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BY DARREN NICHOLHURST
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTIAN V PHOTOGRAPHY
RISING STAR- POD
‘GOLDEN ERA’ HEKTOR
F
LEX MET UP WITH
Rising Star Pod
Hektor, one of the
leading classic
physique competitors for
the UKUP (Ultimate Physique)
Federation.
Pod boasts a look that has
stemmed from the Frank Zane era
of classic lines and height to weight
proportions.
So, why did he find himself
training as a bodybuilder, and where
did the desire for size and strength
come from?
“I first started to get into weight
lifting after years of playing football
in my late teens,” Pod explains.
“I was very fortunate that I had the
opportunity of a tryout. It was for
a team in America called the Seattle
Sounders. Unfortunately, this
didn’t go as well as it should have,”
he says. “I was gutted. I was so
excited by the prospect of becoming
a football player for a U.S team.
But sadly at the time, I was over-
powered and out muscled by the
others in my league.”
When Pod returned to the UK, he
decided to join a gym in an effort to
pack on some size and strength for
football. This was when he started
to lift. But little did he know that
eventually this decision would spur
him to adopt a complete change in
direction.
“Before long, I’d developed a
fascination with the old school
style of bodybuilding,” Pod recalls.
“I would say from the first moment