Gym Tasse Fitness Motivation
Bodybuilder describes his plan to turn pro
By THOMAS BECNEL
thomas.becnel@heraldtribune.com
At 5-foot-9, 270 pounds, Huh fills the doorway, at least from side to side.
A few years ago, he was a brawny-yet-boyish graduate of Lakewood Ranch High School. His dad was a bodybuilder, a former Mr. Korea, and his mom was a dancer. He was just starting to develop the physique that won him a Teen National Championship in 2004.
Now Huh is bigger -- much bigger -- with sculpted shoulders that bulge from his
tank top. This fall the 22-year-old hopes to win a nationalamateur competition and become a professional bodybuilder.
He looks older, with his goatee and crew cut, but still sounds young when he talks about his plans. There's a lot going on his life right now, which might be why he's so tired.
Huh plans to open a nutrition-and-smoothie shop on Main Street in Sarasota. His fiancée, Stephanie Franco, is about to turn pro as a fitness-and-figure contestant. And there's the never-ending cycle of weightlifting and eating and conditioning and dieting.
In between bites of spare ribs and pickled cabbage, Huh talks candidly about everything from light eating to the "dark side" of drugs in bodybuilding.
First things first: your name. What percentage of people get it right? What percentage have something to say about it?
About 90 percent get it wrong. (Laughs.) About 60 percent have something to say about it. It's not "Huh." It's not "Ha." It's pronounced "Hu," like H-u.
What's your training schedule like right now? When's your next show?
I've actually got to start dropping some weight because I've got to do a guest posing appearance at the Tampa Bay Classic on June 9, I think. I need to harden up a little bit so I don't look so fat on stage.
You still live in Sarasota?
Yeah. I was living on my own for a couple of years and recently I decided to move in with my dad, and Stephanie, until I get the business up and running. That's an Asian family for you, everybody living together.
Your dad's a bodybuilder and a personal trainer. How are you the same, and how are you different?
That's tough. I'm working on my discipline. I have good discipline, but my dad's discipline is ridiculous. I mean, to go to work for 20 years and never take a day off. To eat the same thing for years, day in and day out. Never complain about anything. He's definitely a man of few words, but I have a ton of respect for him.
But now you're going to be an entrepreneur. Here's a chance to talk up your business. Let's hear the pitch:
It's going to be basically nutrition more aimed to athletes. It's not going to be like an herbal nutrition store. It's more straight to stuff that works. Proteins, all the basics, creatines. And we'll definitely have some smoothies, custom-made smoothies, done up for whatever suits your needs. Whatever goal you're trying to achieve with your body, we'll be able to do it.
I've always wanted to do it. I run a nutrition store right now for a good friend of mine, Jeff Hall. He's helped along the way in my bodybuilding career from the first time I stepped onstage. He's like a second father to me. He definitely helped me see that it's OK to just bodybuild. I don't need to have that 9-to-5 job. I don't have to go to college if I don't want to. I can put all my energy and focus into bodybuilding.
What's your training schedule like?
In the off-season, I train about five or six days a week. When I'm dieting for a show, I'll train five or six days a week, but I'll do cardio seven days a week. Stairmaster, just Stairmaster, and walking on a treadmill.
People have no idea how much dedication it takes. It's ridiculous, bodybuilding. I do believe bodybuilding is one of the hardest sports in the world, next to, like, Ultimate Fighting or something.
What's the bodybuilding community like? Is this a lonely sport, or do people get together?
It's both. Bodybuilders do get together. We have these conventions and stuff like that every year. We have the Arnold (Schwarzenegger) Classic in Ohio. Thousands of people, thousands of bodybuilders show up.
What's that like? Describe the scene.
(Laughs.) A bunch of horny-ass, testosterone-driven people. And a bunch of female figure chicks, and all of them are all done up in makeup. And everybody there, their bodies are all perfect.
Is that good or bad?
It's good and bad. People are concerned with health and always trying to stay in shape and look great and all that. But some people are pretty shallow, I feel, in this sport. That's where I differ. I try to not to be too shallow about life.
Is there a whole science to bodybuilding that the people don't understand?
People have no idea. The science comes down to every piece of food you eat matters, when you're dieting for a show, every green bean or piece of broccoli. The type of food, depending on your ethnic backgrounds, sometimes, depends on how your body tends to work.
When it comes to supplements and chemicals and all that, there is a side of bodybuilding -- there is a dark side. I don't care what anybody says. Bodybuilders won't admit it, but there is a dark side to bodybuilding, with all the steroids and drugs involved. They don't like to talk about -- it's like their own kept secret, but that's the way it is. You can't step onstage ... but I think that's why bodybuilding isn't as popular as something like football.
But don't people expect that in any sport?
It's funny. I don't care what sport you play, there's some kind of drugs involved. I don't care if it's running, whatever. They're testing in the PGA right now.
Do they drug-test in bodybuilding now?
They do in certain shows, but for the most part, no. Because if they did, there'd be no freaks, and freaks are what people want to go see. They want to see something that nobody else can do.
How do you compare with other bodybuilders?
A lot of them are pretty short. I'm 5-9. They range from 5-3 all the way to 5-11. A good height is between 5-9 and 5-10, 5-11. They're the only bodybuilders who really fill their whole frame out, and when they do they're hard to beat. A good short guy is not going to beat a good tall guy.
You're devoted to bodybuilding, but things change and people change. Could you walk away from all this tomorrow?
Is there something else I'd walk to? (Laughs.) No matter what I'd do, I'd always want to train.
Do you plan on staying in Sarasota?
For right now, yeah. As long as there's sunlight and palm trees, I'm good.
