People are always awestruck by his masculine body and burly personality, but only he knows how much time, energy and money it takes to be the way he is.
Shanur Ali Ustad (33), the lone professional bodybuilder from Vijayapura, is popular among almost every gym goer in the city. Mr. Ustad has represented the district in several national-level events as well as one international competition.
Mr. Ustad, who now runs a gymnasium, now plans to organise a State-level championship in Vijayapura in December to encourage local youngsters to take up bodybuilding.
He developed a passion for bodybuilding in 2004 and calls Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as his inspiration.
“Though I did participate in some State-level championships, my big break came when I won the gold medal at a national-level event held at Visakhapatnam in 2006,” he said.
There was no looking back from then on, with Mr. Ustad racking up medals at both State-level and national-level championships. In 2008, he took part in an international championship held at Sagay, Philippines, where he won the silver medal.
“I also had a chance to participate in another international championship held in June this year in Italy, but I could not go in the end. I had spent three months doing rigorous practice and over Rs. 70,000 to prepare for the event,” he said.
Costly passionMr. Ustad said bodybuilding demands intense physical exercise of about four hours daily and an extremely strict diet. It also costs a good deal of money.
“To prepare for any event, I spend around Rs. 30,000 a month on supplements and special food that includes 20 eggs, two kilograms each of fish and chicken and fruits every day,” he said.
