Few people really know what their bodies are capable of until put to the test. JOHN VAN KLAVEREN meets some Geelong men and women who push theirs to the limit.
BODY building elicits immediate perceptions of muscles upon muscles, living in the gym, performance enhancing substances and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And while these perceptions are based on some fact, there’s more to the body building sub-culture than meets the eye.
In these days of obesity epidemics, generally declining health and fitness levels and associated rising medical costs, yo-yo dieting and a weight-loss industry making squillions, they stand out like a pot belly in a gym.
The explosion in gyms and memberships from the health and fitness craze is in part a backlash to these increasingly worrying trends.
More people are running marathons, pumping iron and hiring treadmills than ever and all of them, to some degree, are ultimately involved in trying to build a different body for themselves.
Within that, a small but dedicated band of people in Geelong have taken the art and science of body building to its logical extension.
Calum von Moger is an Arnold Schwarzenegger look-alike who, at 23, is already more muscular than Arnie was at the same age.
And it appears the Highton hunk is embarking on a similar career path, with the Mecca of body-building – the USA – calling loudly.
His magnificent physique, a You Tube clip – Mad Desire, with more than 500,000 hits – and a fifth placing in the Mr Universe competition in Greece has garnered Calum international attention.
“Yes, Arnie has seen the video, I’ve been told,” Calum laughs.
A high-profile body builder agent and photographer in Los Angeles has booked Calum for a three-week tour, including a supplement promotion contract, photo shoots in New York and Miami and a series of movie auditions in Los Angeles.
“I don’t know where it will lead but it’s a great opportunity,” Calum confesses.
“It’s all happened pretty quickly, it was all arranged in one weekend, but luckily I had nothing tying me down here, so I was able to grab it with both hands.”
And sizeable they are, too – shaking hands with Calum is like putting your digits in a bear’s paw.
But he knows his strength and thankfully doesn’t squeeze.
See the latest GC Magazine for more of this story.
