Teen conquers fitness goal

Ethan Keller poses with the sword trophy he won at an OCB bodybuilding competition. Photos submitted

By Tom Victoria

Ethan Keller conquered fitness, beating much of the competition in his first bodybuilding event.

The Minnesota teen won a blade worthy of Conan the Barbarian to match his impressive physique.

“I competed in the classic division, where I placed second in Teen, fourth in Debut and fifth in Open,” he said. “I actually won this sword right next to me.”

Ethan isn’t resting on his laurels, though.

“It's a start,” he said. “Not in the near future, but I will be competing again. I don't want to stunt any growth that I can achieve by having to prepare months on end for another show.”

Ethan wanted to enter his first competition before turning 18.

“The competition was in September,” he said. “I had been training for about a year consistently, and I was like, I want to do a show before I turn 18. So I found the first show that fit in my timeline to be close to when I turn 18, but still a convenient time for me. I picked that one because the main sponsor of the show is my gym that I go to, so it was very easy for me to sign up and do that.”

Ethan stressed the training wasn’t a walk in the park.

“It's definitely one of the most difficult things I've ever done, especially because through the summer while I was dieting for it,” he said. “I worked at a restaurant where it has a lot of fried food and such. It's very hard not to eat it.”

Ethan relied on some expertise to end his training strong.

“I didn't have a coach until the last week and a half for peak week,” he said. “My friend from my school, her dad is a bodybuilder that went to Mr. Olympia in Tokyo, so he helped me with it and prepared me for peak week and what to do because I had no idea what to do.”

Ethan’s efforts paid dividends.

“It was pretty crazy,” he said. “The people I was going against, especially in my open class, there was everyone that I lost to was training for 20-plus years.”

Ethan also excels in academics.

“I'm touring colleges in Florida and in Massachusetts for either flight school or biomedical engineering and tech,” he said. “My dad was a pilot and I've always loved flying. And for biomedical, I was always really good at biology and I thought it would be a lot of fun to genetically modify cells or create prosthetics.”

Ethan plans to continue his fitness journey as well.

“It would be really nice to become a pro in the OCB (Organization of Competitive Bodies), a natural division,” he said. “And then if I feel there, I become enhanced and go transfer to the IFBB  (International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness). But if I would do that, I would first become pro in OCB or another natural division.”

Although it’s difficult to imagine now, Ethan wasn’t always fit.

“I've only been consistently going to the gym for about a year and a half before,” he said. “But I've been going to the gym since 8th grade and I've been going since 8th grade because I saw one of those David Laid edits and I wanted to be like him. I was bullied for being fat, so I wanted to start. Be a little bit better.”

Ethan went through phases before attaining his current fitness level.

“I went from fat to really skinny to now a little bit built,” he said.

By improving fitness, Ethan enhanced his approach to life overall, which others noticed.

“I wouldn't say that's solely due to going to the gym,” he said. “I'd say that's due to more of my change in outlook and attitude and confidence because I've become very charismatic. That's why I think people changed how they view me.”

Ethan credited fitness with leading to positive changes in his life.

“It helps your hormone balances, which helps your emotions,” he said. “It gives you more confidence in how you look. It really helps every aspect of your life.”

Ethan does more than work on strength.

“I also run track,” he said. “I do 400s and 800s. During our workouts, we do a lot of long runs. And actually on this Thanksgiving, I did a 5-mile turkey trot.”

Ethan adjusts his workouts to compensate for participating in disparate activities.

“I do powerlifting in the winter,” he said. “Last year, I went and bulked up for powerlifting and then when track came around, I injured my shins from running with so much extra weight. But to counterbalance that this year, I'm already heavier and able to run. I've been consistently running throughout, so I can maintain my running skills.”

Ethan is an ambassador for Rectify Nutrition.

“They actually reached out to me,” he said. “I was like, okay, yeah.”

Ethan isn’t shy about his religious beliefs, listing Bible scriptures on his social media.

“I'll always live out my faith,” he said.

Some folks don’t appreciate that faith, but Ethan isn’t fazed.

“I wouldn't necessarily say hate, but definitely some discrepancies,” he said about the feedback. “Just simply talked about it. And then every time, they've just stopped talking to me. I've sent a message responding to all of their stuff and then they either leave me unseen or leave me undelivered.”

As with other content creators, Ethan must contend with admirers of his physical attributes.

“I get a lot of interesting DMs,” he said. “I get consistently these five guys that respond to every single one of my stories. One of them was like, I don't normally do this, but I think you're really cute. And then sent a bunch of emojis and he's like 28. I don't respond to those messages. I also got a lot of really weird women that hit on me. I find it more amusing than anything else.”

Ethan has the makings of a Renaissance man.

“I obviously post a lot and do fitness, but I also have been getting into modeling, trying that,” he said. “I play two instruments. I play piano and guitar. I practice my singing. I do a bunch of other sports like rock climbing, skiing, all that kind of stuff. I volunteer at Feed My Starving Children packing meals.”

Ethan keeps pushing to work out even when he doesn’t feel like it.

“It's not motivation that keeps me going,” he said. “It's just discipline that I've built up. Because if you're just only go through motivation, you're gonna go for what, a month tops, and then just fall. So I've just built up the drive and discipline to keep going and pushing through it even on days that I don't want to, because I just want to become the best version of myself. And that happens by pushing through days I don't even want to do anything or go, because those are the days that you have to.”

Ethan said it’s crucial not to dwell on times there weren’t workouts.

“You can't fixate on the past or on your failures,” he said. “If you miss a day in the week, you can't fixate on that because five good days in a week are still a good week. And then three good weeks in a month is still a good month. Ten good months is still a good year.”

Ethan said motivation is the beginning.

“Motivation is more of the catalyst for whatever you do,” he said. “Discipline is what keeps you going because there's some days I don't want to go at all and I'm not motivated to, but I still do because I know I have to.”

Ethan dispensed advice to those wanting to start working out.

“Just get in the gym and try it,” he said. “Nobody's there to judge you or anything like that. Everyone is there to better themselves. And if you need help, just ask for it because everyone there will help you.”

Ethan was pleasantly surprised by his progress.

“I came in a lot leaner than I was thinking I was going to be able to because I failed on my diet a lot and didn't stick to it as vigorously as I should,” he said. “So I was very demotivated by that. But I came in real. I wasn't expecting to be able to see feathering on my quads.”

Ethan said anyone wanting to start training for a competition should take the plunge.

“It's a lot of hard work, but it is worth it at the end,” he said. “The reward to strive for something as difficult and as great as that is so great. And it's better than any instant gratification I've ever had. For a week after the competition, I just had a smile on my face and I was so happy.”

Ethan said new competitors shouldn’t fret about stage fright.

“The lights are bright and you can't see the people looking at you,” he said. “You're more focused on yourself.”

Ethan said practicing a posing routine is crucial.

“I practiced it a lot,” he said. “I just ran through it quite a few times just to the point where it was like a second nature and I knew what I was doing next.”

Ethan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethan_keller_7/