Body is fit to be a winner

A teenage bodybuilder who couldn’t do PE at school because of a knee condition has just won his first competition.

Sixteen-year-old Adam Marshall had to give up games when he was diagnosed with Osgoodschlatters Syndrome.

But now he’s a regular at Stocky’s Gym in Gainsborough and has just lifted his first trophy.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Adam, of Garfield Street, Gainsborough, came first in the 16 and Under age group at the Yorkshire Open Show held at Castleford - the first competition he has entered.

He said: “I was about 12 or 13 when I got Osgoodschlatters and I couldn’t run round a football pitch or do games at school.”

“I have lumps underneath both knees and I’m on tablets for it but I do manage to lift some leg weights now at the gym.”

Adam went to Trent Valley Academy and is now studying carpentry and joinery at Gainsborough College.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For the show he had to stand on stage doing quarter turns, then do a routine to music - he chose Tempa T’s Next Hype - and then do a series of compulsory poses requested by the judges.

He said: “I got into bodybuilding through a friend who asked me to go to the gym with him.”

“He gave up quite quickly but I carried on because I really enjoy it. It’s taken over my life, I go to the gym every night, except Saturday and Sunday, and do about an hour of lifting weights.”

“My brother Luke who is 26 also trains with me.”

Adam, who weighs 10 stone, had to stick to a rigid diet before the show.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I had to cut out a lot of foods and ate a lot of chicken and rice,” he said.

But he’s now planning to spend the next two years bulking up before entering more competitions when he is 18, and aims to put on two stone of muscle by then.

Chrissie Reid, who co-owns Stocky’s Gym, on Pillard House Lane, with her partner Mark Stocks, said: “We are absolutely bursting with pride, and so are the other members of the gym.”

“We are all really proud of him.”

Mark and Chrissie went to the Yorkshire Open Show last year and when they realised there was an under 16s category they suggested to Adam that he should enter.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chrissie said: “Adam trained all year to prepare for it and went on a very strict and disciplined diet for about two months before the show, and that’s the hardest part which many people find too difficult.”

“It’s just amazing for a young 16-year-old to be able to do it. It’s a really plain diet, no sauces, salts or sugars, and Mark kept adjusting it to get the best muscle definition.”

“We kept telling Adam he could drop out if it got too much for him but he never moaned or complained, even though he was juggling college as well.”

“Luke was also a fantastic support to him.”

Adam’s mum Carol said that when he said he was going to take up bodybuilding they thought it would be a passing phase.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But he was going to the gym twice a day before the competition and when I saw him on stage I cried,” she said.

“He still has to be careful because of his knees and I was so proud of him winning because it was his first competition.”