Musclemania® Universe Champion Julian Navarro looked insane at yesterday morning’s workout. The 5’7″, 183 lbs., 22 year old student is already contest ready and still has 4 months to grow before his MM Pro debut in Ft. Lauderdale.
Musclemania® Pro Sasho Ognenovski may be pasty white for the moment, but the 5’9″, 195 lbs. Aussie is living the lean bulk to the hilt! Sasho took a leave from competition last season but says he’s planning to arrive in Las Vegas in November ready to take over the show.
Musclemania™ Mid America HW Champ Donte Franklin was crazy looking at MM America in Las Vegas. Last season was the 6′, 205 lbs., 22 year old car dealership salesman’s first year on stage. “I have always liked training,” Donte says. “But, I never even thought about getting stage. I just liked lifting all the time, since I was 13.” Donte barely lost the Junior Class to another show sleeper, Kwame Jack-Duah from Australia. Donte says he will compete this spring in a couple warm up shows and then to MM Universe in June.
At 6′, 220 lbs., Musclemania® Pakistan star Adnan Ali is holding his weight and getting leaner by the week as he prepares for MM Asia in Singapore in September. The 22 year old personal trainer says he follows Ulisses, Simeon Panda and Julian Navarro’s “lean bulk” regimen.
French junior physique star Michael Thoby says he’s aiming for Musclemania® Universe in June. The 5’11″, 180 lbs., 22 year old trainer has competed in many shows and wants to move up to international events. “I think I am ready, at least everyone tells me I am,” explains Mickael. “I am adding more muscle and working on my symmetry. Getting lean is easy for me, so I am just gaining in the right areas. I want to have a really complete body when I get to MM. Plus, with all of the natural guys, it will be true test of my potential.”
Musclemania® Pro Taat Pribadi is looking lean, ripped and ready if his next show as this weekend. But at 5’7″, 180 lbs., the Indonesian phenom is aiming for MM Asia in Singapore in September after nearly winning the ’13 MM World Pro Short Class. The Java based personal trainer took a 10 year absence before returning to the stage, so it was a real surprise when Taat appeared in Las Vegas last November much to the surprise of Dewayne J Malone, Law Payne and Larry Camacho. “I enjoyed the challenge and it was great to get back into shape,” Taat says. “But, I hope to win next time like my countrymen Ade Rai and Komang Arnawa (both former MM World Pro Champions) have done and brought great honor back home.” Taat will join fellow MM Pros Syed Fazli, Ricky Syamsuri, Chul Soon and other great natural stars in a special appearance in Singapore.
Like Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man sketch, ’10 Model Britain Champion Mehmet Edip displays a static structure but dynamic in its presentation of a moving, living man. The photo by famed fitness cameraman Robert Reiff was shot in his Venice, California, studio and published in Box Magazine this month. The London based Mehmet is currently working the Hollywood media scene and will soon appear in some new advertisements, marketing campaigns and a couple of commercials.
Bosnian natural bodybuilder and sports model Erko Jun made his show debut at the ’13 Musclemania Universe. The 5’10″, 200 lbs., 21 year old trainer’s popularity has exploded with many European sports, fitness and consumer magazines and media agencies hot on his trail. Erko just finished a series of shoots with some Eastern Europe magazine, but is back into training. “I love doing all of the photo shoots, but I am back now in Belgium training hard and getting reason for the contest season,” Erko explains.
Musclemania Pros Chul Soon (L) and Ulisses (R) have always been mutual admirers with respect for the others’ competitive and commercial achievements. In just 6 years, Chul has risen from being a Korean sports model to one of the sports most popular natural bodybuilders and commercial stars. For over a decade Ulisses has been legendary with his classic symmetry, incredible muscle bellies and lean condition. But his marketable appeal and public attraction has also made him a commercial celebrity. So, will Chul and Ulisses be in Florida in June for a Musclemania rematch? The season is just beginning to unfold.
Musclemania™ Pro superstar Simeon Panda looked crazy at the ’13 MM World in Las Vegas. At 6’1″, 220 lbs., 27 year old London native is currently in Los Angeles on a month long media trip. “I trained straight through the holidays just to be ready,” Simeon says. “I ate clean and didn’t miss a day of training. Even On Christmas I found a gym that was open and trained for a couple of hours!”
Jose Enriquez has won a bunch of local shows and the ’13 Mr. Ecuador Novice Championships, but the 23 year old university engineering student says its time for change. “I am tired of competing in the drug shows and want to be among the Musclemania™ natural guys,” Jose says. At 5’6″, 175 lbs., he’s already dieting and wants to hit MM Colombia, Central America and, hopefully, America. “I am working on my symmetry, too, and want to have a total physique for my first MM show. It will be really refreshing to compete in a clean show.”
Egyptian natural bodybuilder Mahmoud Hassan has never competed before, but the 5’6″, 160 lbs., 24 year old student has an amazing physique and worthy of taking stage anytime. “I just never thought that I could compete with the guys using the drugs,” Mahmoud says. “You see, here in Egypt, none of the shows are natural. I just use protein power, so I would get killed against those bodybuilders.” But, as Mahmoud explains it, that’s about to change. “I am training for Musclemania™ here in Cairo. I can’t wait! I want to go against guys that are clean like me and have a real contest.”
Musclemania™ New Mexico star Michael Donathan is as much known for his own competition accomplishments as he is for training an incredible pool of talented bodybuilders. At 6’3″, 240 lbs., he has developed a powerful physique. But it was two of his clients who won the recent MM America and Figure America Pro Championships in Las Vegas, Chris Kirkpatrick and his wife Jessica Rinaldi Donathan, respectively. Mike also trains an incredible line-up of new talent preparing for the Fitness New Mexico show in May.
Truly the biggest dude in the gym, Musclemania™ Pro Griffin Datcher III trained for domination and won the ’13 MM World Pro HW Class in Las Vegas. The 6’3″, 250 lbs., Houston personal trainer is a sports nutrition specialist and owns Northwest Personal Training Center. Always a gentle giant, Griffin is well respected and a favorite among other MM Pros.
