Fit to fight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christian Sullivan
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Standing on a stage in front of hundreds of spectators can be nerve racking. Being judged solely on how one's body looks compared to other bodybuilding compeetetors can be even worse. However, people like Senior Airman Miguel Amador, 5th Medical Group medical information service technician, train and compete in situations which require just that.

Amador is a bodybuilder. He trains everyday by lifting weights and maintaining a strict diet, with almost no days off in between competitions.

The Brooklyn, NY native said he started working out when he was younger for a very simple reason.

"I used to be very chubby in middle school," Amador said. "It was a bet in high school. I told this guy that just because he was skinny he had a six pack. I said I bet if I work out I would get one too, so I did sit ups every night and I just kept going after that."

Having his leadership encourage him and seeing his co-workers, here at Minot, compete in such events got Amador interested in becoming a bodybuilder.

"What really got me into bodybuilding was Chief Stiles. He would hold his own bench-press club for the med group," Amador said. "He told me I was lifting heavy for my size and I should do bodybuilding."

Since his last competition in April, Amador has been training non-stop in preparation for his next show in Oct.

"I took only a week off after the show," Amador said. "After that I just continued the same regimen."

Amador has faced trials and tribulations that could not have been foreseen on his path to his last competition. Two weeks prior to the start of the show, his grandfather died. Leaving for a foreign country to grieve the loss of a loved one didn't stop this bodybuilder.

"The funeral was in Honduras, and they didn't have a gym out there," Amador said. "I was literally just working out with rocks and whatever I could find. I would go out and buy whole chickens so I was constantly eating that and rice."

Even though he suffered such a loss before his competition, he managed to place second in the novice category. Amador keeps pushing and plans to compete again in October.

"I work out six days a week for about an hour and a half," Amador said. "I eat about six meals a day with about eight to ten ounces of chicken or fish with each meal."

Although the next test of his fortitude and determination is still a couple of months away, Amador is confident in his abilities and training that if he had to enter today he would do well.

"I'm at about 80 percent right now," Amador said.  "I would place at least top five."

Amador has only one special request once he finishes his competitions.

"I don't really care what I eat after the contest. I just have to have waffles the next morning," Amador said.

Amador said if he wins in his next competition, it will only feed his drive to keep going and to get better.

"If I won first place it would drive me to continue," Amador said. "The big goal is to become pro. Once you get first place you know you're the best for that year in your area, so it would be a huge step towards that goal of going pro."