Success doesn’t come cheap; especially if the goal you set for yourself is to become Mr South Asia, a coveted title for local bodybuilders. In the case of Shaukat Shehzad, the current title holder, the cost of the training and the massive amounts of food he had to consume came at quite a price: his wife had to sell her gold jewellery so that Shehzad could get his gold medal.

“I have a department job with Wapda and I also run my father’s gym, Super Shaheen, in Rawalpindi but I was still short of cash the whole time I was training because of the amount of food I had to consume so I sold my wife’s jewellery. I bought chicken, fish, eggs and other food items from that money. But I’m grateful to my better half for supporting me all the way,” says 34-year-old bodybuilder, who won the title of Mr South Asia at the 10th South Asian Bodybuilding Championship, held in Lahore earlier this month.

“The jewellery can be replaced but big competitions such as this don’t come about every day. Even though my wife has not demanded anything in return and is happy in my victory, I know I owe her and will buy her better jewellery than what she had to part with,” he says. “But right now my eyes are set on other titles,” he adds.

“We have lots of bodybuilding talent in the country,” comments Shehzad, “but we don’t have a talent hunt programme here,” he adds.

Unlike most bodybuilders here who name Hollywood celebrity Arnold Schwarzenegger as the man who drew them to bodybuilding, Shehzad, who competed in the 90kg plus category, says that he only wants to be like his late father Ustad Yar Khan.

“My father has always been my inspiration. My earliest memory is of him lifting weights in our backyard. I must have been four years old when I would climb on his back while he did pushups,” he says.

“You can’t imagine my feelings on winning this title. I was so happy to have done it for my country and I knew that somewhere up there in heaven my father, too, would have been smiling,” he adds.

Shehzad lost his father some two years ago in a truly tragic way. Always serious about his fitness, Ustad Yar Khan had just returned from a workout when he asked for a drink of water. “By mistake someone filled up an empty bottle that was being used to carry petrol for the generator with cold water. He took a few quick gulps and collapsed seconds later of a fatal heart attack. The body after a strenuous workout absorbs water too quickly,” he explains.

In a tribute to the man who was his inspiration, Shehzad has resolved to win titles for both himself and his father. 2014 started well for him and he hopes to carry his fine form to the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Championship to be held in Colombo in June.

“I was also crowned Mr Pakistan in 2012 and have many national titles under my belt. But now I want to go international,” he beams. — Shazia Hasan