BY JASON
THOMPSON
With a little more than a week before the biggest bodybuilding
competition of his life, Mario Foucault is training harder than
ever with his personal trainer Rick McCutcheon.
To the tune of Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls, bodybuilder
Foucault plans on strutting his stuff on stage and striking a
pose for the judges and the crowd at the Canadian National
Bodybuilding Championships in North York Aug. 5.
Foucault, 20, has only been body building and competing for a
year but has already made a name for himself, placing second at
a Northern Ontario competition in 2005 and taking first place
at the Ontario Naturals Bodybuilding Championships in Ajax June
24.
Foucault, who is entering his second year of fitness and
leisure management at Cambrian College, is competing in the
Under-21 class.
"Bodybuilding is obviously a lot more gruelling (than a regular
workout). You have to go in there and attack every single part
of each muscle," explains Foucault, who works as a personal
trainer at The Gym Fitness Centre.
McCutcheon met Foucault at The Gym Fitness Centre and when he
saw a lot of potential in the young man he offered to take him
on board and train him for competition.
"What makes a champion is somebody who won't quit. When the
body and the brain tells him it hurts...he's got the heart to
keep going," McCutcheon said.
"I expect he'll place top three at the Canadians."
Bodybuilding is about consistency, you can't just go to the gym
and work on your chest, you've got to exercise everything.
Bodybuilders must be well rounded in both their look and
approach to training, Foucault says.
Foucault starts every day with a half-hour jog just to wake up
in the morning. This is followed by an intense two-hour workout
at the gym.
With his win at the provincial competition, Foucault's trip to
the national championships is being paid for by the Ontario
Physique Association.
The young bodybuilder is excited about the opportunity to reach
one of his goals and win a national competition. A strong
finish and Foucault could be on his way to an international
event in Italy.
"You walk around and basically work the crowd," Foucault said
about the competition.
Every bodybuilder is required to perform the seven mandatory
poses for the judges.
 In the second round, the bodybuilders can get creative
and allow their style and personality to show. They're given
one minute to perform to music as many of their own poses as
they wish.
"Some people use some of the mandatory poses but others have
their own style," he said. "It's all about appealling to the
crowd."
"Hard work, that's all it is," Foucault said when asked about
his style on stage in front of the crowd and judges.
"When I go on stage, I try to work the crowd a little bit more
and get them involved."
Foucault says the most frustrating aspect of competition is the
judging.
"I wish I knew (how they judged you). Nobody knows," he said.
"We don't even get a chance to look at the cards at the
end."
He says the judges simply rank the competitors, with no real
rhyme or reason to the marking scheme.
As far as the future is concerned, McCutheon said there isn't a
lot of success to be had at the international level for a
drug-free bodybuilder.
"Mario is a clean bodybuilder so his potential is limited to a
certain point," he said. "When he gets to the worlds and other
things, well there's drug testing but there's ways to beat the
tests. He'll be up against stuff like that at that level."
