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Nelson V. Totanes - August 2004
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Is there a formula for an athlete to follow to succeed in bodybuilding? Nelson V. Totanes has one to tell us. He has recently added Mr. Philippines 2004 to his resume.
Being the newest member to join the RP National team in the Flyweight division, Nelson carried with him the right tools and ingredients to get to where he is now.
Although Nelson started out training late at the age of 28, this did not hinder him from reaching his goal. In January 2000, while working as a sales account manager at Jabar Enterprises in Cubao, Quezon City, he passed by the Kidlat Fitness Gym and was awed by the hard bodies training with weights. The owner of the gym, Norman Buena motivated him and believed he had the potential as a bodybuilder. Incidentally, Norman is also a PBSF Bodybuilding judge so he knew what to look for in an athlete. Nelson had the genetics. Still, there were habits he needed to modify.
Nelson was determined to get that physique. He quit his 2-cigagrette packs a day and his regular alcohol drinking binges. He hit the weights everyday and started seeing some changes. After a year, he competed his first event but only placed 6th in the flyweight division. That challenged him more. At the competition, he made friends with a few athletes who were seasoned in their training. Now, Nelson trains 2 body parts at a time and eats the right foods on-season and off-season.
Nelson was born and raised in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte province in Mindanao. He moved to Manila in 1991 and worked at the Makati Mandarin Hotel as a housekeeping contractor. He was easily noticed by the manager because of the extra time he put in and was promoted as a direct contractor after 3 months. The same manager offered him the job at Jabar Enterprises in 1993 retailing industrial parts for marbles. From stock clerk to sales representative, he worked his way up through hard work, discipline and determination. These are the same tools he used in training with weights.
Since his first competition in 2001, Nelson experimented with diet and training just to see how far he can go with his physique. He joined many competitions but not winning the title in most of them.