Born in 2001, he is followed by coach Giuseppe Romano and on 8 October he became the youngest professional bodybuilder in Italy
Dedication, sacrifice, passion. When you choose to undertake a sporting journey in bodybuilding you must be ready to put your all into it and not leave out any details. Mattia Ballarini22 years old, did it and achieved what was his goal, or the first of a long series: to become the youngest Italian professional bodybuilder. He started training in the gym at 15, initially just to keep fit. Then it became something more.
“I played football until I was 14. Unfortunately I wasn’t very tall, I was the thinnest and I was also very shy. No matter how good I was, I always lost out physically. In the gym I realized that what you give, you get back. I was in love with football, but the gym has started to prevail so much that today I no longer watch a match.”
When did you realize that for you that world could represent something more than simply keeping fit?
“My friends showed me some athletes competing and that’s when I started to become passionate about this world. Then a friend of mine showed me Jeff Seid, who was then 19 years old and had become the youngest professional bodybuilding athlete in the world. He became my source of inspiration. Since replicating what he did was impossible, I set myself the goal of becoming the youngest Italian professional athlete. And this year I finally did it.”
Let’s rewind the tape a bit and start from your first race…
“I did my first race when I was 18, in the federation WABBA. At the time I was competing in bodybuilding, while today in men’s physique. I won the Juniors, but with the adults I came fifth. At 19 I switched from WABBA to IFBBI did a race in Venice with my old trainer before passing under the guidance of Giuseppe Romano, my current coach, and start a real competitive career to achieve my goal. It took us three years…”.
And here we come to the race on October 8th…
“It was my last chance for this year. I tried it for the first time in Spain, where I won the category but not the overall for Pro Card. The second time, again in Spain, with two Pro Cards up for grabs, I unfortunately came second in the category. My last chance, both financially and in terms of preparation, was October 8th Olympia Amateur in Milan, with three Pro Cards up for grabs. I won the category and then came second in the overall.”
“Definitely qualifying for the Olympia and becoming the youngest athlete to qualify for the competition.”
How often do you train and how is your diet structured?
“Training sessions are five to six times a week, but it’s a subjective thing. I do more with five, I rest on Thursdays and Sundays. I train the most developed muscles once a week, while the muscles where they are most lacking, such as the legs, twice. Nutrition is also subjective, it depends on the period. I easily get into race condition, this allows me to maintain fairly high carbohydrates even in preparation. However, it means that in the off season I have to eat a really high amount of carbohydrates. For example, I’m now around 900g. But I prefer this phase much more to the preparation phase. When you are taken away from carbohydrates everything becomes quite dark, you literally feel like a zombie. You have to surround yourself with people who understand and support you.”
What do you choose for your diet?
“Protein-wise: protein powder, chicken, beef, salmon and eggs. In terms of carbohydrates, cream of rice, rice, wholemeal pasta, corn flakes. Fats yolk, oil and peanut butter. Then come on, now that I’m off I’ll treat myself to a few dinners out (laughs, ed)”.
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