EXCLUSIVE By Gary Chappell
CRAIG MADDEN has spent years building a physique that he once thought was beyond his reach. Now, in the space of just 14 days, he has the opportunity to achieve two major milestones in his bodybuilding career.
The NABBA and PCA Pro is targeting the NABBA Pro Universe on Sunday, November 1, before heading to the NPC European Masters in Milan, where he will be chasing the coveted IFBB Pro League Card.
At 6ft 3in, filling his frame has required enormous amounts of food, patience and a willingness to endure extended periods away from the condition most bodybuilders spend their careers trying to maintain.
But Madden, who is approaching his 45th birthday, believes the work is paying off. He says he is still gaining muscle and feels he has an aesthetic advantage over some of his rivals.
The NABBA Universe holds particular significance. It was one of the first federations he encountered when he began competing and he remembers watching the standard of physiques on display in 2015 without imagining he would one day be a professional bodybuilder entering for its biggest title.
Winning it would represent a particularly special achievement.
He said: “The NABBA Federation was probably one of the first federations I came across alongside UKBFF when I started bodybuilding competitively and I went to one of their shows in 2015.
“It was the NABBA North West. It was an extremely well-run show with extremely impressive physiques. I never thought that I'd be able to stand with them guys on that stage, let alone be a NABBA Pro and be entering for the NABBA Pro Universe title.
“So as you can imagine it would hold huge prestige for me to go down in NABBA's history books and I would be delighted and over the moon to be part of that if I was to win it. So that is number one.”
Madden's height has been both an advantage and a challenge throughout his bodybuilding career. While he believes his stature helps his physique make an impression on stage, building enough muscle to fill a tall frame has been a lengthy process.
There was also a time when he regularly found himself being asked whether he was competing in Classic Bodybuilding, something that frustrated him because his ambition had always been to compete in the Open.
He finally got the opportunity to make his mark in 2019, winning the tall Open class at the PCA North West before taking the overall men's title.
He said: “Being six foot three, I have found it a lot harder to fill my frame out. There was a number of years where I would look to register at shows and they'd always ask, 'Are you in classic'? That used to annoy me a bit because I've never – I've got nothing against classic bodybuilding by the way – but I've never wanted or been a classic bodybuilder. I've always been an open bodybuilder.
“So I was extremely pleased one year back in 2019 where at registration I was asked whether I was classic and I ended up winning the tall bodybuilding open class and then went on to win the overall men's title.
“That was the PCA North West in 2019 and back then it was literally just one men's overall and one women's overall. So I literally beat every single other guy in the competition who had won their class.”
Building the physique he has today has required a huge commitment to eating, with Madden revealing that his off-season intake has at times approached 7,000 calories a day.
And while many competitors find the depths of contest preparation the hardest part of bodybuilding, he says the sheer volume of food required to grow can be just as demanding.
“In terms of how have I built my physique, it's just taken time and a lot of food.
“There have been times where I've been up to almost 7,000 calories per day, which I can tell you is actually harder to do than the depths of the prep. Because not only is it a lot of food, a lot of food volume to get in throughout the day and you just feel like you're eating, you just finish one meal and you start in the next.
“It does make you feel sluggish and the only time that you are anything useful is in the gym when you're strong and looking to build that muscle.
“I do find off-seasons tough because, at six foot three, it's taken a lot of food over a lot of years to put that size on. And not only that, you need to get used to not being lean all the time.
“If you want to put a tremendous amount of size on you have to go through periods where you do look a little bit softer to reach new milestones in terms of body weights.”
His peak off-season weight has been around 302lb, although he says his most recent off-season was considerably leaner than previous growth phases.
“My peak body weight is probably about 302 pounds in an off-season, I don't think I've ever really been above that. That's the morning body weight on waking.
“And last off-season I actually only went up to 290 pounds but it was a much leaner 290 pounds than what I've ever done before hence the added size.
“And for myself, at nearly 45 years old, to still be gaining the amount of muscle that I do and still have the younger looking skin and physique that I do, I do find that I am blessed in that way. And it is to my advantage, especially when it comes to aesthetics and against the guys that are a little bit older than me, or even some of the guys that are younger than me in their 30s.
