Ipeleng Kgasi breaks his silence on how Ikasi gym helped end his drugs addiction
ALEXANDRA – I had to change as I needed to be a good example to my kid as I grew up without a father to guide me, says rehabilitated Kgasi.
The 2019 Arnold Classic Africa contender Ipeleng Jeremia Kgasi has broken his silence on how Ikasi Gym has helped him to stop using drugs and quit the 12-year smoking habit to start a new chapter in his life.
The 31-year-old muscle man was born in Jericho, Brits in the North West, and in 2000 he moved to Alexandra in the chase of a better life and future. “Alex is in the centre of everything, it’s much easier to get job opportunities here in Alex,” said Kgasi.
Before he started lifting weights, Kgasi said he was smoking cigarettes and also using cocaine which caused him to lose bodyweight. “I used to do a bit of cocaine and I was smoking cigarettes for about 12 years which was affecting me a lot because I was getting slim.
“I had to change my ways of living to become a good example to my kid because I grew up without a father. A few years down the line of using drugs, I realised that I was on the verge of losing everything if I did not change.
“A cousin of mine referred me to Ikasi gym in 2018 and from there I never looked back. I was lifting weights to take out every stress in me and that really helped me a lot.”
Kgasi said Tumi Masike, who is the founder of the gym, played a huge role in his life as he kept motivating him to work even harder. “Tumi pushed me to have that self-belief, he gave me the right diets and with his positive mindset, he motivated me to push hard so that I may reach every goal I set for myself.
“It’s still an ongoing process, I haven’t reached my target yet and he still believes in me and other guys at the gym.”
In 2019 Kgasi entered Austrian-American actor and retired bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 31st Arnold Classic Africa at the 2019 Arnold Sports Festival in Sandton Convention Centre and came out in position five out of 10 contenders.
The Saint Ignatious College sound engineering graduate said his dream has always been to become a television presenter and now with his muscles showing the dream is fast becoming achievable.
He also indicated that his hard work ethic at the gym comes from one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, Rodney Coleman.
“Rodney Coleman is one of the bodybuilders that I look up to. Though he is retired now his hard work paid off for him throughout the years and he finally won the Mr Olympia title for eight years in a row,” Kgasi said.
Like the story of Coleman, Kgasi believes that anything is possible if you put your mind and heart to it.
