable. I read up on some material

by Layne Norton and came in a lot leaner, drier, rounder and fuller than in the previous shows.”

Jonathan Irizarry Continues After the 2008 Ronnie Jonathan planned to do the Musclemania Universe and the NPC Teen Nationals but was having trouble getting his physique to respond. That’s when a mutual friend introduced him to Sagi Kalev. Within weeks his physique responded enough for him to win the 2008 Musclemania Universe Junior Lightweight title. He went on to place 6th in the middleweight class at the 2008 NPC Teen Nationals but followed that with novice lightweight and novice overall wins at the 2008 NPC Europa.

“After Sagi and I started workout out together I had much more success,” he said. “Diet wise it was pretty much the same but we added some cardio. I got tighter in the glutes and hamstrings.

After the Europa I kind of did my own off-season stuff, including powerlifting and eating a lot. I got fat.”

The game plan for 2009 was to focus on the NPC Teen Nationals and use the Ronnie as a trial show so he and Sagi could work on how to best carb up and get him close to contest shape so it wouldn’t be so stressful to prepare for the show in Pittsburgh.

“We just worked a lot on compound movements. The main bodyparts I needed to bring up were chest, back and shoulders. I still have a way to go but we made a lot of progress,” Jonathan said.

“My biceps were always my best bodypart because of genetics, I guess. I’ve always had a good peak but they would lose size and flatten out a little at contest time.”

Sagi accompanied Jonathan to Pittsburgh to help him with the last-minute diet and preparations for the show. He credits Sagi with helping him come in fuller and rounder with the same conditioning -- and win the light heavyweight class.

“This offseason I plan on getting a lot bigger but not getting fat,” Jonathan said. “I plan to maintain my diet and eat clean with a cheat meal here and there along with a lot of heavy training with compound movements and focus on my chest and back. And I want to round off everything a little more.”

What’s the agenda for 2010?

“Honestly, I really don’t know when or where I’ll compete,” he said of his 2010 plans. “I feel like the next time I compete I need to be a lot better. I’ll also be in school and plan to be certified as a personal trainer to build a clientele and help people achieve their goals. I’m working with Sagi on a certification through the Pro PTA. He’s certified with that organization and that makes it convenient because he’s my trainer. He has helped me out tremendously; words just can’t explain it. Without him I wouild not be at the level I’m at now. And he’s much more than a personal trainer. He’s a friend for life.”

Jonathan also thanks his mother, sister and cousin for their support and Joe Lobell of MostMuscular.Com for helping with travel logistics, promotion and publicity.

“I’ve also made a lot of friends through the sport, including Chris Darby, Yumon Eaton and Charlie Montreuil, just to name a few,” Jonathan added.

Chris Hunte

2009 NPC Teen Nationals Lightweight Bodybuilding Champion 2009 NPC Collegiate Nationals Lightweight Bodybuilding Champion Chris Hunte is living proof that high quality physiques come in all sizes; that childhood athletics can lay a solid foundation for bodybuilding, and that last-minute distractions need not derail a long-sought goal. And Chris proved those things doubly true by winning both the Teen and Collegiate Lightweight titles at the 2009 NPC Teen and Collegiate Bodybuilding Championships in Pittsburgh.

Chris stepped on stage as a lightweight at 154 pounds, but he had set his goals prior to the show on winning not only his class but the overall as well.

“I was training to win the show,” he said. “I had already beaten Jonathan (Irizarry) at the Ronnie Coleman Classic, so I figured it would come down to me and Uriah (McGee) for the overall. I had everything he had so I was focused on winning it all.”

Chris’s confidence was rooted in a long history of athletic achievement. He started competing in martial arts at the age of five and changed over to powerlifting when he reached 15 years of age.

Although he was very successful in both martial arts and powerlifting, his lifelong dream was to become a champion bodybuilder.

“I’ve always wanted to do this since I was little,” Chris said. “In martial arts I earned a black belt and had trophies like crazy. I always has a really good core and really good genetics. I moved from New York to Dallas and started lifting seriously in 10th grade and won several powerlifting meets. When I was in the 12th grade my coach told me I really should do bodybuilding.”

