Marc Lobliner Tiger on the Prowl!
Marc Lobliner
Tiger on the Prowl!
By Ron Harris
‘To be pretty much a weekend warrior and be able to stand next to these guys and not look out of place is a win for me.’ -Marc Lobliner
Pro cards for Masters have been an issue of contention in our sport since the NPC began awarding pro status for the over-40 crowd in the late 1990s. Now that there is a glut of men and women with IFBB Pro League cards in all divisions thanks to a plethora of contests doling them out, it’s common to see those who retire from competition, content to have achieved professional status and tack on “IFBB Pro” to their Instagram or Facebook profile name. I would certainly forgive Marc Lobliner had he done the same after winning the Masters USA in December of 2021. Few of us could keep up with this man’s daily schedule. He runs the online supplement retail powerhouse Tiger Fitness as well as MTS Nutrition, is a partner of both Ambrosia Nutraceuticals and Iron Addicts Gym, and the creator of the Outright Bar, sold everywhere from Walmart to GNC. Marc is also a devoted father of three young athletes and serves as strength coach for all their teams. Yet with all of that going on, this uber competitive man by nature still has his mind set on flexing with other 212 pros.
Target: The New York Pro
Marc was in his final stages of prep last year for both the Chicago Pro (where he is originally from) and the Tampa Pro, when he was diagnosed with skin cancer on his chest. “The surgery actually tightened up the skin on my lower pecs and made them look better,” he jokes. With 2022 a wash, Lobliner knew exactly which show he would instead choose to make his debut at, the New York Pro. “Jose Raymond is my coach and he’s over there on the East Coast,” he tells us. “Plus, our mutual friend Nate Telow is making his debut there in the 212, and my good friend Kerrith Bajjo, who is just phenomenal.” The May date fit well into his grueling traveling schedule, though I pointed out that Marc stays very close to contest condition year-round as it is. “For me it’s a matter of being very active and mobile, and I can’t eat that much crap because it doesn’t agree with my stomach. I could honestly be a better bodybuilder if I ate more.”
A Rare Case of Being Realistic
Marc gets about 45 minutes a day to train himself, and the rest is earmarked for work and family. He’s well aware that he will be up against other men who have the luxury of focusing 100 percent on training, eating, and sleeping. “To be pretty much a weekend warrior and be able to stand next to these guys and not look out of place is a win for me.” He shrugs off the haters online and on social media who insist he doesn’t belong up there with the “real” pros who live bodybuilding 24/7. “I tell them they’re probably right,” he says. “I’m still going to do my best, train my ass off, and have fun with it. I’m blessed to be able to do this.” Marc also echoes something I’ve heard many East Coast pros say over the years, that the New York Pro is his Olympia. “I know I’m not an Olympia-caliber competitor,” he states. “But I have so much respect for all the guys and I feel like if you earn your pro card, you really should use it at least once.”
Blessed to Be So Busy
Other bodybuilders would bitch and moan that their work obligations make it impossible to eat and train to their heart’s content, but Marc feels grateful to be in his situation, and not just because of the financial rewards. “Studies have shown that when people retire at 55 versus 65, they tend to die much sooner, and I don’t want to die!” This is where I challenged Marc, who has written in his MD column that pro bodybuilding is not necessarily a “healthy” undertaking. How can he reconcile that with his own desire to live a long and healthy life and be around to watch his kids grow up?
“I know my place in the bodybuilding hierarchy, and I’m also 42 years old,” he says. “Even if I took every PED in the world, I’d gain 2 pounds. I’m not going to pull off one of those transformations like you would see guys do when they went to Kuwait. And for me, competing isn’t paying my bills, it’s actually costing me money. There is no reason for me to taky any crazy risks with no reward. I just feel so blessed to have this opportunity to compete on a pro stage, and I am going to give it a shot while I still can.”
He also hopes others can have this level of self-awareness. “For those out there trying to turn pro, if you can’t do it on a ‘sane’ cycle of PEDs, you’re not going to be a good pro,” he says. “I know I could never stand next to Shaun Clarida and beat him no matter how many drugs I took. If you’ve been getting beat at the regional level for years and keep upping your doses because you think that’s the key, I urge you to step back and think about what you’re doing and where it’s leading you before it’s too late.”
The CEO at the New York Pro
I confess I am anxious to see Marc compete, and I will be on site at the New York Pro to cover the entire event. He is proof that our sport isn’t just for the genetic elite who forsake all other opportunities and obligations to be a competitor. He does it for the challenge and out of sheer love and passion for bodybuilding. In the end, I don’t even care how he places. Marc Lobliner is a winner, as we all can be if we live our lives to the fullest.
Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram
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