Strong has been training since a teenager, but the stage never interested him. Instead he chose personal training and becoming a reserve police officer as his occupations. It wasn't until last year that his friends finally convinced to him to enter the Orange County Classic.
"It wasn't what I thought it would be like at all. It was like a battle up there. I loved it."
He won the Light Heavyweight Class, but Strong knows he could have been better. "It was my first show and I over-dieted." Looking at him in the off-season, it's hard to imagine how he got his weight under 200 lbs. "You won't see me that small again," he says.
Strong expects to compete at 225-235 this year. "I really worked hard to bring my legs up this year, and they've really come up for me."
