November 8th, 2004

“Natural Bodybuilding” Book is Ready!!

During the photo shoot at Human Kinetics for the cover of my upcoming book, "Natural Bodybuilding".

Two years in the making and my first book, titled “Natural Bodybuilding”, is about to be released. I recently traveled to Champaign, Illinois on October 20th to visit the headquarters of Human Kinetics, the publisher of the book. The purpose of my trip was to take part in a photo session for the cover of the book. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product as I was only three days out from competing in my first contest of the year, the America’s Cup contest, and was in great shape.

I also got a chance to see the layout of the book on the computer as well as some of the completed pages. It was exciting to see the finished manuscript in book form with the photos added in. I am so used to just seeing words on my computer screen that it’s really exciting to see the final product.

I want to thank Jennifer Walker of Human Kinetics who supervised the project of putting the book together as well as Dan Wendt who took all the photos for the book. It takes a lot of people to construct a book of this magnitude and Jennifer and Dan worked very hard in doing their part.

Special thanks should also go out to Joe Silzer and Ebony Thomas for modeling for the exercise photos in the book. Joe was kind enough to stay on his diet for a few more weeks after the Team Universe competition in New York City to be in shape for the photo shoot. His effort paid off as he was in great shape for the photos. Ebony also impressed the staff at Human Kinetics with her striking features and photographic appeal.

With Jennifer Walker and Dan Wendt of Human Kinetics after the photo shoot.

The management staff at Diamond Gym in Orland Park, Illinois was very helpful in letting us take the photos for the book at their facility for two days. We conducted the photo shoot during the day to avoid the heavy traffic of the members but the staff and members that were there during our shoot were very accommodating to our needs.

“Natural Bodybuilding” should be a big hit with anyone interested in improving their physiques without resorting to steroid use. The book is based on my 27 years of experience in bodybuilding and it is chock full of information and photos on training, nutrition and contest preparation. I am positive that it will be extremely helpful to so many bodybuilders, both novice and advanced, in reaching their goals of developing a prize-winning physique.

Although the book will not be released until early January, 2005, you can pre-order the book now if you wish. There is a chance the book will be out before the end of the year so pre-ordering may ensure that you receive your copy before Christmas. There are 4 easy ways to order:

1. Call Toll-Free – In the U.S., 1-800-747-4457, Monday-Friday 7a.m. to 7p.m. CST. In Canada, 1-800-465-7301, Monday-Friday, 8a.m. to 5p.m. EST. Calls outside of the U.S. and Canada, 1-217-351-5076.
2. Visit the Human Kinetics website at www.HumanKinetics.com.
3. Fax your order using your credit card. In the U.S., fax to 1-217-351-1549, 24 hours a day. In Canada, fax to 1-519-971-9797, 24 hours a day.
4. Mail your order using your credit card. In the U.S., mail to Human Kinetics, P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, IL 61825-5076. In Canada, mail to Human Kinetics, 475 Devonshire Road, Unit 100, Windsor, Ontario, N8Y 2L5. When faxing or mailing in your order, be sure to include your name, mailing address, daytime phone, email address as well as your credit card information and signature. You can also order Natural Bodybuilding with a check or money order.

The cost of the Natural Bodybuilding book is $21.95 in the U.S. and $31.95 in Canada. Please visit the Human Kinetics website or call the toll-free number to determine shipping costs when ordering with a credit card, money order or check.

“Pumping Up – The Natural Story”

In addition to my book, “Natural Bodybuilding”, I am happy to announce that I will be involved in movie project about natural bodybuilding. The movie is called “Pumping Up – The Natural Story” and it centers around eight natural bodybuilders who will be competing in the Natural Olympia competition in Las Vegas on November 13th, 2004.

Posing after my workout for the movie, "Pumping Up - The Natural Story". Gregory Teva, the director of the film, is in the background shooting the action.

I was chosen as one of the eight bodybuilders who will be highlighted in the film. The makers of the film, Gregory and Kathy Teva, traveled around the country filming each of us in our hometowns. They visited me in Chicago on October 24th, 2004. It was great timing because it was the day after I competed in the America’s Cup contest in Highland, Michigan. Coming off my overall win, I was pretty pumped up (despite four hours of sleep the night before) and I had a great back and biceps workout with my training partner, Joe Silzer at Diamond Gym in Orland Park, Illinois.

After the workout was completed, Gregory followed Joe and me into the aerobics room at the gym where I did some posing to assess my physique. Joe took some photos as Gregory filmed the action. It should all look great in the movie.

Gregory and Kathy also did an extensive interview with me about what drives me to compete in the sport of bodybuilding as a natural competitor. They also interviewed my brother Don and my training partner Joe.
In addition to the training footage and interviews with all the athletes, Greg and Kathy will also be in Las Vegas to film the Natural Olympia competition. The film will be released next March and it should be a great film about the natural sport of bodybuilding. For more information on the upcoming film, “Pumping Up – The Natural Story”, check out their website at www.pumpingiron3.com.

2004 NPC Natural Mid-States

With promoter Kevin Noble at his 2004 Natural Mid-States Muscle Classic in Rockford, Illinois.

I attended the 2004 Natural Mid-States Muscle Classic on November 6th, 2004 as the guest of Kevin Noble. Kevin is one of the top promoters of bodybuilding in Illinois and is a total class act and a credit to the sport. The first competition I ever won was a Kevin Noble promoted competition. It was all the way back in 1981 when I won the medium height class of the Teenage Mid-West Open.

Kevin has promoted some of the most exciting and entertaining bodybuilding competitions in Illinois over the last 20 years and he was kind enough to invite me to hand out trophies at this year’s Natural Mid-States as a way of helping to promote my upcoming book, “Natural Bodybuilding”. Kevin offered me a table to sell copies of my book and when I told him the book would not be released until the end of the year, he still suggested that I attend the show to get the advanced word out on the book. That’s the kind of guy he is.

I was happy to see Kevin get a special award from the Illinois NPC district chairman, Chuck Sanow. Chuck has been competing as long as I have so he is also very much aware of Kevin’s contribution to the sport and it was a great idea on Chuck’s part to present Kevin with a special plaque honoring Kevin’s love for bodybuilding in Illinois.
As an added bonus, this year’s Natural Mid-States was a great competition with a wild pose-down for the men’s overall title. One of my old rivals, Jimmy Chan, came out of retirement and won the overall by only one point. It was great to see Jimmy back onstage and winning again. Hopefully, he is not the only old-timer that will enjoy success back onstage again this month!

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