HOW I BECAME AN IFBB WORLD CHAMPION
Gym photos by Fivos Averkiou
I achieved my lifetime dream to be a world champion when I became the first UK athlete in 20 years to win an IFBB world championship title in November. It happened at the largest ever bodybuilding show in history: the IFBB World Championships in Santa Susanna, Spain, which featured over 2,000 athletes from 190 countries battling it out in over 300 different categories over four days!
I triumphed over 16 world class masters competitors from 12 countries in the over-60s. The standard was so high that the previous year’s winner didn’t even make the top six. I was immediately awarded the highly prestigious IFBB Masters Elite Pro Card in recognition of this achievement. I flew out with my son Sam from Heathrow early on Tuesday November 2, two days before I was due on stage. We met up with fellow UKBFF athletes Kassandra Bacon and Anne Bulmer where we shared a coffee and prep stories. We arrived in Barcelona, collected a hire car, drove an hour to Santa Susanna, checked into the official athletes’ hotel, made a quick visit to the supermarket for essentials and did a little arm training session at a nearby hotel followed by an early night.
REGISTRATION DAY
This is when the magnitude and scale of the competition hit home as the hotel was rammed with athletes. I always arrive a day early, which was a great move this year with so many athletes still checking in. There were some massive teams, Sweden brought 77 athletes, Russia over 100 and Japan had a large contingent just to name three. I hit a couple of impromptu shots in front of the official show banner, including a couple of fun ones with my international gym buddy Kas then it was back to the gym for a final chest and back session. I met three Serbian lads, all previous champions who paid me nice compliments, which was a great boost the night before the show but I was under no illusions this was going to be my biggest challenge ever. Then it was back to the hotel for the base coat tan and up to the room to eat and get the legs up.
SHOW DAY
Woke to see the list of athletes in my category. There were 16 world class athletes, including six previous world champions. All the big guns had come out to play. This was going to be one tough day at the office. Masters are generally on early, but my category was the last of 92 that day. With the show scheduled to finish at 8pm it was going to be a challenge remaining full but not bloated. But I had a plan. I knew that 8pm was an optimistic finishing time with so many athletes so the day was all about maintaining fullness whilst keeping the tight mid-section I had worked so hard for over the last 20 weeks, I left the hotel at 3pm and headed to the venue where I got my top coat of tan done by the superb Elite Tan team. I then found a nice quiet corner to chill in and set up camp for the next eight or so hours. Other athletes in my category started to filter backstage and I did what I tell others not to do — I checked out their number badges and my mind started racing that ‘he’s bigger than me’, or ‘he’s more ripped than me’. This year the standard was insane. After lying down for hours, I became groggy and my son Sam woke me up and we did some early pump ups to not only get the blood flowing but also to get the brain working again. We went through the compulsory poses and I then hit a real problem — cold sweats, something I’d never experienced before. I can only put it down to the fact that I wanted this so bad it was almost overwhelming. Sam took me through some deep breathing exercises to help slow my heart rate and ‘brought me back’ a couple of times.
HITTING THE STAGE
At 11pm I had my glaze on and all 16 of us lined up. The time had come, not just 20 weeks prep, but six years of work had come down to the next half hour. It was time to leave it all on stage and what a stage — it must have been some 60 metres long. I was pleased to be in the centre of the line and immediately hit a most muscular to show the 13 international judges what I’d got. At the time I thought I posed poorly but looking back at the pictures and videos it was all good, especially the side shots which have always been my strong point. I reached the top 10 and was centre stage in the first call out. Then I was back off stage again for the top six to be decided and, yes, I was still in it. We all did our individual posing routines, which are not my favourite element and I freestyled it a bit. Then we all gathered backstage for a third time to await the results. After third place was read out, there was a pause for the longest few seconds of my life until I heard the words, ‘And in second place, from France, Eric Gerst’. I’d only gone and done it! WORLD CHAMPION, and not any world champion but an IFBB world champion — the best.
TEARS OF JOY
Tears of joy followed and then came the UK national anthem. I’d dreamt of this moment. After photos I was straight back on stage with the other masters winners for the overall title. A total of 12 athletes lined up and I came eighth, beating the 50s and 55s winners, giving me confidence going forward as a pro in the over 50s category. I gathered my trophy and medal and met Sam and my wife, Linda, for a family group hug. That moment will last forever in my memory. Linda had flown out on her own the day before the show just to see me compete — the first time she had flown on her own. Winning a World Championship is special but to have you loved ones there, those who have supported your journey and to share the moment makes it so much more special. I celebrated in the hotel room with a warm Estrella and a couple of cookies. Sam and I were to celebrate in style the next nine days with a tour of northern Spain. The lad from little old Stamford only just went and beat athletes from France, Spain, Greece, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Romania, Czech Republic, Malta, Luxembourg & Poland.
A massive thank you to the IFBB for putting on a quite phenomenal show. The grandeur and stature of an IFBB world championship has to be witnessed first-hand. Everything is done to perfection and with ultimate professionalism. A true global federation. I am proud to be part of the IFBB family and was made to feel most welcome, thank you.
Dr Rafael Santonja heads up the best federation in the world. My final and biggest thank you must go to the UKBFF and, in particular, Bill and Wanda Tierney for giving me the opportunity to compete within the IFBB on the greatest stage of all. The support you have given me has been second to none. I always said I would re-pay you with titles and this year has been quite remarkable, winning both the Arnold Classic Europe for a second time and now finally the world championships. The UKBFF has the history, legacy and highest prestige of any UK federation and is the only route to the IFBB. I have always been loyal to the UKBFF throughout my bodybuilding career, knowing that it’s the best and have now reached the pinnacle of that.
The UKBFF have a full schedule of qualifiers already planned for 2022, so get on board. I would encourage any UK athlete to compete with the UKBFF. It is the only route to the Arnold Classic Europe, the Arnold Classic Africa, the IFBB Diamond Cups and the IFBB World Championships. You can call yourself a true world champion if you win that one. So what next? I plan to have some quality family down time, a nice Christmas and Antarctic cruise in January and then its back on it and see how we do in the IFBB Masters pro ranks early 2022. I also plan to qualify to be a UKBFF judge next year. I will also prep a couple of selected athletes free of charge to share my knowledge and experience and give something back to the sport I love.
‘EASIEST PREP EVER’
So what was the reason for my success? Obviously, all the hard work off-season, leg pressing 500kg on dark, wet, cold November nights to maintain and build mass is important, but I adopted a totally different approach to prep this time. I dieted for a longer period, enabling me to come down slowly and maintain muscle mass. Once my metabolic rate was firing, I was dropping body fat whilst eating 3000+ calories daily, with zero cardio all prep. It was crazy. The result was I stayed full, which is important for me as I struggle to carb up. I clearly maintained muscle mass as a result of this approach. As for the art of the last week: I did NO PEAK WEEK. My diet was the same as it was for the last 20 weeks. There was no carb deplete, no water load, no sodium depletion. My philosophy was that if you look good in the gym, why change anything in the last week?
I’ve learned through experience. For my first competition six years ago, I loaded on 13 litres of water a day. I looked ripped to hell but very flat. For the Arnolds I increased water from 2 litres a day to just 4 litres. The result was I weighed in the day before at 93kg and woke the following morning at 91kg. Water washes me out, taking water out of the muscles and I struggle to keep carbs in. Your body will thank you for keeping things the same. I drank the same two litres a day I always do the last week right up to stepping on stage. It was the easiest prep I have done. It might not work for everyone but if you put in the hard yards throughout prep and get your body fat really low there’s no need for dramatic measures during the final week.