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Ahmad Matour’s focus at last month’s National Physique Committee National Championships was clear.
Weeks of weight training and a proper diet regimen fueled the Monroeville resident’s goal of earning his International Federation of BodyBuilders pro card at the Dec. 18 contest in Orlando, Fla.
Mission accomplished.
Matour, 28, one of the region’s top bodybuilders, placed second out of 15 in the lightweight division — 143 to 156 pounds — and he can now call himself a professional in his craft.
“This is an amazing feeling because it’s been my dream since I was a kid to turn professional,” he said.
“I’ve been working hard for 12 years, and this is a great start to a new chapter for my bodybuilding career. When you turn pro, that’s when the sponsors and money starts coming in.”
The top two finishers in the lightweight division earned their pro cards. He was one of a dozen overall to accomplish the feat.
Matour, who weighed in at 153.4 pounds, was awake at 5 a.m. on competition day for tanning, and the pre-judging started at 9.
He found himself in second place after the pre-judging, and he held that place through the finals.
“After the first couple of poses in the pre-judging, I was winning, but there was only one point between me and the guy who got first (Will Perrelli). It was really close for the judges to decide,” he said.
Of the 15 who started in Matour’s division, 10 were brought back for the finals, and only five, including Matour, did their finals routines.
“The pre-judging in the morning went really well, but for the finals, there were a number of delays,” Matour said. “The finals were supposed to start at 5 p.m., but they didn’t start until 7:30, and the entire finals weren’t done until after midnight. It was a really long day from being up at 5 a.m. for the tanning through the morning session and to the finals. It was tough because on the day of the competition, everything has to be on point. Changing the timing really affects each bodybuilder. Once you have a plan, it’s really important to be able to stick to it.
“They were rushing through the finals a little bit, and I don’t think they were paying attention to (the routines) as much as they normally do. I think their minds were made up after the pre-judging. I don’t think there was much extra I could’ve done.”
Matour, a native of the Kingdom of Jordan, knew what it was like to fare well at December competition in Orlando. He won the lightweight title at last year’s Amateur Olympia, besting six others in the division.
The victory capped a 2020 which also included a win at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, nine months earlier at the onset of the covid pandemic.
Matour, who both trains and trains others at LA Fitness in Monroeville, said that throughout the hectic day of competition, as well as the days leading up to the event, he was grateful for the support of close to a dozen friends and family members who were there with him in Orlando.
Now, Matour is focusing on his future competitions and what it will take to be ready for them.
“I definitely need to take some time off,” he said. “Now that I have my pro card, I don’t have a weight cap. I can go all the way up to 212 pounds. That gives me almost another 50 to 60 pounds to put on and be able to compete in the pro league. The time off will depend on how much progress I make.”
Bodybuilding News Source.
Weeks of weight training and a proper diet regimen fueled the Monroeville resident’s goal of earning his International Federation of BodyBuilders pro card at the Dec. 18 contest in Orlando, Fla.
Mission accomplished.
Matour, 28, one of the region’s top bodybuilders, placed second out of 15 in the lightweight division — 143 to 156 pounds — and he can now call himself a professional in his craft.
“This is an amazing feeling because it’s been my dream since I was a kid to turn professional,” he said.
“I’ve been working hard for 12 years, and this is a great start to a new chapter for my bodybuilding career. When you turn pro, that’s when the sponsors and money starts coming in.”
The top two finishers in the lightweight division earned their pro cards. He was one of a dozen overall to accomplish the feat.
Matour, who weighed in at 153.4 pounds, was awake at 5 a.m. on competition day for tanning, and the pre-judging started at 9.
He found himself in second place after the pre-judging, and he held that place through the finals.
“After the first couple of poses in the pre-judging, I was winning, but there was only one point between me and the guy who got first (Will Perrelli). It was really close for the judges to decide,” he said.
Of the 15 who started in Matour’s division, 10 were brought back for the finals, and only five, including Matour, did their finals routines.
“The pre-judging in the morning went really well, but for the finals, there were a number of delays,” Matour said. “The finals were supposed to start at 5 p.m., but they didn’t start until 7:30, and the entire finals weren’t done until after midnight. It was a really long day from being up at 5 a.m. for the tanning through the morning session and to the finals. It was tough because on the day of the competition, everything has to be on point. Changing the timing really affects each bodybuilder. Once you have a plan, it’s really important to be able to stick to it.
“They were rushing through the finals a little bit, and I don’t think they were paying attention to (the routines) as much as they normally do. I think their minds were made up after the pre-judging. I don’t think there was much extra I could’ve done.”
Matour, a native of the Kingdom of Jordan, knew what it was like to fare well at December competition in Orlando. He won the lightweight title at last year’s Amateur Olympia, besting six others in the division.
The victory capped a 2020 which also included a win at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio, nine months earlier at the onset of the covid pandemic.
Matour, who both trains and trains others at LA Fitness in Monroeville, said that throughout the hectic day of competition, as well as the days leading up to the event, he was grateful for the support of close to a dozen friends and family members who were there with him in Orlando.
Now, Matour is focusing on his future competitions and what it will take to be ready for them.
“I definitely need to take some time off,” he said. “Now that I have my pro card, I don’t have a weight cap. I can go all the way up to 212 pounds. That gives me almost another 50 to 60 pounds to put on and be able to compete in the pro league. The time off will depend on how much progress I make.”
Bodybuilding News Source.
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