“Ronnie Coleman, the way he trains, I just wanted to do that,” Chris said. “But the body I wanted was Flex Wheeler’s. Round muscle bellies, small waist. They were defijnitely the first two bodybuilders I saw that I wanted to be like.”

Chris trained at several Metroplex gyms before meeting Herman Steele backstage at the 2009 Ronnie Coleman Classic after winning the teen and open lightweight classes at the event.

“That’s when I went to Strouds Fitness Center for the first time. That opened my eyes to what bodybuilding was all about and Herman taught me all about nutrition. I had done too much cardio before the Ronnie and made some other mistakes but still won. Herman whipped me into serious shape for the Nationals. I came in a pound heavier than I did at the Ronnie but my waist got smaller and I was drier. Herman really relped me achieve that,” Chris explained.

But Chris’s trip to Pittsburgh was not without a bump or two along the way. A last-minute emergency kept Herman from making the trip with Chris, so a mutual friend set up Chris to stay with another competitor, Yumon Eaton, who ended up winning the Collegiate overall title at the show.

But despite the change in plans, Chris stayed focused on business.

Chris Hunte continue “I had never traveled before so everything was kind of crazy,” Chris said. “I met Yumon when I got there; he was cool. My teen class was large but it came down ot me and one other kid. He was a little drier than me at prejudging but by the time the night show came I was better. My posing routine, everybody loved it. Posing is another thing that is starting to come a little easier. Since I’ve done a few shows I’m really calm on stage now. So I was still focusing on winning the teen overall.

What happened is what happened. I know that Uriah is also planning to do the Junior Nationals in 2010, so I will have to stay focused on my game.”

Chris plans to walk on stage at the 2010 event at either the top of the middleweight class or near the bottom of the light heavyweight class. He plans to reach an off-season weight of around 200 to 205 pounds but sees no difficulties in getting back to contest weight and shape next year.

“Martial arts and powerlifting helped prepare me for bodybuilding, especially the discipline and the diet and pushing yourself -- came easily to me,” he explained. “And I love training heavy. That’s my kind of thing.”

Chris says balance is one of the keys to his off-season strategy.

“I want to make sure that the strong parts stay strong and that I improve my bodyparts that might be a little weaker,” he said. “I want to work on the whole physique and keep the waist small with round muscle bellies. We’ll be doing a lot of powerlifting to bring up my size. We’ll have more rest days since we will be lifting heavier.”

Chris says he departed from his normal dietary routine for a while after the Pittsburgh show but is now back to a more appropriate diet.

“When you eat junk you wake up feeling like crap.” Chris said. “I’m eating clean now, six to nine meals a day, pretty large portions. A lot of lean beef and potatoes, rice, chicken -- stuff pretty much like that -- with some shakes and pasta and cutting down on cheat meals.”

With his shorter term sights now set on the 2010 NPC Junior Nationals, Chris keeps a larger and longer-term goal on his radar.

“I want to become a pro, of course, hopefully as soon as possible,” Chris said. “I want to become not just a pro but a competitive pro and to someday be in the Mr. Olympia. That’s my top priority.

Not to just be a pro but a top pro at five foot five -- like a David Henry.”

Chris know a supportive enviornment will be helpful to achieving his goals, and he believes north Texas is a great place to be in that respect.

“People say that they grow them big in Texas,” he explained. “We have a lot of great bodybuilders here, a lot of the really big boys, and a lot of nice gyms down here where people take things seriously. It says a lot about our trainers and the people around us.

“And I’d like to thank a few people. My mom and my family in the good times and the tough times. My girlfriend who also supports me. My trainer Herman who cracks the whip day in and day out, like at three in the morning when I call him and he tells me to do this or that and give me encouragement no matter what time it is. And I’d like to thank Joe Lobell for doing my first photo shoot -- I had no idea what that would be like.”

Uriah McGee

2009 NPC Teen Nationals Middleweight Bodybuilding Champion 2009 NPC Teen Nationals Overall Bodybuilding Champion

For 19-year-old Uriah McGee the road to Pittsburgh began several years ago when the young 5-7 defensive back at Skyline High School wanted to improve his football performance for his senior season and turned to weight training as a solution.

