<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=044CjL_0vE7v2nI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=044CjL_0vE7v2nI00" width="650" height="487" ><figcaption>Mason Wassink competed at the National Physique Committee Kalamazoo National Qualifier Bodybuilding Championships on Aug. 17, 2024.&nbsp; (Submitted photos/Lori Davis) </figcaption></figure> A 19-year-old&nbsp;Wellston man competed in the <a href="http://michigannpc.org/" rel="nofollow"> National Physique Committee Kalamazoo National Qualifier Bodybuilding Championships </a> and walked away with three accolades. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/masonwassink/" rel="nofollow"> Mason&nbsp;Wassink </a> competed on Aug. 17 in Kalamazoo. He had 17 weeks of preparation work leading up to the event. Wassink's advice for bodybuilding <blockquote> My advice is you really have to want it. </blockquote> Bodybuilding is a day-in, day-out lifestyle that brings lots of discipline and sacrifice. If you want to be the best, you have to set yourself apart from people that won't help you toward your goals. At the end of the day, you might question why I love this so much with all of the discipline and "no fun" or anything like that — it's the journey of doing what everyone else can't and won't do, which brings it back to: how bad do you want it? You have to live for the moment and really love the sport for what it is and stay consistent through the stresses, the heartbreaks, the hard days, the tears. At the end of the day, you just need to stay with (it) and and pride yourself on being the hardest worker in the room at all times. “In my main class, which was men’s physique, I placed overall — which qualified me for national shows and overall is where you win the entire show for that class,” he said. Wassink also placed first in men's physique Open Class B and second in men's classic Open Class B. “That one was pretty big seeing as how it was the most stacked class at that show, that was the most stacked up division there was for the classic,”&nbsp;Wassink said of the men's classic Open Class B. “Placing second for that was pretty huge seeing how I gave up about 30 pounds to my weight cap and was easily the youngest person —&nbsp;easily by about 20-ish years compared to all the others.” Those wins qualify him for national bodybuilding shows; he has a year to prepare before going against the others who qualified. Wassink gives a lot of credit to his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nick.piombino/" rel="nofollow"> coach Nick Piombino, who is based in New Jersey </a> . “We’ve been working together for a little over a year now and what we’ve been able to do in our first offseason was pretty crazy. We packed on about 18 pounds of lean muscle tissue in that time period. And that was after him seeing how my body responds to everything and seeing how my body responds to all the food and gauging it,” he said. Now that the two have laid the groundwork and have a more solid understanding of how to get Wassink in peak condition, he said “next year is going to be pretty crazy for what we’re going to be able to accomplish.” He hopes to step on the national stage in <a href="https://www.bevfrancis.com/npcnortheast/npc-universe/" rel="nofollow"> July at the NPC Universe competition in New Jersey </a> . Wassink celebrated his qualifier accomplishment with ribeye steak, shrimp and Crumbl cookies. Then it was right back to work with his regimented eating, offseason plans and his ambitions to become a professional bodybuilder. America’s Fitness Center in&nbsp;Manistee is where Wassink regularly trains.&nbsp;Occasionally, he travels to Kalamazoo to train. His placement at the national show next year would determine if he can progress to the next level. “The placement pretty much will get you your pro card which now means you can start competing against pro-level people which will qualify you for like the Olympia and big leagues and where you can start going to competitions that win you cash and get you sponsors and just get you out there more,”&nbsp;Wassink said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=27TiHb_0vE7v2nI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=27TiHb_0vE7v2nI00" width="650" height="974" ><figcaption>Mason Wassink, of&nbsp;Wellston, competed at the National Physique Committee Kalamazoo National Qualifier Bodybuilding Championships on Aug. 17, 2024. He&nbsp;placed first in Men's Physique Open Class B, took the Overall Win in Men's Physique and placed second In Men's Classic Open Class B. (Submitted photo/Lori Davis) </figcaption></figure><h2 class="cci_subhead" title="CCI Subhead"><a class="chapter-anchor" id="whatittakes_1724870413128" tabindex="0"></a> What it takes </h2> Wassink is originally from Plainwell in Allegan County where he has a number of supporters. <blockquote> “They all