Local athlete
builds body
natural wayBy Eric Leach,Staff Writer MOORPARK — When it comes to bodybuilding,17-year-old James Tangherlini is a natural. The Moorpark teen,who has been training since he was 13, has taken a number of body- building titles this year,includ- ing first place in the teenage boys category of the California Natural Body Building and Fit- ness Championships. The “natural ” contests he enters test competitors to ensure steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs have not been used.“My goal is to help usher natural bodybuilding into the Olympics,” said Tangherlini,who attends Chaminade Preparatory School in Chatsworth.“The only way that body- building can get into the Olympics is if it gets rid of the stigma of steroid use.” Tangherlini counts Lou Ferrigno,former Mr.Universe and star of the television show “The Incredible Hulk,” among his supporters.The two met at a comics convention in San Diego when Ferrigno gave the 13-year-old Tangherlini his autograph and told the boy “good luck with your career.” “That ’s what inspired me to begin bodybuilding.Lou Ferrigno became one of the major mentors in my life,” Tangher- lini said.The two have kept in touch.“I ’ve been helping him off and on for about three years.At his age,he ’s doing remarkably well.I ’m extremely proud of him,” Ferrigno said.“If bodybuilding becomes an Olympic sport,I think he ’s got a chance.” 
Tangherlini said athletes his age face
temptations to build muscle through per-
formance-enhancing drugs — in part be-
cause of recent revelations that some of
the nation ’s star athletes have used them.
Even California Gov.Arnold Schwar-
zenegger acknowledges that he once
used them as a bodybuilder,although he
speaks out today strongly against the use
of steroids,which he called “stupid.”
Authorities say that although most high school students view them as dangerous,some use them to boost their performance when they train for strength and endurance sports,includ- ing weight lifting and bodybuilding. “Clearly there ’s pressure among high school athletes to take steroids to try to bulk up.They hear about professional athletes who have admitted to using some types of steroids,” said Dr.Glenn Braunstein,chairman of the department of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.“Most of what they get is basically black market,from coaches,other players and drug dealers. High school girls also use steroids,not as much as the boys.” |
|
Teen believes in clean sport BODY /From Page 1 Steroid use by high school students must be discouraged and can have numerous ill effects,including growth retardation,hostility,liver damage and possible premature heart disease,Braunstein said.According to the Monitoring the Future survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse,most users of anabolic steroids are males.Among male students,1.8 percent of eighth-graders surveyed in 2003 said they had used them in the past year,along with 2.3 percent of 10th-graders and 3.2 percent of 12th-graders who said they had used them in the past year.The tendency to associate bodybuilders in particular with steroids has been so strong that some people think he uses them simply because of his big muscles,Tangherlini said. “By my sophomore year in high school classmates began to notice the change in my physique,and I was accused of drug use.I still am,” he said.“People walk by and say ‘Steroids.’ They gossip about it.“Some kids have actually asked me for advice about using steroids, and I always say it ’s never worth it.” Tangherlini said he trains hard for the muscles he has.He works out with weights several times a day,with a contest preparation routine that includes,for example,five sets of leg presses with 12 repetitions for each set using more than 1,000 pounds. In school he has a special interest in biology and kinesiology because it is related to his bodybuilding,and he has obtained certification through an Internet course to become a personal trainer. He set up his own Web site at www.jamestangherlini.com.He said he likes to be known as a natural bodybuilder who shuns drugs.“I chose natural bodybuilding because of my parents ’ philosophy of no drug use,” he said.“It gives me a great feeling of satisfaction if I can be a role model and discourage people from steroid use.” _______________________________________ Eric Leach,(805)583-7602 eric.leach@dailynews.com James Tangherlini,trains several times a day,below.The 17-year-old Chaminade Preparatory School student ’s goal is to bring natural bodybuilding — free of performance-enhancing drugs — into the Olympics as a respected sport. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer
|
Back to News