Don't give up, trust the process, says famous bodybuilder

Acclaimed bodybuilder Shams Fayyaz, an expat from Pakistan who grew up in Oman, has called on everyone interested in the sport not to give up and trust the process.
Speaking to the T-Weekly, he said, “It’s hard, it’s definitely tough. It’s not like you can go to the gym and do a couple of sets of this, a couple of sets of that. No, you have to plan it out. You have to break it down to the micro level. You have to look at every single thing, your workouts, making sure you do cardio, and your diet — all these things count. Just get into it, don’t think about it, trust the process and you’ll get there.”
Fayyaz was in Oman after coming second at the King Kong Classic bodybuilding competition in Toronto, Canada. It was his first time competing in an event, marking a high-point in a career that began in Muscat and saw him earn acclaim across the Atlantic. After all, his passion for fitness began right here in the Sultanate.
“I grew up here in Oman. I came here when I was in Grade 6. I graduated from Knowledge International School. Then I moved to Toronto, Canada, to study Civil Engineering at Seneca College. Hopefully, I will be done next semester in April. I started working out by the age of 15, not at the gym, just at home. I was a fat kid. I could not get a gym membership due to my age, so I just started at home."
“And at 16, when I joined the gym, there was this passion in me. I used to look at fitness magazines and photos and think, ‘I wanna be like him’, I wanna be like this guy’."
His decision to compete as a bodybuilder came later, in early 2018. “In September, I started preparing for the show. I didn't work out the whole of 2017. I got stuck with work, college, and everything else. I gained weight again. I was over 200 pounds last year. When this year started, I told myself, my New Year’s resolution was to get back at it."
“So I started my journey in September. It was a tough journey but I got there. I didn’t know that I would make it to the top five or the top three. But I told myself, ‘I just want to do this and will see how it goes’. I was just doing it for the experience.”
Fayyaz had to overcome a string of challenges to prepare for the show during an eight-week preparation period. From diets to self-doubt, he was constantly confronted with challenges standing in the way of achieving his goal.
“During prep, I would feel, ‘Is it worth it, I’m putting a lot of effort into this, I am putting a lot of my money into this, should I continue doing this?’ But it was worth it by the end. When I was on stage, it was an amazing experience. It taught me that you have to trust the process and you have to keep going no matter what and never give up," he said.
“My routine was mainly the diet and workouts. I was working out five times a week and my diet was low carb, high protein. My prep was eight weeks long. I had six meals a day. I also had to look at my sleeping patterns and make sure I was sleeping on time, waking up on time. Even if I did not feel like it, I had to get my workouts done."
“The last few weeks were pretty tough because I had to slowly cut down on sugar. I could not have any sugar at all, even artificial sweeteners. Basically, whatever tastes good, is bad for you,” he laughed.
But like any challenging experience, Fayyaz had plenty of motivation to keep him going. “A lot of people motivated me. First of all, I had a coach who was constantly checking on me. My friends and family also supported me. The biggest motivation was when I saw progress. In the last few weeks, I saw changes in my body every single day. I would look into the mirror and think, ‘Wow, I have got to keep doing this’."
“I was also motivated when I had a dream. I wanted to be on stage. Listening to motivational quotes also kept me going. Whenever I work out, I don’t listen to music, I listen to motivational quotes.”
His workouts, diet, support and dream culminated in a powerful experience when he accomplished his goal of taking the stage by storm and placing second overall. “Appearing on stage was one of the best experiences and this is just the beginning. I’ve qualified for the Natural Canada IFBB Pro Qualifier next year, so I will be prepping for that. For the last competition, during prep, I lost a lot of strength. So hopefully this time, I will work on gaining that muscle back. I plan to start in the off-season, four or five months before and hit it hard Inshallah.”
With Fayyaz’s career going from strength to strength, there will no doubt be plenty of people right here in Oman rooting for him to succeed. -ismaeldavid@timesofoman.com