When you have a nickname such as “the voice of bodybuilding,” it would make sense to be on a podcast. Bob Cicherillo and his voice has been heard on the Olympia stage every year since 2006. He’s also been the co-hose of Pro Bodybuilding Weekly, his own podcast, and Monday Night Muscle. On this week’s episode of The Fit Rockstar Show, Bob Chick was the guest for host Isabelle Turell.
Turell started the interview by pointing out that Bob Cicherillo is from upstate New York, which was a bodybuilding hotbed while he was growing up. Some of the names that he trained shoulders with reads like a Who’s Who of bodybuilding.
“Danny Padilla, most people know as the O.G. Giant Killer. Pete Grymkowski was from Rochester, George Farah the super trainer, there’s more, but those are the top names,” said Cicherillo. He grew up admiring superheroes from Marvel Comics, and after getting a weight set for Christmas, he entered his first contest at 13 years old.
“I lost the show, which I’m still pissed about, but I won three ribbons,” he said. “They had these ribbons for best bodyparts, and I won three of them, which I still have, but I lost the show.”
He competed throughout his teenage years, and eventually progressed to the NPC National level in 1987. However, he faced numerous future superstars such as Shawn Ray, Kevin Levrone, and Flex Wheeler, among others. So, he actually didn’t turn pro until the year 2000.
“I was just pacing myself,” he joked. “There weren’t welterweight or super-heavyweight classes back then, so everyone was a heavyweight that was over 198 ¼ (pounds).”
Nonetheless, he turned pro and competed for six years, winning the 2006 Masters World Championships before taking the position in front of the microphone at that year’s Mr. Olympia. The rest, as they say, is history. He tells Turell all about that history in this hour-long interview. Catch every episode of The Fit Rockstar Show every Saturday at 12 noon Eastern time over at www.wingsofstrength.com and the Wings of Strength YouTube channel. Don’t forget to follow @fitrockstarshow on Instagram.
