It was British bodybuilding’s most heart-warming story of 2009. Pat Warner, the old gunslinger who had not even made the top six at the UK Championships in recent years, rode into town and against the odds shot down all the young pretenders to become the country’s heavyweight champion at the age of 44. After his disappointing performances in recent years, Pat could have taken the easy option of competing in the over-40s but he never stopped believing in himself and he is now on the verge of becoming an IFBB pro.
It took Pat 14 years to achieve his dream. The former powerlifter participated in his first bodybuilding show in 1995, weighing just 81 kg. When he became UK champion he was a rock-hard 99.99 kg but although Pat has added a tremendous amount of size over the years it was his decision to come in lighter and tighter in 2009 that finally turned things around. For the previous two years he had tipped the scales at around 106 kg in a fruitless attempt to try and match the mass of super-freaks like Darren Ball and Zack Khan. In short, he played their game.
But in 2009 Pat decided to stop worrying about others and start concentrating on making his physique as good as possible. His mission, therefore, was to get in the best shape of his life by focusing more on condition and less on size. “My big mistake was that I thought I needed to put more size on when what I really needed to do was come in harder,” says Pat. “In 2007 I was tipped as one of the favourites but Darren came in and blew everyone away and we all started playing his game, trying to get bigger. It took me two years to recover from that.”
Pat’s attitude changed on a trip to the United States when he watched American footballers training. He was amazed at the intensity of their cardio: he had always kept his cardio long and leisurely because he feared going too fast would send his body catabolic and burn muscle. The experience taught him this wasn’t necessarily the case. “They trained like athletes yet they were still 300 pounds and in great shape,” says Pat. “I didn’t do any high intensity but when I came home I got on the treadmill and worked it a lot harder.”
Pat’s new approach chimed with Ian Morgan, an IFBB pro bodybuilder and one of the country’s foremost trainers. “I’ve known Ian for years,” says Pat. “He had seen me getting heavier and heavier and said ‘what are you doing?’ He would tell me after every show I needed to come in lighter but I never listened to him.” Last year, however, Pat was ready to listen. He made the trip from his Bradford home to Morgan’s Powerhouse Gym in Gateshead to see if Ian would oversee his precontest preparation.
Ian isn’t your average fast-talking bodybuilding guru. “If you get two words out of him you’re lucky,” says Pat. “He’s a man of few words but what comes out is sense.” What comes out of his gym, time after time, are conditioned athletes, including Ian himself. Pat decided to place himself in Ian’s hands in the countdown to the 2009 season, which began for him with his local qualifier, the UKBFF North-East Championships in Leeds. It is a show dear to Pat’s heart because he has always been one of the main attractions but he had never won it. His sole aim when he began his preparation was to put that right. Whatever happened later in Nottingham would be a bonus.
While Ian helped out with his diet, Pat turned to local IFBB pro Colin Wright for some training advice. Colin recommended that Pat reduce his training to three times a week and follow a programme which meant every muscle group got trained every eight or ten days. At his age, and with so many years of heavy lifting behind him, Pat had plenty of mature muscle. He needed to give it more time to rest and grow rather than keep blasting it four or five times a week like he had in the past. “I didn’t need more muscle,” says Pat. “I needed more condition. I knew if I got lean I would look bigger.”
He still lifted as hard and heavy as before but he paid more attention to diet and cardio. From 16 weeks out to 8 weeks out, Pat followed the same daily diet that included two steak meals, three turkey meals, plus a lot of egg whites and a postworkout shake. From eight weeks out he ate turkey, potatoes and vegetables six times a day – nothing else. “It was tougher than usual but dieting comes easy to me,” says Pat. “I could diet for 50 weeks if I had to. What I have failed on in the past is knowledge.” As for cardio, from 16 weeks out he did 30 minutes on the treadmill every day from Monday to Saturday; from four weeks out he upped it to 45 minutes six days a week and in the last two weeks he did 45 minutes every day. He offset the relative brevity of the sessions with intensity. “I did a 15 degree incline at 4.5 miles per hour,” he says. “I was basically walking uphill briskly for 45 minutes, burning on average 550 calories.”
Three weeks out Pat knew he was ready because even the soles of his feet had lost their fatty padding. “It was painful to walk,” he says. “I thought I was coming down with swine flu so I told Ian and he just started laughing. He said ‘you’ve just got no fat on your feet’.” It was quite a contrast to the previous year when Pat was so far behind on his diet that he had to lose 11 pounds in the last ten days and even then he wasn’t exactly ripped.
Even CNP boss Kerry Kayes was impressed when Pat dropped by for a second opinion shortly before the Leeds show. So Pat arrived at Leeds Town Hall knowing he had never been better prepared and his hard work paid off when he won the super-heavyweight class and the overall title in front of his usual large army of fans. His biggest dilemma now was whether to stay as a super-heavyweight for the finals in three weeks time or attempt to get down to the heavyweights, which would mean getting his already dry body down from 102 kg to below 100 kg.
