Ivan Blazquez

Age: 32

Where: New Orleans, Louisiana

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 158 Lbs

Years Bodybuilding: 19 years total and 7 years competing

Favorite Bodypart: The Heart

Favorite Exercise: Anyone that stimulates progress.

Training Philosophy: Train smarter, not harder. I have learned to have more gratitude and not to expect so much from myself. I set realistic goals and work continuously to achieve them. Fitness has been a truly beneficial aspect in my life. I like to think of it this way, "I train for vanity during competition, but for sanity outside of competition."

Favorite Supplements:

Any heart-healthy, long-term research-based and health professional peer-recommended. Supplements I've used periodically and in moderation include CoQ10, L-carnitine, Hawthorn, Glutamine, Creatine, Fish oil and Maca. Otherwise, I try to consume any supplement through whole foods. In fact, often times, I am glad that the supplement industry is required to list the ingredients because they help me out. I simply look at the latest supplements for fat-loss and muscle building, and find out which whole natural foods contain any of the ingredients.

How Did You Get Started?

I started lifting weights when I was 13. I began lifting light weights and learned about proper form and technique. I mainly lifted for sports performance but I also really got into the weight training effect or what is also known as "the pump." I used to love seeing my muscles get bigger and how I looked bigger after getting pumped from a good workout. Throughout my teenage years and 20's, I lifted weights with intensity, good form and I studied in school.

While getting my undergraduate degree, I was bodybuilding, but not competitively. I just knew I could never compete since I would never get as enormous as the bodybuilders in the popular magazines. However, in 2005, I learned about natural bodybuilding through a college friend. He was showing his contest pictures to friends at the gym and while walking over to get water, I stopped and looked at his pics. He said that I could compete if I wanted to and that there are natural organizations. An hour later I was at the library searching online for "natural bodybuilding organizations."

It was at this time that I decided that I would compete in my first ever contest in 2005 for the National Gym Association (NGA). During the next couple of years, I would experience a journey and come full-circle. Being that I was very academic about training, I maintained this mindset and approach in my own bodybuilding pursuits as well as occupationally as a certified personal trainer. Currently, I am an NGA professional natural bodybuilder and triathlete.

I got into triathlons recently through the encouragement of my good friend Evan Posey. He got me into road cycling and I've been hooked ever since. There is no better cycling experience than riding outdoors around beautiful nature and experiencing the sights and sounds. I also enjoy contributing to diabetes prevention by riding in the annual Tour De Cure for Diabetes. I also participate in other various rides for a good cause thoughout the year. Overall, natural bodybuilding has been a wonderful experience and journey. If anything, it has taught me not just about looking fit, but also how to be fit. From learning how to eat, train and pose.

Many people have the wrong idea about bodybuilders, particular the natural one's who are very knowledgeable. I am just about a raw vegan and my workout program encompasses weight training, cardio, yoga, flexibility, prehab, functional exercises, pilates, isometric exercise, high intensity interval training (HIIT), triathlon training, relaxation training, etc. I still eat fish, mainly salmon, chicken very rarely and I do not eat red meat anymore. Most of the food I eat is either raw, or lightly cooked (steamed, boiled, baked, microwaved).

Natural bodybuilding truly is a science and an art. It is a science because we do not rely on drugs to get us where we want and need to be for a contest and also we understand the importance of angles in posing, since as naturals, we are not as big from all angles, so posing becomes more of an art and science. Many natural bodybuilders have to learn how to stay compact and pose with fluidity and learn their body and how it looks best from various angles and positions. From walking to the stage, posing on-stage and walking off, all of this is pre-meditated and rehearsed. Bodybuilding truly is a science of muscle contraction, posture and neurological efficiency at synchonizing muscle contraction with posture and while all this happening, lastly, we have to make it look easy! lol....

Why Do I do it?

It has become a lifestyle for me. Bodybuilding as a natural, challenges me. In particular, it has taught me how to be lean for life and build muscle without yo-yo dieting or bulking and cutting. I stay lean year-round, but I also have been able to gain muscle as well, but at a very slow pace.

It takes longer to build muscle when one remains conditioned all the time. But honestly, this is a way of life for me, so being conditioned is not an option. In fact, from a medical standpoint, I would be willing to bet that most physicians would agree with my approach.

In fact, I will answer the question of, "How do I stay lean year round?" My answer is I simply follow the basic and general guidelines of most reputable health organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), American Diabetes Association (ADA), World Health Organization (WHO), etc. Which is, try to attain 30-60 minutes of physical activity daily or on most days of the week. That's it.

So regardless of my motivation, I simply want to be as healthy and fit as I can be. More importantly, I really just like the way it makes me feel. I need exercise on a daily basis. I also rarely overtrain, because I listen to my body. We can always do something, and I like the view of "Something is better than nothing."

