Andy Kalinowski: Central MA’s Natural Bodybuilding Pro
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Worcester's Andy Kalinowski has made a name for himself on the natural bodybuilding circuit.
The 23-year old Shrewsbury native commutes every day to Boston to work for Deloitte and Touche, one of the largest financial consulting firms in the country. When he's not working to make it in the pressure packed public accounting industry, Kalinowski is hitting the gym hard and fueling his body to be a champion.
"When I first started working at Deloitte, people thought I was crazy because I was always eating," Kalinowski said. "They were like 'Who is this guy?' I was bringing eight different pre-packaged meals to keep my metabolism going all day. It was a little strange to them."
Kalinowski is now a professional bodybuilder with the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) after winning his pro card at the INBF Natural Connecticut middleweight and overall tittle. But, the former Shrewsbury High student didn't always dream of being a bodybuilder.
"I played football my first two years of high school," Kalinowski said. "But I blew out my knee my freshman year, tearing both my ACL and MCL returning a kick. I came back to play as a sophomore, but it just wasn't the same. I always had that fear of re-injuring myself like that."
So, Kalinowski took up rowing to stay in shape. He always trained and kept the desire to do something physical while in college at UMass-Amherst where he earned his degree in accounting. Then, one day working out in 2009 at the World's Gym in Shrewsbury, Kalinowski made a connection that would change his life forever.
"I was doing squats and Nancy Andrews, who is a fixture in natural bodybuilding and a three or four time world champion came up to me," Kalinowski said. "She said that I had great calves, and that's a very genetic thing, and she thought I may have the genes to be a good natural bodybuilder."
Since then, Kalinowski has been working to make it on the natural bodybuilding circuit.
"A year later I entered my first competition at the INBF Northeast Classic. I competed as a novice, and won both the middleweight and overall," Kalinowski said. "It was overwhelming, because I hadn't even really thought about placing, let alone winning."
"It was devastating to come so close, but it really lit my fire," Kalinowski. "So I figured that I had trained so hard and I should try again right away. I signed up for the Connecticut show the very next week, and was able to win my pro card there."
Natural bodybuilding is something Kalinowski firmly believes in, and is the inspiration for brand "Righteous Muscle." Kalinowski's website focuses on working out the right way, and staying away from substances like anabolic steroids and testosterone boosters. To him, the risk and dishonesty of using those products are just too much.
"When kids look at fitness magazines and pictures, they don't realize that the models they're looking at are probably on a variety of illegal substances," Kalinowski said. "To me, that's just dishonest. Also, why would I work so hard to look good if something I'm putting in my body can lead to health problems down the road?"
Next up for Andy is some time off to prepare for a busy 2013. The natural bodybuilder is looking to gain weight during his off-season and show up to competitions about 15 to 20 pounds heavier when he returns.
"In my first competition as a pro I finished fourth (At the WNBF Pro American)," Kalinowski said. "Most of the guys there had about 15 more pounds of muscle than me, but my endurance and definition were able to keep me in. Now I'm really trying to gain mass and take advantage of the rest of my anabolic prime."
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