Pair Muscle Their Way to a National Title

Six months of eating 70 chicken breasts and bushels of rice each week, feasting on a dozen egg whites at breakfast and dinner, and drinking only protein shakes and water has paid off for John Bezerra of Ventura.

The 28-year-old personal trainer and his partner, Tammi Singer, 29, of Oxnard, bested 98 other amateur bodybuilders from across the country last week in Dallas to win first place in the National Physique Committee’s mixed pairs competition.

The pair won first place in the event that bodybuilders liken to the Olympics.

“It’s kind of like a dream come true--I’m still riding on the high a little bit,” Bezerra said. Winning the national title is also a return on his investment--$200 in groceries each week and a small fortune in vitamin and protein supplements consumed while preparing for the competition.

Bezerra, who without the long hours of training and special diet would weigh 140 to 145 pounds, tipped the scale at 190 at the competition in Dallas.

“A lot of my look is really an illusion,” he said. “I look a lot larger than I am as far as my weight.”

Only 18% of Bezerra’s bulk at the competition was body fat, and none of it was gained using steroids, he said.

Competitors are tested for drug use, Bezerra said. Testing positive for steroid use would have meant instant disqualification.

Bezerra, who graduated from Ventura High School in 1985, had been quietly moving up the ranks in regional bodybuilding competitions over the past four years before he and Singer won the national title.

Winning has meant recognition by “Flex” and “Muscle & Fitness” magazines. It also earned Bezerra a small part in a film documenting those who make building muscle and achieving perfect body symmetry an important aspect of their daily lives.

“Within a week, I’ve gone from a nobody to a little-more-famous nobody,” he said.

Bezerra isn’t the only person in his household trying to build the perfect body. His wife, Veronica, has flexed her muscles in numerous bodybuilding events and is training for next year’s Miss Galaxy competition.

Bezerra said his 2-year-old daughter, Sasha, is also starting to get into the act.

“She already follows us around the house and does her exercises and poses,” he said.