HOBART | When it comes to bodybuilding, Jorge Almedina Jr. follows a five-day work week with a one-day weekend.
Thus, legs (Mon.), chest (Tue.), back (Wed.), shoulders (Thur.), arms (Fri.) and rest (Sat.) all move back a day when the cycle re-starts with legs on Sunday.
"For me, the week is six days long," said the Hobart 19-year-old. "It's the cycle that works best for me."
In his first bodybuilding competition, the National Physique Committee Mid-Western State Championships held in Ft. Wayne on July 10, Almedina placed first in both the teen and men's lightweight divisions.
Then later at the NPC Indiana State Championships held in Indianapolis on July 31, Almedina placed first the aforementioned categories again.
With the help of gym guru Abiu Feliz, Almedina has only been training as a bodybuilder for about a year. But he was no stranger to the weight room.
"I was usually one of the smaller guys at school, but I loved to play sports," Almedina said. "My father (Jorge Almedina Sr.) told me that if I wanted to play football and wrestle in high school, that I needed to get bigger and stronger.
"That's why I trained. But then weight training became one of the favorite things I like about playing sports."
But as Almedina soon found out, conditioning for football and wrestling is a little different than preparing to be a bodybuilder.
"After you work out and practice for football, you go home and you're done for the day," Almedina said. "But when you're a bodybuilder, it's 24/7. You're always doing something that will make you a better bodybuilder ... whether it's eating right, doing cardio, getting enough rest."
Though Almedina is off to a great start in his bodybuilding career, it will likely be a while before he wins another title.
"I'm not going to enter another contest until next year," said Almedina, who qualified to the NPC Nationals for 2011. "I want to make sure I'm really ripped for my next one.
"It's all about being confident when you're up on the stage in front of the judges. It's about knowing that I did everything I had to do to get up there."
