Malinn bulks up in Norwood gym

Date: 14-12-2006 Posted by: Anabolic Info Team

Not many people can eat 5,100 Calories a day and stay healthy. But, not many people workout 3 hours a day, like Norwood’s Joe Malinn.

Malinn, 21, is in the beginning stages of his competitive bodybuilding career, working toward a physique like that of his idol, a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Already, Malinn has won one bodybuilding competition and is on his way to his goal: earning his Natural Pro card.

When asked how he motivates himself for the long hours in the gym, Malinn said, “I don’t really think about it. I just do it.”

“This is the prime of my life,” he said. “If I’m going to do this, I’ve got to do it now.”

Bodybuilding is somewhat of a misunderstood sport, Malinn admitted. There’s not a large fan base and it doesn’t get coverage in the national sports pages. Schwarzenegger, who gave up competing almost 30 years ago, is still the only bodybuilder most people have heard of. Bodybuilders are often viewed, stereotypically, as vain steroid users. Malinn said he is neither.

“I think everybody I know can tell you, I’m as far from conceited as I possibly can be,” Said the soft-spoken Malinn. “…I just love the weightlifting.”

In bodybuilding, competitors sculpt their muscles through an intense regimen of weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise and a carefully monitored diet. Tanning helps bodybuilders accentuate their muscles for competitions, where they’re judged on both the size and appearance of their muscles. A series of poses show off muscles in different parts of the body.

While other bodybuilders use certain performance enhancing drugs to help them along, Malinn is interested in doing things naturally. He’s aiming for a classic shape, a throwback to the seventies and the days of Schwarzenegger.

“It’s just a lot more natural looking,” Malinn said, “like a Hercules or a Greek god…I’ve always been old school with my lifting.”

At 6 feet 2 inches, Malinn is above the average height for a male bodybuilder, which is around 5 feet 8 inches.

A Norwood native, Malinn played football and wrestled in high school, and, as a result, spent a lot of time in the weight room. When he headed off to Worcester State to play football, Malinn quickly realized that he enjoyed the training a lot more than the game. He left college after a semester to focus on his body.
At his first national competition, in Worcester, Malinn won.
“I came in, and I was just the biggest guy,” he said.

Competitions take months to prepare for, so when Malinn fell short at his second competition, he was discouraged, but returned to the gym the next Monday morning. He intends to compete twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring.

Malinn has developed his workout routine without the help of a trainer or coach. Like Schwarzenegger was when he was young, Malinn is in the gym twice a day—mornings and evenings, before and after his job at GNC—six days a week. The evening workout, Malinn said, is as intense as the morning one, no matter how tired his muscles feel. All this makes Malinn a familiar face at the Norwood Civic Center weight room.

“He’s really done a remarkable job as far as putting size on, cutting physique in his body, ” said Mike Cawley, the recreation department’s program director.

Malinn’s diet, which combines food like eggs, oatmeal, and green beans, with protein shakes, is high in calories and low in fat. Right now he’s trying to gain weight. Malinn competes in the light heavyweight class.

 Bodybuilders, especially natural ones, Malinn said, can often compete into their forties or even fifties. If he is successful turning pro, he’s looking forward to a long career.

“With time, you just get more and more muscle maturity,” Malinn said.

In any case, Malinn intends to keep his body in shape and healthy.

“If I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t have quit football,” he said. “It’s my passion.”