Muscled bodies to represent Mpumalanga at world championships

Muscled men and women from all over the world are preparing to strut their stuff on stage this weekend, when the World Fitness Federation’s World Championships take place in Pretoria. Among them will be two participants from the Lowveld.

Lucky Nkosi (37) has been competing for 10 years. A very fit man, he started participating on the recommendation of friends. He achieved a third place in his first competition in 2005.

This year was the first time he placed at nationals. Lucky usually competes in the senior bodybuilder class, but at the world championships there will be only two classes: super body and extreme body.

He says he used to notice Chrisanne Liebenberg (25) at the gym, and when he discovered she was not competing, thought, “what a waste”.

Chrisanne recently changed her mind about it. She has been fit all her life, but only started participating in competitions three months ago when she entered for the Mpumalanga competition.

She won in the sports-model category and placed third in the national championships a few weeks ago. She says she started doing weights in 2014, “when I figured out that cardio is useless – you have to train with weights to lose weight.

“I like exercising but I didn’t think I had the personality for competitions. I am very self-conscious. I’ve never even worn a bikini on the beach. But I thought let me give it a shot.

“Just before I went on the first time, everything went wrong and I thought I would never do it again. But once I was on stage I forgot about everything and enjoyed it,” Chrisanne says.

Lucky agrees that it is fun, getting the judges to look at you. And now both are heading to the international competition.

For him, the intensity of training changed when he started competing. “It is a great sport. You need a lot of discipline. Nobody is going to push you to go to the gym. You have to be commited yourself.”

It is quite a scientific process, too, since you apply tricks in the final weeks before a competition to make your muscles pop on game day.

Yet neither Lucky nor Chrisanne follows a specific diet, weighs their food or trains with a coach. Basically they eat six times a day, avoid all bad foods and take protein supplements.

“Your food intake has to match the calories you use, otherwise you burn muscles,” she explains.

“You have no social life.” Neither of them mind not partying, but Chrisanne does miss cappuccinos. Both agree it puts a strain on social relations.

“My friends complain if I don’t want to just hang out,” Lucky says. “After work I go to gym and then I want to rest.”

It is also expensive; aside from the supplements, you need to travel for competitions.”

Chrisanne says she basically works to fund her new-found hobby, while Lucky has been lucky in the past getting businessmen he knows to sponsor some of his expenses. 

Ahead of a competition, they cut carbohydrates in the last week, while continuing to train. Then they drink a lot of water, before cutting water completely a few days before a competition. It is not easy.

“Do you know what food without salt tastes like?” says Lucky. “Try drinking 10 litres of water a day. It is a lot. You feel like a fish.”

Due to the strain it puts on their bodies, in off season they take breaks from the training and eating regimen. “It is important to live like a normal person,” he concludes.