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Born: Durban, South Africa
Height: 6’ 2”
Citizenship: USA
Residence: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Owner: Strydom Professional Series, Inc. | Crazee Wear USA - Strydom Wear
Strydom Stats
20 Years on the Pro Bodybuilding Circuit
Bodybuilding Titles
1984 USA Champion 1st
1986 NPC Champion 1st
1986 Night of Champions 1st
1988 Mr. Olympia 5th
1989 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic 3rd
1989 Australian Grand Prix 1st
1989 French Grand Prix 1st
1989 Swedish Grand Prix 1st
1989 Spanish Grand Prix 1st
1991 WBF Champion 1st
1992 WBF Champion 1st
2006 Denver Pro-Am 7th
Gary Strydom’s leadership abilities began at boyhood in the country of his birth South Africa. Competitive by nature it was his inherent talent on the school sports fields that set him on the road to a lifelong career in competitive sport as well as instilling in him a competitive approach to life in general. Gary was always highly active in numerous school sports growing up, to the point that his parents developed concerns that his studies would be neglected, but their fears were ungrounded. Gary it seems was destined for a life full of competitive opportunities and he has always been quick to face the challenges and lead the way both in his bodybuilding and business ventures. Gary will be the first to admit that he is very at home in a competitive environment and finds comfort in life through competition and challenge. Gary recounts his school years, whether swimming, running track, playing rugby or soccer he always seemed to turn up as the leader, the Captain.
Things were no different when it came time for Gary to perform his mandatory two year service with the South African Army. He quickly advanced through the ranks from Private to Corporal and on to Sergeant, always leading his troops by example and constantly pushing the envelope by virtue of his natural ability to lead others. After finishing his two year service and at a point when most others left the army, relieved to have completed their national service, Gary opted to take up the challenge of a further two years with the army and qualified as a Radar Technician for the South African Army. It was this time spent with the army that Gary says strengthened his character and prepared him for some of the greatest tests that were still to face him in life.
Towards the end of his army service, he began weight training and reading about his idols in the magazine Muscle and Fitness. It seemed that all of the bodybuilders he read about lived in the USA and he decided that was where he needed to be as well. Gary remembers as if it were yesterday, seeing and reading about the legends of the time in the magazines. His hopes and dreams now were focused on seeing them in person and training beside them. Gary decided he had to go to the USA, become a bodybuilder and try his luck. When he explained his decision to his family, they thought he had lost his mind. His mother stated “You’ll be home when you’re hungry son.” She knew what kind of appetite he had! Gary’s mind was made up however, and determined to prove the sceptics wrong, he packed his bags and left South Africa, bound for New York with just $1000 and a plane ticket. He also carried a bonus ticket to any destination on the East Coast if so desired. Once on board the flight, it did not take the charming South African long to make friends and begin conducting some quick research on locations and destinations to help him along the way. As the plane took off, Gary Strydom, just twenty years old, was starting his epic journey to international success. However, while success was his end goal, his first priority was to decide if New York was to be his final stop or should he use the courtesy ticket and travel on. The decision was easy. Touching down in a snow-covered New York and having heard fellow passengers’ opinions on where to continue on to, Strydom decided Miami and its warm climate, much like South Africa’s, stood out above the others. With no idea what to expect, Gary carried on to Miami. With his only knowledge about Miami being gleaned from a travel brochure, he had a specific destination in mind once he arrived in Miami. However when the shaven headed South African asked his taxi driver in a dead pan accent to “take me to Liberty City” he was greeted with a startled reaction. The cab driver attempted to inform Gary that Liberty City was, and still is, one of the most dangerous parts of Miami but Gary insisted. After one night in a dingy rundown hotel, he made his way to a nearby diner for one of his high protein breakfasts only to find a popular southern food called “grits” not cream of wheat as he was used to back home. While Gary was eating, he again made friends with some locals and laid out his plans to take a Greyhound bus to California to find the bodybuilders he was looking to compete against. They informed him he was about go on more than one bus ride, but rather several and a long trip at that. With further consideration Gary made his decision to go further south to Key West and then on to California. He arrived in Key West on February 14, 1983, (a bad time for the average tourist), to find a much different culture of men than he was familiar with and one that in no way reflected his way of life back home or lifestyle. His first night in Key West was spent on a park bench due to all the hotels being booked for this very famous date in Key West culture. He managed to find a place to stay the following day and worked odd jobs over the next few months to get him started. He knows the difficulties of coming to USA with a dream in mind without the valuable support of family or friends to watch his back or offer their assistance. “It is hard to accommodate with family and resources much less without.” His experience left him with a true appreciation and a deep regard for what is happening now with legal and illegal immigrants. Gary remarks, “What I found is that People are People and they all need the basic comforts and necessities to survive.”
