feature
2012, so Antoine felt comfortable ap-
proaching him again to train him for the
2018 Toronto Pro Show. “When he started
his comeback he looked kind of small and
soft but I know him and his genetics well
enough to realize he was going to be a force
as long as his mind was in the right place,”
said Meadows. After a four year hiatus,
Meadow’s philosophy remained the same.
“My training philosophy revolves around
proper activation, then pushing basic
movements with as much weight as you
can for moderate reps with impeccable
form to then pumping the muscle up to the
extreme, to then stretching it. We did this
in 2012 and while training in 2018 for the
Toronto Pro Show.”
Antoine’s comeback was complete when
he finished fourth overall at the Toronto
Pro Show. His sponsors are back in his cor-
ner. In the meantime he’s looking forward
to competing in the New York Pro Show
and next year winning the Toronto Pro
Show in order to qualify for the Olympia.
LIFE SAVER, TRAINER
Dorian “Heavy D” Hamilton is a
competitive bodybuilder and a master nu-
tritionist. Antoine met Dorian at a photo
shoot in New Jersey in 2014, through a mu-
tual friend. Immediately they developed
a friendship that would survive through
Antoine’s many relapses. “When I first met
him he was struggling to stay clean. We
trained together from February to May
but then he went MIA for a month. He’d
come back for a bit and go MIA for another
month. I remember after one rehab, in
May 2016, he was living on food stamps at
the salvation army in Hamilton. Every day
I’d pick him up, we’d work out, hang for
awhile and then I’d drive him back. Eventu-
ally he moved into my house in October
but quickly relapsed. My wife and I had no
choice but to kick him out and we knew he
had to reach rock bottom before he could
rise up again.”
When Antoine decided he was going to
train for the Toronto Pro Show he asked
Dorian to be his nutritionist. Dorian insist-
ed he stay with him during training. “He
was a not very lean 280 when we started
training and he dieted down to 250.” Before
Antoine moved in with Dorian he virtually
had no income and was buying the cheap-
est protein he could afford. “He couldn’t
afford proper foods. He was stirring meat
in a crockpot. His food consisted of way
72 MUSCLE MEMORY
“MY TRAINING
PHILOSOPHY
REVOLVES AROUND
PROPER ACTIVATION,
THEN PUSHING BASIC
MOVEMENTS WITH AS
MUCH WEIGHT AS YOU
CAN FOR MODERATE
REPS WITH IMPECCABLE
FORM TO THEN
PUMPING THE MUSCLE
UP TO THE EXTREME, TO
THEN STRETCHING IT."
too much saturated fat.” Fortunately for
Antoine four months before the contest
he was able to wrangle two important spon-
sors, “Boss Supplements afforded him the
opportunity to get the supplements that
he needed and Boss Meals, sponsored him
for food prep supplying him with all his
chicken breasts and fish.” Initially Dorian
placed Antoine on a high carb diet. “He
ate a good amount of calories. I never in-
creased cardio and lowered calories. I don’t
like to force the body, when it feels happy,
it doesn’t push back.” As they moved closer
to the contest Dorian had Antoine carb
cycling. “Antoine would eat low carbs for
2-3 days, then 1-2 days of high carbs. On a
training day we’d cut back carbs.”
| AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018
TODAY
Antoine is a tribute to anyone who’s
ever had a dream and never stopped
dreaming regardless of all obstacles stand-
ing in their way. Sure, his life has been a
roller coaster ride with many steep drops
but his ability to keep rising to his feet
and taking on the world is a true measure
of this man. Whether Antoine ever wins
another competition or accomplishes his
dream of winning the Olympia, it’s all gravy
compared to what he’s been through. He’s
already fought the toughest demons he’ll
ever encounter and for that he’ll always be
a winner. On September 5, 2018 Antoine
will have been clean for one year.