SPORTS

Pumped Over Pecs

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

W

hen the cafeteria staff at
Michigan State Univer-
sity see Adam Schlecter
coming, they get cracking.
Eggs, that is.
At 22, Mr. Schlecter is the reign-
ing Junior Michigan body builder.
When he trains for a show, Mr.
Schlecter eats nothing • all day but
microwaved, skinless breast of
chicken, distilled water and sweet
potatoes. When he's not in training,
Mr. Schlecter eats 20-egg-white om-
elets, wheat toast, fresh oranges and
skim milk.
And that's just for breakfast.
"In season, I keep it between 1,000
and 1,500 calories a day," said the
five-foot-seven, 245-pound blond
giant from West Bloomfield. "Off
season, I eat between 8,000 to 10,000
calories. When they (the cafeteria)
see me in line, they know how to
take care of me. They're not worried
that I'm going to waste any food."
Mr. Schlecter, a senior at MSU, is
majoring in health education and
human performance. His dreams to-
day are as big as he is. After gradua-
tion, he wants to open a personal
training studio in West Bloomfield.
It would be called Bulldog Blondie's,
after his show title.
"I wanted a hard image," said Mr.
Schlecter. "I wanted an image
where nobody could pick on me. I
believe weight training is important
for everybody. It will improve your
performance in school. It will change
your whole outlook on life."
The Blond Bulldog knows.
Mr. Schlecter, who bench presses
500 pounds, squats 700 pounds and
leg presses upward of 1,000 pounds,
was once a "skinny little runt."
"Mostly it was the big girls who
bothered me," Mr. Schlecter said,
laughing grimly at the memory.
"They would push me into the

58

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 1992

butter, raw eggs, Hershey's
chocolate syrup, milk, Snickers bars,
ice cream and bananas," he said. "I
just made it up, but I don't recom-
mend it today. It's very bad for you."
Mr. Schlecter said a bodybuilder's
ideal food distribution is 60 percent
carbohydrates, 30 percent protein
and 10 percent fat.
"Since I study nutrition, I work as
my own trainer," he said. "I'll start
getting ready for a show about three
weeks in advance. You have_to look
cut."
Looking "cut" is the vernacular of
bodybuilders: looking defined, with
every tanned muscle group oiled
slick and in place.
"You want to show your sym-
metry," Mr. Schlecter said. "A show
is where you display your body. You
need to have every muscle group
defined. The judges need to
distinguish your biceps from your
triceps; your quads from your
hamstrings."
To look cut, Mr. Schlecter, who
normally weighs 245 pounds, has to
drop to about 176 pounds.
"It sounds like a pretty drastic
shock to the body," he said, "and it
is. You have to know how to do it
properly and that's the reason most
bodybuilders don't compete in more
than two or three shows a year."
Mr. .Schlecter stretched his limits
this year. In February, he dropped
66 pounds in six weeks to enter the
Michigan Novice Body Building
show. In his first light-heavyweight
competition, he won runner-up. In
March, he entered the Junior Mich-
afraid to draw attention to myself. I igan show as a middleweight, won,
didn't talk in class, and I had few and qualified for the upcoming na-
tionals.
friends."
"I kept to my strict diet and lost an
Mr. Schlecter's parents bought a
weight bench for their basement and additional three pounds," he said. "I
Mr. Schlecter started working out was real lean. I'm sure that helped
regularly. He went to a gym in Far- me win."
Last weekend, Mr. Schlecter com-
mington Hills and drank lots of
peted in the Collegiate Michigan
homemade power shakes.
"I'd make them with peanut show held at MSU. He took first place.

ADAM SCHLECTER of

West Bloomfield has dreams
of becoming Mr. U.S.A.

lockers. When I tried out for football
the coach said I was too small. If it
wasn't for my sister, Traci, I'd have
been beaten up every day."
Mr. Schlecter, then a student at
Ealy Elementary School, had
enough. He turned to karate and
weight training.
"It helped me become a different
person," he said. "I was shy and