AUSSIE OSBORNE BY SANDRA LEE JOSE BODYBUILDING, IS IT JUST A SPORT OR A LIFESTYLE? To me, bodybuilding is not just a sport, it is a lifestyle, enabling us to build a stronger, fitter and healthier body. We learn our limitations, the ability to control our mind, we learn to address pain, to push past those boundaries empowering us to take part in more activities, knowing that the ability to achieve is within us and only limited by ourselves. Colin Osborne is a bodybuilder who has competed numerous times over the years in Australia. When you sit down and talk with most bodybuilders, just as I found when speaking with Colin, bodybuilding or the lifestyle of a bodybuilder is really a foundation for a long list of other sporting ventures and talents. Colin is a lean mean fighting machine, strong not only in body but in mind, and as is often the case, not the massive brainless meathead that society usually associates with men that hit the gym regularly. The sporting background of a young Aussie boy usually includes Australian Rules football and cricket, but Colin’s sporting past doesn’t include the usual lists of sports. From the very early age of 6, Colin found sport through riding dirt bikes, by age 8 he progressed to racing them. At 15, he started boxing, at 17, and with only two years training under his belt, he entered his first amateur fight and one year later he became the youngest boxing instructor in Victoria. Around the same time as he made his debut in the boxing ring, Colin took up karate, and in 1986, aged 21, he flew off to Japan, the home of martial arts, to study karate. On his return to his home in Australia, Colin embarked on teaching karate, but found that he needed to develop his light-framed body, “for the mind is strong, the ability to focus is resolute, the desire and ambition clear, now is the time to become physically stronger”. In 1987 Colin hit the gym, and in keeping with his history within 2 years of starting weight training, a new sport was added to his rapidly expanding repertoire. Colin stood on the bodybuilding stage for the first time in 1989, placing fourth in the novice category - it was all he needed to acquire the taste for competing. Many a competitor might have been discouraged by the months of dieting and training and given up. Colin, however, applied all the years of discipline to focus, controlling his mind and body, enabling him to develop a muscular physique and subsequently begin a 10 year mission in bodybuilding. During that period (in 1991) Colin, not content with participating in one sport, took up American gridiron, playing the rookie season with the Southern Bulls, and subseqeuntly with the Peninsula Razorbacks, when he won the title of Best Defensive Player 2 years in a row. In 1994 he was recruited to the Victorian State Squad. When we explore the backgrounds of bodybuilders or serious gym aficionados it is not surprising to find the sport of powerlifting, for in the nucleus of this sport are found the best mass and strength exercises around. Therefore, it was only to be anticipated that Colin would follow suit by grabbing a belt and chalk as he did in 1996 to compete in the CAPO (Council of Australian Powerlifting Organisation) Deadlift Challenge, placing second in the Novice Class. Not until you sit behind that long table, full of blank faces scrutinising the competitors’ every move, do you fully appreciate the judges, and you develop a new persepctive on the proceedings. Colin decided to take his place on the IFBB judges table in 1998. Having done the same myself, I can say that it is truly an eye opener to what the judges see, and I am convinced it makes you a better competitor. The last time Colin was onstage was in 1999 where he came 2nd in the under-80 kg class at the IFBB Mr Victoria state competition; but he assures me that this will not be his last appearance. He is aiming to win the Masters Australian title in the near future. In 2002 Colin headed overseas to America to work with the Dick Barbour Racing Team. Being part of the pit crew is damn hard work, but with his strength, agility and fitness he soon became a valued asset. It wasn’t surprising with his background in bike racing, and his love for motorbikes and cars, to hear that the racing bug bit hard. On his return to Australia, not only did he find a new love in go-kart racing he found another in his fiancée, Chelsea. In the past three years, with support and encouragement from Chelsea, his family and friends, he finished 2003 off with 5 Top Australian ‘C’ grade titles. Colin shows that bodybuilding is a lifestyle. Being muscular, strong, fit and healthy physically and mentally enables you to be your own master on the way to achieving your goals, whatever they may be. On a final note, Colin would like to thank his sponsor, Wynn’s, for their help and of course not forgetting his fiancée, Chelsea, for her constant support. 20 QUICK QUESTIONS. 1 First thing you think of in the morning? >> Sex 2 Favourite smell? >> Musk 3 What is your favourite cartoon? >> Simpsons 4 Which do you prefer, chicken or beef? >> Chicken 5 What is your favourite time of year? >> Summer 6 Do you have any tattoos? >> Yes, both arms, individual designs. 7 Where on your body do you like to be massaged? >> Back 8 Storms - cool or scary? >> Cool 9 Do you prefer the seaside, country or city? >> Seaside 10 If you could have one super power, what would it be? >> Read people’s minds 11 What’s most important, strong in mind or strong in body? >> For me, one can’t come without the other. To have a strong body you need a strong mind. 12 Favourite physical feature of the opposite sex? >> I notice eyes, but I like the upper torso; no, not just boobs, the whole upper torso. 13 What’s under your bed? >> Japanese sword. 14 What is your favourite sport to watch? >> Motorcycle racing. 15 What makes you really angry? >> Ignorant people. 16 One thing you can’t live without? >> Music. 17 What is your favourite sound? >> The ocean - okay, a racing car engine. 18 If you could have any job what would it be? >> Teacher or instructor, but I have done that, so maybe a vet working with animals in a zoo. 19 Are you a night or morning person? >> Night. 20 One word to describe yourself >> Complex. M&F

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