M&F Model Search – Month One Co-Winner, Brandan Fokken
M&F: What do you like best about working out?
BF: An easier question would be why I wouldn’t do it…I do it because I love it, working out quite literally completes me. It has become part of who I am and who I hope to always be. I love the way I feel because I work out, the confidence it has brought to my life and all the other positive aspects that have come into my life because of it.
M&F: What or who got you started working out?
BF: I started working out as a freshman in high school. A friend of mine down the street had a little weight set and was already into working out. He persisted that I work out with him and when I finally did I was nowhere near his level. Of course back at school the next day he had to tell everyone I was “weak” and I got teased the rest of the week. I decided that I wasn’t going to have that happen anymore and wanted to better myself, so I started working out in the high school gym, and eventually got my first gym membership.
M&F: Who influenced you to start working out seriously?
BF: I admire anyone that has self-confidence, someone that goes against what others tell them they have to do to do what they feel is right. You can be inspired by athletes that are total beginners to the most advanced. You just have to open your eyes and be open to it. If I were to name a person, Arnold Schwarzenegger is my all-time favorite bodybuilder. His physique was out of this world. Arnold in my opinion is the father of modern bodybuilding, and is an example of what I try to follow.
My second motivation would be Muscle and Fitness Magazine. Back in High school when I was teased about NOT being strong, It was a very powerful tool that I used to help start myself on the right path and a tool that I have used ever since for workouts, diet and supplementation advice, knowledge and inspiration. Muscle & Fitness helped me gain confidence and knowledge and I am proud to say were a staple in what I have accomplished on my fitness journey.
M&F: What’s your favorite meal when you are getting lean? BF: I love pretty much all food. If it’s good food I would have to say steak with a sweet potato and veggies.
M&F: What’s your favorite cheat meal?
BF: Cheat food would be oatmeal raisin cookies or something one of my two grandmothers would bake- yes I’m a grandma’s boy.
M&F: What are your goals in the fitness industry? If you win the M&F Model Search, what would that mean and what would you do with the title?
BF: I guess at the root of everything I want to be credible, and truly make an impact in others’ lives through helping them obtain all they want to on their own fitness journeys. I would like to become more of a recognized personality in the fitness industry and work more in videos, writing, etc. all to help people. I would also like to continue to train athletes and better them just as I would myself. Eventually I would like to obtain an IFBB pro card.
Nothing at this moment would mean more to me than winning this challenge and going on to the Olympia and representing myself and all of those that stand behind me. If I won the actual title, words can’t even express how I would feel. I would be honored, and I would do everything in my power to give back and use the title for good and use it as a tool to inspire, motivate, and show people that with hard work anything is possible.