With a membership at a small gym in Key West and a job working with troubled kids (his first love) he slowly started to get busy and prepare to become one of the best bodybuilders of his time. He started competition with the Junior Florida in 1983 where he dazzled everyone with his first show on US soil. It was apparent to the crowd, the judges and the competition that they were witnessing the emergence of a star. In 1984, he again stunned everyone at the USA Championships by winning his weight class next to an impressive Jon Lloyd.
What came next is to Gary his greatest feat of all as he was approached by IFBB officials who told him that he would have to be an American citizen to continue to the Nationals that same year. Gary remembers asking the officials “What the difference USA or Nationals?” since he had just won the USA Championship without being a citizen, nevertheless it appeared he was blocked and how sad was that, Gary remembers. However, as the old saying goes, “you can’t hold a good man down”; and it held true as Gary was about to once again stun the bodybuilding world.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, knowing that the rules were made by the officials concerning citizenship, Gary would have to sit by and wait for the process of becoming a citizen to take place. In 1986 his attorneys delivered the news that while they would do all they could, they could make no guarantees to him. Ever the optimist, Gary prepared for the contest all the same in hopes that everything would work out to allow him to participate in the 1986 nationals. With the dark cloud of ineligibility hanging over his head, he continued training and dieting with the same commitment as if that cloud did not exist, a particularly mentally challenging situation for a bodybuilder. At almost the 11th hour, just a week before the 1986 Nationals in Atlanta Gary received his citizenship! He now realized that he would have to be more than ready as he would be going up against his magazine idols, names like Matt Mendanhall and Rory Leidermeyer. Despite the events and challenge leading up to the Nationals, Gary remained confident he had them beat. Having overcome all the hurdles placed in front of him, his gut instinct now told him that Atlanta would be his best day as an amateur. Sure enough, he was named victorious in Atlanta, giving him something he had dreamt of.... his IFBB Pro Card!
His career immediately launched into a massive series of magazine covers, worldwide guest appearances and a chance to stand next to Lee Haney in a photo shoot taken at Gold's gym in Los Angeles, California. Gary now realized that it would be a just a matter of time before he would have to take the stage in the Mr. Olympia. In 1987, he went to New York and was victorious in his first pro showing - The Night of Champions 1987 was now his title. The Night of Champions was one of many pro competitions that Gary would go on to win. In 1988, he made his Mr. Olympia debut, ripped to shreds and took a well-deserved fifth place. Over-dieted and knowing that he was not at his best [like in Denver 2006] he went on to mix it up at the 1989 Arnold Classic taking 3rd and followed that one week later with his second pro win, backing it up with three additional pro victories in Europe.
Gary Strydom had arrived and he was being closely watched as he advanced his career by someone with an eye for talent. Rumours began to circulate about a new federation in the works (much like the current PDI) with talk of Vince McMahon, the famous wrestling tycoon, venturing into bodybuilding and creating a new federation of superstars, with none other than Gary Strydom at the top of his list.
In 1990, Vince McMahon launched the magazine titled Bodybuilding Lifestyles followed by the WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation), a new bodybuilding federation with a focus on talent and entertainment. At the time Tom Platz, one of Gary's boyhood idols, was appointed the director of talent development for this new federation. Gary was approached by Tom, and shortly thereafter Vince McMahon signed Gary. It was in Gary’s mind the best business deal that would come his way in bodybuilding and he still beams when he speaks about this period of his life as he cherishes being the only WBF Champion in the history of bodybuilding.
When recently asked about this controversial decision Gary remarks “I have no regrets about making this business move. What would you do if a work opportunity was proposed to that would pay you 12 times as much money with one-tenth the workload. It was a three year deal with guarantees!” Bodybuilding had never seen that kind of money before. The wrestling czar Vince McMahon had made an offer to Gary that no bodybuilder would have refused, and Gary was the only bodybuilder offered the deal that he received. There are rumours of first class plane tickets and VIP treatment, all true according to Gary. “The athletes were well treated, well paid, and happy to have the opportunity and the exposure that Vince was able to give them.”
