Mind and Body: A Winning Combination

A few years ago, Kelly Rodriguez set a goal for himself: to become the next Mr. Olympia. He knew the long journey to this goal would require a tremendous amount of mental and physical discipline, hard work, and dedication. 

Today, Kelly is two trophies closer to his goal. In this year's California State Body Building Contest, he took First Place in the Men's Novice Middle-Weight Division and First Place in the Men's Novice Overall (all weight classes) Division. He also took Third Place in the Men's Open Division, which included both novice and more experienced competitors.

The road to professional status as a body builder begins by winning a state championship and thereby qualifying to compete on a national level. The 2011 California State Body-Building Contest was held in the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium in Culver City, and approximately 200 contestants vied for trophies in bantam, light, middle, light heavy, and heavy weight groups.

Reflections on the journey to the championship

You don't build a body like this with a once-a-week workout at your local gym, although that's a good place to start. Kelly's daily regimen includes an overall workout with focus on a single area of the body (chest, legs, shoulder, back, thighs and triceps, etc.) on different days.

Contest day begins early with a weigh-in, a pump-up with weights, and then the pre-judging, during which contestants, in groups of 8 or 9, display their physiques in poses such as quarter turns, back double bicep, abs and calves, and "most muscular." 

Kelly's "Most Muscular" Pose

Each weight class is slowly whittled down to five remaining contestants, who return later for a another round of competing before the judges make their final decisions. 

Feelin' Good!

The evening show features the finalists in each weight class performing individual routines, which include mandatory poses, as well as the contestant's choice of poses, accompanied by music. Kelly's music choice this year was a 60-second sample of Flux Pavilion's "Got 2 Know."  
Listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSBtvKgncQQ

The 5 Weight-Class Winners

Overall Winner, Novice Division

An important part of the physical training is diet. For most of the year ("off season"), Kelly concentrates on bulking up by eating a high calorie, high protein diet. 

During "contest prep," the 12-15 weeks before the competition, Kelly's diet is designed to eliminate fat: no sugar or dairy, lots of carbs, and a mostly-white menu of chicken, fish, rice, oatmeal, and white potatoes. Four days prior to competing, Kelly eliminates all sodium, and 24 hours before the contest, he stops almost all fluid intake and carbs up, eating starches such as pasta and rice. This pulls out water from his system, resulting in a dry look that enhances the delineation of muscles.

There are also cosmetic aspects to a winning look. Prior to the competition, Kelly begins a tanning regimen that is assisted by several coats of Pro-Tan.

"You can't be too dark," says Kelly, because dark skin shows the muscle definition most dramatically.

Kelly gets a tan at Pure-Tan and mani-pedi treatment at Spa Nails in the CVS Plaza in Hanford.

While his hair color is processing, 

Kelly up-dates his FaceBook profile.

Happy Winner with Trophies

After the win, some celebratory eating!

Following last year's competition, Kelly enjoyed his birthday with "Kelly's Day of Eating." See photos at http://cheryllyda.blogspot.com/2010/06/kellys-day-of-eating.html

The Progression of a Champion

2009

2010

Ready to begin the cycle again...

To see Kelly's recent photo shoot, go to: http://costaphoto.com/

Click on "Enter Site," then choose "Clients," and then enter the password, "Kelly."