Levi Vaoga, Mr Mitre 10 goes large. Mar 10

The jovial 200kg giant Levi Vaoga has told us many times "Big is Good". But Mr Mega Mitre 10 hasn't always been the Mr Big of NZ commercials. By his own admission he says he was a ‘skinny little kid' but he had big dreams of being like Superman.

"Most kids when they grow up want to be a policeman or fireman but I wanted to be the World's Strongest Man". From the age of 9 and up to his teens, no rock would go unturned...or in Levi's case unlifted. He'd lift cars, rocks, logs, anything that was large and heavy he found a way to move it.

While most of us know Levi as a Strongman, Levi did dabble in bodybuilding in his youth. At 18 he competed once in Taranaki but 'thankfully I don't have any pics' he says. " I competed as a junior and weighed around 80kg. It took a lot of discipline, you know lots of organizing of food, tuna, chicken, veges. It was mentally tough and I couldn't do much socializing as everything was centred around training and eating. I did the show but found bodybuilding wasn't for me but I carried on with the training".

During his 20s, Levi spent time in the army and tried all sorts of activities including martial arts and a stint at sumo wrestling. He went to watch one of his mates' Sumo wrestling match and decided to give it a go himself. He didn't know anything about the sport so he hired all the sumo videos he could get his hands on and studied from them. Levi would rewind, pause and watch all the moves of the masters. Then he went up to the Sumo champs in Akl and cleaned up. Not bad for being self taught.

But it's the strongman that Levi lives for. He entered his first strongman contest in 1998 and he's pushed, lifted, carried, thousands of kilograms since. If you don't know about Strongman competitions, it usually involves really really big men lifting and carrying heavy boulders from one place to another in the shortest time. Or pulling a truck a certain distance, holding a weight for the longest time, deadlifting a car. Any activity that involves super human strength, that's the strongman event.

This year he's getting back into training to compete at his 12^th International Strongman event on 20 June in Germany.

Levi is abit of a legend in NZ strongman scene, he's the only kiwi who's competed in the international strongman contest 11 times. You can't just enter the strongman, you have to be invited, so that's kudos to Levi for his ability on international scene.

To prepare for his contest, Levi's doing a powerlifting plan to help strength and power. He trains around 2 hours a day, each body part twice a week. At the start of the week he'd do low reps ie 3 reps, 2 reps, 1 rep. of compound exercises. Then later on the week he'd do higher reps of between 8-10. Currently Levi's bench pressing 220kg, doing 390kg deadlifts and 320kg box squat.

Because traditional gyms don't quite have enough heavy weights for Levi, he's had to be inventive and create his own gym in his backyard shed to accommodate the unique aspects of strongman. Levi's working on a contraption to house his dumbbells as he finds it hard to lift the 60kg dumbbell to do shoulder press if his training partner isn't around.

Would bodybuilders make a good strongman? "Bodybuilders look impressive. They might be able to do a 120kg deadlift but when you ask them to lift a rock or pull a truck, they can't do it!" said Levi.

Four to five weeks out from the competition, Levi will concentrate strictly on event training where he'll spend time mastering different techniques like log lifts, tyre flipping, stone lifting and truck pulling. During this time he'll no longer include gym work in his routine.

Levi says having good cardio fitness is also important in strongman. " During a competition you might have to run 30metres back and fourth carrying a barrel. Its full on and you might be doing 90sec bursts of sprints so you need to be fit. Plus I already weigh 200kg, add another 100kg, that's a total of 300kg that I might have to carry so I need to be able to be fit to move it all."

He also finds cardio fitness helps him in the gym " You might be doing reps of 320kg row. Initially you might be able to do 2-3 reps but if you're fit you can get another 4-5 reps out so cardio workout is really important. " Levi lives on a farm and he usually walks around for 30mins, 3-4 times a week but if its raining he hops on his industrial strength treadmill at home for his cardio regime.

Being a big guy, you'd think Levi would eat a lot but up until recent times he was undereating. "I've always been disciplined with my eating. I thought I was eating well but Nic at TopMark Nutrition pointed out I wasn't eating enough. For example at lunch I might have chicken and a small piece of potato but now she's getting me to have 500g of potato!"

"So now I'm eating 5000 cals which includes 3 serves of Mutant Mass a day, lots of eggs, chicken, steak, you know all the good clean food. I'm also lucky that TopMark provide me with all the supplements I need for energy and recovery (see supplement list below). Before workout I'd have a H blocker mixed with a glucose drink, I'd also drink this during training so that it keeps my energy high. Now I have a lot more energy and I'm getting bigger. I might even get to 210kg by June". A scary thought!

While there's no drug testing at the Strongman event, it doesn't bother Levi " I love it when I go there as a natural athlete and beat some of the guys."

Armed with good nutrition and the ever increasing power gains in the gym, Levi's feeling confident about his chances at the World Strongman event. " I have no real weakness" Levi said. "Some guys are good at the speed events, others strength but I can do both. At past comps I usually get in the top 4 or top 2 of most events".

	Levi has always dreamed big and we wish him all the best as he goes after his BIG dream in Germany to be the World's Strongest man in June! Lisa, Go Figure 28 March 2010
Levi's Supplements include: Mutant mass - for muscle size and strength Krea - K Maxx - strength and muscle Leucine 6000 Maxx - Anabolic branch chain amino acid for muscle size and strength Greens 1 - organic greens with standardised botanical extracts, lemon detox and marine phytoplankton. For good health. H+Blocker - mops up lactic acid and stops fatiuge Multi Maxx - for good health Whey Maxx Protein - low carb high protein powder

Other interesting stats about Levi:
- weighs 200kg and 193cm tall (6'4")
- biceps are 57cm, quads 89cm, chest 154cm
- at the Mitre 10 Megastore openings he tipped over a 1200kg car and press lift a car axle!
- titles include NZ's strongest man in 2001 and 2003
- came 13th in the Worlds Strongest man in the Bahamas 2004
- the heaviest weight he's ever lifted was pushing a 750kg wheelbarrow over 25metres in 11 seconds!

Levi Vaoga, Mr Mitre 10 goes large. Mar 10

Go on facebook!