Stakeford mineworker wins bodybuilding title
Oct 20 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
DEDICATED mineworker Ben Harnett has been on a physical and mental journey to hell and back to realise his dream of becoming a competition-winning bodybuilder.
Over the past three months Ben, 27, has shed four stones in bodyweight on a drastic regime of exercise and dieting, to hone his physique to the point where he won his first bodybuilding title in Doncaster last weekend.
Under the guidance of Northumberland fitness expert and gym owner Ian Simpson, Ben has reduced his weight from 20st 8lbs to about 16st 8lb, and built up his muscle shape through daily gym work and a spartan, low-fat diet.
The gruelling regime – combined with working 12-hour shifts as a dumper truck driver at UK Coal’s Stobswood opencast site near Morpeth – has seen Ben suffer tears, tantrums and low periods, bringing his relationship with fiancee Hallie Brian to the verge of breaking point at times.
Now he says it has all been worthwhile, after he competed in his first-ever bodybuilding contest in Birmingham last month, when he came third in the novice section. Last weekend he won his class at the National Amateur Bodybuilding Association Central Britain show – and will compete in the British novice finals in Birmingham on Sunday.
Ben, who lives in Strawberry Mews, Stakeford, has been bodybuilding since he was a teenager but was making little progress until he joined Ian’s No Limits gym in Alnwick 13 weeks ago.
“I have always wanted to do a contest and I knew that Ian has a reputation for getting people into the right shape to do that. When he first saw me at 20st 8lbs he said I was certainly a challenge, but knew I had potential. He totally changed the way I trained and worked my diet out and his one-to-one training with me has been unbelievable.
“The past 13 weeks has been the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life, both mentally and physically. I have had some real highs and lows, been in tears and my mother and Ian have had to come and help pick my chin up at times.
“Hallie and I have been on the edge of splitting up but she has been fantastic, getting up at 6am every day to make my lunch for work.
“When I won my novice class last weekend it was the most fantastic feeling ever, and we all broke down in tears, including Ian.
“I am now in the best shape I have ever been in my life and can’t wait for the finals.” Ian said: “Ben’s diet has been extremely strict and his training took him to the point of almost complete exhaustion on many occasions. He has gone through hell in the last three months. However, he has kept going and stands a really good chance at the national finals.
“At his weight I would normally expect it to take 20 weeks for someone to be ready for competition, so for Ben to achieve that in just 11 is excellent.”
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