seen my come up and where I’m at, everyone’s always cheering me on,” he said. “My whole family, I strive to make them proud.” </blockquote> He also focuses on trying to make his coach proud. “I give him pretty much everything that I have and being under their team, I like to hold myself to a higher standard as a lot of the pros and I couldn’t be more proud to represent them,” Wassink said. When he speaks about his accomplishments at Kalamazoo, he uses the term “we” to show the team effort between Wassink and Piombino. He looked back at the wins from this year, his early start being a young competitor and said he thinks that he will be that much closer to gaining his "pro card" next year. Wassink explains that while the phrase “offseason” might sound like it is the time when&nbsp;Wassink can relax his training efforts, it is not. The offseason is when bodybuilders are focusing efforts on building up muscle and eating more food. After that is the prep period when they are directly working toward getting leaner and in “contest shape.” In the offseason Wassink is building his body up, and then the weeks of prep season he becomes more rigid with the types of eating and his training, while getting leaner. “You build all that extra tissue onto your frame and then when prep comes along you’ve hopefully gained a lot more muscle tissue and you’ll be bigger and leaner. It’s just a constant build every year,” Wassink said. “A lot of people think you do the show and that’s it, and there’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes.” When asked about the skills and steps he takes during his prep season, he acknowledges Piombino’s coaching. “I just get the plan and do the work, … I give all my credit really to my coach,” he said. “You start off, you get&nbsp; your maintenance and want to lose off your body fat slowly just so you’re not losing your size and muscles. And then going from each week to week, you’re dropping food and dropping your carbs, increasing cardio, not getting as many free meals and just staying as dialed in as it gets.” He said during his qualifier competition preparations he followed all the planned meals. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=400Wzi_0vE7v2nI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=400Wzi_0vE7v2nI00" width="650" height="974" ><figcaption>Mason Wassink competed at the National Physique Committee Kalamazoo National Qualifier Bodybuilding Championships on Aug. 17, 2024.&nbsp; (Submitted photo/Lori Davis) </figcaption></figure><h2 class="cci_subhead" title="CCI Subhead"><a class="chapter-anchor" id="loveofthesport_1724870405858" tabindex="0"></a> Love of the sport </h2> Wassink has been bodybuilding for about eight years and about half of that time has been doing it for sport. “I was modeling and acting at the time. I had just got into lifting and modeling came along and then after a couple years of modeling I started getting more into the gym,” he said of his bodybuilding origins. Then he fell in love with bodybuilding. “After that I just never looked back and kept at it,” he said. “Eventually I met my coach now and (was) able to afford coaching by a professional and being under the crew, I want to take that to the level I can get to, I think it’s going to be very beneficial.” Anyone who competes in bodybuilding has the ability to shape their level of accomplishment, he said. “Your placing results in the work you put in during your offseason. The way I look at it is if you slack off one day, miss one meal, miss one workout, don't push yourself because you're&nbsp;just not feeling it — the person on stage next to you who didn't take shortcuts will 100% of the time do better,” he said in a text message. To&nbsp;Wassink, that means he wants to be the top pick for his division, best conditioned and the best on stage. “That moment on stage is all that work you put into it. All the weeks of dedication, no weeks of dedication, no&nbsp;cardio sessions missed,” he said. “That’s why I love it, it’s all on you to put in the work and if you come up short, you can look back and the proof is in the pudding when you’re on stage.” <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=17W511_0vE7v2nI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=17W511_0vE7v2nI00" width="650" height="974" ><figcaption>Mason Wassink placed first in Men's Physique Open Class B, took the Overall Win in Men's Physique and placed second in Men's Classic Open Class B at the &nbsp;National Physique Committee Kalamazoo National Qualifier Bodybuilding Championships.&nbsp; (Submitted photo/Lori Davis) </figcaption></figure></div></body>

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Wellston man eyeing national bodybuilding after winning qualifier

A 19-year-old Wellston man competed in a national bodybuilding qualifier championship and walked away with three accolades.