“I started training to get bigger for football,” Uriah explained. “I knew I wasn’t going to get any taller so I started doing some research on the web, and that took me to powerlifting and bodybuilding sites.

And I watched a lot of bodybuilding clips on YouTube including Ronnie Coleman and his training routine for the 2004 Mr. Olympia. From that point I was hooked.”

After being bitten by the bodybuilding bug Uriah went all out for his newfound passion.

“I started working out both at home and at school,” Uriah said. “I was probably lifting eight hours a day. Frankly it didn’t make much difference in how well I played football but my body was responding well to what I was doing.”

Uriah continued his research into weight training and discovered he was overtraining.

“I bought Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and DVDs by Ronnie Coleman and Branch Warren. I figured out how to get the diet and training down and was then on the right path,” Uriah said. “I decided when I was 16 that I would be ready to compete when I turned 19.”

In the meantime Uriah turned his knowledge of diet and training into a job as a personal trainer at a Dallas-area Bally’s.

“One of the new trainers there was one of Prince Harrison’s clients,” Uriah said. “He gave me Prince’s number and I called him. That was five weeks out from the 2008 NPC Heart of Texas. He said ‘I want you to do my show coming up in five weeks,’ so I did the 2008 Heart where I won the teen class.”

Uriah then returned to offseason training with even more enmthusiasm and meticulous attention to detail.

“I had every detail calculated -- every gram of protein, every gram of carbs, every workout planned,” he explained. “My workouts were geared to optimizing my body parts that I needed to bring up. Then we decided that I should do the 2009 NPC Lone Star and that my conditioning should be good enough to do the NPC Teen Nationals as well.”

The plan worked as scripted with Uriah carrying home three trophies from the 2009 Lone Star: teen class winner, novice middleweight winner, and novice overall winner. Uriah and Prince agreed it was time to up the ante a bit at the NPC Teen Nationals six weeks later in Pittsburgh.

Uriah continue

“My preparation for the Teen Nationals was better than the other two shows,” Uriah said. “I stayed focused and did more intense cardio sessions and workouts. I just took everything to another level.”

Uriah flew into Pittsburgh the Wednesday before the show “to make sure I would have time to get rid of the water,” he said. “My glutes and hams usually some in at the very last moment, so I worried until they came in.”

Uriah stepped on stage in Pittsburgh heavier than he did at the Lone Star, weighing in near the top of the middleweight class.

“I was fuller at the Pittsburgh show, eight pounds heavier, fuller and thicker that I was at the Lone Star,” he said. “And my condition was better as well. I had watched my water intake and carbing up to make sure I didn’t spill over. That was the main thing. During the two days before the show I probably didn’t take in more than 16 ounces of water.”

As the overall teen winner Uriah received the traditional trip to California for a feature shoot with Muscle and Fitness magazine.

“It was a good experience. I had a lot of fun and met some good competitors,” Uriah said. “I was told I have good potential, I shot with IFBB Pro Stan McQuay. The article should be in the December issue of the magazine.”

Uriah is now back into off-season mode with his sights set on two shows in June of 2010.

“I’m eating red meat and white rice and trainig each muscle group two days a week,” he said.

“Sometimes I take on day of a week; sometimes two. I go by my instincts. I plan to get up to 205 or 206 pounds. last time I was at 208 before I cut down. I have good genetics overall as well as good shape and symmetry, especially my arms and back. I’m planning on improving my chest and getting bigger and thicker overall.”

His 2010 plans include competing in the NPC Lone Star and Junior Nationals, both in June, as a light heavyweight.

“My goals are to win at both shows next year and get a pro card by the age of 23,” he said. “I want to be top five at the olympia by the time I’m 25 or 26.”

In the meantime Urish, like the other Texas teen winners, Jonathan Irizarry and Chris Hunte, is proud of his home region.

“We already have big names in bodybuilding here like Ronnie Coleman, Branch Warren and Johnnie Jackson, he said. “We’re just keeping the tradition alive.

“And I just want to thank God for giving me the strength and health to do this. And I want to thank Prince Harrison and Optimum Fitness for their help and my friends and family as well for their support.

Check out Uriah at his website, www.uriahmcgee.com.

