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2 Timothy 2:5
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.
Gary Masington
An Interview with a
NGA Pro
I remember in the
late 70’s early 80’s you could go to any gym in this area and meet 5 to 10
competitive bodybuilders on any day of the week. Today you have only two or
three bodybuilders competing in any given gym. If a gym has more than that 3
competitive bodybuilders, its because the bodybuilders are getting a free ride
from the gym owner, or taking advantage of someone else hard work to pay for
their membership.
 Some
of these guys are like leeches, it all about what they can get from you, never
about the sport or what they can give back. Those are the guys that give
bodybuilders and the sport a bad name.
Now don’t get me wrong this
is not true of every gym, some are really good, and of course good bodybuilders,
and good weight lifter and power
Click thumbnails for large image
elifters naturally want to train with the best. But it goes without saying that
just because a gym looks nice does not mean its worth its membership.
I knew where I was going was
the real deal; Greg Long had made a name for himself in the sport many years
ago. Greg is not just a gym owner, he’s the real deal. He talks the talk but
also walks the wa lk.
And he has a record that says he could walk it better than most people every
will. So when Greg told me that Gary was the man, I knew he would be the real
deal.
The anticipation of
getting going back to Greg Longs gym was pretty intense, it had been about 24
years since my last visit and in truth I was not sure what to expect.
As I walked into the
dungeon (which is perfectly named) I surveyed the wall, which had photos of all
the guys that use to workout there back in the day. You know when I was trying
to compete in bodybuilding.
The gym was pretty
empty; of course it was the Saturday morning after Christmas and before New
Years, I’m sure most gyms were empty. In the back of the gym I could see two
guys talking and playing with the weights I wondered if that was Gary Masington.
(We
 got
to work on giving him a moniker)
Someone pointed Gary
out to me and I knew right away that he was what Greg said he was. When he
walked up to extend his hand the first thing I notice the size and shape of his
thighs (in a manly way) “Wow! Those are great thighs” I said as I extended my
hand half-heartedly to greet him. “You must be Troy he said nice to meet you.
Gary responded and this is TJ I train him”
Without even pushing
Gary had taken of his shirt and was going through a great photo session. He
displays a high level of confident without being cocky. That the type of class
you do not often see in athletes.
After the photos we
went into the office and spoke about just his thought of bodybuilding in
general. Here is what was said.
FIM: Tell me about yourself and just why you
selected bodybuilding as a sport.
Gary M: Well I’m a union Carpenter I do framing
for cement. I have a beautiful wife of 20 years, and two sons ages 18 and 14. In
truth, I have always been in pretty athletic. I played football in school, and
after a while I notice that my body was getting out of shape from all the
partying. So I considered bodybuilding then.
After I joined the
marines and went to Japan, I really started bodybuilding. There was only two
thing you could do party or lift weights that I got hooked on bodybuilding.
FIM: Sooner or
later every natural bodybuilder get ask this question, so I’m going to put a
twist on it. How do you react when someone accuses you of using steroids?
 Gary M: Guys at work
often tease me about it, I’ve even had one guy that became a bit of a problem
with it All you have to do is look a pictures of me 10 years ago and you will
see that my changes have only been slight, I’ve made improvements but they have
been realistic ones.
FIM:
Everyone says that you are a great family man, how do you balance family needs
with time in the gym or at work?
Gary M: Well to keep
it simple I have to work, none is possible with out work, can’t feed the family
you know the basics. But as far as spending time in the gym, people that don’t
know me say I always in the gym, but I go to work come to the gym for about two
hours and I’m back at home.
And family is important; I will, and have missed
workouts to go to my son’s events, it important that I be there. To me the gym
is me-time, it’s where I do something for myself I think that’s important for
everyone to have some me-time.
FIM:
I noticed that you have a NGA t-shirt on, is that the organization you compete
with? Have you won may contest with them?
Gary M:
In October 2004 I competed in the Can-Am Olympus, I came in 2nd in
the Open and 3rd in the Masters…
FIM:
you mean 2nd in the Masters and 3rd in the Open right?
 Gary M:
No, there were some people that competed in the Masters that did not in the
Open. The next year on April 2nd I competed in the Can-Am
Championships; I won my class in the open and the over all in the Masters, where
I got my pro-card.
About two weeks later I was convinced to compete
again at the Natural Northeast; I won the overall open and finally got my Open
NGA pro card.
FIM: Do you have any
pre-contest rituals, you know like wear the same socks, or dirty t-shirt any
thing that calms you before the contest?
Gary M:
Before every contest I pray, not so that I can win, more about thanking God for
giving me the strength to compete.
FIM: Wow, thank you
Gary for your time and I wish you continual success, not just in bodybuilding
but in every thing you do.
Troy
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