Interview With Damian Bailey
Featured Athlete - May 2010
Interviewed by: Tammy Renee'
Photos by: BBPics.com
Damian Bailey is a hardworking, driven Filmmaker, and Actor who does Personal Training on the side. He is the CEO of Glory 2 God Productions and Damian Bailey Fitness. Intensity, verbal, and dedication explains his personality.
“When I first started training, I would go to the gym and just push up heavy weight and think that was all that I had to do. Now, I actually have partners that I train with and have a focused routine in place to hit all the aspects and angles of my muscles."
WP: What was it that made you know without a doubt that you wanted to go into bodybuilding?
DB: If you’re referring to bodybuilding competition, I was naïve to it. I used to call it the "Low self-esteem contest" where people needed a trophy to know they looked good; I was wrong. Doing a show, or getting in shape, is no different than doing a marathon. It's just another push to get you out of your comfort zone in life to achieve something.
WP: How long have you been lifting?
DB: 12 years!
WP: What competitions have you appeared in and what place did you win?
DG: I’ve done my first competition on April 3, 2010 in the NPC show. I didn’t rank at all because they were looking for the “Beefy” look and I was the only one shredded.
WP: Do you have any advice to people that wish to build more mass and/or more cut?
DB: Record your meals. People fail to eat 5-6 meals a day because of daily life activities. I input on my IPhone; an alert to warn me feeding time is 5 minutes away, every three hours. Protein is a great source of mass building along with vegetables and dense carbs such as sweet potatoes. Compound movements are great for building mass but you should never lift beyond your means, resulting in bad form.
WP: What do you eat in a normal day?
DB: I eat pretty much everything, except peanut butter and fried foods.
WP: Do you allow yourself a cheat day?
DB: I had a cheat day when I was competing but when I’m not, I balance my nutrition out by eating healthy, but not restricting the "good" things like a turkey burger with fries. Life is all about balance and to restrict yourself from something, never works. The human brain is not designed to work that way; everything has to be in balance.
WP: What supplements do you take?
DB: I don’t have the patience to take supplements. I only do Whey Protein as a meal replacement, but I don’t depend on it for muscle growth. I believe in "Mind over matter" when lifting to avoid taking powders such as Creatine to give me the extra boost.
WP: Could you tell me a story of how you have gotten where you are today?
DB: I was diagnosed with high Scoliosis as a teen where my spine was a shape of an "S". A plastic brace was given to my twin brother and me, to help correct the spine and it was the worst thing in the world. At 17, I wasn’t scoring high in getting dates with a brace looking like Robocop. Doctors noticed a year later that the brace wasn’t helping, so the next action was to inject a metal rod in our spine to prevent the curving. The 13-hour operation was performed on my brother and myself, whereas, he healed for a month and our backs developed wonderfully. 4 years later, I tagged along with my parents to work out at a nearby gym and I liked how my arms looked after the pump. Mind you, I was very skinny, but was cut and ripped, so my arms looked big; I was hooked ever since.
WP: Do you have anyone you can thank for helping you get where you are?
DB: My former Managers at Equinox Fitness: Mark Correra and Dondra Sampson, who not only taught me how to work-out, but to become a great professional personal trainer, as well. Also, to IBFF Novice Winner and Equinox Trainer, Alone Powers, who taught me how to pose for my show, Frederick Thompson of Frederick Thompson Fitness and Trainer Tahica Fredericks.
WP: Where do you want to be in 5 years?
DB: I will be producing and directing my own films and I will probably make a fitness DVD.
WP: You look great! How do you keep the physique you have? What is the hardest thing for you to face when it comes to keeping your physique.
DB: I train hard and long term. I’m very mindful on how I lift, because I wanna stay this way when I’m in my 60’s; therefore, I don’t push beyond my means. I progress to the weight to challenge myself. Numbers means nothing to me. I’m not concern how much I can bench press and if its better than the next man. When guys do that, they set themselves up for injury trying to lift too heavy for no apparent reason.
WP: Tell me about your future projects. Have any in sight?
DB: I have a film out now on DVD that’s doing very well across the country called, Gang Girl, an inspirational film on female gangs, which made it to cable On Demand (Check your local listings). I also have two features coming out along with a short film dealing on the subject of AIDS awareness. All films were self-financed by me. I plan to do some more fitness modeling, as well.
WP: I understand you worked with John at bbpics.com. What was it like working with him?
DB: John is very dedicated to his craft and he’s honest with you. He made me feel comfortable when I was losing energy; mind you it was a week away from my show and my diet was extreme.
WP: Would you recommend him to your friends? If so, Why?
DB: I have recommended him to some friends of mine, because I like to hook good people up with good people.
WP: Who had the most impact on you growing up?
DB: My mom, very outgoing and a risk taker.
WP: What is your work-out regimen?
DB: Four to five days a week I will do 20 minutes of cardio of my choice, which consist of speed walking on the treadmill and stair master. I do 2 hours a day of lifting weights in push or pull movements. On Monday, I would be a push day (Chest, quads, and shoulders). The next day would be a pull day (Back, ham’s and biceps) then, repeat both on the next two days. Sometimes, I do both push/pull on the same day with 3 times a week training. This burns calories and builds at the same time.
WP: Anything you would like to see change in the bodybuilding world?
DB: Yes, they should stop cheating and be natural.
WP: Any shout outs?
DB: I want to give a shout out to Alone Powers, Johnny Reddick, Tef, Humberto Santos, and Maxim Naziere.
WP: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
DB: I would like to be able to relax more and take vacations.
WP: Is there anything else you would like to add?
DB: I wish some Personal Trainers in this industry would be more professional by programming; arriving on time, stop sleeping with the clients, and show respect. Trainers get a bad rep because of these stereotypes trainers fall into. If you're stretching a client, use a towel. I would be pissed if I saw my wife being stretched by some guy touching her the wrong way, and a lot of trainers do this. I also wish some trainers, and this industry, would stop being fancy with stupid techniques that does nothing for the client in the long run. Just because you sweat doesn't mean you pushed yourself to the limit. These "get fit quick", or fancy moves like taking a huge spinning class where you're riding a bike and doing dumbbell overhead press at the same time, is a lawsuit waiting to happen. People need to realize, in fitness, there are 3 important factors to be in the best shape: Lift, nutrition, and rest. That's it; simple and common sense. Everything else is just something to do. No matter how you shake it or spice it up, you still have to work hard.
One more thing: I hate the myth where women are intimidated with weights because they will bulk up. This is a supreme myth. Women cannot bulk up by just lifting weights and this statement should be posted in every gym. Weights are better for women than some cardio machine or group fitness classes. I'm not knocking down group fitness, but women use those classes as the only way to get in shape and they're doing themselves a great injustice. I don’t believe the instructors got in shape by just doing Zumba.
See your workouts as goals in your life. Whenever you feel tired of lifting that dumbbell, substitute in your mind that it’s a new job that you always wanted, so in order to get that job, you have to work towards it, so let’s see how bad you want it as you lift that dumbbell one last time. If you can do that when fatigue, then you can accomplish anything in life.
No hard work, no gain!
Damian's opinions does not constitute nor reflects an opinion of World Physique.
