The Story
Many of you know that Don got back into bodybuilding almost accidentally. Don and his two boys spent quite a bit of time at various gyms either preparing for baseball, honing their martial arts skills or enjoying
g a heavy dead lift from time to time. Cooper, Don’s eldest son made the traditional “old man” comment and it seemingly lit a bit of a fire in Don’s belly, which while very fit and firm, it wasn’t near as shredded as his entire physique had become 14 weeks after Cooper’s comment. Don always felt he would return to the stage but he wanted to wait until he turned 50.
Attention
Don left the sport back in the early 90’s in what most would have considered his prime. The best time to start packing on the muscle. He had won regionally and as a national qualifier was moving in the direction of his pro card. “Something clicked. I had given up baseball for bodybuilding and now I was ready to move on to the next chapter. I never really dreamed of turning pro in bodybuilding due to the time it takes away from your family and other responsibilities. I had to go make a living and even though it is not as bad today, most people were more interested in the 240 pounders on stage than the 154’s and who can blame them? those dudes are awesome.” Well Don got attention having gotten back into contest shape in 14 weeks and winning a regional show and qualifying for nationals in his first appearance back on the stage. The attention is now creating support!
Support
The one thing a bodybuilder needs more than anything is support. Support from family and boy it would be nice to have support from a company that can help fund the process of preparation. If that company happens to be a supplement company then you have basically hit the bodybuilding mother-load as supplementation is the largest expense in most contest prep. Enter Iron Cult Fitness and 361 Nutrition. Iron Cult Fitness a supplement and
apparel company approached Don and wanted to aid him in his preparation for nationals in 2017 and 2018 . “It is nice to have someone in your corner while prepping for something like this.” said Monistere. Iron Cult is a new company just dipping their toe in the water and Ron Williamson said ” we are proud to have Don as one of our pro athletes wearing our gear and utilizing our products, it was a great relationship and we look forward to watching his prep for nationals over the next two years.”
361Nutrition got on board with Don in mid summer of 2016 and he has been utilizing their special protein blends to pack on size and they have also been instrumental in Don’s charity work helping him with Stopbullyingnowfoundation.org and the Operation Underground Railroad, both of these organizations have impacted Don’s life in some way. 361Nutrition was happy to get Don on board and is their first athlete to sign as one of their pros. “Who else would we want and yes I am biased but someone who is not just prepping to create the best version of self, but someone who is standing up for others that are too weak or hurt to stand up for themselves! We should all live in this manner” said marketing director Daphne Monistere. If you didn’t pick up on it, yes Daphne is D
on’s wife. In a nutshell Don is poised to have a great training year and has the support of many great organizations to help in his endeavor to win at Nationals and as well increase awareness of the effects of bullying and as well what Operation Underground Railroad is doing to help stop human trafficking once and for all. Don we wish you luck next year and wanted to extend our thank you for being about more than just yourself.