IN MEMORIAM
TRIBUTE
HAMBA KAHLE,
BULLDOZER!
Members of the bodybuilding community were shocked by the
recent passing of VUSUMZI NJISANE, also affectionately known
as “Bulldozer”. The super-talented 32-year-old heavyweight from
Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal passed away after losing his battle with
skin cancer. He died in a Kokstad hospital on his birthday.
HUGE PROMISE
Due to his strong
structure and outstanding
proportions Vusi was
often called South Africa's
Ronnie Coleman. He
was a contributor to
the columns section in
Muscle Evolution and
even graced the cover in
2012. He always attributed
his success in the sport
to passion and strict
discipline when it comes
to training and nutrition.
Some of Bulldozer's
career highlights included
narrowly losing to Cobus
van der Merwe at the IFBB
Africa Amateur Olympia in
2015, finishing 3rd in the
2014 Mr. Olympia Amateur
heavyweight category and
the non-federated All Africa
Amateur Olympia in 2012,
and winning the IFBB SA
Nationals in 2011.
Many believed he had
the firepower to compete
with the best in the world
and it was expected that
he would be the next
IFBB Pro bodybuilder to
emerge from South Africa.
Although incredibly gifted,
genetically-speaking, with
great muscle size, density
and shape, Vusi weighed
around 72kg when he was
first introduced to lifting
weights by his older brother
while still in high school.
BIG NUMBERS
Vusi loved to train,
regularly squatting over
300kg, leg pressing
800kg for 10 reps and
deadlifting between
200 to 250kg. The
bodybuilding lifestyle
for Vusi was all about
passion: “Passion is
everything, so as long as
you're passionate about
something you must stop
at nothing to go out there
and live your dream.”
Tributes poured in
on social media after
his death. Retired IFBB
Pro Marius Dohne said Vusi
was the most genetically
gifted bodybuilder South
Africa has ever produced.
Vuma wrote: “You will be
missed champ. Thank
you for being such an
inspiration to us.”
Irvine Dekeya stated:
“I don't know about other
bodybuilders but we all
have that one pic of the
ultimate bodybuilder we
admire and to me Vusi was
one of them.”
Perhaps Kimo Tuisopo
summed it up best when
he said: “Vusi was a top
contender bringing a great
balance of size, symmetry
and conditioning. May
your accomplishments
continue to inspire
and guide present and
future generations of
bodybuilders.”
BULLDOZER’S WORDS OF WISDOM ON BACK TRAINING
“I believe that back training, along
with legs, are the most important
elements when it comes to building
a champion bodybuilder’s physique,
like Kai Greene. This is why I train
my back twice a week, as I try to
get wider with more definition, to
hopefully be more competitive on
the international stage. My back
training programme focuses on the
core exercises, but I like to start
my sessions with chin-ups to warm
22
Muscle Evolution
up. I do three sets to failure at the
start of my session to get the blood
flowing. For the rest of my session
I aim to do three sets of at least
10 reps, going as heavy as possible
while maintaining proper form. I
start with deadlifts and then move
to T-bar rows with the Olympic bar. I
then isolate my lats with single-arm
dumbbell rows, before ending my
session with lat pulldowns and low
pulley rows. I often include narrow
grip pulldowns to
help widen the lats
and get that big back
for the stage. The key to
big back training for me is
keeping the intensity high
and maintaining form when
using free weights. This will
build a combination of thickness
and definition in the back, which
is normally what separates
athletes on stage.” M.E