When he appeared on stage in the Middleweight Division of the Men’s Bodybuilding portion of the National Physique Committee Southern Tournament of Champions on Saturday, Earnest Miller wasn’t that nervous.
It was his third such show, and he had been training for it since May.
“To get ready I basically lowered my carb intake and did a more high-protein diet,” said Miller. “I would do an hour of cardio every day.”
Miller would come in fourth place in his category.
“I feel like I did OK; obviously, I thought I should’ve been No. 1,” he said. “But there’s always next year. Next year, I will fight for that No. 1 spot.”
East Clarendon High School graduate Tyler Johnson also took fourth place in his category, the Class B of the Men’s Classic Physique portion of the tournament. The Williamsburg County resident said he’d always been interested in bodybuilding, but didn’t think about preparing for a show until this past spring.
“I workout in Florence,” he said. “I’ve been working out there for about a year, and I heard about the show through some friends. I’ve always been interested in bodybuilding, so I looked into it and decided, why not?”
Johnson began seriously watching his diet and exercise regiment in April, he said.
“I found a coach online and got hooked up with him,” he said.
Johnson said he was pleased with his placement. It was his first show.
“Considering that it was my first, I’m not going to complain,” he said. “You can always look better and improve on things. I feel like I did pretty good. I can only improve from here and do better and better.”
Johnson said he began working out after finishing college.
“I started working at the emergency room at McLeod (Regional Medical Center) in Florence (as a nurse), and I could tell I was out of shape,” he said. “I started lifting again and fell in love with it all over again.”
Miller began lifting weights while he was a young teen, saying that he was never “the best at” football or other school sports.
“But I always loved lifting weights,” he said. Miller would go on to play for Bethune-Cookman University in DAytona Becah, Florida, and tried out for the CFL in 2007.
“I’ve been working out since middle school,” the 33 year old said.
Challenged by Eric Bullock at The Zone in 2008, Miller ultimately worked toward performing in his first show in 2009.
“He saw how hard I go and so he said, ‘I bet you couldn’t do a show if you wanted to,’” Miller said. “That was his challenge. I followed through and did the show in 2009, the Supernatural Show in Rock Hill.”
Miller placed third in his first outing.
“After that, I fell in love with it,” he said.
Both Miller and Johnson said they would take some time off after Saturday’s tournament.
“I’m not looking at any particular show right now,” said Johnson. “But I will definitely compete again.”
Miller said he’s looking at a show in Jacksonville, Florida, scheduled for July 2018.
possibly doing one in Jacksonville, Fla. in July.
The South Carolina chapter of the National Physique Committee Southern Tournament of Champions, the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the world, hosted Saturday’s show, which contained two sessions.
“The morning session was prejudging and the preliminary rounds of judging the athlete, which included men and women,” said promoter Joe Pishkula. “The evening finals were at 5 p.m., where athletes got to do their individual presentations and entertain the crowds.”
Those presentations included various poses set to music. The athletes were able to show off their personalities, Pishkula said.
Pishkula said the organization chose Weldon due to its central location in the state and due to its friendly staff and surroundings.
“The wonderful staff that is there basically sold us on the place,” he said. “It’s a beautiful venue and a beautiful place for a contest.”
Pishkula said he enjoys promoting shows in smaller cities and towns in the state.
“It doesn’t get lost in the bigger cities, and there’s something for the town to kind of get behind,” he said. “We do shows in Columbia or Charleston, and the show gets a little bit lost in the other events of the town. Manning is also right off Interstate 95, and you have Florence, Charleston, Columbia and Myrtle Beach nearby. It’s central to all of them. So, we expect to have a nice crowd.”
Pishkula said that three local hotels were already full of competitors by the week before the show due to reservations.
“Our host hotel was the Hampton Inn, and that one sold out relatively quickly,” he siad. “A lot of people then went to the Howard Johnson and the Days Inn. Those were filled with competitors.”
He said Porter Jacks was the official restaurant.
Saturday’s competition, he said, served as a national qualifier.
“This is one of our national qualifiers,” he said. “Ultimately, an athlete can go through to the national, become a professional and win Mr. Olympia and the IFBB Proleague.”
He said competitors included about a 60-40 split for women to men.
“We get people of all ages,” he said. “We have people start as teens and compete, and we have bodybuilders and women’s competitors in their 70s.”
