MORNINGSIDE strong-man, Shahid Bux, is aiming high as he represents South Africa at the World Fitness Federation World Championships in Pretoria on 7 November.
Shahid, (31), an avid golfer and golf operations manager at Beachwood Country Club, has been passionate about bodybuilding and fitness for the past 12 years. After going to watch his first bodybuilding competition at the Playhouse in 2007, he immediately fell in love with the sport and had visions of seeing himself on stage some day.
Shahid's first passion is golf. He started playing the sport at the age of seven. He played in many junior tournaments until the age of 17 and studied golf directorship and club management through Damelin. He then joined the Professional Golfers Association where he graduated as a golf professional at the age of 21.
He went overseas to the United States where he worked at the best country clubs in Miami and New York in golf operations for four-and-a-half years, gaining work experience, while building his knowledge of weight training and getting into shape at the same time.
“It was an honour meeting some of the greatest bodybuilders in history while over in the states. I met the likes of Kai Greene, Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates and Sadik Hadzovic. Actually, getting to workout with some of them really fueled my passion and I knew stepping on stage for the first time was going to happen soon!” he said.
Shahid returned to Durban 18 months ago and kept training hard with his brother Suhail, with a goal of getting on stage.
“A couple of months ago I met with friend and now coach Julian-Lee Ramdhari, who encouraged me to go ahead and do my first novice show, even though I only had four weeks of preparation left. I immediately agreed. I sent him a couple of snapshots so he could judge what work needed to be done. His words were that I was going to be stage ready and would win my line-up!” he said.
Those words, coming from a multiple South African champion bodybuilder, inspired Shahid. Four weeks later he took photos again, and could not believe it was the same person.
“I finally stepped on stage at the National Amateur Body Building Association KZN event. Tears of joy ran down my face as they announced me the winner! All those years of sacrifice and hard work paid off,” he said.
Shahid qualified to represent KZN at NABBA SA champs where he placed in the top five in the country in the novice division. Soon after, he was invited to represent South Africa at World Champs for his height and weight category, 1.72m and under 75kg.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined qualifying for an open senior line-up at world champs after just my second show as a novice! Working with Julian has been great, he is a genius at what he does and I still can't believe I won my first show. I look forward to stepping on stage with the best athletes in the world on 7 November. I will need all the support I can get and I know that whatever happens my goals for this year have already been accomplished. I'm very grateful for this opportunity and would like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me through this journey. It has been a blast so far! Just remember, anything can happen to the body in a matter in weeks!” he said.
Shahid's other hobbies include reading, socialising with friends and he loves cooking.
“I'm on a very strict diet, so I try find ways to make it more interesting as it becomes monotonous. After my show, I look forward to eating some good food, before I start preparing for my next goal, to compete in the International Federation of Bodybuilding event in August next year! I will need to put on 5kg more muscle for this,” he said.
