In 1985, a 5 year-old Lamar Johnson knew that he wanted to be the biggest and most successful bodybuilder that ever lived. He looked up to bodybuilding greats such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferigno and idolized animated heroes like He-Man, The Hulk and Superman.

 

Lamar began lifting weights at the age of 11 and surprisingly, was bench-pressing 320 lbs. by the end of his senior year at Milpitas High School in the San Francisco Bay Area. By this time, the world of bodybuilding had “blown up” immensely and Lamar had a choice to make. Competitors like Flex Wheeler and Ronnie Coleman were taking the professional bodybuilding circuit by storm. Yes, they were huge and had freakish physiques, but they were also not all-natural bodybuilders. Lamar made the decision to pursue the steroid-free life of an all-natural bodybuilder.

 

At the age of 19, Lamar submitted his very first entry application as an amateur to compete in the 1999 Capital City Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Sacramento, CA. He took 1^st in the teen division and as the only teenager competing in the Heavyweight division, he took 4^th place. He competed every year after that, except for 2001.

Those stats are as follows:

Even though Lamar took first in his division in 2003, he lost a close race for his Pro card in the overall to Rodney Helaire. He vowed to come back the next year and take it all. That’s exactly what he did.

After relinquishing his amateur status by scoring his Pro card in 2004, Lamar competed in May 2006 in his very first WNBF pro show, The Texas Shredder Classic, where he met up with friendly rival, Rodney Helaire once again. In his pro debut, Lamar placed a surprising 5^th out of 13 heavyweight competitors. In a subsequent article in Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness, show promoter and fellow all-natural bodybuilder Dave “Shredder” Goodin had nothing but positive things to say about Lamar including a statement saying,

 

“Watch out for this guy next year,

I know I will!”

 

Determined to place in the Top 3 and catch Rodney Helaire and current all-natural bodybuilding champion, Rob Hope at the Mr. & Mrs. Universe competition in the Cayman Islands in June 2007, Lamar Johnson, 27, has been on top of his training like never before and is waiting for his moment, once again, to take it all. Lamar currently resides in Eastern, New Mexico and in his spare time is a personal trainer and also enjoys modeling, practicing the martial art of Jujitsu, and Muy Thai kickboxing.