Page 8 - Nellis, Creech, NTTR Bullseye 12-11-15

8 December 11, 2015
www.aerotechnews.com/nellisafb
Airman achieves life-long dream of
becoming a professional bodybuilder
By Airman 1st Class Christian Clausen
432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing
Public Affairs
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. —
There he was standing on the 2015 National
Physique Committee (NPC) National
Bodybuilding Championships stage, Nov.
21, 2015, in Miami, Florida, in front of
thousands of people.
With the blazing spotlights on him, the
announcer read off the winners, which is
when he heard his dream come true.
“And taking second place, your new
IFBB (International Federation of Body-
building and Fitness) pro card holder,
David,” the announcer bellowed into the
microphone.
The technical sergeant, a 432nd
Maintenance Group contract officer
representative, felt his stomach drop, his
legs quiver, and a wave of emotion wash
over him as he walked up to receive his
award, realizing the past six years had
paid off, earning him his life-long dream
of becoming a professional bodybuilder. ship, during his contest preparation for
“The moment I received my pro card
meant everything to me,” he said with
a proud smile. “I remember hearing the
announcer read my name as a new IFBB
pro and the feeling was indescribable.
It’s something I had been chasing for so
long and it’s unexplainable; it’s been a
life-long dream.”
The long journey began as a young
child in the small town of Fort Mitchell,
Alabama.
“Every day l looked at bodybuild-
ing magazines as a kid,” he said. “I was
amazed how they could get their bodies
to look like that and I knew even at a
young age that it took a lot of hard work
because you don’t see people walking
around looking like that. I knew that it
took a special kind of person, and I knew
that I wanted to be that type.”
Through his school years he wasn’t
the wide, intimidating man he is today;
he was actually a small guy, only 5 feet
6 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds
until he joined the military in 2001.
“In 2002 I was on a deployment when
I first found the gym and my body took
well to it,” he said. “I made the decision
then that if I couldn’t get taller; I was go-
ing to get wider. From that day I focused
on putting muscle on with competing in
the back of my mind.”
David kept training in the gym, but it
was only just to train until he met Kevin
Sterling while stationed at Hickam Air
Force Base, Hawaii, in 2009.
“Kevin was a huge bodybuilder in
Hawaii at the time and he would see me
in the gym a lot,” he said. “One day he
asked me why I was training and I didn’t
have an answer for him. He told me I
Sports BULLSEYE
Facebook.com/NellisBullseye
should compete and show everyone what He considered not competing and tak- U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Christian Clausen
my dedication, hard work and sacrifices ing some time off, but he knew his sister
looked like, and it made a lot of sense.” would have wanted him to continue. Tech. Sgt. David, 432nd Maintenance
Shortly after listening to his friend, “She knew how bodybuilding is my Group contract officer representative,
David competed in his first local show life and she would have wanted me to
placing second in 2010. keep going so I focused on the show poses for the judges of the 2015 National
and got it done,” he said. “Even though
“I looked horrible, but from there I it was difficult getting back into it after Physique Committee National Bodybuilding
got bit by the bodybuilding bug,” he said. her passing, I would think about the good
“From then on I just started chasing after times with her and I thought about her Championships in Miami, Fla., Nov. 21. David
the pro status.” all the way up to the show and it really
helped me pull through.” took first place against 27 other competitors
With desire in his eyes and determina-
tion in his soul, he lusted after becom- Not only was this tragedy difficult, in the middleweight class and 177 others
ing a pro body builder. He competed but combined with very little sleep due
in numerous regional events until this to three training sessions a day and his overall taking second in the national
past July when he competed in his first second job as a security guard, his stress
national event, the 2015 USA Bodybuild- was heightened. competition. By winning his weight class,
ing Championships.
“Every minute of my day is spoken for David received his International Federation
“Back in July I did the 2015 USA body- and especially with cutting my calories
building championships and took 2nd in half, the only thing that keeps me go- of Bodybuilding and Fitness professional
place,” he said. “Unfortunately in that ing to my third workout after my second
one I had to place first to become a pro. job when I feel like I’ve got nothing left card, a dream he’s been chasing for six years.
I was still pretty hungry and I was still is my kids and my will to be the best,”
chasing that dream so I set my sights on David said. feat, but he will also need to defeat one
the competition in November.” of his idols, Flex Lewis, in his pro debut.
These sacrifices finally paid off when
David’s journey was not without hard- he took first in the middleweight class His sacrifices not only help him on his
against 27 other competitors and second quest to becoming a legend in his sport,
the USA championships, his oldest sister overall against 177 others in the national but they also help him perform better in
passed away. He flew to San Antonio and competition. the military.
spent two weeks with his family. Missing
two weeks in bodybuilding can be dev- David isn’t taking any breaks; he’s hit- “Bodybuilding to me is a stress reliev-
astating but he bore down, trained hard, ting the ground running by preparing for er, whether it’s lifting or posing practice,
and still took second place. the New York Pro Bodybuilding Champi- they all help me relieve stress,” he said.
onships May 12, 2016. Because there are “There’s a lot of stress that comes with the
“My sister was sick, she had lupus, only two weight classes in professional job but I don’t take them home with me,
high blood pressure, and diabetes so body building, under 212 pounds and I take them to the gym and I take it out
she was on a lot of medication and she over 212 pounds, Robinson will need to on the weights and I come back to work
died in her sleep from all of it. She went put on at 14 pounds of clean muscle to be the next day ready to go.”
peacefully but it did affect me a lot,” he competitive. Not only is this a challenging
said quietly. Taking his stress out on the weights
allows him to stay in control even when
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Christian Clausen his shop is undermanned and underap-
preciated.
Tech. Sgt. David, 432nd Maintenance Group contract officer representative, performs
lateral raises while his trainer, Derrick Chandler, motivates him during a workout Dec. “We have 13 members and five sites
4 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. David recently attained his International Federation of that we manage, two overseas and three
Bodybuilding and Fitness professional card which allows him to compete in professional stateside, so we’re always going TDY. It
bodybuilding competitions. is usually short to no notice, to inspect
the work of those contractors which is
another thing which adds some stress
because we’re inspecting people we
hardly see,” he said. “When you factor
in people’s leave and the fact that we still
deploy our numbers get smaller but the
workload doesn’t get slower.”
He went on to say having his leader-
ship at a different base can cause some
tension because the interpersonal rela-
tionships are difficult to establish and
for that reason, when weekly suspense’s
take longer than expected it can feel like
a magnifying glass is on them.
__ See BODYBUILDER, on page 9