“Ian asked me if I wanted to be a super-heavyweight and I said ‘let’s just keep on the diet and see what happens’,” recalls Pat. “I saw him on the Wednesday before the show and I was 8 pounds over the heavyweight limit but I knew when I dried out I would lose 7 pounds so it would be close.” When show day arrived he weighed in at a tantalising 100.6 kg. He did twelve minutes on a stationary bike wearing layers to try and get his weight down before weighing in a second time at 100.1 kg. “The judges said ‘it’s got to say 100 kg, Pat’.” So off he went and did another 12 minutes on the bike. With registration about to close, he returned and tipped the scales at 99.99 kg. He didn’t know it at the time but those few minutes pedalling had earned him the national title he had craved all his life.
This was the first year the heavyweight class had a 100 kg limit – anybody weighing more than that was in the new super-heavyweight division. The heavyweights turned out to be a mish-mash of big former light-heavyweights such as Barney DuPlessis and Lee Spencer, and lighter heavyweights such as Pat, and Serge Camerou. Nineteen stellar physiques lined up and at first it was impossible to separate them but as the line-up was reduced to 10 and then six it was impossible not to be drawn to Pat’s combination of size and critical condition and in the end he got the verdict ahead of Barney. “The UK title was the icing on the cake,” says Pat. “I don’t mean to cheapen it but winning the qualifier meant more to me because I always wanted to win in front of my home crowd and winning there gave me the belief that I could win the finals. My supporters have always turned out even when I have been fat so it was great for them to see me at my best beating everyone.”
After winning the national heavyweight crown he was still riding a tidal wave of euphoria when he was shepherded back on stage for the overall title and the coveted IFBB pro card. In the end super-heavyweight Zack Khan took the spoils. “I know Zack well and he deserved it,” says Pat. But the UKBFF ruled shortly afterwards that any weight division winners who finished in the top five at the amateur Arnold Classic, which takes place in Columbus, Ohio, in March, would also be awarded a pro card. If Pat needed an incentive to get back on his diet quickly this was it. He has flown to America to watch the Arnold for the last two years so he knows what a big deal it is to be asked to compete at the event, which is the biggest multi-sports event on earth with bodybuilding at the heart of the programme. “I’m going to the Arnold as British champion and I’m really up for it knowing that getting in the top five will get me my pro card,” says Pat. “I know what the standard is all about. Last year I would not have said I could achieve it but now I believe I can.”
He plans to stay within about 16 pounds of his contest weight and gradually diet down below 100 kg. “I will stick to the heavyweights for now but the plan is to get my pro card and then come back weighing something in the super-heavyweight region but I won’t be a heavy super-heavyweight. I don’t want to spoil my physique by coming in at around 252 pounds. I reckon I can weigh about 242 pounds and keep my dimensions,” he says.
Pat wants to improve his calves and add thickness to his biceps. Does he think he can continue to make gains in his mid-40s? “Definitely,” he fires back. “I started late in bodybuilding so I’ve got young muscle. I’ve never been a drinker or smoker so I’ve looked after my body. If you do that it’s easy.” He isn’t even thinking of retiring – or of competing as a senior. “Look at the likes of Vince Taylor and Albert Beckles,” says Pat, “Albert placed in the top ten of the Olympia in his 60s. I’m still not ready to step up to the seniors. I’ve got people around me who will tell me when that time comes.”
Pat, who is now sponsored by CNP, thanks a team that includes long-term training partner Dave Mitchell, IFBB pro Colin Wright and Tony Griffiths from Body Active in Bradford. “None of this would have happened without Tony and I wouldn’t have achieved anything without his help,” says Pat. Ian Morgan, another forty-something who plans to compete this year, will also remain in his corner. “Me and Ian are going to go far,” says Pat.
When he does finally call it a day and looks back on his career, Pat can feel immense satisfaction at how he persisted to reach number one when some people thought his time had gone. Backing Pat to become UK heavyweight champion in 2009 seemed to make as much sense as backing a horse that had not won a race for years to win the Grand National. The National had a 100-1 winner in 2009 and some folk wouldn’t have given Pat much better odds. ‘Never quit’ is his motto and he has lived up to it. “Look at what I have been through over the last ten years,” he says. “You have to work hard to find that winning formula. Believe in your own ability and don’t play other people’s games. A lot of bodybuilders make the mistake of thinking ‘I need to be bigger’ and they ruin their physiques. But if you keep believing in yourself and doing what’s best for you, you will get there.”
PAT’S TRAINING SPLIT
Monday - Chest and shoulders
Tuesday - Biceps and triceps
Thursday - Hamstrings and quadriceps
Monday - Back and calves
Additional Images