Gia Allemand is a 25 year old professional model. Born and raised in queens NY. Gia graduated from the University of Hartford and she was a professional ballet dancer from the age of 3 to 20. She is no stranger to fitness, she was doing ballet 6 days a week for at least 9 hour days. At 20 she began a career in bikini modeling and fitness modeling. She has been published in magazines such as Maxim, Sports illustrated. MAQ, beauty and fitness. She also has made a name for herself in the pageantry world where she won numerous bikini competitions such as the first Bikini division in the NPC 2009, Miss bikini USA 2008, Miss american dream, miss hawaiin tropic, and she was also crowned Miss Italia. Gia also spent a year working with MET-RX she was a model for MET-RX where she was on the cover of the calendar and also in their magazine frequently.

My year started off very well and I had a lot of big plans for myself in 2008. I had a little time off due to a shoulder injury at the end of 2007, but I aggravated the injury early in the year. Suddenly things started to fall apart. I lost my sponsorship and I did not know what to do. Luckily I have family members that really looked after me and I continued slowly go to the gym again.

I started back to the gym with a new gym partner and I decided that if I can’t do any competitions this year, I will better my weaknesses. I focused a lot on my lats, back and my waist. I really wanted people to see my improvements when I step back on stage. I am grateful that I started to work with my gym partner, because he really got me focused again on the task at hand.

We also sat down and decided to do something new.

We came up with the idée to launch a website and to add some stuff on it that bodybuilders can use. This will be like a good off and on season diet. I added my training schedule for people to use. I also invited people to email me and I started to help people with diets and gym routines. (www.heinrichvos.co.za ) My brother in law, which you know well by now also decided to try and get me into an American magazine.

I thought it was a big joke. I couldn’t believe it when he phoned me one day to tell me that Posedown Magazine wanted to do something with me. I want to take this opportunity to thank Michael, Bob and Laura and also the whole team at Posedown Magazine for this opportunity. You guys are wonderful. It really lifted my spirits.

Suddenly things started to turn for the better. The owner of Kusasa Commodities saw me in the gym one day. He approached my gym partner and he wanted to know if I was Heinrich Vos. He saw me in a magazine somewhere and he wanted to know if I am a sponsored athlete. My gym partner said no and basically told him the whole story. He phoned me up and offered me a sponsorship which I couldn’t refuse. Suddenly I could compete again.

All of this happened around 11 weeks out of the Muscle Evolution Grand Prix. My sponsor, Shane Neal imports all the well known American brands and distributes it to stores in South Africa. He also sells some of the stock online at www.abcnutrition.co.za.

Heinrich Vos continues I sat down with my new sponsor and we decided that I will defend my overall title at The Muscle Evolution Grand Prix and I will also do The Ultimate Showdown.

I started off with my diet. Everything went well until about 6 weeks out from Muscle Evolution. I pulled my calve muscle one night and I thought that was end of it.

Luckily it healed very quickly. A friend of mine also approached me during this time and asked me if I waned to go to Mr Olympia with him. I refused immediately. I wanted to take part and show the judges the improvements that I have made. Well, obviously my friend thought I would be crazy not to go to Mr Olympia, but on the other hand he also knew what a year I have had so far.

On 05 October 2008 it was time for the IFBB Muscle Evolution Grand Prix and I was ready to go. I weighed in rock hard 220lbs. This was the lightest I have weighed in a couple of years, but I was in the best shape ever. Everybody immediately saw the improvements I made. I won the over 198lbs line-up. Unfortunately I did not defend my overall title. The people in the crowd couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it myself, but I was glad that the judges and the crowed appreciated the improvements I had made. I really received a lot of positive commends afterwards.

On 25 October it was time for the Ultimate Showdown. This was the first year this event was hosted, but it was not a sanctioned event by a bodybuilding organization.

It was a one line up, no weight class event. All the best bodybuilders in South Africa came to take part in this event.

I got a disappointing 5th place. I really believed that I would get a top 3 placement.

It really was the worst performance of judging ever in South Africa. Faces were judged and not the physiques of the athletes. This happens when celebrities and sponsors are used to judge athletes.