“I do feel like I've got a younger looking physique than what I actually am and that's probably due to me always eating clean, very rarely eating off-plan. Even when I was on 7,000 calories I would potentially have one off-plan meal per week maximum and it'd be nothing crazy then. As you can imagine, if I'm eating 7,000 calories a day I'm not even going to feel like having an off-plan anyway. I'd rather just stick to my usual clean foods.”
The challenge then becomes holding on to that hard-earned muscle as the calories come down and the demands of preparation increase.
For Madden, the key is making sure the off-season has been managed properly before prep even begins. Starting from a strong position, with food intake high and output relatively low, gives him more room to make adjustments without immediately compromising training performance.
He believes maintaining strength is central to retaining muscle tissue and says any decline in performance should prompt a closer look at recovery and training demands.
“It's all about managing your off-season first and foremost, making sure that you're in a good place to start your prep, food high, output low etc.
“So you've got a lot of tools to play with in prep. I will start my prep maybe about 4,000 calories which is somebody's off-season typically or maybe even more for somebody in somebody's off-season in terms of calories.
“So if you're on a good amount of food then you're going to maintain training performance and that is key to holding muscle tissue.
“If you can hold training performance or even potentially improve training performance especially at the start of a prep then you're on to a winner. You ain't going to be losing any muscle, it's as simple as that.
“And if you do start losing strength in training then you need to look at your lifestyle and the amount of training that you are actually doing. It's probably too much for your body to recover from if you are starting to regress in terms of performance.”
The decision to add the NABBA Universe to his schedule came after Madden had initially planned to concentrate solely on the NPC European Masters in Milan.
Discovering that the Universe fell just two weeks earlier changed his thinking. Rather than viewing the extra contest as an unwanted complication, he felt it fitted his schedule and would break up the preparation.
With both shows now in his sights, managing fatigue and recovery will be crucial. Madden insists he feels fresh, although he admits that mentally he is already looking forward to bringing the campaign to an end after Milan.
He said: “So initially it was literally the plan to just do the Milan show but then I found out that it was the NABBA Universe two weeks prior and I just felt it fit really well with my schedule and it does break up the prep a little bit.
“I still feel fresh. I feel like I can still peak fine and still be fine for that last show.
“I don't feel particularly tired at the moment even with just two weeks prep left. I feel fresh like I could carry on for a good month yet, albeit mentally I am ready to call it after Milan.
“So it's just all about managing fatigue, recovery and mental and just having good mental fortitude as well to be able to carry on and for the shows to actually mean enough to you, for you to put your all into both.”
While his immediate attention is on the two competitions ahead, Madden also has a longer-term ambition: to establish himself more firmly among the leading names in British bodybuilding.
It is an interesting subject because, despite holding both NABBA and PCA Pro status, he feels he has not received the level of recognition he might have expected.
He believes his height could be a factor, arguing that taller bodybuilders can look considerably more impressive in person and on stage than they do in photographs. He also questions the influence of social media, where he feels shorter physiques can be better suited to the camera.
“I'm not quite sure why I'm not regarded as one of the top guys," he said. "Maybe because I look more impressive in person than on social media, being a taller guy somebody's physique always looks better on stage which is a massive advantage if you want to win the titles. Because let's be honest, the Insta bodybuilders don't tend to do too well, albeit the Olympians all look good on Instagram but they are the shorter guys. So it tends to be the shorter guys that look best in the pictures – and I never edit my pictures or anything like that.
“So it's an odd one that I'm not recognised the same as others, but it is what it is. Maybe I just don't have the algorithm that other people have. But I have started a YouTube now, so that should boost things a little bit for me and get more people following.
“But having pages like FrontDouble.com to actually promote athletes like myself is only going to help cement my place in the bodybuilding history books as it were. To cement myself in the community as one of the top guys who's close to potential IFBB Pro Card and already has the PCA Pro Card and NABBA Pro Card. But it's an odd one that I'm not recognised more. Maybe the guys on YouTube that seem to have bigger personalities probably get that little bit more recognition.”
Madden has now launched his YouTube channel in the hope of reaching a wider audience and giving people a better opportunity to see what he brings to the stage.
But first comes the business of competing.
The NABBA Pro Universe offers the chance to win a title with particular personal significance, while Milan represents an opportunity to secure the IFBB Pro League status he is chasing.
Two shows, two weeks apart – and a major opportunity to make his mark.
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