He?s got everything, discipline, consistency, work ethic and a tan. OK, the tan is just painted on.
John Johnson, a senior dietetics major from Nashville, recently came home with top honors from the Arkansas State Body Building Championship in the super heavyweight and novice divisions. The competition was held June 12 at the Statehouse Convention Center.
Johnson did not have plans to be a bodybuilder when he was growing up. He started lifting weights in high school while he was training for the football team and found he had an affinity for it.
?I was kind of naturally pretty strong once I started,? Johnson said.
He said someone from his hometown church noticed his strength and felt he had the potential to compete in powerlifting. Johnson started training and was able to not only compete, but he set the bar higher for everyone else. He holds four world records in the sport.
Powerlifting was so strenuous on Johnson?s body that he ended up in the hospital many times with severe back problems. He lost cartilage between two of his vertebras, and they were fused together.
After some time off, Johnson made a spur of the moment decision and signed up for his first bodybuilding competition last year. Due to inexperience and poor training the last week he was not picked to be one of the top five to compete for the winning title.
?The way that you manipulate your body the last week before competition, by cutting out water, sodium, carbohydrates and then carb loading, determines how you?ll do in competition,? Johnson said. ?You can be the strongest person a week before the show but get last place if you don?t do the right things the last week.?
After his disappointing first competition, Johnson researched another Arkansas bodybuilder on the Internet. Don Youngblood from Alma has built a reputation for himself as a first-class bodybuilder and earned the title of 2002 Masters Mr. Olympia Champion.
Youngblood has been the integral ingredient Johnson needed to become a bodybuilding champion. Johnson travels to see his coach most weekends to talk to him about all aspects of training including workouts, eating and help with the crucial week before competition.
Close to competition time Johnson trains up to six hours a day at the HPER Center. He spends six days a week perfecting and strengthening his body to stay in top bodybuilding form.
Johnson?s main tip for anyone thinking of joining the highly competitive sport is to be consistent. He said many people do not stay with training long enough. When he says consistency is key, he means it. Johnson can only drink distilled water, cannot eat soy or dairy and carefully plans every item he eats.
?Everything that goes in my mouth has been on a scale,? Johnson said. ?It?s all weighed out.?
Depending on the day and how close it may be to a competition, Johnson eats anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 calories a day. On a normal day, he drinks three protein shakes each consisting of 100 grams of protein powder mixed with a cup of uncooked oatmeal and water. His other three meals everyday each include one pound of sirloin and one pound of baked potato. During his training leading up to a contest, he said he might eat a five-pound bag of broccoli in a day.
He also made clear that bodybuilding is not simply a month or two of working out but instead it is a complete lifestyle.
?There?s no off-season to it,? Johnson said. ?It?s year-round that you?re doing this to yourself.?
Johnson and his coach feel he has the potential to go far in the sport.
?Don thinks I have the genetics for it,? Johnson said. ?If you don?t have the genetics you?re not going to go anywhere.?
-Rachel Roberts
