NABBA England 2014 Training Diary: Introduction

This blog series follows junior bodybuilder Brandon Allsopp as he trains for the NABBA England 2014 contest.

Introducing Brandon Allsopp

I’m 20 years old and come from a small town in North Wales called Holyhead.

I work and train out of a gym called Holyhead and Anglesey Weightlifting and Fitness Centre (HAWFC), which is run by former Commonwealth gold medalist Olympic Lifter Ray Williams.

It’s a great place to train as it’s full of great athletes and a whole host of Welsh and Great British weightlifting champions, including 2012 Olympian Gareth Evans.

I am one of the gym’s personal trainers, helping clients on a daily basis to achieve their own goals whilst providing me with the opportunity to follow mine.

Growing up

Bodybuilding never really appealed to me growing up as a teenager.

It wasn’t until I was about 16-17 that I really thought about it as something I could do and hopefully one day go quite far in the sport.

I first stepped into a gym at 14 years old – being overweight as a child I needed to make a change.

Around that age I also started playing rugby.

Always being the bigger and stronger kid in the class it made sense, so I gave it a shot.

I went on the play for North Wales after only playing the sport for 6 months.

I matured much quicker than everyone else which was a massive advantage, and as I played more I got better.

At 16 I moved to Llandovery College in South Wales to play for Scarlet’s under 18s, as well as being part of the Wales Under 16 and 18s set up.

Hitting the gym

Unfortunately, injuries got in the way of my rugby career, and I never quite fulfilled my potential.

So, why did I stop playing rugby?

Well this is where bodybuilding comes into the equation.

At 16 I started reading some bodybuilding magazines and was awestruck by the physiques I saw.

As with many other young bodybuilders this is how I got started.

At this point all I wanted to do was bodybuilding while I was still playing rugby.

I believe this is what held me back as from that point I was never 100% focused on playing rugby – I just wanted to be in the gym lifting weights!

I’ve always been a strong kid.

At 15 I could deadlift 250kg, bench press 160kg and squat 240kg.

I knew I had better-than-average genetics and I loved lifting, so why not go as far as I could?

However, at 15 I suffered a slipped disc in my back after a deadlifting session which kept me out for a very long time.

I was devastated that I wasn’t able to lift heavy for at least a year, and this is ultimately what ruined my rugby career.

But hey, shit happens, you get over it and move on to something else.

At 18 I moved back up to North Wales and decided to get into powerlifting/strongman.

It was fun – I was eating tonnes of food (literally anything and everything) and lifting some heavy ass weights.

What more could I ask for?

At 19 I could deadlift 310kg, bench press 195kg and squat 285kg.

I competed in my first senior strongman competition at 19 where I won the first 5 events and finished second in the last 2.

I enjoyed it, but something was missing.

I was tired of not having the physique I’ve always wanted.

So that led me to where I am now, dedicated to achieving that physique and pursuing the goal I’ve always wanted to achieve.

NABBA England & Mr Universe

So what’s the plan for 2014?

I’m going to compete in NABBA England in October in the junior category, where hopefully I will then qualify for the Mr Universe.

It’s my first show so I suppose I can’t really expect too much, but who trains without thinking of winning?

How far can I go?

That I couldn’t really tell you.

Turn pro? Mr Olympia?

Ones thing’s for sure, the guys in the pro ranks are freaks, but we all have dreams and aspirations right, so why not?

My training diary

This diary will include details and videos of my training and contest preparation in the run up to the NABBA competition, in addition to general updates and musings.

I would appreciate any comments/feedback you have as my training diary progresses – just leave me a comment below this post and I’ll get back to you.

See you all next week…