Dr. John A. King is chasing a national bodybuilding title in 12 months, documenting it as an interactive journal. His coach Ned, who moved from Belgrade in 1998 and has two decades of bodybuilding experience, explains why he treats the sport as a sustainable hobby, not an obsession, while raising two young daughters with his wife.
Everyone's got one shot. One shot at a goal, one time. Mine, for the next 12 months, is a national title in bodybuilding. This interactive journey is a journal that will track my progress from where I am as I head towards my goal by the end of next year.
Cool.
So, Ned, as my coach, what qualifies you to help me get from where I am to where I need to be for my one shot?
Okay. So pretty much my background as far as training and coaching. You know, I've been involved in bodybuilding about 20 years almost now. You know, I moved from Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1998, and I was already doing my bodybuilding thing. So I was just training for competing, you know. I did have a nutrition degree already. Oh. So when I came to the United States, my goal was Even since I was 15 years old, it was to be a coach, to be a trainer, to make my living helping other people get in shape. So, I went and got certified for personal training degrees, a couple of different ones. I also hired some top trainers myself to learn.
So, bodybuilding to a lot of people seems really one-dimensional. It's about the gym. It's about The food, the sleep, and some people can really think it's a selfish sport, but having got to know you over the last couple of months, seeing you with your family, you're very much that family man. There's a real sense of richness to your life. For you, bodybuilding isn't a one-dimensional thing, is it?
No, and sadly it starts like that. We all get caught up with The bodybuilding, and we want to do a contest, and we get so caught up in it. That's all we think about, and that's all we want to do. You dream about things, you do things, and, but, you know, for me, it has become my hobby. Yeah. And you want to treat it like a hobby because, you know, if it's a hobby, you're going to enjoy it.
So luckily, you know, I have a supportive family, and this is just something I do.
You know, as a hobby. So the way to keep it fun and interesting.
So you've been married 6 years now? 6 years. 6 years, 2 kids? 2 kids, yeah. And they are 4 and 18 months? 10 months. 10 months. So you've got your hands full, and they're girls. And they're 2 girls. So you've got to stay physically fit for your entire life to make sure that they are—
scare the guys off. Yeah, we got to, you know, we talked about it earlier. We want to move the island somewhere.
