British Steel

Following in the footsteps of six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, Nathan De Asha carries the weight of England’s bodybuilding aspirations. Here’s how he aims to build on a solid rookie season—and bring his back up to legendary proportions.

- Michael Berg, NSCA-CPT

Nathan De Asha says, laughing. “But my friends talked me into it by telling me about the girls who hung around the sport.”

De Asha relates his origin story in a thick Scouse accent, every bit earned while growing up in a hard scrabble neighborhood of Liverpool, England. The IFBB pro—fresh off a 12th-place finish at the 2016 Mr. Olympia and 2016 contest victories at the Ferrigno Legacy Pro and the Toronto Pro—is back at home, at least for the moment, just a few weeks before Christmas. On his wish list is another trip to the O in 2017 and a big, strong back that will help him elevate his game, as he builds on his successful rookie campaign in the IFBB.

JUST FOR KICKS

A former high-level soccer player and rower, De Asha found his way to the bodybuilding stage only after some lobbying by friends who had seen his transformation in mere months after picking up a weight. “I had started lifting to put on more mass for rowing,” he says. “I wanted to make the country’s rowing team for the Olympics when they came to London in 2012, but that didn’t pan out—it wasn’t paying the bills. But my friends said I should do a bodybuilding show.”

He was not convinced but begrudgingly entered a local contest. “I gave it a go, with no money,” he says. “I was eating canned tuna and drinking Diet Coke. That was all I could afford. I trained for six to seven weeks and won that first show.”