Allen Khumalo Sports Reporter
DEFENDING champion Lovemore Munyamana says he is ready to defend his title in the 2016 edition of the Mr and Ms Bulawayo Bodybuilding contest scheduled for tomorrow evening.
Munyamana, a four-time Mr Bulawayo, will be defending his crown against eight challengers.
“I know it won’t be an easy road, but I have been practising a lot and I am ready to defend my title this weekend,” said Munyamana.
He feels his biggest threat would be John Lunga and David Page, whom he feels have the potential to wrest the title from him.
“Lunga, and Page might be a threat on Saturday. However, I need to respect other contestants and think of everyone in the competition as a threat because like any other sport, if you take your competitors lightly, they will defeat you. I have to prepare for anyone and look at them as potential winners,” said Munyamana.
“Being champion is not easy because everyone wants to beat you and at the same time people will be expecting more from you.
“There is always that pressure, but I have managed to deal with that through hard work.”
He said his preparations had not been that of lifting weights only, but also included watching his diet.
“I have been eating low fat foods in order to build muscles because I am aiming for the Mr Zimbabwe competition in September.
“However, I am still doing heavy weights to build muscles,” he said.
Munyamana revealed that he did not want to take part in this year’s competition but wanted to give others a chance to win the contest. However, his sponsors urged him to contest.
Munyamana is the only body builder from Bulawayo who was invited to take part in the inaugural Africa Arnold Classic that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in May.
“That is the biggest achievement in my career because in the whole world I came fifth. It was a big challenge competing against guys from Egypt, Qatar and America because they get everything. They spend most of their time in the gym because they are on the government’s payroll. It is different in our country.”
He also encouraged up-and-coming youngsters not to take shortcuts to build muscles, but to work very hard to get to where he is.
“Youngsters should avoid taking steroids to build muscles. Drugs have side effects and after the age of 40, your body will start reacting. I would rather advise them to use supplements because they are key to bodybuilding,” he said.
In the ladies category, former Ms Novice and defending Ms Bulawayo Shantel Batch-Greenland will be looking to defend her title. — @khumzallen