A return to the world of body building has this Florence resident pumped.

Jeremy Bernhardt is no stranger to the rigors of brute strength, and how a commitment to achievement can lead to the top. As a wrestler for the Siuslaw Vikings in 2001, Bernhardt won the state 3A title in the 125-pound bracket.

After graduating that year, Bernhardt left the mats but remained in the weight room, where he began working toward another type of head-to-head competition that required strength and discipline:

Body building.

The following May, he won the Bantam Weight Division of the Oregon Ironman Competition in Lincoln City.

This past January, after nearly 10 years away from the bodybuilding world, Bernhardt found himself once again eating a dozen egg whites for breakfast, and limiting the rest of his seven-meals-a-day regime to cod and sweet potatoes.

“I moved back to Florence and returned to the gym,” recalls Bernhardt, who then laughs. “I saw Vicki (Combest) again, and she can be very persuasive!”

As a regular as Vic’s Power House, Bernhardt had sought the advice of Combest, owner of the gym and a successful bodybuilder herself, back when he first began competing.

“When she saw me back in the gym, she suggested I get back into competing again,” says Bernhardt. “Before I knew it, I was back at it full time again and preparing for a competition in Bend.”

This past May 8, Bernhardt won the Novice Men Lightweight Division title and headed back to familiar ground in Lincoln City a week later for the Oregon Ironman Competition — his first appearance in that event in almost a decade.

Once again, Bernhardt won the Open Men Bantam Weight title.

“That was pretty exciting,” Bernhardt said of the win. “I was going to end my season after that but Vicki said I should try the NPC Oregon State men’s bodybuilding competition in Portland.”

It meant two more months of egg whites, cod and sweet potatoes for Bernhardt, a self-confessed Arby’s fan.

For the complete article see the 07-28-2010 issue.

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