Vaughan Ettienne is not your average bodybuilder. Where many competitors complain about every small nuisance in life during contest prep, Vaughan goes a different way.
“I’m a nonchalant, laid back and kinda lazy soul,” he said.
A “lazy soul” with two professional wins under his belt, which took place at the 2011 Dexter Jackson Classic in Jacksonville, FL, and the 2011 Muscle Heat Pro 202 in Greensboro, NC.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=O26-6wzPawU
A full time police officer with the New York City Police Department, Vaughan turned professional at the NPC Team Universe in 2010. He said that it takes a lot for him to step onstage given the nature of his job and also being a family man.
“Its not easy. I find a certain amount of sacrifice has to be made to put together a 16-18 week prep,” he said.
Currently in prep for the New York Pro 212, the second 212 show on the IFBB calendar, Ettienne hopes to correct faltering at his last show, the 202 Olympia showdown. He barely made weight in Las Vegas and Ettienne shared why he had subpar condition from what he normally displays.
“My body had enough. I had to fight off two rebounds and I’m too tall for that class as it is,” he said. Ettienne added that getting into condition three times during the year took a toll on his conditioning.
With another offseason under his belt, Ettienne feels good about the improvements he’s made since the Olympia.
Vaughn Ettienne” src=”https://cdn-ami-drupal.heartyhosting.com/sites/muscleandfitness.com/themes/custom/musclefitness3/images/placeholder.gif” style=”width: 400px; height: 600px; margin: 5px; float: right;” /“I wanted to bring up my delts and arms up. I also wanted to add thickness to my back and I believe I’ve done that,” he said. He said that a good offseason is paramount to any bodybuilder wanting success onstage.
“You cant bring a prep coach a hug and expect them to carve out a Porsche in 16 weeks,” he said.
Although he faltered a bit at the Olympia, he is still using one of the tools that that helps him get into condition.
“Carb cycling works great for me as I need to occasional refeed because even if I cycle, I hit plateaus, so the refeed works well to get my metabolism rolling again,” he said. Working with prep coach and Flex contributor Fakrhi Mubarak aided Ettienne in learning more about training and nutrition.
“We work well together and Fakrhi allows me to get other methods of input. He’s like family to me,” he said.
As a native New Yorker, Ettienne is excited about the opportunity to compete in front of the hometown crowd, which has the reputation as one of the more raucous bodybuilding audiences in the world.
“That’s all I ever wanted to do was to compete as a pro in front of my family and friends,” he said.
When asked about who he sees as his main competition, he wastes no time in who he wants to take out.
“My main competition is the wolf on top of the mountain, Kevin English,” he said. Ettienne rattles off other names that are threats on the competitive circuit.
“Jose Raymond, James “Flex” Lewis, Brendan Rey, Al Auguste and other guys too,” he said.
Although he’s in the 212 division, he will stay in the class until he feels he can step onstage at a “conditioned 225 pounds”.
“This class allows me to meet people in the industry, get my name out there and grow my physique slowly,” he said. Ettienne also hopes to be around for a long time in the IFBB.
“I want to compete until I’m 55 and win as many shows as I can. Period,” he said.
