BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

John shrugged. “Well, my uncle introduced me to bodybuilding this weekend,” he told the counselor. “I really, really liked it.” She rolled her eyes and dropped her head. “OK, let’s do this,” she said. “Imagine you have the best body in the world. What are you going to do? Show people how to work out for a living?” She was still laughing when John left her office. Finding a Purpose “I was an introverted kid, kind of shy,” John recalls. “When she shamed me, I got up and walked out of the office. I shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘Wow. Training people for a living. That would be the coolest thing in the world.’ “This was the winter of 1980 and, to be fair, it wasn’t like it is today. These days you can walk into any gym and find trainers working with people. Very few people were doing it in 1980 and most of them were in Los Angeles. I went to a local YMCA and started lifting weights. A year later, I competed as a teenager in the Empire State Championships. I placed really well, taking the top four awards for my age group. “I was hooked. I just lit up about bodybuilding. It satisfied so many things for me. It wasn’t egotistical. I wasn’t trying to be the biggest guy on the block. I wasn’t interested in showing off in public every day. I wanted to create a sculpture. I wanted to create something, and it just happened to be my body. “At some point, every bodybuilder has to make a decision. If you want quick success and massive muscles, you take performance-enhancing drugs. These include steroids and growth hormones. They’re prevalent in many athletic departments and easily accessible for kids at a young age. “I chose to compete in Natural (drug tested) Bodybuilding contests. It instilled great discipline in me and taught me delayed gratification. The problem was that ultimately someone who didn’t take performance-enhancing drugs would have a great challenge beating people who did, and certain contests like the Mr. America were untested events.” Living the Dream In 1986, John moved to Los Angeles. While continuing to train himself, he accepted his first client in 1987. Before long, he had what his guidance counselor had mocked him about: a career training people how to work out. John enjoyed reading the work of Mike Mentzer, a former Mr. America and Mr. Universe. His ideas on training and the science behind them were amazing. One day he posted his phone number in an article and said he was open to training consultations. John called, and Mentzer agreed to mentor him. When Mentzer died, John was asked to take over his phone consultation business. In 2001, John was training at a gym when a man walked in and looked him over. He knew that John looked good and wasn’t using PEDs. “Hey,” the man said, “are you going to compete in the Natural Mr. Universe competition?” “What do you mean, the Natural Mr. Universe? Where is it?” John had never heard of a competition that excluded those who used drugs. “It’s in Los Angeles,” the man replied. “You’d do really well. You should compete in it.” John started training for the event. On Nov. 9, 2001, he competed and won the Tall Class of the Natural Mr. Universe competition. “From this point and forever, this man, winner of the Tall Class, will always be known as Mr. Universe,” the announcer declared. Walking onto the stage John thought, Well, that was a nice career. He’d just turned 36 and won the title of Natural Mr. Universe. Now he could retire and do something else with his life. However, there was still nothing he’d rather do. Supernatural Intervention The odd thing about winning the title was that family pictures had circulated for years of John wearing diapers that read: "Future Mr. America." Too bad that the Mr. America competition was no longer being held due to various legal circumstances. Natural Mr. Universe would have to do. A couple of weeks later, after leaving a gym in Marina del Rey, John was sitting at a traffic light when a huge truck came up from behind and crashed into John’s vehicle. Thinking he was fine, John had his roommate take him home. The next morning, he awoke with symptoms of a concussion. 12 : BVOV

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