Best calf muscles in the world

Mention Roger Stewart's name in bodybuilding circles and two physical traits immediately come to mind: his long, flowing locks and what appear to be helium-filled calf muscles, dubbed "best in the world" by MuscleMag International.

Crowned Teen U.S.A. champion while he was attending Mansfield Senior High School, Stewart manages to live the life of a bodybuilding professional without technically becoming one.

The winner of countless amateur titles and a model on 33 magazine covers leaves the on-stage posing and flexing to the younger crowd. Yet he continues competing in the bodybuilding arena as a marketer of his own fitness innovations.

He operated his own booth at February's Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Expo, hawking his portable "Extreme" calf development machine.

"I was floored when MuscleMag came out in their magazine two years ago and said I had the best calves in the history of the sport," the 38-year-old Stewart said. "I got nothing for it except publicity, but it falls in line with the machine I'm selling."

The first 150 were handmade before Stewart turned over production to a New Jersey manufacturer. The Florida-based personal trainer now has distributors lining up to sell his calf machine in Alaska, Puerto Rico and Canada.

"When I first started bodybuilding, I'd do the seated calf raise and do rep after rep while watching other people work out and how they did things," Stewart said. "I gave up wrestling and football in high school to do bodybuilding. I figured that was the only way I would get noticed. I'd get all the credit because my body would be what I wanted."

His athletic background served Stewart well when he was selected from among 2,500 competitors to be an American Gladiator for an Orlando, Fla., dinner theatre. The 5-foot-8, 205-pound Stewart held that role for two years.

"I was shorter than most of the other guys trying out," he said, "but they saw how quick I was, having wrestled when I was younger."

The rock-star hair and hulking build helped landing that gig and sponsorships from such top-end nutritional supplement companies like Cybergenics, Next Nutrition and Twinlab.

"Mention my big calves and long hair and people say, 'Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about,' " Stewart said, laughing. "I tried something different three years ago by cutting my hair, but I felt out of balance, so I wore hats and bandanas until it grew back."

OK, so that makes Stewart more of a modern-day Samson than new-age Tarzan. The point is, the look works for him -- and has given him staying power in an industry that mainly focuses on youthful muscularity and vitality.

"It's been a few years since he was in the contest spotlight and it's such a young figure sport, but I'm amazed by how big his name still is," said Stewart's brother, Rich, a former bodybuilder himself and three-time Teen Mansfield champ. "I still hear the whispering and talking by people when I'm around him.

"The accomplishments he's made opened doors and led to contacts he wouldn't have had as a professional."