Ron Harris was born in Framingham, Massachusetts on September 21, 1969, and
grew up in the Boston suburb of Waltham in a family of five brothers and two
sisters. Being shorter and less athletic than the other kids at school made him
start dreaming about being big and strong from an early age. Though he excelled
in academics and art, this was no solace when he was being picked on or beaten
by larger bullies. Finally, in his sophomore year of high school, he began to
train consistently at home and at the local Boy's Club. Ron was 5' 1" and a
whopping 95 pounds in the beginning.
It was in his first year of college at UC Santa Barbara that the bodybuilding
bug bit Ron with a passion after he read his first copy of Flex magazine. For
the next two years he became a devotee of HIT (High Intensity Training) as
espoused by Arthur Jones and Ellington Darden, and trained exclusively on
Nautilus machines. Ron returned to Boston after just one year in California to
attend Emerson College as a Mass Communications/Film major. In 1989 he entered
his first bodybuilding competition at the age of 19, the ANBC (drug-free for
life) Colonial Classic, at 5' 9" and 150 pounds. His failure to place did not
deter him, as he was now consumed with the desire to build the best physique
possible. Ron joined the World Gym in Newton, MA, and at last began to include
free weights in his training. In just three months, he competed again at 170 at
the ANBC Yankee Classic, and placed fifth in the teenage division. The
principles of proper diet and how to get lean were still unknown to him at this
point.
Shortly after this Ron met his future wife Janet while training her at the
European Health Spa. In January 1991, he made the move that changed his life and
instantly put him into the fitness industry as a member of the media. Ron moved
to Rosemead, California to work as an Associate Producer at American Sports
Network, the television production company responsible for the American Muscle
show on ESPN, as well as Musclemania and The Fitness America Pageant. The
company also produced home videos and commercials for companies such as Met-Rx,
Weider, Twinlab, and Valeo. Over nearly eight years, Ron had the opportunity to
work with the top stars in the bodybuilding and fitness world through most of
the 90's, including Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Flex Wheeler, Lee Labrada, Ronnie
Coleman, Skip LaCour, and others too numerous to mention. He also worked on the
ESPN productions of events such as the Mr. Olympia, Arnold Classic, and NPC USA
Championships, getting to know all the major players in the industry, as well as
being directly involved in many aspects of the promotion of the Musclemania and
Fitness America Pageant from 1991-1999. He owes ASN president Lou Zwick a debt
of gratitude for guiding him through the often perilous industry over the years
and allowing him to become established on his own merits.
It was during his tenure at American Sports Network that Ron began to branch out
from writing scripts for the TV shows and home videos and started submitting to
various physique publications. His first article appeared in the May 1992 issue
of Ironman, and he rapidly went on to write for Musclemag International, Muscle
and Fitness, Muscle Media 2000, Natural Physique, Exercise For Men Only,
Parrillo Performance Press, Hardgainer, Steele Jungle, American Health and
Fitness, Physical, and www.testosterone.net. Ron also completed six screenplays
and a novel while living in Los Angeles. His physique landed him spots as a
model in several magazines and clothing catalogues, and he acted in five
commercials for Valeo weight belts and nutrition bars.
By 1998, Ron had decided to make a go of being a full-time writer. Since the
work was sporadic and he now had his daughter Marisa, born in April of 1994, he
became certified and went to work as an independent personal trainer for Buff T.
Fitness in Pasadena. Over eighteen months, he worked with a diverse range of
clientele that included high school athletes, actors, doctors, lawyers,
70-year-olds with hip replacements, a 400-pound woman for whom drastic weight
loss was literally a matter of life and death, even an executive who had once
been an Olympic swimmer. Dealing with each on an individual basis gave Ron
insight into the most effective methods of training and nutrition for virtually
any type of person. He also trained his wife for two transformation contests,
bringing her bodyfat down from 25% to 10 % and earning her cash and prizes both
times.
In 1999, Janet gave birth to their son Christian, and it became clear that it
was time to go home to their families so that their children could grow up with
them. In 2000, they sold their home in Covina and returned to Boston. Ron is
currently a full-time writer for physique publications while working on his
second book, a collection of short horror stories. He still trains as hard as
ever, staying at 220 pounds at roughly seven percent bodyfat most of the year.
Ron competed in twelve contests between 1989 and 1997, winning the
Superheavyweight class at the 1995 Muscle Beach Venice show on Memorial Day, and
collecting more second-place trophies than he cares to recall. Though his
family, his writing, and this website are his priorities now, there is no doubt
he will enter a bodybuilding contest again someday. As Ron's favorite physique
photographer, Mike Neveaux of Ironman magazine says, "bodybuilders never really
retire - they just go away for a while." In the meantime, he strives to share
what he has learned about the fine art of bodybuilding with the world. |
|
|
