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Flex appealDate: 01.12.2006
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
Louisville bodybuilder shows his muscles in magazine
With a 47-inch chest, 27-inch waist and 34-inch hips, Louisville's Jonathan Coker was the 2005 Lightweight Mr. Bluegrass and won the Overall Masters division of the Central Indiana Bodybuilding Championships this year.
Now he's the featured model in a five-page photo spread in the December issue of Men's Exercise, a national health and fitness magazine.
"They have me doing leg routines," said Coker, 44, "and I'm so shredded it's unbelievable."
Men's Exercise is a New York-based monthly fitness guide providing page after page of step-by-step exercise routines for its 120,000 readers in the U.S. and Canada.
Coker's section, titled "Unilateral Leg Training: Big Wheels Keep on Turnin'," shows off his ripped quadriceps, calves and hamstring muscles in single-leg routines incorporating squats, presses, lunges, curls, heel raises and extensions for a well-rounded workout.
And most are full-figure shots revealing the brawny torso of Coker's competition-winning physique.
"We scout models from various competitions and bodybuilding shows, or through conventional modeling agencies," said Steve Downs, editorial director of Men's Exercise. "But in Jonathan's case, it was a photographer, Andre DeLoach, who suggested him. And we liked his look."
DeLoach, based in Long Beach, Calif., said he first connected with Coker through an online modeling database, but noted, "There are plenty of really developed guys that I shoot out here. But what's cool about Jonathan is that he's in his 40s, has a demanding job, but still created a winning physique."
A registered nurse at Frazier Rehab Institute who helps stroke victims and those with spinal-cord injuries recover, Coker developed an interest in physical pursuits as a student at Waggener High School.
"I played football and wrestled back in high school, always been athletic," he said. "My first bodybuilding show I was 19, years ago. I got out of competing, then got back into it in 1995 and won my division."
He's since racked scores of titles, most recently placing in the top five in 2002, 2003 and 2004 in the men's over-40 division at the National Physique Committee's Junior National Championships.
Last year he placed fourth in the men's lightweight division and third in the master's lightweight division in the National Physique Committee's North American Bodybuilding Championships.
In September Coker placed third in the master's lightweight division and fourth in lightweight at the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness 2006 North American Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships.
Known for his compact, symmetrical physique, Coker maintains a diet and workout discipline to keep it that way.
For one recent competition, he said, "I had dieted so long and done so many aerobics, I went down to bantam weight, below 143 pounds. It was freaky."
At 5 feet 5 inches and usually 155 pounds, Coker seems naturally constructed for a high-performance exercise routine and revels in it.
"Mondays, I work chest, shoulders and triceps," he said. "Wednesdays it's back, biceps and stomach. Fridays I do legs. I do treadmill up to seven days a week, power-walk up to 45 minutes."
Coker, who is single, has appeared in IronMan magazine and on various weightlifting Web sites, including Bodybuilders.com and USAMuscle.com.
He said, "I had photographers contact me about getting into modeling and finally I did it. But Men's Exercise -- that exposure is really great."
And DeLoach said, "I can always find somebody 18 and 19 with a well-developed body to photograph. But Jonathan shows that he can do it, and defy what everybody says about aging."
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