Page 15 - Flipbook

Q&A
with Lee Beatrice
with Dale Padmore
WF: Who is Lee Beatrice?
LB: I wear many hats; I’m a businessman, athlete and entrepreneur.
WF: We know that you have been in this sport for quite some time because results like yours simply don’t happen overnight. At what age did you take an interest in bodybuilding?
LB: As a youth, like most young fellas I was into in the muscular and buff look, watching cartoons like ‘He-Man’, the interest was there. I got into many sports, everything from track and field to basketball, rugby, hockey, football, you name it I was involved in everything. I was discovered by Darrem Charles who is one the first professional body builders that Trinidad has ever produced. He took me under his wing and basically gave me the foundation I needed in terms of diet and nutrition, and preparing for competition. I was 17 years old when I participated in my first competition. The rest is history, it’s part of Lee, part of my life.
WF: Who was your inspiration in body building, who did you look up to?
LB: Well my major mentor was Darrem Charles. He was the premier body builder of our region back when I first started to train. That's where I first got exposed to the lifestyle and what is required as an athlete and a bodybuilder. He gave me the foundation and guidance as to what is required to be successful in this industry. In my later years I was fortunate to compete against one of our most recent professional athletes Christopher White. He is more or less that stepping stone from Darrem Charles, helping me and guiding me. He’s played a vital role in keeping me on that straight and narrow path.
WF: You recently placed first at the National Bodybuilding Championships. There was a definite and noteworthy change in your overall physique since the competition prior to this one. What was different with your diet, and training?
LB: In the early days, diet and training was a hit and miss, playing by guess, going on appetite and feeling. Now a little more structure took place in terms of measuring and calculating as well as the luxury of not being pinned to a regular day job gave me the flexibility in getting my food and supplements and rest in as well as incorporating a little more cardio. I'm now able to come to the gym sometimes twice a day as compared to when I used to work (a day job) I would have to do everything in one session. The workload then was more concentrated which is a little more exhausting. Now it's more spaced out so I could put greater emphasis per session as well as having the knowledge on how my body responds to certain types of food. Christopher White’s guidance helped me to keep my head in the game which also played a vital part. The support base I have with my wife in terms of preparing my meals on time and the way I like it. So quality nutrition, quality equipment and a quality support base gave me the results you see here today.
15 Continued on page 20