Imagine that you are a skinny young kid who desperately wants to
make the High School football team, but are told that you need to
put on at least 20 lbs in only three months. Imagine that you want
to compete professionally as a bodybuilder but that you are in fact
very shy. Imagine that you were raised poor, moving as a child from
Mexico to New York, but that you want to be a Medical Doctor. Now
imagine that you accomplished it all,
and you might know what its like to be Rafael Vazquez.
Rafael's passion for
weights began as a child when his brother rented the movie "Pumping
Iron" staring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was followed with the
purchase of his first set of weights and a training philosophy that
continues to this day, to be the best that he can be.
Perhaps
he thrives on challenges. Perhaps he knows that a life without
challenges is a life without rewards, and Rafael does have rewards.
Going from bodybuilding Novice to Pro status in both the
NGA and WNBF in
less than 2 years, Rafael has shown that he is a force to be reckoned
with.
It would
be easy to assume that determination of this nature is the pinnacle of
obsession, an all consuming fire that seeks only to satisfy its own ego.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Rafael's passion for
bodybuilding
is rivaled by his passion for people, and it was this passion that
propelled him through medical school. Perhaps this is the equivalent of
"having your cake, and eating it too", for it was during his third year
of medical school that Rafael competed in his first amateur
bodybuilding competition.
BODYBUILDING/FIGURE
CONTESTS OR TITLES (and years):
2005 NBI
NY State Novice Lightweight– 2nd place
2006 NBI NY Tri-State Novice Lightweight – 2nd place
2006 INBF All Natural Revolution Novice Middleweight-1st place, Novice
Overall
2006 INBF Northeast American Open Lightweight- 1st Place
2006 INBF North East Classic Open Middleweight- 1st place, Men’s Open
Overall –-> WNBF Pro
2006 INBF All Natural Revolution: Reloaded- Open Lightweight- 1st Place,
Overall
2006 INBF New York State Open Middleweight- 1st Place
2007 INBF 28th Annual Hercules International
Open Lightweight- 1st Place
2007 NGA 28th Annual Potomac Cup Open Lightweight- 1st place, Men's Open
Overall -->NGA Pro Card
2007 WNBF Pro International Men's Lightweight- 14th Place
Because of his drive to excel, and for his
commitment to helping others, Lift for Life is honored to name Rafael
Vazquez as