So while I'm recovering from a good weight training workout, I could simply swim, bike, walk or do some other kind of light easy cardio to not only clear my head but also facilitate recovery too. Additionally, this is my job as a personal trainer anyway and I truly enjoy the daily rejuvenating effects of physical activity. As for competition season, I simply watch what I eat a little more and I do a little more exercise, nothing drastic. I like keeping things simple and I always have an attitude of gratitude. While there will always be a pessimist or skeptic out there, I figure, we only have so long to live, why spend one's time dwelling on the negative? I'd rather chose to blow up the positive and while some negative is inevitable, I acknowledge the negative, but then try to find my way back to positive.

What Was the Experience Like For Your First Bodybuilding Show?

Well of course I was nervous, but honestly, I felt like it was one of the easiest things to do. As a former football player, I used this mental comparison to make bodybuilding competition appear easy, and it worked. I can remember being called with my class onto a wooden floored stage in a college auditorium. I recall the creaky sound of the wood as we all walking upon it and the heat from the bright lights. I also recall the sounds of the competitors around me breathing heavily, panting or exhaling loudly. 

All in all, when I walked off the stage, I was curious as to how I did, but more importantly, I just loved how it felt being in front of an audience and putting myself through that challenge. I was hooked at that point and also enjoyed being congratulated among the audience when I made my way back to my seat by my friend to watch the rest of the prejudging.

This is something I truly enjoyed then and still enjoy now. The opportunity to meet and greet people, answer questions, talk, etc. A bodybuilding show to me is a celebration of health and fitness when it is done naturally and in a healthy way.

Competition History

2005 NGA ULL show - 5th place novice middleweight

2006
NGA Galveston show - 4th place novice middleweight
NGA ULL - 1st place Novice Middleweight and Novice Overall
NGA Stafford show - 4th place Open Middleweight

2007
NGA Atlanta show - 5th place open middleweight
NGA Stafford show - 2nd place open middleweight

2008
NGA Jimmy Coby Classic - 1st Open middleweight, 2nd in Overall
NPC Greater Gulf States show - 1st Novice Lightweight,
2nd in novice overall
NPC Red Stick classic - 1st place in juniors lightweight and 2nd in juniors overall
NPC Lousiana Championships - 2nd place in juniors lightweight
NGA Desoto show - 1st place in open middleweight 2nd place in open overall

2009
NGA Jimmy Coby Classic - 1st place in open lightweight and open overall earning NGA pro card
NPC Red Stick classic - 1st place in juniors lightweight and 2nd place in juniors overall
NPC Greater Gulf States - 2nd place in juniors lightweight
NGA Alabama show - 1st place in open lightweight and 2nd in open overall; 2nd place in men's fitness model

2010
NGA Garden State Pro show - 6th place in pro division
NPC Greater Gulf States show - 7th place in open middleweight
INBA Mississippi show - 1st place in men's tall bodybuilding and 1st place in men's sports model
NPC Powershack Classic - 8th place in open middleweight
Emerald Coast show - 3rd place men's in sports model

2011
NGA Philadelphia Pro show - 4th place in pro division
NPC Camellia Slidell Championships - 3rd place open lightweight
NPC Red Stick Classic - 4th place in open lightweight
NPC Greater Gulf States - 2nd place in open lightweight
NPC Louisiana Championships - 3rd place in open lightweight
ABFF Pro Louisiana Championships - 1st place in open lighweight and 2nd in men's physique short
NPC Powershack Classic - 3rd place in open lightweight
NPC New Orleans - 3rd place in open lightweight

Achievements

MEd & B.S. in Exercise Physiology
ACSM certified health and fitness specialist
TRX certified
NGA Pro Natural Bodybuilder
Physique competitor
Triathlete
Writer for bodybuilding.com, liftforlife.com and dynaplexx.com

Research Publications (currently have 2 papers under review):

1) Warren, BL & Blazquez, IN, (2004). Rest period for strength recovery during isokinetic testing, Proceedings: XXIInd International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sports, International Society of Biomechanics in Sports, pp. 143-144.

2) Warren, BL & Blazquez, IN, (2005). Strength recovery rest periods during isokinetic testing, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 37(5),(Suppl. 260).

3) Blazquez, IN, Warren, BL, O'Hanlon, A.M., Silvestri, L.R. (2009). An optimal interset rest period for strength recovery during a common isokinetic test, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 41(5),(Suppl. 453).

Advice to Others

Stay 100% drug-free, natural and smarter, not harder. Do work hard, but keep things in perspective and know that each workout is a stepping stone to your personal goal(s). While everyone's motivation or temperment are different, I find that focusing more on the journey works best and that when one focuses on the journey, the outcome will usually take care of itself.

And there is no such thing as failure or losing. In life, we will all fail or lose at something. Other times, we will win or succeed. But when we fail or lose, the way to make it a winning or successful situation is to learn from it and strive to do better or improve next time. Either way, one will always win when the journey is first, outcome 2nd.