Weekly Edition | March 22nd | By: Alexander Chambers, Editor. [email protected] 

Navajo Bodybuilder, Bobby Martin 225lbs.

“I knew I was going to continue with this journey I was on, I wanted to be a body builder, I was going to be a competitor.” said Bobby Martin

At 225lbs of might, standing 5’8 and devouring 7000 calories a day. Bobby Martin, a Navajo Bodybuilder is looking to compete at a National Level, which would be the first ‘noted’ for a Navajo.

Notable bodybuilders like Jay Cutler, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and Dorian Yates all worked very hard to become a professional bodybuilder, Bobby is soaking that challenge up.

Bodybuilding is not a penny pinching sport, they have to eat 6-8 meals a day along with consuming protein shakes and nutrients that could cost thousands of dollars a month.

Six years ago Bobby Martin had his gall bladder removed, his doctor said it just quit working. He also said around that same time he gained 250lbs and was a whopping unhealthy 42 percent of body fat. “I would literally be out of breath just walking from my vehicle to my office.” said Martin.

The outlook, Mr. Martin said one day after after his surgery he saw  his daughters playing around with a volleyball and realized he was too tired to get up and play with the kids “it was at that point in my life I decided to do finally something about the condition I was in. It was on my birthday March 23, six years ago, I took my first step into the gym. I have not stopped or looked back since then. I wanted to be able to be active when my daughters got in to school sports.” said Martin.

Bobby meant bodybuilder Keith Salis, a African American who was married to a Navajo and loved to be around the Dine’s. “He gave me the knowledge and expertise I needed to loose weight. I went from 250lbs down to 175lbs in a six month duration.. It was simply amazing.” said Bobby.

Most bodybuilders are naturally skinny, that is where their drive comes from. Bobby said, he was one of those ‘skinny kids’ “I noticed how skinny I had become and mentioned that to Keith. He said well quit complaining about it and add some muscle to your frame. From that day foreword I would go to the gym two times a day and work everybody part heavy and hard.”

Over time Bobby and with Keith assistance I was able to gain muscle mass to make his 5’8” frame look muscular. “I weighed in about 225 lbs currently with a mass gain diet I was on. Taking in nearly 7000 calories a day, which included large amounts of protein and good healthy carbohydrates.”

Most bodybuilders follow a strict lean diet, they go from bulking to shedding, then back to bulking and consuming thousands of calories a day. Most bodybuilders believe in the motto ‘Eat Big to get Big”

Bobby said as time went on, he became ‘hooked’ and love the intensity of lifting a weight “the intense feeling of being able to lift weights and feel great was unimaginable. The soreness, the burning muscles, the sweating, it all added up to me feeling 100% better and looking like I knew what I was doing.”

three years into his bodybuilding, his mentor Keith ended in a coma “he was a great person I looked to, to pick his brain on everything he knew this sport. When I know longer had his knowledge went, I had to pick up where we left off and began to purchase books and magazines that all had to do with one thing, bodybuilding.” said Bobby.

Hopes to Compete Nationally

Bobby learn a year and a half ago that a bodybuilding competition was taking place in Chinle, Ariz. he said “I made up my mind at that time, telling myself this was it, this was going to be my first competition. I began more research on how to eat to cut weight, how to tan my body, how to do the mandatory poses, how to choreograph a routine to music and even how and what I was going to have to wear. This was not an easy task, so mu ch to learn and so much to do. I only had three months to prepare.” said Bobby.

Bodybuilders sometimes have to be at a certain weight or have a certain percentage of body fat, for Bobby his goal was to drop his body fat from 18% down to nearly 6%, his ultimate goal was to at least down below 10%, he said he reached 9%. “For more advanced competitions this will not do, but for this being my first competition it was ok.” said Bobby.

Bobby explains the challenges in his diet “This type of dieting and training is not an easy road, it consists of carbloadind, carb depleting, kicking up your proteins and dropping your bodies water percentage. I stared out drinking two gallons of water per day, and with each day closer to the competition, I had to continually drop my calorie intake and my water intake. On the last night before the competition, I was down to one cup of water. The day of the show I could only have one ice cube. Not only did that take commitment and dedication but also sacrifice.”

 Fully commit to a goal and achieve it by hard work and determination.

Bobby contest was allowed by the National Amateur Bodybuilding Association “being that I placed, I was told that I qualified to enter several other shows across the country including Reno, NV and El Paso Texas.” Bobby said he is continuing with his body building and will eventually compete more often.  “I am continuing with my body building and will eventually like to get to more competitions, right now I am adding more lean muscle and dropping more bodyfat. I still have more to learn and longer to go to get where I want to be on a more professional stage and I am moving foreword…" says Bobby.

This Navajo Bodybuilder said the motivation is his four beautiful daughters, Bobby said he now can tells his girls “lets go outside and play sports, and I have more than enough energy for all us."

Bobby said he has been invited to several schools to work with volleyball teams, football teams and even some weight training classes educating them about High Intensity Training “with since I am one few Navajos involved in this sport, I am very glad to share my knowledge. I also am very aware of the diseases that unhealthy lifestyles can bring foreword, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failures and many more.”

Overtime, Bobby said he would like to help others avoid these preventable diseases.