My name is Rick Cancelino and I grew up in the small town of Herkimer, N.Y., centrally located in the middle of New York State. I currently live in Albany, N.Y. and work full time at Utica National Insurance and part-time as a personal trainer. I started working out about 15 years a go when my Uncle Rick, a gym rat at the time and in very good shape, brought me to the gym. I grew up in a small town, but we had some very good athletes, power lifters, and bodybuilders. I was always fortunate to be around good people involved in fitness and weight lifting. I fell in love with fitness even before going to the gym for the first time and have always been fascinated by how the human body works. I was involved in many sports growing up and I was always challenging myself to run faster, be stronger, and overall just be in good shape.

Through out high school I played football, volleyball, tennis, and ran track. I focused then on sport specific training to improve my athletic performance. When I graduated from high school I began to eat and train more like a bodybuilder and the results were dramatic. In college I intertwined my bodybuilding style workouts with a power/sport specific style training to get ready for my football and track seasons at Suny Cortland. My training today is very similar to the basic way I trained in college. I believe consistency, sticking to basic compound movements, variety in exercises are the pillars to a successful weight training workout plan.

I am a bodybuilder that started competing in shows five years a go. The owner of my home town gym encouraged me to compete in my first bodybuilding show. I have to be honest I felt awkward when I first put on posing trunks to practice my posing, but it pasted quickly. When I finished competing at my first show it was an amazing feeling. It is all the effort in the gym, dieting, posing, homework in preparation for a show, and feeling of being in best shape of your life on the day of show that makes bodybuilding rewarding for me. It also makes me more focused in life in general. Sports growing up also made me more focused and taught me discipline. Before I became involved in sports I was a problem child that was very hyper and when I fell in love with athletics I knew I could not get in trouble because I would not be able to participate. This is hard to believe that I was a problem child by a lot of people, because now I am laid-back, calm, and confident.

I do not have a true "off" season like most bodybuilders. Some bodybuilders when a show is over go into eating junk or overeating and blow up like they were stung by a bee, I do not do that. I believe in staying in good shape year round. I maintain around 6-7% body fat year round. I want to build a symmetrical, well balanced, and aesthetic physique. I weight train three days a week off-season and pre-contest. I always start a workout with a heavy compound exercise pyramiding the weight up to then back down. I then go onto drop sets and super-sets. I train chest and arms on Mon., legs on Wed., and back and shoulders on Fri. I have a very fast metabolism and have a heavy/low volume style of training. The only thing I change in my training pre-contest is that I decrease the rest time between sets and exercises.

I need to keep my calories very high in the off-season to maintain my weight and for energy for my workouts. I will eat 6-7 meals in the off-season consisting of four whole food meals and 2-3 meal replacement shakes. All of the meals are high in protein, but I do not live off of chicken or rice in the off-season. I eat a lot of cereal with whey protein, sandwiches, eggs and toast, oatmeal, and will try to eat fast food to keep my weight up. It took me a while to realize that I was training so hard and my metabolism was so high that I could not eat super clean year round to make gains. Pre-contest for me starts 4-8 weeks before a show. I will obviously cut out fast food and will cut carbs. Two weeks before a show I will eat meals consisting of chicken, tuna, yams, brown rice, broccoli, egg whites, red meat, and oatmeal. Cardiovascular exercise consists of the treadmill for me at various speeds, inclines, and time durations. Cardio is done 4 days a week on an empty stomach in the morning. I am very active when I am not competing and like to go for walks, rollerblade, swim, hike, and am willing to play any sport.

I am most proud of the fact that I built my physique through hard work, research, trial and error, and persistence and not by the use of steroids. Even though bodybuilding and fitness is a big part of my life, it is just that a "part" of my life. It is more important to me to be well rounded and to have every aspect of my life "fit" or healthy. I received a bachelor's degree in physical education and business management at Suny Cortland and maintained a 3.5 grade point average. I would eventually like to train more people independently and help people get ready for bodybuilding or figure competitions. I enjoy teaching beginners in the sport of bodybuilding how to eat correctly and train properly to get ready for a show.

If you don't see me in the gym or eating there are a lot of other things you might see me doing. I have an interest in business and economics. I am always thinking about how a business works and what would make a business better. I enjoy reading. I don't sit down to read a book, because I often do not have the time, but I am always reading articles just about anything. I love to go out to eat and watch movies, especially during the winter months. I am a people person who loves meeting new people and hanging out with friends. I also am willing to try anything and am open to trying new things to help me grow as a person.

My goals in bodybuilding include improving my physique year by year and winning an overall at a show. I have competed in six bodybuilding shows. I am undefeated in the heavyweight class in the three USBF shows I have competed in. I also compete in powerlifting in the USAPL federation. Power lifting has built my foundation for bodybuilding. My best lifts in competition are a 585lb squat, 440lb bench, and 660lb dead lift. I am looking to improve my overall conditioning and muscle balance from top to bottom, front to back on the day of the show and for photo shoots.

I met with John Mitchell a week after the NPC Ironman show in Syracuse, NY in 2005. I just want to thank him for opening a door for me and sparking in interest for me to pursue fitness modeling. John has a lot of energy and is very driven. He has a passion for photography and is a professional. I did not know what to expect since I had no modeling experience when I met with him. He made me feel comfortable right away and he knew what to say and do to get amazing shots. Through out the entire day we had a great time. It was a long day of flexing and posing, but John made it fun and enjoyable. He seems to be in tune with you and understands a great deal about fitness and what it takes for bodybuilders and fitness models to get in shape for a shoot. He is a good motivator and pushes you to be the best that you can be. John is a straight shooter and will be honest in giving you constructive criticism only to help you improve. John is right in saying that "everyone involved in fitness is a work in progress" and he is willing to give his all in helping you progress and achieve your goals. I have worked with John Mitchell four times and each time was a great experience. Thanks John.