Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 31/Aug 04:39

17-year-old Jayden Persad challenges himself, shines in bodybuilding

Unhappy with his unhealthy eating habits and their effect on his body at 12, Jayden Persad began working towards becoming the healthiest version of himself. He started exercising and swapped sugar-packed snacks for veggies and lean meat. Now, at 17, he has taken it a notch further and stepped onto the stage of bodybuilding, in which he has already earned five medals. Persad attended the San Fernando TML Primary School and recently graduated from Naparima College. The Palmyra teen said his family has always been the most important thing to him. “My childhood was very family-oriented, because I grew up being very close to my mom and dad, my cousins...” But he also loved sports, especially cricket and football. “I was always into some form of physical activity. I was also very much into (watching) wrestling and boxing.” He studied business in secondary school, explaining that it’s fun, diverse, and could create several avenues for him to earn money, as he “likes to stick his nose in everything.” [caption id="attachment_1175241" align="alignnone" width="821"] Jayden Persad before he began his fitness journey. -[/caption] Already having mustered the strength to push through the unfortunate experience of his family being victims of a violent home invasion in 2020, Persad took on another challenge. Around age 12, he felt he needed to change his lifestyle. As much as he enjoyed sports, he found himself struggling because of his weight. “I started off with some regular dumbbells. I really just wanted to get fit,” he said. “So the first part of the journey was just to get fit and look good.” Asked how his friends at school reacted when his physique began to change, he said they kept telling him how much of a difference they saw in a short space of time. “And I was looking at myself and not seeing anything. But they did.” He added that his biology teacher Dave Singh also cheered him on and encouraged him to continue. “He was the only teacher at the time that realised I had something (going for me) besides academics.” He was also, and still is, an adventure scout with the 1st Naparima College Sea Scout Troop. He said he used to eat “lots of sugar” and snacks. But over the course of his fitness journey, he cut out sugar entirely and even meat. He eventually reintroduced meat with plain rice and vegetables. “I remember I lost between 70 and 80 pounds. I used to be 182 at five feet three inches tall; then I weighed 100 in 2022.” He said his body had felt much better and he had no idea that “that’s how I was actually supposed to be feeling. “I was the fattest in my class. I didn’t know what depression was at the time, but I did have it. It was disgusting. So I chose to lose that physical state.” But he stressed, “You don’t know how much your body is capable of if your mind isn’t in it. As much science as there is for what your body could do, you really need to have that mental state that believes you can do it. I had a hunger for it, and I pushed. “And I was actually starting to see the childhood dream I had of being something physically weaponised, or something physically great with my body. So I tried bodybuilding.” He did a lot of research and also got in touch with local members of the bodybuilding fraternity to learn more about it. He learnt how to sculpt his body in a particular way, what type of diet he should follow, how to safely flex his muscles, etcetera. In competitions, bodybuilders are typically judged by muscle mass, symmetry and definition, as well as their poses on stage. Persad has a dedicated space at home with his own equipment. He continued to add items to his home gym, which he said is responsible for “almost 90 per cent of (his) physique. “Sometimes I would go to (public) gyms with friends and I would train, I would learn how to use the equipment properly, and try to apply that on what I have home.” There were three phases: the “rusty dumbbell” phase, the borrowing and loaning phase, and the purchasing phase. “I have a basic power rack and a bench: it has cable attachments to do every body part. I have 845 round plates, an Olympic barbell and some old rusty plates,” he said with a laugh. “And then, around 2022, I started to take it even more seriously. I started to train for strength – and I realised I had a lot of potential and was progressing fast.” At 15, he could bench-press 200 pounds and do a 300-pound deadlift, as well as a 250-pound squat for two sets of 12. At 16, he got a call from a representative of the National Physique Committee TT. [caption id="attachment_1175242" align="alignnone" width="681"] Jayden Persad - Nadir Ali Photography[/caption] There were about 12 days left before a show and he recalled being “glad that this local network was happening. “I had to do the show to the best of my knowledge. I didn’t have proper guidance at the time – I was totally new to it – but I competed for the first time in May. He had no fear of crowds, so the experience of being on stage was anxiety-free. But as for people now staring at him with minimal clothing on, he said he “kind of hypnotised (himself). “I got through that. My body was breaking down a little bit because I was dieting kind of strange. I had no idea what to do,” he said, laughing. “But there were a little bit of cramps in my glutes and calves. “I medalled for Men’s Physique Teenage and Men’s Physique Novice…It was only me for Teenage and there was another guy for Novice.” Asked how the achievement felt, he said it actually took him about two months to realise what he had done. Wanting to do more, he competed again at the NPC’s Island Cup Regional Championship in August. This time, he got medals for Men’s Physique Teenage, Classic Physique Teenage and Classic Physique Open B. “Before this, it was just to be healthy. Then I realised I could push to my full potential.” He’s “still not where he wants to be,” but acknowledges he is progressing well. Asked what is the most challenging aspect of bodybuilding, he said maintaining one’s physique and mental stability off-season. “You have to be a little bit insane to push yourself to the position you have to be…to understand that a pain barrier is needed, and multiple pain barriers are needed if you are growing… “I am young. I don’t know what my genetics told me. I don’t know what the next month will say. So I have to play the biggest gamble and train in a way that I assume my body is going to respond to it.” He said people have tried to accuse him of using steroids or performance-enhancing drugs – but he doesn’t. “I have nothing against people on those, but I don’t use that.” He recently became certified with the International Sports Conditioning Association (ISCA) to become a personal trainer, and hopes to open his own gym someday. “I do sports sciences, and as a professional, I’d like to pursue it as a skill for the human body and to be a personal trainer doing exercise physiology. “It shows me how I can be a better personal trainer in terms of my entrepreneurship, because it includes business, it helps me personally with my athleticism…so that’s the next step for me right now.”   The post 17-year-old Jayden Persad challenges himself, shines in bodybuilding appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.