Cody Montgomery: Well I was given a pair of Big Back Grips by a buddy of mine that was kind of helping me with my training and what not. I was having trouble with my straps on deadlifts or rows I think. I used the lifting grips really liked them. Then I decided I should email you guys, since I liked the grips and also was looking for sponsorships. I talked to Larry, the owner of Big Back Grips, and he invited me and my mom out to LA so I could work at the Big Back Grips booth at a show at Muscle Beach Venice. Ever since then Larry and I have kept in contact and I’ve done a few demo booths at local shops in the Dallas area and also just recently helped work the demo booth at the Branch Warren Classic in Houston.
BBG: That’s pretty much we remember it too. Okay, so, tell us a little about yourself: your name, background, where you grew up, etc. What do you want to do professionally? A mini-bio, if you will.
Cody Montgomery: I’m an NPC teen bodybuilder. I’m currently 16. I was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and we shortly after that we moved to Texas. I have been training for bodybuilding around 2 years now. But I’d been messing around with weights closer for closer to 4 years. My goal is to become an IFBB Pro and be successful not only in the competitive side of bodybuilding but also the business side of it.
BBG: Now, we keep forgetting that you’re 16 years old. And you have a few pretty impressive titles. What contests have you entered? Which ones have you won?
Cody Montgomery: I’ve done the Europa Dallas Supershow, in which I won the teen overall. This was my first competition and after this show I knew this was something I wanted to do for a long time. Then recently this year I did my second show, The Ronnie Coleman Classic, which was actually the biggest show Texas has had. I won the Teen Overall and also I won the Novice Men’s Middleweight. I started working with Jonathan Irizarry for this show and the prep went awesome, hoping to do great things with him on my team.
BBG: The Europa was your first contest and you won. That’s pretty good. When was the contest, and how far in advance did you decide to enter – how long was your prep time? Was it a tough decision?
Cody Montgomery: It was mid-August in 2010. I had just turned 16, seven days before the show actually. I started getting ready for this competition about 6 weeks out. Not really knowing too much of what to do, I came in fairly well considering I was doing the whole prep blind eyed with no one person helping me out the entire time. It was a good teen show, but felt I had the best package, showing conditioning and some size that helped me pull away the victory at this show.
BBG: What were your expectations going in? Did you expect to win? How did you feel when the announced the winner?
