Athlete Spotlight: The Return of "THE PRODIGY"!

By Luis Olivares

Back in July 2008, Brandon Curry made a huge splash at the NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships, handily winning both the heavyweight and overall classes, earning his pro card and seemingly cementing his place as the sport's true "PRODIGY." Well, genetic marvel that he is, Brandon is also smart enough to realize that true greatness doesn't come easily. With that in mind, he dedicated 2009 to improving his physique in all areas, staying away from the competition stage and instead working tirelessly in the gym to ensure that his professional debut is an even bigger spectacle than his NPC finale.

After a year of relentless toil and honest self-examination, "THE PRODIGY" is back and bigger than ever - literally. Brandon's physique responded to his year-long regimen with an astonishing 40 lbs of growth, filling out a frame as proportionate and aesthetically pleasing as you'll find in the sport. His gifts are without question - but blessings alone won't get you to the Olympia stage. It takes strategic planning, hard work and sacrifice, and dedication to the daily grind of the bodybuilder's mantra that Brandon knows so well: eat, sleep, train...and grow.

"I'm eating more than I ever have," Brandon says. "My diet has consisted of high carbohydrates and lean protein sources, but I have not forgotten about the importance of healthy fats." A bodybuilder's diet is repetitive and unexciting, and takes a lot of discipline and willpower to keep. Luckily for Brandon, he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth to begin with. Eating is just another step in the process of building the best body he can, and he claims to have little trouble with cravings and cheating. As he puts it, "A meal is just another meal." He lists beef, pasta, eggs and sweet potatoes as staples of his offseason menu, along with a steady diet of protein shakes. "SYNTHA-6™ has been seriously utilized," he emphasizes. Throughout his day, 80-gram SYNTHA-6™ shakes are a ritualized occurrence, calorically bolstered with fruit, yogurt, and, in the evening, a tablespoon of olive oil as a means of incorporating the aforementioned healthy fats.

If Brandon is somewhat indifferent to his meals, when it comes to his training, nothing could be further from the truth. In the gym, he is in his element, pounding away at the weights and breaking himself down to build himself back up bigger and better. Brandon's training philosophy is highly intuitive, constantly gauging his progress and switching things up as he sees fit. His style and some of his favorite movements are considered somewhat unconventional, but it's all based on his deep conviction that he knows his body and how it responds to different stimuli, and he knows what works best for him.

With his current focus on overall growth, Brandon has been pushing himself harder than ever and training as heavy as possible. When necessary, he and his training partners will pull back a little - just enough to allow for adequate recovery, before launching headlong into the heavy stuff again. It's all about assessing your condition and your body's needs. "How beat up are you really?" Brandon explains. "If you're too beat up it begins to show. Then it's time to set up a game plan to get back on top, so you can pound away again."

One new feature Brandon is incorporating into his training this offseason is what's known as the FST-7 method, introduced to him by his trainer/dietician. FST-7 stands for Fascial Stretch Training, with the number 7 representing the number of sets performed of a given exercise. The basic principle is to pick an isolation-type exercise to perform at the end of a training session as a way to "finish off" a particular muscle. Seven sets are performed at high rep ranges (usually somewhere around 10-20) with minimal rest between sets. The goal is to stretch the fascia tissue that covers the muscle by pumping the muscle full of nutrient-rich blood, feeding the muscle and encouraging growth. It also produces one heck of a pump. "The pumps are brutal as long as you got plenty of carbs in you," says Brandon. "If you like lifting heavy and being trashed at the end, then this is for you!"

With his under-the-radar 2009 behind him, Brandon is feeling good and looking even better. "THE PRODIGY" is geared up to take on the 2010 IFBB season like a man on a mission, with his first stop set for the Tampa Pro/Am Championships in July. Brandon is excited for his highly-anticipated pro debut, yet bodybuilding's precocious wonder child is already setting his sights on an even grander stage. "God willing I qualify, I will be entering my first Olympia," Brandon says with his trademark humility. "The pressure is on, and I have to be honest - I like it that way."

Check out BSN®'s gallery of exclusive offseason photos of "THE PRODIGY"!

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