Seymour resident is champion bodybuilder

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EVANSVILLE

Even before the bronzed bodybuilder left the glistening stage, he already had won the competition.

While the trophies hadn’t yet been distributed, he already had accomplished the most important goals on his journey: He had stepped outside his comfort zone, achieved a peak level of fitness and made his friends and family proud in the process.

By the day’s end, Landon Hickman left with some hardware, too.

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Hickman, a Seymour resident and a 2003 graduate of Brownstown Central High School, won a trio of contests at the 2018 National Physique Committee Indiana Muscle bodybuilding competition March 17 in Evansville.

In the men’s classic physique division, Hickman was crowned both the men’s pure novice and men’s open Class C winner before being named the men’s open overall champion.

“It’s something that is way out of my comfort zone,” Hickman said. “I’m not a big stage guy. Me getting up there, I automatically won. I had never looked that good and was stepping out of my comfort zone. I was a winner before I even went up there in my mind and my family’s mind. I think the most satisfying thing was seeing how proud everyone was.”

Hickman, 32, is new to the bodybuilding scene.

While he has lifted weights and worked on his overall fitness over the years, bodybuilding always eluded him.

“After high school, I didn’t make all the best decisions,” Hickman said. “I was on a quick path to nowhere. I had a friend that introduced me to the gym. He said, ‘You work all day and have nothing to do in the evenings, so why don’t you come to the gym?’ I was hooked. From then on, I made the gym a priority of mine. I started eating better and feeling better. I started making better decisions. I give the Lord a lot of credit for getting me on the right track.”

Hickman said he has trained for about eight years and always has wanted to do a bodybuilding show, but he kept putting it off.

“It was just one of those things where I finally committed,” he said. “I paid my entry fee, and family members starting buying tickets, so there was no backing out.”

In the beginning of 2017, Hickman started working with Schrink Personal Training owner Ryan Schrink, a 1998 Seymour High School graduate.

“I worked with him for about four or five months before taking a break,” Hickman said. “I came back to him at the end of 2017 and told him I want to do this show on March 17. We got on a 12-week plan, and I saw him once every two weeks before it got close and we did once a week. He checked in to make sure I was on the right track.”

While he lifted plenty of times, Hickman said the toughest part of preparing for the contest was the diet and cardio.

“I was already doing a bodybuilding style of training, which is more of high reps and volume and working on the squeeze of the muscle and the mind-muscle connection,” Hickman said. “As the program progressed, your ultimate goal is to keep all the muscle you have and burn as much fat as possible.”

He said that’s really hard to do.

“From Week 12 to Week 2, my diet didn’t change much,” he said. “A week out, we started doing depletion workouts and dieting. You were training twice a day — a full upper-body workout — and then I was eating grilled chicken breast, spinach, protein shakes with flaxseed oil and a cup of oatmeal. What you’re trying to do is deplete your muscles of glycogen.”

The Wednesday before the show, Hickman said he loaded up on carbohydrates.

“I went from 50 grams of carbs to 600 grams of carbs,” he said. “It felt really nice. You wanted those carbs. Those five days were probably the toughest. You’re tired all of the time and can’t think straight. You put your body through a mental and physical strain. At the end of the day, I think it was well worth it. I would do it again.”

Getting named the overall winner in the classic physique division has presented Hickman a new opportunity.

“By me winning the open division, I qualified for a national show,” Hickman said. “I have until the end of 2019 to do a national-level show before I would need to requalify. Junior national is sometime in June in Chicago. If I do a show, it will probably be that one. I have some work to do if I’m going to compete at that level. If I can do that in the next year, I think I will be signing up for it.”

Hickman said his wife, Michelle, and kids, Axl, 3, and Jax, 1, inspire him.

“Ultimately, your family is your biggest support group,” he said. “They’re always going to be there and love you no matter what. Luckily, I had a very large support group with me at the show.”

Michelle said she has seen a positive difference since Landon has started bodybuilding.

The family changed its diet to help support Landon and supported the busy schedule leading up to the competition.

“I think it was most exciting for me because it was so out of character for him to get up in front of people, talk,” Michelle said. “The changes haven’t been just physically but spiritually and emotionally and mentally.”

Landon has some advice for those afraid to jump into something new.

“If you have a goal and dream, go after it,” he said. “I put this whole bodybuilding thing off for far too long. I should have done this five years ago. People are so proud of you when you step out of your comfort zone, whether you succeed or fail. Making that leap will change your life.”

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