He remembers the great show they put on in Atlantic City, “You can’t touch this". Everyone that knew bodybuilding at that time remembers the show, it was that impressive, and Gary won both shows. The show in Atlantic City was Gary in his prime. People always reminisce about how they would have liked to see him and Haney on the same stage that year. In 1992, the WBF show in Long beach was devastated by an extremely poor showing by many of the Athletes due to strict drug testing. Gary still gave the crowd a great showing in Long Beach. He says, “If a deal that lucrative came along again, watch others do exactly the same.”
Gary still catches some flack for taking the WBF deal, but simply brushes it off as an opportunity of a lifetime that he alone was offered and took, and hopes that anyone offered a similar deal would be smart enough to take as well. So if there is any confusion about why Gary is back in the IFFB, Gary will be quick to tell you he is a professional bodybuilder and loves to be on stage entertain the fans and bring talent to the sport that is so much a part of his life and wherever the stage is, he is going.
Fans around the world were disappointed when in 1992 Gary announced his retirement to focus on his burgeoning Crazee-Wear clothing business. Many believed they had still not seen the best of Gary and that his exit was premature. But even though he was out of competition and off the stage, Gary was by no means finished with bodybuilding. In May 2006, at 46 years of age, Gary pulled off the finest move of his career to date – he made a mind-blowing comeback at the Denver Pro Am, stunning fans and media alike with probably his best form of his career and taking 7th place against guys some 20 years younger. Gary has reinvented himself unlike any other athlete in the sport of professional bodybuilding. How many generations of bodybuilders have come and gone since Gary turned pro in 1986? He has been pro now for 20 years and he actually looks better now than he did in his prime. Gary feels that bodybuilding has taken a down turn with athletes not considering lines and conditioning. "You cannot just pack on muscle. It has to be accommodated by what frame you have.” With his 6’ 2” frame, he has the height, the mass looks right on him and he continues to maintain his waistline, “Crazy Coconut” deltoids, and long thick quadriceps to help as well. “Its all about long muscle bellies, nobody looks like me up there," he continues “Look at the physiques on stage today (especially Denver) so many of them look the same. I am 46 years of age on stage with 26 year old athletes, how many other sports do you see athletes doing this?” and he is right. It is rare to find a comeback athlete that makes the type of international impact that Gary Strydom has made recently with his return to bodybuilding. What lies ahead? If Gary’s appetite for success and challenges is anything to go by, he’s only just starting a whole new chapter in one of the most illustrious bodybuilding careers ever. Gary ends by letting the reader know there are more surprises in store as his bio still holds more to come…..watch this space!
Three debuts in 2006
In the early part of 2006 I made my successful pro come back in Colorado and the Shawn Ray Pro-Am. Following that I was invited to guest pose at a show in Mexico. What came next is funny but unforgettable all the same. I returned to South Africa to guest pose for the SA Championships in front of my home crowd. Upon arrival following a thirty hour flight, and only 24 hours before the show, I was under immense pressure to prepare. I strive to always be at my best for the fans who come out to see me but not many people realise how difficult it is to travel so far, with only airline food for 30 hours (nothing to rave about at the best of times, and certainly not the calibre of food a bodybuilder needs to be his best), no sleep, dehydrating cabin air pressure and then to have to get up on stage the next day and present your best form! Wow! Not an easy call but I did it! Plus, in the rush to leave, I had forgotten my posing trunks in LA! However, after a couple of hours sleep and with a hurriedly purchased set of posing trunks I arrived at the SA’s….which to my surprise was held in a large tent on the beach. The sold out show was better than expected and I was honoured for my contributions to body building with an authentic hand carved African Shield.
My next move is even a bigger shock than the WBF buzz... At the 2006 Mr. Olympia Expo I announced and made public for the first time the Strydom Professional Series Supplement line. The range launches with no less than nine complete products formulated to affect every part of your workout and provide awesome results. The Expo was a great time for all that worked it with me and for fans alike.
Burn & Build
Fat Burner
Mass Builder
Anabolic Growth
Factor
Lean Muscle
Lean Protein
Powder
Boost
Testosterone
Boost
Testosterone
Levels
