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Brawn at Mr Universe shows off brain too: The Indian Express
Mumbai, Nov 08: An animal behavioural psychologist, the captain of a fishing trawler, a construction engineer, an officer from the military special forces. And you thought the only thing that bodybuilders gathered in Mumbai for the upcoming Mr Universe World Body Building Championship could talk was pectorals and biceps.
Mumbai, Nov 08: An animal behavioural psychologist, the captain of a fishing trawler, a construction engineer, an officer from the military special forces. And you thought the only thing that bodybuilders gathered in Mumbai for the upcoming Mr Universe World Body Building Championship could talk was pectorals and biceps.
Over 200 of the world’s best sculpted bodies have trooped into Mumbai from the world over and from these athtletes will emerge the one man who will join the league that has handed out fame passports to Hollywood stars like Arnold Schwarzenneger, Lou Ferrignou and Omar Sharif (he finished in the top five).
The bespectacled Neil Gardner is easily the most unassuming of the lot. At 40, this therapeutic masseuse from Melbourne, Australia, is anything but your typical muscle-bound hulk. Add to that a degree in behavioural psychology and then you are forced to ask — why? how?
‘‘I always loved working out, being a rugby player (he played for his school in England) required a certain level of fitness. That’s how it began,’’ says Gardner, who was crowned Mr Australia in the light middleweight category two weeks ago. ‘‘Pyschology was something I got into much later. I find it very challenging because animals cannot communicate like humans,’’ says Gardner, even as a bunch of giggling girls gawked while he stripped down for camera crews at the exhibition centre at the Oberoi.
For others like Canadian Adrian Noel (33), bodybuilding is a leisure activity he indulges in in his spare time. Which means it is a strict no-no four months a year. The captain of a trawler in New Brunswick, a fishing town on the north coast of Canada, he spends most of his time with his six-member crew on their 25-metre boat in the Atlantic, fishing for shrimps and crabs.
‘‘I love the sea, I come from a family of fishermen, so I inherited the family business,’’ says Noel, Mr Canada in 2001. The rigours of his job mean he gets to work out only one hour everyday. ‘‘What the others do in 2 hours, I need to finish in half hour,’’ says Noel.
But a significant number of those present at the Championship are personal trainers at gymnasiums or own fitness clubs and find it difficult to make ends meet. Like Quentin Fong from South Africa puts it: ‘‘We’re either working out or supervising other people work out.’’
For sports nutritionist Nelson Benjamin (45), a 12-time Mr South Africa and Chris Forget (23), a fitness trainer, just their dietary requirements and nutritional supplements take up sizeable chunks of their salaries. Since there are upto four unions vying to be the National Federation, the South African government does not support either of the four sporting bodies and the atheletes thus have to fend for themselves.
‘‘If you don’t find a sponsor, things could very difficult for you,’’ says Forget, pointing to his tattered track-pants.
Over 200 of the world’s best sculpted bodies have trooped into Mumbai from the world over and from these athtletes will emerge the one man who will join the league that has handed out fame passports to Hollywood stars like Arnold Schwarzenneger, Lou Ferrignou and Omar Sharif (he finished in the top five).
The bespectacled Neil Gardner is easily the most unassuming of the lot. At 40, this therapeutic masseuse from Melbourne, Australia, is anything but your typical muscle-bound hulk. Add to that a degree in behavioural psychology and then you are forced to ask — why? how?
‘‘I always loved working out, being a rugby player (he played for his school in England) required a certain level of fitness. That’s how it began,’’ says Gardner, who was crowned Mr Australia in the light middleweight category two weeks ago. ‘‘Pyschology was something I got into much later. I find it very challenging because animals cannot communicate like humans,’’ says Gardner, even as a bunch of giggling girls gawked while he stripped down for camera crews at the exhibition centre at the Oberoi.
For others like Canadian Adrian Noel (33), bodybuilding is a leisure activity he indulges in in his spare time. Which means it is a strict no-no four months a year. The captain of a trawler in New Brunswick, a fishing town on the north coast of Canada, he spends most of his time with his six-member crew on their 25-metre boat in the Atlantic, fishing for shrimps and crabs.
‘‘I love the sea, I come from a family of fishermen, so I inherited the family business,’’ says Noel, Mr Canada in 2001. The rigours of his job mean he gets to work out only one hour everyday. ‘‘What the others do in 2 hours, I need to finish in half hour,’’ says Noel.
But a significant number of those present at the Championship are personal trainers at gymnasiums or own fitness clubs and find it difficult to make ends meet. Like Quentin Fong from South Africa puts it: ‘‘We’re either working out or supervising other people work out.’’
For sports nutritionist Nelson Benjamin (45), a 12-time Mr South Africa and Chris Forget (23), a fitness trainer, just their dietary requirements and nutritional supplements take up sizeable chunks of their salaries. Since there are upto four unions vying to be the National Federation, the South African government does not support either of the four sporting bodies and the atheletes thus have to fend for themselves.
‘‘If you don’t find a sponsor, things could very difficult for you,’’ says Forget, pointing to his tattered track-pants.