Dennis Wolf - Before he became, “Dennis WTF Wolf!”
Dennis Wolf: Before he became, "Dennis WTF Wolf!"
Today Dennis Wolf is a global bodybuilding superstar. This is the story of the Dennis who prevailed before fame came knocking.
It’s January 1990 and Dennis Wolf is 11 years old, standing outside a food shop in the small village of Topki, Siberia, with his parents. The temperature is sub-zero and squally snow showers make it seem even colder. Dennis is part of a long queue that has formed for the once a week delivery of essential food items. He’d been waiting for two hours, shuffling forward as each preceding customer is served. Today his parents’ priority is bread and milk. There are just four people in front of them when the storeowner signals there is nothing left and the door is locked. The line breaks up and the Wolfs’ go home to another hungry and cold (due to fuel shortages) night. Hungry like a wolf?
Dennis Wolf doesn’t dwell on, or have any sense of self-pity, about his earlier travails. Today he shrugs it off with the philosophy that you’ll learn is his blueprint of how to live life, “I’ve had many bad times in my life, but I know good times always follow.” Indeed, as is typical of his look-on-the-bright nature, he will be quick to tell you that his time queuing for food in Siberia, “Only” lasted for three years, from 1989 through 1992.
BACK IN THE USSR
Dennis Wolf was born on October 30, 1978 in Tokmak, which was then part of the Soviet Union, but is now in the republic of Kyrgyzstan, and is located only 200 miles west of the Chinese border. His mother and father worked full-time; his father employed as a glass blower in a factory. Finances were tight but Dennis and his younger brother didn’t know it, as there was, for the first ten years of our subject’s life, always food on the table.
Physical activity was his obsession. His father maybe had a premonition of what destiny had in store for his offspring, because when he was eight Wolf senior bought his cub a pair of light dumbbells. The youngster compiled a few exercise, added in push-ups and pull-ups, and suddenly he had a routine. He cut out magazine images of bodybuilding stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Platz but can’t really nail down his fascination for those icons: “I just liked the way they looked – so much muscle. They were so awesome.” However it was to be ten years before he went to a gym. Instead he became passionate about basketball and had hazy visions of playing in the NBA (as did another ten year old Phil Heath at that same time) and going to America.
The winters in Tomak could be brutal and the summer humidity was at times almost unbearable but he looks back almost fondly to that first decade of his existence. The fact that he was a citizen of the Soviet Union with its repressive practices, “Didn’t really register with me, I had my friends and enjoyed what we did.”
Then the roof fell in. In 1989 the Soviet bloc began to crumble, factories were closed, inflation skyrocketed, the economy crashed, and queuing for food became the norm. Having lost his job his father moved the family to Topki, but the hardships still endured, before in 1992 the Wolfs moved to Marl, Germany, where their family had originated. Life was better and as the family prospered the teenage Dennis took up Thai and Kick Boxing.
WOLF’S MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT
In early 1998 at age 19, the Siberian transplant decided to join the local gym. At a height of six feet he weighed 162 pounds, but had a broad shoulder structure and a small waist. A year later he had gained 36 pounds of muscle while still retaining a tight six-pack. “People would ask me how I did it, “ he recalls, “And I would tell them, I don’t know – I just do my routine and eat my meals.” Like was said earlier this guy doesn’t get bogged down with internal analysis, he just gets on with it.
With those 12 months of training under his belt he entered his first contest and won. In 2000 he was the fourth placed heavyweight at the International German Championships – an event open to competitors from other countries. Shortly after that he lost his job as a house painter and was at a low ebb, before he met his future wife Katja. “She turned it all around for me -- encouraged me to get back on track. We got married in Philadelphia in 2003 where I was doing a guest posing appearance.” Today he will tell you unbidden, “I’m a very happily married man. Katja gives me all the support I need and I’m proud she’s always by my side.
In 2004 the recent bridegroom was second heavyweight at the German International Championships and a year later was the overall champ at the same contest. He was under the impression that the result gave him an IFBB pro card, but the authorities said the rule had been changed and to join Jay Cutler and crew he would have to place in the top five at the 2005 Amateur World Championships. His reaction was, “Top five? Me? Are you crazy?”
But with that pragmatism that marks his nature he rationalized: “Well, all I can do is go in and do my best and then it’s in the hands of others.” The record book show that the hands of others were raised in affirmation that his “best” was good enough and Dennis Wolf was crowned overall 2005 Amateur World Champion.
When I first saw shots of Dennis (who I had not seen before) at the 2005 World Championships I was so impressed I organized for photographer Kevin Orton to go to Germany and shoot Dennis immediately, and thus I put the new world champ on the next available cover.
From that world amateur victory Dennis launched a glittering pro career which has seen him win six contests, including the 2014 Arnold Classic, and six top six Olympia spots; his highest being third in 2013). He is a regular figure on MD covers and is one of the most popular builders on the current scene, with one of the most spectacular physiques ever. He lives in Las Vegas and has a lifestyle the envy of most. But fame and its rewards have not gone to his head. He has not forgotten that hungry 11-year-old standing outside that Siberian food shop.
The Dennis Wolf I have come to know in the past near decade is an affable guy, friendly, ready-to-laugh with no prima-donna characteristics. His has not been an easy life. He’s lived the true meaning of being “Hungry like a wolf”. He’s travelled, geographically, socially, culturally, more than most. So don’t let his goodfella persona a fool you. At his core he is a man of steely determination driven by the quest to fulfill his dream. Jay Cutler says Dennis is the most dedicated bodybuilder he knows. In quiet moments the blond giant will tell you almost in a confidential tone, “I am the guy who came from nothing with nothing. From being born in central Asia, to living in Siberia, I’ve faced many obstacles. I’ve had so many bad times, but I also know that after bad times good times come. So I’m always optimistic and never give up. My parents had to fight for everything they had, and that ability to fight and not be sorry for yourself became part of me. I’m still fighting. My life experiences have given me toughness and a motivation, but also a sense of being realistic, and not getting carried away with myself. I get power from knowing what I’ve overcome and so know that nothing is impossible if you work hard for it. I want to be the best bodybuilder in the world, but if I can’t be that I want to be the best Dennis Wolf I can be.”