Man of Steel
Rider grad student wins bodybuilding title, turns pro

By Leo D. Rommel

Statistics are always a reliable method of persuasion, so here are the numbers: six first-place finishes, two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes.

According to an article published in the November issue of Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness, those are the numbers of Shaun Clarida, a Rider alum and graduate student and an Open Men’s bantamweight, who capped off an extraordinary string of bodybuilding supremacy by winning the International Natural Bodybuilding Federation (INBF) Northeast America Show last April 22 in Nutley, N.J.

In the largest running in the event’s history, Clarida was awarded the Best Poser of the Show honor for his “zinged quads, shredded abs, popping biceps and bulging pectorals.”

“This sport is something I love and will continue to strive to always do my best at for years to come,” said Clarida. “I look to do this for as long as I can.”

Clarida, 24, won the competition by winning two events: first, an eight-man contest in his own weight class; secondly, he beat the winners of the lightweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight classes in the final premier event. As a result, Clarida was awarded a World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) Natural Professional Card, which allows him to compete on a professional level for profit.

Clarida’s accomplishments are more exceptional when you take into account that he’s only 5’3” and 140 pounds. He has only 4 percent body fat, and he began weight training in January 2005. Five months later, he appeared in his first show on May 14, a supernaturally short amount of time to collect so much muscle.

“The only thing I would like to stress is that I am 100 percent natural and have never nor will ever use any type of illegal drugs to enhance my body,” said Clarida.

Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness stated in its article that all contestants were drug screened via polygraph to ensure a strict seven-year drug-free requirement. Additionally, the overall winners, including Clarida, were urine-tested.

Clarida admits that he had an advantage when he originally began his training: He wrestled in high school for two years in the 103-pound weight class and two more years at Rider in the 125-pound weight class. A rigorous exercise curriculum was already an important asset in his life. What made him reach for more was a conversation in the Mauer gym with fellow bodybuilder Tom Garruca, a native of Ewing, NJ, who recommended to Clarida that his body would be ideal for bodybuilding.

“[Tom] told me that bodybuilding was a job, a lifestyle, a way of life,” said Clarida. “You choose this routine and stick by it no matter what.”

Since his breakthrough win at the Northeast America show, Clarida has received a sponsorship deal from Revolutionary Technology Nutrition, a nutritional supplement company, which pays for all of his shows as well as his needed supplements and apparel.

Clarida, a resident of Hackensack, NJ, has competed in other bodybuilding clubs such as the National Physique Committee Organization and was also featured in the August issue of Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness.

He is currently in the process of preparing for two upcoming shows, in particular one match in November that may determine a World Championship Title. In that match, Clarida will contend with several other men from all over the world.

“I still have a lot of work to do,” said Clarida. “I have to get my body fat down between 2 and 3 percent and I have to bulk up and add as much lean mass as possible.”

Clarida intends to make his pro debut in June.