JEDDAH, 24 September 2005 — In three weeks’ time Melvin Anthony, an American professional bodybuilder, will compete in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition. Thursday night, he sat as a judge in the final of the Grand Kai 2005 first national bodybuilding contest organized and hosted by Kai Fitness Center.

One of the big names in the sport and No. 9 in the world, Anthony was here on an invitation to do a show and promote the sport of bodybuilding in the Kingdom.

Bodybuilding is a serious business in America. Here in the Kingdom, Anthony said the lack of professional expertise is slowing the growth of the sport. A well-credentialed bodybuilder, Anthony knows what he is talking about. Among his many achievements, Anthony placed 11th in Mr. Olympia in 2001, the same year he took second and third places in the Ironman Pro Invitational and San Francisco Pro Invitational. He also won the super heavyweight and overall titles in the USA Championships in 1999.

In a wide-ranging interview granted to Arab News, Anthony, however, said there is a lot of enthusiasm for bodybuilding in the Kingdom.

Excerpts from the Interview:

Q. Is this your first time in Saudi Arabia?

Ans.Yeah. It’s hot here. It feels like Las Vegas but it’s dry there and here it is very humid. It is beautiful around here. I get to see different things and meet different people. It gives me the opportunity to see how people live in other countries. In America, you get to see a lot of different races and nationalities, but everybody lives the same. When they get to America, everybody changes to the American way of life. You would not know the difference between a Japanese, or Africans or Spanish. When you come to different countries, you get to see the difference. Even though they have a lot of things American, you get to see the different mentality. I love the Kingdom, it is nice and I enjoy it.

Q. Is this the same image you had about Saudi Arabia before you came?

A. Since I have been to Qatar before, I kind of got an idea of what to expect. I know here that when people get into something, they really enjoy it. People in the Kingdom are very enthusiastic about anything different, especially bodybuilding and that is a good thing.

Q. How did you start bodybuilding?

A. I started in 1993 doing a show. I think that my first exercise ever was in 1983 when I was 13 years old. I went to my first gym (Jackle Aliens). He is one of the guys who swam across the Atlantic at the age of 88. He was one of the first guys to get into fitness and to get fitness going. He opened a number of gyms in his name and that was where I got my first membership. After school, I did not go out to have fun. The first thing I did was to get to the gym for exercise. After the gym, I did what I wanted.

The main reason why I started bodybuilding was because I was a skinny kid and I wanted to be noticed by the girls. In order to be noticed by girls, you must have muscles something that not many people had. After that I started to like bodybuilding and I started reading books about the sport. I started to read more about Robby Robinson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and other bodybuilders.

I decided to take it up to another level in 1993 when I was playing football. I remember I was hit one time. I suffered a severe injury to my knee. At that time I started to think whether I wanted to be a football player or a bodybuilder. I thought my knee was broken. That is when I said this is it, I do not want to play anymore. I just wanted to lift weights because lifting weights and football are relatives. In football, wrestling and baseball everybody trains. So I told myself why not take it to another level and still be able to enjoy my body without breaking it up. Because football involves a lot of smashing and crashing with other players. Bodybuilding was the best way to train, stay in a good shape without getting the punishment. So I said to myself that I want to do it as far as I can. I accomplished what I wanted.

Q. Tell us about your preparation for Mr. Olympia.

A. Mr. Olympia right now is changed. I do three different types of protein. I do eat turkey, chicken and fish. The steak comes in and out sometimes I have it and sometimes I do not. Coming here with the flying, I changed my protein from chicken to fish in order to make sure that the calories I am taking in keeps me from holding liquid during the stage of flying home. When I get home, my diet will depend on the way I look.

It is a complicated process, but when you do it for so long, it becomes relative. That is why it is good to have people that do a lot of reading and research and sit back and tell you. I have nutritionist who does a lot of research and work with doctors and pharmacists. I cannot do that by myself.

As for me, I specialize in lifting weights. I know things about diet but I am not an expert and that is when the role of a nutritionist is important. They are qualified reading it and I am qualified doing it.

Q. What is your weight?

A. I did not weigh myself when I came here. Before I came I was 246 lbs.

Q. What about training?

A. Training is a full time job for me. I wake up and eat. Go to gym to train then come back for lunch and train at night and then go to sleep. I do not get bored. And what keeps me going in this sport and hard training is the challenge from other competitors. I hate to lose. So if I know that someone is training somewhere else, it keeps me going. I know if I ease up, I get beat up. In this sport, you have over 200 professional bodybuilders around the world and you cannot see all of them. They live in different states. Some live in California, some live in New York and New Jersey. You do not see them in the gym but you have to wonder how they are training. I will train because I know that they are training. The people that I do not see are the people I am competing with. The people I see in the gym, I can judge whether they are ready or not. So I train hard so I would be able to be ready when I meet them on stage.

Q. Your views on the show last night?

A.I was very impressed with the show on Wednesday. Overall the show at the amateur level was pretty good. They need someone to tell them how to take vitamins. If they do not know that then they can’t go far. I have seen that they have done well. But they need to take it to the next step. I enjoyed the show. I got the chance to be a judge.

Bodybuilders in Saudi Arabia need specialists to tell them what to drink and what to eat because it has immediate effect. It is a sensitive sport because if you get scared, you hold water and that would affect the nature of your body. Anything can change your body condition. If you are nervous, the body will change in two hours. Your mentality will change your condition. So if you are scared kind of guy, then you will never make it to bodybuilding. A body is like a computer.

Q. Your advice to bodybuilders?

A. Get information about the sport before you train. Find a good trainer and a nutritionist you trust. Listen to one guy only and do not listen to many people. They need to find someone to tell them the truth. My best eye is my wife. She tells me when I am not ready. You need to have that somebody to tell you how you look. Train hard, get information and read books. Ask suggestions from experts.