Life doesn’t always turn out the way we planned. Sometimes everything just works well and it’s all good, but other times everything can go downhill. The famous fitness model, Mr Olympia competitor and bodybuilding.com sponsored athlete Steve Cook knows all too well how bad things can get sometimes. This is his story, and is truly an Inspirational one.
Steve got married young and even though he was hoping that he’ll start living a family life, he couldn’t possibly know that his life was going to get turned upside down.
“Working out has changed my life by getting me get through my toughest times. After college My wife and I moved back to our home town. She had gotten a Job as a RN while I had planned on finishing my degree online. Our marriage soon became strained as she was the “bread winner” while I was lost.
I was done with football and for the first time in my life had no identity. My dream of playing in the NFL was gone and I didn’t know who I was without the football player title. On top of it all I didn’t get my degree and had no real intent of ever doing so. I was depressed and lacked motivation, soon my wife told me she wanted a divorce.
It was this all-time low that forced me to look at my life. I hated what I saw and Vowed to change it. The only thing I had was my love for weights and I decided (as I was moving back into my parent’s house) to do a bodybuilding show. It gave me something to look forward to and work at every day. It took my mind off of the divorce by making me focus on the weight.
I had never stopped lifting after I was done with football, but my diet was awful. I started reading up on diets on bodybuilding.com and started to cook my meals for the first time in my life. I watch tons of videos and read tons of the articles bb.com has to offer. I started a bodyspace where I was excited to see others transforming their bodies like I was.
I also contacted and got help from a local bodybuilder who set up a routine that I followed for 8 weeks. At the end of those eight weeks I stepped on stage and won my class. I was new man! Going through a contest prep and winning my first competition gave me confidence that I could handle anything. I was happy to be alone, finding my own way in life.
From there I enter two other bodybuilding shows. I earned my pro card in one and got second in the other. I also did a fit comp at the Bodybuilding.com fitness expo in Boise. I ended up winning and in doing so realized I wanted to become a fitness model. While living at my parents, preparing for the contests my father saw how I transformed my body through exercise and clean eating.
He began to eat like I did and lost 60 lb in 4 months. He says that I saved his life and he continues to live a healthy lifestyle. After the contests I decided to move back to southern Utah and finish My degree. It wasn’t easy but I knew I had to. I was a biology/psychology integrated studies major with a very tough semester ahead of me.
I found that my new love for health and the body made learning Bio and Psych so much more interesting and I ended up with some of the best grades of my life. While finishing school I continued to bodybuilding and entered the Muscle & Fitness male model search at the Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas. This was p, amazing event with tons of competitors.
I had trained harder than ever and ended up taking 1st out of 80. It also launched my fitness modeling career as one of the prizes for winning was appearing in Muscle & Fitness. After finishing my degree, I moved back home and continued to train. I had entered the annual Bodyspace spokesmodel search that bodybuilding.com puts on. My hopes of making it to the final 5 came true and I went to LA where I competed and won! It was truly the best moment of my life.
To become a spokesmodel of the site that helped change my life is a dream come true. I love work outing out because it’s makes the rest of life seem easy. Everyday I go to the gym and put myself through hell. I know that mentally I am to handle anything life throws at me because of what I have accomplished in the gym. No one can describe in words what it’s like to be completely exhausted from intense workout, it’s this feeling of accomplishment when I’m done that no one can take from me.” – Steve Cook
