Teen sets fitness goals for himself and others

Justin Baker, who doesn’t skip leg day, works out. Photos submitted

By Tom Victoria

Justin Baker is focused on fitness, whether it’s improving his own or helping others with theirs.

The 19-year-old from Missouri explained fitness is his passion because there’s no short cuts to achieving success.

“The thing about fitness that really drives me is simply the nature of it,” Justin said. “Nowadays, it’s so easy to cheat systems, especially using the internet, and you have people who don’t work hard for anything ending up famous with millions of followers and thus, dollars. The thing about bodybuilding for me is the fact that it’s never going to change. You can have 10 million followers or five, but at the end of the day, whoever steps on stage with a better physique will win. And whoever puts in the most work and dedication to their craft will end up being more successful in the sport.”

He currently is training for the future.

“In one year, I plan on competing in bodybuilding,” Justin said.

Now that the college student has developed a good physique, he’s working toward precise aesthetics required for competition.

“You have to be very lean to compete,” Justin said. “I am waiting until next year, so I can perfect everything I can. I don’t necessarily want to step on stage to step on stage. I want to step on stage and win, so I’m trying to put myself in the best position to do that.”

He works out five to seven days a week for 2 to 3 hours a session.

“Focus on physique,” Justin said. “That’s the name of the game.”

The difficult part for him is weight gain, so he’s bulking now.

“Typically, I’m a very lean person,” Justin said. “It’s hard for me to gain weight. February next year is when I’ll cut. It’s never been a challenge for me to drop weight. The hardest part is gong to be packing on as much mass as I can, which is why I’m giving myself that much time, then shaving it all off before stage time.”

The exercise science major, who is planning on becoming a certified personal trainer, also is helping others through online coaching for a small fee ($15 a month).

“There are many different parts of fitness,” Justin said. “All I can do as a coach is make you better. I’m never going to hinder your progress.”

He explained the fee is low since he’s not certified yet and operates under time limitations.

“It would be unfair of me,” Justin said.

The plethora of bad information floating online is what motivated him to start coaching.

“It irks me so badly to see people want this body so badly be led astray by people giving out advice that isn’t great,” Justin said. “Just because you have a physique does not qualify you to give information to people. You can get big with bad exercises. There are exercises better than others and science shows this. People ignore this and do whatever the big jacked guy online says.”

He is attending college to become a physical therapist.

“I would really like to work with athletes,” Justin said. “Being one myself for so many years, I have become familiar with certain types of injuries and rehab methods. On top of that, many years ago my now late Grandpa was in the hospital and ended up having to do some rehabilitation. The younger me watched him do this rehab and it immediately sparked the desire to pursue the career for myself.”

Fortunately, he’s avoided significant injuries during his athletic career, which included playing soccer.

“However I’ve had to rehab certain injuries with athletic trainers many times due to soccer in the past,” Justin said. “I’ve been fortunate enough that I never sustained a serious enough injury that required me to go to PT. Knock on wood, so let’s hope that doesn’t change.”

He started going to the gym as part of sports training.

“In high school, I was an athlete,” Justin said. “I played soccer, ran track. A lot of my workouts were geared more toward explosiveness and athletics whereas now it’s a bodybuilding-esque training style.”

He had the option of continuing soccer in college.

“I had concrete offers,” Justin said.

However, he realized the sport wasn’t his future.

“I’m not going to go pro,” Justin said. “I rather focus on school. Through the process, I always stuck with the gym. It was something that was always there. I’ve always been very competitive in the sense I’m always trying to be better at something”

Upon getting results with his physique, he opted to pursue bodybuilding.

“Maybe I’ll be all right in this sport,” Justin recalled thinking. “I stuck with it and fell in love with it. I schedule other things around the gym.”

He’s been more focused on his workouts for the last two years.

“Once I step on stage, it will be three years under my belt, which is typically a lot less time it takes people to step on stage,” Justin said. “What I see on social media, it typically takes six years. I’m still just as confident in myself that I’ll be able to step on stage.”

He decided not to use a coach for his bodybuilding training.

“I don’t want a coach,” Justin said. “I want to do all of it myself because I’m not going to let another person tell me how I should enjoy my gym experience.”

His current diet is geared toward adding weight.

“Before I go to the gym, I make sure I eat a lot of digestible carbohydrates or fast-digesting sugars — a couple rice cakes with honey drizzled on top,” Justin said. “I eat a lot of food and work out. You have to work out hard. Intensity over anything else as far as working out. I eat a lot of food, but you want nutrients going to all the right places. It obviously takes a lot of time as well. You’re not gong to gain 15 pounds in a week, especially if you’re natural.”

He said many people don’t regulate what they do outside the gym to ensure their workouts are as effective as they can be.

“Not putting as much focus on their eating, not eating enough or not eating the right things,” Justin said.

He said eating at the end of the day after workouts is essential for adding mass.

“When you sleep is when you grow,” Justin said.

He said bodybuilders should still use heavier weights even though they’re lifting a higher number of reps than other categories such as power lifters.

“You don’t necessarily need super light weights as far as bodybuilders,” Justin said. “You should still be lifting heavy weights. Lifting heavy weights for a lot of reps. That’s the goal. If you’re not hitting failure, you’re not going to be gaining muscle exponentially less. You’re trying to fail with good form.”

He doesn’t know what his max is on the bench as trying to hit the heaviest weight possible once doesn’t fit with bodybuilding training.

He advised aspiring bodybuilders to seek out accurate information before training.

“Be mindful of the Internet and how there is a lot of bad information on it,” Justin said. “Do your research.”

He said effort is key.

“Don’t leave any gas in the tank whenever you leave the gym,” Justin said. “If you’re passionate about it, you need to work your tail off.”

He suggested eliminating negativity.

“Surround yourself with positive influences in your life — people you take value from,” Justin said. “Always try to take value out of everything.”

 He said motivation is not hard to find.

“A lot of it is just mental,” Justin said. “How bad do I want this? Look at your goal. This is what I want to do. How bad do I want to do it? Am I going to reach my goal sitting here doing nothing or am I going  to reach my goal going to the gym?”

He said skipping the gym would be lazy.

“I can rest later,” Justin said. “You just have to beat yourself mentally. Most days, I can’t wait to go to the gym. I like envisioning what I looked like before: the kid who wanted to be strong and big.”

He said another key is savoring the process.

“Definitely enjoy it,” Justin said.

He isn’t bashful about his religious faith.

“Nobody is going to tell me I can’t put a Bible verse in my bio,” Justin said. “I always thank God more than anything else for everything I have in my life. If someone does not like that, too bad.”

He fills free time with his favorite team sport.

“I do play a lot of soccer,” Justin said.

He competes in intramurals to stay active on the field.

“I’m a very big sports guy,” Justin said.

He anticipates bodybuilding will continue to be one of his pursuits beyond next year.

“Right now, I’m still kind of enjoying the process, the excitement getting ready for the first show,” Justin said. “I’m  sure I’ll do more shows in the future.”

He pointed out there are bodybuilding competitions for people in their 50s and 60s. As Justin gets older, he’ll focus on cardiovascular fitness as that becomes more crucial over time for people’s health. He stressed there are physical and mental health benefits.

“Body dysmorphia is a very real thing,” Justin said.

He emphasized people aren’t restricted from doing what they have a passion for in life.

“You can achieve whatever you want in this world.”

 Justin’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinbakerfit/