Bodybuilding - Building Naturally

Date: 17-08-2004 Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States

When Rodney Hawthorne was a young boy, he would run wildly around the streets of La Grande, Ore., innocently playing as a kid should.

If he was late for dinner, his father never scolded him. That's because his father abandoned him.

Hawthorne recalls one image of his dad. It's the one of him beating his mother.

Hawthorne's chasm of muffled emotions, eroded deeper between childhood and the decades that followed, has been releasing.

The newfound clarity has helped Rodney and his wife, Claudia, find success in bodybuilding both as competitors and as business people.

In July, they were named Mr. and Ms. Universe, respectively, in their divisions at the National Gym Association Pro Universe in Florida. It's the first time a husband and wife team has held those titles.

Last year, the couple opened Iron Fish Personal Fitness, a gym in Orchards that trains athletes for bodybuilding competitions.

The Hawthornes recently added a non-profit branch which provides an outlet for obese or fatherless children and victims of domestic abuse to their personal training business.

"Those are things that had an impact on me when I was growing up," said Rodney, 39. "I think it's really good I started doing this because I know my purpose in my life, working with kids and disadvantaged adults in the area of health and fitness.

"Those are areas, I feel, God wants me to give back to. That's kind of my gift. I've seen the strength that weight training and being fit can give a person, in terms of confidence. We feel we can make a difference in some people's lives."

Winning titles isn't important to the Hawthornes; how they win them is.

Rodney and Claudia use a drug-free approach to bodybuilding, meaning they can take natural supplements but nothing pro-hormonal, such as steroids.

In the competitions the Hawthornes enter, participants are subjected to mandatory drug testing. Rodney Hawthorne said bodybuilding competitions where drug testing is random offers little chance for natural bodybuilders to be successful.

"Using steroids is a lot more prevalent than we know, and it's considered a thing to do, in a way," said Rodney, who was a wrestler at Oregon State University in the 1980s. "It's everywhere. Even your weekend warriors are doing it, but they don't need that. You can get there if you train right."

On Saturday at Washougal High School, the Hawthornes will promote that message when they host their first bodybuilding event.

They expect to have more than 20 bodybuilders in various classes, which is a respectable turnout for a first show.

Rodney and Claudia Hawthorne, who will be guest posers at the show, figure they will have more participants at next year's show.

"It's our first sanctioned show with our organization, and we're trying to spread that drug-free cause for athletes and adults," said Rodney Hawthorne. "We're trying to have these types of competitions, not only for the athletes, but to have the kids come out and have a chance to meet the athletes who are drug free.

"They are also fundraisers for our causes, so it's an opportunity for the community to become more aware."