A North Bay Bodybuilder is on a quest to try to share his message of inspiration by winning an online bodybuilding contest.
Blake Gauthier is a 46-year-old heart attack survivor and a man who has shed more than 200 pounds of fat since 2018.
He shared his unique story with Muscle and Fitness and applied to be part of their contest that could put him in the centrefold of the popular health magazine and more importantly a big cash prize.
See related: Bodybuilding.com competition
See related: Transformation from overweight heart attack victim to bodybuilder
Gauthier says out of more than 1,000 applicants, Muscle and Fitness chose him as one of their top 30 to take part in the online voting contest.
"It feels so surreal right now with everything that has been going on," said Gauthier.
"This one for Muscle and Fitness is something that I saw online and it is a contest they run every year so I submitted some photos forward and I did not think much of it and then they contacted me about two weeks ago saying I was one of the 30 people out of thousands of applicants that they were going to actually have in the competition.
"Right now people can vote once a day for free through Facebook and the first round goes until June 24 and that is going to narrow it down from 30 people to 15 so obviously the top 15 people with the most votes go on to the next round and they keep whittling it down this way and the person that actually wins it gets a two-page spread in Muscle and Fitness Magazine which is a huge bodybuilding magazine and there is also a $20,000 US cash prize that goes along with it."
Gauthier is excited about the opportunity and if he wins he says he will put the $20,000 into Silverback Viking Enterprises which would be a tool for him to help others like him achieve their fitness goals.
"If I do win this contest I want to use a lot of that money to start up my own fitness line so I can help other people attain their fitness goals as well," he said.
Gauthier urges North Bay area residents to help him prove that a guy who has battled weight, health, and depression can finish on top.
"Most of these people who you see in these magazines have been fit their entire lives. They do not know what it is like to go through the transformation or the work that I have gone through but I just want to prove that it is never too late and you are never too old to achieve your dreams," he said.
"When I started training I never thought something like this would come about. I was just looking at having a healthier lifestyle and not drop dead again so all this has been kind of a cherry on top of all this."
To vote for Blake click HERE
