Battle Forged

Before he could engineer the ultimate transformation, Ricardo Lategan had to first overcome a lifetime of inner conflict. Here's how he conquered mind, body and soul in his pursuit of peak performance

- By Kieran Legg

On the surface, Ricardo Lategan's impressive physique looks like the calculated result of clean eating, grueling sessions and always striving for one more rep. While true, his hardest battles weren't fought under the bar, but in his head. The 29-year-old struggles with constant anxiety, agnawing stress that at times-can be debilitating.

Sitting at the Bootlegger's Coffee café on Newlands' Dean Street, amid tables of animated seniors, he talks candidly about his fears, breakdowns and desperate moments of hitting rock bottom. Outside, trucks and cars canter down one of the main arteries of the leafy green suburb in Cape Town.

"It's been this constant thing," he admits, taking a sip of his flat white with oat milk (a simple swap out he's made to cinch his calorie intake in his pursuit of physical perfection). "I can't remember a time I haven't been anxious, it's just with you all the time."

Growing up, Ricardo was a promising rugby player, his commitment to training and natural athletic prowess landing him a spot at the sporting institution of Grey College in Bloem. It's a place that's been dubbed the "world's greatest rugby school" for a reason, producing a legendary crop of World Cup winners in Juan Pienaar, Bismarck and Jannie Du Plessis, and Frans Steyn. When Ricardo stepped into the school's hallowed halls, he was certain he could strive for the big leagues. But two knee injuries in quick succession-each requiring extensive reconstructive surgerydashed his dreams of following in these legends' footsteps.

"I wasn't ready for it to be over," says Ricardo. "So I went over to the United States to play there."