Bodybuilding trio competes valiantly in their debut tournament
Bodybuilding trio competes valiantly in their debut tournament
Left to right: Ndumiso Sibulawa, Lauren Kok, Simphiwe Dlamini and Opeyemi Timileyin Patrick (coach).
Staff Reporter
VUT Sport is proud of three of its bodybuilders, Lauren Kok (Human Resource Management 3rd year student), Ndumiso Sibulawa (Retail Management 3rd year student) and Simphiwe Dlamini (Civil Engineering 1st year student). The trio put up a spirited debut performance, with 2 of them winning gold medals in a competition against experienced opponents, some of them with 20 years’ experience behind them.
Lauren competed in the fitness bikini category, whereas our males competed in the classic bodybuilding category, u/175m (height). Dlamini mysteriously grew a few inches leading up to the event which resulted in him being moved up from the u/175m category to o/175m category; this threw him off his game-plan because he’d prepared mentally and physically to compete in his normal weight-class. “I even had to cut my hair off because of my height”, Dlamini said, as he laughed.
The Bodybuilding South Africa (BBSA) Championships was a competition between all senior South African men and women from ages 25-45. The competition began with a weigh-in process for all contenders (a day before the preliminaries), followed by pre-judging for group A (preliminaries) in which outstanding contestants are selected to compete in the main event later in the day. Judges give points according to muscle groups, and groups which earn a bodybuilder the most points are allocated to the legs and back muscles.
This is how our student-athletes prepared for the competition:
“A lot of protein, water and carbs each day; when the tournament approaches, carbs are cut down and protein is maintained. Water is also reduced.’’
Lauren walked away with a gold medal in her weight-class and came 6th overall in a competition competing against 12 people. Ndumiso also walked away with a gold medal in his weight-class and came 6th overall, competing against 9 people. Simphiwe came in at 10th overall, failing to win a medal due the unexpected shift in weight-class.
Dlamini is preparing for another competition scheduled to take place on 26 – 27 October 2018. He hopes to use this tournament to qualify for the 2019 Arnold Classic Africa tournament. “Every show you participate in takes you to the next.’’
“It’s not easy, it’s hard and also hard to make friends, since you will be constantly on isolation mode. the great side of it is that it is fun and provides a lot of experience both on and off the stage. It is all about dedication, eating right and believing in yourself”, said Mbali. She still hasn’t decided on whether she’ll take her prowess to the profession level because she does not want to become a competition junky. She prefers to gym for herself.
Ndumiso said that for him it is more like a hobby that he really likes, whereas Simphiwe wants to be a professional body builder.
The coach had this to say about his athletes, “I’m proud of you, and I know that it was tough at the beginning of the year, yet you kept pushing; and your dedication to be able to discipline yourselves outside the gym while I’m not around has proven its worth.’’
