BIOGRAPHY

I was born in San Francisco, California and grew up in the suburbs of the east bay all the way through high school. I guess you can say my childhood was fairly typical, but then this bio isn’t about my childhood, it’s about how I got involved in the sport of competitive bodybuilding. It all began when I was 17 and a junior in high school: a good friend of mine suggested that we start going to the gym and work out. Having never even set foot inside a gym before, I was reluctant, but nonetheless agreed. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made seeing as all the time I was spending in the gym kept me out of trouble during my free time, and that I would soon discover all the physical benefits working out would provide me.

Now my friend was no personal trainer—in fact, all his training knowledge came from magazines and Shawn Ray’s “Flex Magazine Workout” program on ESPN. We worked out together all through my junior and senior years in high school. My being clueless about proper workout routines or nutrition resulted in a sorry gain of just three pounds over two years: taking me from a start-out weight of 135 lbs. to 138 lbs. Believe it or not, I was never tempted to throw in the towel…rather I came to the realization that in order for me to gain the muscle mass I wanted, I’d have to do my homework. If nothing else, in those two years I had found I really enjoyed working out and that it was something that was going to be a part of my life forever.

After high school I was off to college in San Luis Obispo. I was still working out occasionally while in school, but school always took a priority over the gym. Mid-terms, finals and research papers made it very difficult to be consistent in the gym. But finally when I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice, I was able to focus on just work and working out. I ventured out as a personal trainer and got 3 certifications, one of them being a national certification from NASM. After 6 months I found that personal training was not for me, so I decided to really focus on applying everything I learned about training, nutrition and supplementation to myself. I think the combination of this and being consistent in the gym is when some real results started showing up and kicking in. Don’t get me wrong, having 16” arms is mighty impressive—and I took every opportunity to show them off to whoever, but never in my wildest imagination would I think about taking them on stage and competing. Little did I know that was going to change.

Every year since 1999 I have been attending the Mr. Olympia weekend and every year I would get more and more attention while walking around the expo from people in the industry and photographers wanting to do photo shoots with me. The attention was very flattering but I just kinda blew it off. After all, I thought, “Who was I?” But when the editor of Muscle & Fitness spotted me among the pros and dedicated amateurs at the 2002 Olympia weekend and approached me to tell me that I have a really good look and that he would like to do some work with me, I was totally blown away!!! The issue hit newsstands in January 2004: seeing my face on the pages of one of the most-popular bodybuilding and fitness publications in the world was one of my proudest moments. My physique was being admired by millions of M&F readers and I just couldn’t believe it!

Naturally, while I was getting approached by all of these people telling me I have such a great look they would invariably ask me the same question: “So what’s your contest history?” I would tell them that I don’t have one because I haven’t competed—which would immediately draw looks of amazement followed by streams of endless encouragement. You can say this was the deciding factor or the turning point if you want: I mean, people deep in the industry are telling me that I should be competing based on just seeing me walk around on the convention floor of the Olympia…that says something. I started thinking to myself I really need to get serious and suck it up and just diet for a show. I have never dieted before in my entire life because I love food so much!!! Nachos, pasta, pizza, ice cream—did I mention nachos? All the stuff you can’t eat when you’re preparing for a competition. Did I really want to put myself through this?? This inner conflict seemed to arise at every meal, but then I would think about the “what ifs”—that was enough to convince myself that the rewards will be worth the sacrifice. There’s a saying in bodybuilding: “Look your best, feel your worst.” I never really fully understood it until I started dieting for my first show, the 2003 NPC Contra Costa. In the 6 weeks prior to the contest I followed a strict low-carb, high-protein diet and let me tell you, I’ve never felt more energy-depleted and temperamental in my entire life! I don’t know where I found the drive and energy to hit the gym every night…I must have been running on sheer determination.

Contest day: I entered in both the Lightweight Novice and Lightweight Open classes. I had gone from feeling like a spent battery into an anxious hulk. This was the first time I had ever set foot on a contest stage. Even though I’d rehearsed every move over and over to the point where I felt almost like I was on auto-pilot, something deep inside me sparked.  Standing under the lights; hearing the loud cheers and applause from the audience and being flanked by guys who wanted it just as bad, had triggered my competitive side. Everyone up to this point told me I deserved to be here, and here I was: and I made sure everyone watching knew that with every pose I hit. When it was finally announced that I had took 1st place in the Novice class and 2nd in the Open class, the feeling of personal accomplishment of what I was able to achieve through all the commitment and dedication was like no other. These wins qualified me for national-level competition, but perhaps most importantly, I was a champion bodybuilder. I had found my purpose.

I took all of 2004 off from competing to rest and grow…and grow I did. So when 2005 came I was able to step up a class to the middleweights. I had my sights set on the NPC Contra Costa again, but also the NPC California State—which was just 2 weeks after the Contra Costa. This posed a whole new challenge in addition to the already grueling contest prep: I now needed to prepare myself both physically and mentally for 2 shows back to back. This time I started my contest prep 10 weeks out from the NPC Contra Costa. Competing as a middleweight was definitely a challenge, since these guys are 22 lbs heavier than the lightweight class I competed in previously. I ended up taking 1st place in the middleweight open class at the Contra Costa. That victory was great, but now the real challenge was set before me, holding on physically and mentally for 2 more weeks. I was able to pull through the 2 weeks and took 1st place in the welterweight class at the NPC California State, which is a new weight class that the NPC just added to this contest and every National level contest. I walked away from those competitions knowing that there is nothing I can’t accomplish. I felt stronger in every way, shape and form.

My outlook about preparing for a competition is fairly simple. This is a sport all about personal limits, will power and satisfaction: all you need to be concerned with is that you did everything at 100% to your knowledge and abilities to bring the best package to the stage. You can’t base your training around what you think your opponents are doing—after all, you never know who is going to show up! Once on the stage, pose with confidence!! Everything from that point is pretty much out of your control, so enjoy yourself. You can’t be disappointed if you did your best. I myself never have expectations; it’s just a set-up for a letdown. Do everything 100% and let the cards fall where they will.