Galang humbled by experience in Guam

Gerald Galang poses for the judges during last Saturday’s 2014 Michelob Ultra Bodybuilding & Body Fitness Championship and International Invitational at the Leo Palace Resort in Yona.
(Contributed Photo)

This is how Gerald Galang sums up his experience competing in the 2014 Michelob Ultra Bodybuilding & Body Fitness Championship and International Invitational last Saturday at the Leo Palace Resort in Yona.

The 22-year-old former Army personnel placed fourth out of 13 competitors in the short class (5-feet-5 and under) while his cousin, Aaron Tomokane, finished eighth among 13 participants in the tall division (5-feet-5 above).

Japan had a 1-2 finish in Galang’s category with Guam taking third, while in Tomokane’s division, a local bet topped the category with two Japanese settling for the silver and bronze medals.

“I was already able to beat a lot of pros from Japan when I placed fourth. I was really surprised that I finished fourth but they showed me the scorecards and I saw it first hand,” said Galang, who is now in the Army Reserve.

Chom Star Gordon joined Galang and Tomokane in Guam as she competed in the Bikini division, while Jun Riodique and Tristan Ecalnea pulled out as the former failed to get clearance from his work, while the latter decided to join his family in Tennessee.

Close to 70 competed in the different categories of the Guam tournament with 30 coming from Japan alone.

“At least we made it to the Top 10. It was a very humbling experience that we were able to compete in Guam. It is an eye opening on our part and it has given us a lot of aspects (in bodybuilding contest) that we didn’t know and not familiar with,” Galang said.

“It has helped us get the experience we needed in an international competition setting. This is my second time to compete but first in an off-island tournament,” added Galang, who finished second to Vince Aldan in the 2014 Dee Clayton Classic’s Open Physique division on Saipan last September.

Galang said he will again join next year since he is still young and has more room for improvement.

“I’ve been lifting and training for four years now. I started in late 2010 when I was stationed in Iraq and now it became part of my lifestyle and my passion,” Galang said.

He added the pros who joined the tournament in Guam were also supportive and even gave them tips.

“The pros were all supportive and we thought that they will be unwelcoming and snobbish, that kind of stigma that they are pros and we’re first timers. But they are not like that. Especially the Guamanians, they were excellent hosts and very welcoming. They were surprised that Saipan competed,” he said. “The pros taught us a lot of new techniques on cutting weight, what we should do when we’re cutting weight for more definition and what we should do when we’re trying to gain more muscle mass.”

Galang added that overall they had fun competing in this year’s edition of the annual tournament.

“We were able to gain more knowledge and got a taste of international competition and lifestyle of lifting and living healthy. The pros told me that if I just keep training, stick to my program and look for new techniques I can excel in the sport,” he added.

Galang noted that most of the Japanese pros are paid and supported by their sponsors just to compete.

“Most of them have been lifting 10 to 15 years now. They are getting paid just to advertise the products they use. It is sort of an advertisement and marketing strategy. That’s why training and lifting are the only things they do. And they are ripped to the max,” he said.

“There’s one competitor from Japan, Akira Hama, he is more than 40 years old and he’s been lifting and competing for a very long time,” said Galang, whose weight range from 138 to 140 lbs. during competition but reaches 155 in the offseason.

“Aaron is at 160 lbs when he competes but his weight could reach 175 during the offseason. We bulk up during the offseason. That’s when we eat a lot in trying to gain more muscle mass and we cut weight before each competition,” Galang ended. (Jon Perez)