CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE JAN/FEB 2020 ISSUE | Page 51

NEWS GEARS
Passion – this term means strong and barely
controllable emotion. When I think of strong and
barely controllable emotions I think of this term, yet
on the flip side I think of lying in a hospital bed being
told you cannot continue to do what you have come
to love so much. My name is Braeden Miller and in
July of 2018, this was my reality. Bodybuilding entered my life in 2015 when
a close friend and training partner at the
time, did a local competition that I went to
watch. From that moment on, the
atmosphere and everything about
bodybuilding had me hooked. This was my
sport, I was obsessed. Fast forward to
2016.  I would compete in the Northern
Alberta Bodybuilding Championships as
well as Alberta Provincials taking home
first place in the light heavyweight
division. In 2017 I would go on to compete
at Canadian Nationals and bring my best
package to date weighing in at 198.0 lbs. It
was an extremely competitive class with
guys like Stephen Didoshak, Al Durrah
Mahmoud (now an IFBB pro), Adolphus
Quoida (now an IFBB Pro), Brandon
Mendoza, Aaron Aramini (now an IFBB
pro) and Carl Cheung. Needless to say,
taking home an 8th place in that lineup,
having set the goal for top 10, I was
ecstatic
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Growing up I played the highest level of hockey from
the age of 5 through to 23, so naturally you can see
how I had been conditioned by my environment to be
a competitive person. At the age of 23 playing
University hockey for the MacEwan University
Griffins, my passion for playing the sport began to
fade, however one aspect held strong. Fitness. My
favorite part of the day was no longer putting on the
skates, it was putting on my headphones and
heading into the gym to build a better version of
myself. I had studied nutrition and training and
gained certifications throughout my time playing
Junior Hockey in Brooks, Alberta and while in
university (age 19-24) I was personal training and
coaching on the side to make money