Iron age: Ojai man pumped up

The Ojai Valley was well-repped by a well-ripped local resident - Vince Cablayan - at the Pacific USA Natural Bodybuilding Championship in Anaheim. Cablayan won first place in the Men's Grand Masters Division, muscling out competitors from Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

Cablayan, who works as a carpenter, is a lifelong Ojai native. "I've been into serious body-building training for about 20 years," said the 50-year-old father of three daughters, "although I've only been competing for the last 10 years." During those 10 years, however, Cablayan has posted an impressive record, having won four other first-place awards in competitions in California and Hawaii.

A former tennis player with professional aspirations, Cablayan turned to body building to build strength and and get into better shape. "I got hooked," he said. "Body building is all about control," he explains. "Using the right amount of weight to develop and sculpt the right muscles. The workout is the focus; the competitions are almost incidental."

It is not what one would consider a leisurely hobby. Conjuring up images of Rocky Balboa, Cablayan's day starts at 4 a.m., and by 5:30 he is pumping iron while the rest of us are still pounding Z's. "I usually work out once a day," said Cablayan, except when I'm ramping up for a show (competition). Then I go into a pretty intense preparation mode involving twice-a-day workouts and a strict diet regimen."

What about diet? And what about steroids? "Never used them," Cablayan flatly stated "and never will. Steroids are dangerous. They do incredible damage to the body, especially bodies that are still growing, like in high school." On the other hand, diet, according to Cablayan, is everything, claiming that what we've heard all our lives is, indeed, true: you are what you eat."We often look right past the obvious," concludes Cablayan. "There's a reason that some food is called junk, and it should be treaded accordingly."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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