On November 23, 2002, I earned the status of IFBB Professional Bodybuilder by placing 1st in a very competitive heavyweight class of 39 competitors at the 2002 NPC National Championships, in Dallas, TX. This was the biggest Nationals in NPC history, and I knew I was up against some of the best in the Nation. Even though I didn't enter the show as one of the big names or one of the favorites to win, I ended up winning both the Friday night pre judging, and the Saturday evening finals with perfect scores. The victory put me in the record books as the first and currently the only bodybuilder in the history of state of New Mexico to turn pro in the IFBB.
I was first introduced to the sport of bodybuilding back in 1982, at the age of nine. Back then, my oldest brother Frank had joined a hardcore gym know as "The Weight Room" and his walls were covered with many of the champions of that era, including Boyer Coe, Roy Callendar, Robby Robinson, and of course Arnold. I used to sit in his room for hours reading his bodybuilding magazines, and comparing those physiques to the ones of my favorite comic book heroes. As I grew up, Frank saw that I continued to take an interest, and so for Christmas in 1987 he bought my older brother Korbie and I a weight set, equipped with a bench/incline, leg extension/leg curl, squat rack, and 110lb in free weight. The two of us have been training partners ever since.Every day after school we would come home and hit the weights for an hour then afterward, we would eat chicken and ramen noodles for protein and carbs. It's funny to look back at what we used to do. We have gained a great deal of knowledge since we started out. In 1993, after I graduated from high school, Korbie and I decided to get serious, join a gym, and take our physiques as far as we could. At that point, I was a muscular and athletic 165lb. Kid. Korbie got a job working at a local gym, and I remember often times we would go in after hours when the gym was closed, he would punch in the alarm code, and we would blast the radio, and train with all blood and guts intensity we had.
Six years later, I decided to compete at the 1999 NPC New Mexico State/Mid USA. I ended up winning the Light heavyweight class and overall title at that show. Winning my first ever bodybuilding competition and seeing pictures of how I looked made me confident that I had the potential to go a long way in the sport, and possibly make some money doing what I loved. Just over three years later I won the National Championships. Now that I am a pro, I am determined to reach the upper levels of the IFBB as quickly as I made it to the top of the NPC.
For more about JoJo, read the Bodybuilding.com Interview