I was in even in better shape than at Muscle Evolution. I weighed in at 229lbs. Rock hard and shredded. Pose for pose I was the best on stage and pose for pose I was cheered on by the crowd. I truly can’t believe how the judging was done.

At the moment I am taking off. I want to try and stay lean, but I also want to try to add quality muscle. I would also like to continue improving my physique. I really managed to make my waist thinner. I still need to trim down my waist, but I also need to improve my back, lats and calves.

I want to get back on stage bigger, better, harder and even more shredded. My dream is to get on stage weighing around 242lbs, but this is not so important at the moment.

At the moment I would like a pleasing physique, which is pleasing on the eye.

I want to make 2009 a really big year for me. I am planning to take off the whole year of 2010. I have a fair idée what shows I will be doing. The main show the IFBB World Championships.

Taking that first step.

Last week we introduced the “That’s What’s Up Levrone,” Youtube group. We got some great uploads – thanks to those who participated.

The rest of you: either you don’t have cameras, or you are hesitant to take that first step.

Take that step. Bang it out. Feel what it’s like. Putting yourself out there is healthy. It propels you forward in life. Trust me on this. I remember taking my first step...

Taking MY first steps.

You’ve been asking on the Levrone Forum about how I got into bodybuilding. Here it is.

My cousin, Stoney Levrone, came home after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. This was back when I was a teenager, before I was big.

He was conditioned from basic training. He took exercise to a new level in my eyes. That started my fascination with bodybuilding.

Stoney became my first mentor. He taught me how to lift for real. Sets and reps. Then I joined a health club. I was in awe over how massive these guys were. I discovered intriguing machines that sculpt the body.

From there I befriended a power lifter named Kahuna. He taught me how lower reps builds size. I started reading magazines. I was hooked.

Then I discovered my cousin Chico was into bodybuilding. I started training with him. We fed off each other’s energy. It got me to the next level, moving serious weights.

Here’s the moment of truth: Kahuna encouraged me to compete in a local power lifting competition.

I decided to go for it. It was scary. Just like making a video for the Youtube group is scary for some of you. But I did it, and it changed my life.

I bought some Sears underwear on the way to the competition. Seriously, I made my career debut in underwear...I bought at Sears. You think you have it hard posting on Youtube? Nobody’s asking you to do it in your underwear. (Please don’t.)

I weighed in at 189 lbs and benched well over 400 lbs – all natural. I had never taken steroids. I was 21 years old and won my first powerlifting competition.

But that’s not the main story. The main part is that same afternoon there was a bodybuilding competition held on the same stage.

Bodybuilding? Kahuna talked me into doing it. “What the hell,” I thought. “I’m already in my Sears underwear, why not?”

It was a brave move. I had no routine, no planning, no prior experience. I took a chance – put myself out there.

I had to make up poses on the spot to “Cult of Personality,” by Living Colour. I remember the feeling: total uncertainty.

That afternoon I won my first bodybuilding competition, Mr. Colossus. That victory emboldened me to compete again. I kept winning. Within a year or so I went pro – it was one of the quickest rises from amateur to pro in the history of bodybuilding.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I had no clue I had that kind of potential until I put myself out there.

Put yourself out there. Everyone who ever succeeded has experienced that moment, untethered, boldly going where they’ve never gone before.

Even if I lost Mr. Colossus, I still would have been a step closer to my destiny. Closer to self-knowledge. All “failures” bring you closer to self-awareness, closer to your rightful place in the world.

Seek out opportunities to take that bold step. Look for your “Sears underwear moment,” in life. For some of you, the Youtube group is that opportunity. Seize it. Everyone who posts is a winner. It’s a constructive environment – a great place to test your metal.

One of my favorite quotes is by Goethe, “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” It’s true.

Boldness put me on the bodybuilding stage. But it also gave me exhilarating moments playing music with my band. It got me cast in my first films. It’s boldness that gave me the greatest blessing on earth – my son Gabriel.

Boldness gave us the Levrone Report blog, where I expose the real me, and tell the truth, for better or worse.

What’s boldness responsible for in your life? What do you WANT it to be responsible for in the future?

Think about it. Then post it here. (Must be signed in as a forum member.)

Boldness has always played a big part in my success. I know it will play a big part in yours.

Levrone, out.