trainers. But what does it take to
carve out such phenomenal suc-
cess as a coach? And how did he
earn and sustain a name that
resonates throughout the industry
to this day?
Creating an unstoppable drive
“My dad was a steel worker, a very
strong man,” explains Leroy. “I think
that’s where my genetic strength
came from. I started training in
martial arts to begin with and
channelled my strength into karate
in my younger years. I wasn’t as
loud and aggressive as some of the
other kids, but I always had that
drive within me,” he says. “I always
put in 100%.”
Leroy went on to join the military
and became a training instructor.
“I think my time in the military is
probably where the motivational
push that I install in others comes
from,” he says. “Whilst I was an
instructor, I learned that I had this
ability to make people capable.
I would help them overcome
their doubts and beat down
barriers to push past pain or
mental weakness.”
On a personal level, Leroy admits
he started training like a bodybuilder
whilst in the military, as he needed
to get his strength up.
“I trained with the same form of
attack I implemented on others,” he
recalls. “This, I knew would produce
results. My strength and size gains
during that time were rapid.”
Another level
At this time, Dorian Yates was
starting to make an impact on the
Pro bodybuilding world. Dorian
knew he’d have to train harder than
ever if he wanted to succeed in
annihilating his rival competitors at
such a high level. This is where
Leroy came in.
“I come from the days of Ultimate
Orange and NO boards shorts and
all that stuff,” he laughs. “When I
trained with Dorian, we trained with
aggression- there was no giving in,
ever! We knew the ultimate stress
we were putting on our bodies
would force a high amount of grainy
looking muscle growth,” Leroy
continues with a passion for his era.
In 1993, Dorian asked Leroy
to train him full-time.
“When Dorian asked me to be his
right hand man, I decided to leave
the military,” Leroy recalls. “From
that moment on, he and I focused on
creating the iconic legend who
would later become known as ‘The
Shadow’. Dorian was dubbed ‘The
Shadow’ at the time, because he
would compete, then vanish into the
dungeon (Temple Gym) with me, and
then only reappear again for the
next show. We had a job to do, titles
to win. There was no time for
anything else. In fact, the first time
the public and America saw any-
thing of ‘The Shadow’ was when
Kevin Horton photographed and
filmed the ‘Blood and Guts’ movie.
APRIL 2018 | FLEX
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