Muscleman
Posts: 212
Joined: 6/2/2005
From: Ceredigion, Wales, United Kingdom
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Barry Thomas, aged 60, from Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England is the current Mr. East Anglian Grand Master Champion and in a week's time will be seeing if he can add the Mr. England title as well. Interviewed by this group's moderator, Barry took time out from training to answer the questions that had been posed by the groups members, the first of which was his length of time in the sport. Barry has been weight training since he was 20 years old (in 1967) and was already training 4 times a week back then, but following his move into bodybuilding in 2004, he now trains five or even six days a week. Being a former chemisty / biology professor* at an independent school in Solihull, England has allowed him to view his sporting achievements from a biological as well as bodybuilding eye. His bodybuilding contests and results to date are:
- Mr. East Anglia 2006: Grand Master Class (3rd)
- Mr. England 2006: Grand Master Class (4th)
- Mr. Britain 2006: Novice Class (2nd)
- Mr. Midlands 2007: Grand Master Class (3rd)
- Mr. East Anglia 2007: Grand Master Class (Winner)
which enables him to state that he has won a trophy in every contest he has entered. He considers his legs, chest and triceps to be his strongest body parts but is worried that his lats might not be as big as other competitiors but is working on remedying that situation. As he only started bodybuilding in 2005 as a 59 year old, he is invariably competiting against others who started off as teens, and worked their way up through junior and overall titles and now compete in master contests. When asked if this meant he was in favour of grouping master classes by weight (as the other classes are) he felt that it might be an idea for the future (but at the moment not enough people are in the master classes in the UK). The reaction he gets from fellow gym users at his gym in Bury St. Edmunds can be summarised as "You're never!" when he tells them that he is 60. He feels like a 30 year old in terms of physical condition and when he went in for an operation a few years ago, even the surgical staff were amazed at his condition. He admires Lee Priest (AUS) as a senior bodybuilder as he is more or less the same height and would like to meet him if the conditions allowed. When asked how he felt healthwise, he replied that he felt in marvellous health (which this reporter can testify to as he benched a 38lb block of concrete for 30 reps without breaking into a sweat) and also stated that he doesn't know what it is to feel unwell. On the great steroid vs natural debate, Barry does admit that if people want to get big they will resort to steroids, and that because of the prevlance of steroids it is an issue that whilst people are aware of generally do not talk about. He doesn't have a training partner at the gym (as he is the only one who is his size and age) but does feel that if he did have one he would get a more intense workout. He agrees that the Internet has helped spread the word of bodybuilding, but is less convinced that it has helped to increase the popularity. He bases this on the Mr. England contest he entered where there were five in his class in 2006 and so far eight have entered for 2007. One reason he cites for the lack of competitors in his age group is the English modesty that is world famous, saying that there aren't that many people who would be prepared to go on stage wearing little more than a pair of swimming trunks and pose in front of upwards of 1,000 people. On the issue of loose skin (which is a feature that several senior bodybuilders have to deal with) he admits that he has some loose skin, but it's not as serious as it could be and that being the age that he is, it is simply something that cannot be avoided. He ranks Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzengger (AUT) as the all time bodybuilder and the current Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler (USA) as the best bodybuilder of the modern era (but thinks that after he reaches his 30th birthday there will be someone younger waiting in the wings to take his crown) and would like to train with Lee Priest (AUS) if money was no object as he is the same size as him. He's had a look at the various bodybuilding clips available online via YouTube but thinks that a lot of the clips are superfical and queries whether the clips will generate any interest in the sport. When asked if he was in contact with bodybuilders online himself, he related a contact with a person from Chile in South America who wanted to get some advice on training, and he is in regular contact with the runner up to him in the 2007 Mr. East Anglia contest. He cites the media reaction to bodybuilding in general as the biggest downside in the sport today which is brought about by misinformation and related that because the media like sensationalism, this is why so many press reports stress the negative side of the sport (for instance, the ongoing trial of Craig Titus in America for homicide and the investigations into the cause behind the death of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his family) and this stems from the drug question in the sport. It was trying to promote a more postive image of the sport that was behind the reason for Barry to contribute a report to the BBC's Video Nation project which can be viewed online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/s/suffolk_body.shtml He would strongly recommend bodybuilding as a lifestyle to anyone he met, as his 40 years of training have enabled him to lead a healthy life, have a physique that allows him to win competitons and ranks it with eating and sleeping as something he couldn't do without and that it is a marvellous way to instill discipline. Barry is currently 60 years old and stands 5ft 2 tall at a bodyweight of 9 st 11lbs (137lbs) and has the following stats: Chest: 37 inches, Biceps: (relaxed) 11½ inches, (Flexed) 14 inches, Quads: 20½ inches, Calves: 14 inches, Waist: 30 inches which indicate a bodyfat rating of 10.8% (122lbs of lean muscle) and will be entering the Mr. England Grand Master Class next Sunday at Brierley Hill, Dudley, England.
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H. Hayfield
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An interview with Barry Thomas: Mr. East Anglia 2007 Gr... - 
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