SEOUL, South Korea -
MAJ. Danny Kang, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District Plans and Operations Officer, took home the overall championship in the Men’s Classic Physique at the 2018 Washington State Open Bodybuilding Championships – National Physique Committee (NPC) National Qualifier on Aug. 4, 2018 in Auburn, Washington.
Kang competed in eight different divisions and also took home two 1st place, four 2nd place, one 5th place and one 7th place awards.
During his childhood, Kang was competitive in martial arts and also won many championships, but they didn’t mean much to him. He always preferred weight training and started lifting weights in junior high school, and was a huge fan of the top bodybuilders.
Kang describes his lifestyle as spartan or as ground hog day, every day. He wakes up at 4:15 a.m. and begins his training by 5:10 a.m. with his training partner David Jones aka ‘Big Oklahoma.’ He describes his training sessions as, “a spiritual connection between me and the weights and individual.” Kang trains 365 days a year and doesn’t adjust for anything or anyone.
“No one misses you at 5 a.m. and training at that time allows me to focus with no distractions,” Kang stated.
Kang is coached by professional bodybuilder Derek Aparis out of Federal Way, WA., and checks in with him daily.
Kang stays on a particular diet all year but four months prior to the competition, he put himself on an 18 week prep diet consisting of only lean beef, chicken breast, white fish or pink salmon, broccoli, asparagus and red potato.
“It’s easy to get in shape to go to the beach or fit into that nice shirt,” said Kang. “However, if you’re competing with the best Washington state has to offer, a strict diet and training plan is must. Once you go on stage under those bright lights, people can tell if you truly stuck to your diet and trained hard.”
He is now qualified to compete at the national level and plans to do so next year, if it doesn’t conflict with his commitments to the Army.
**Maj. Kang would like to thank the Far East District Commander COL. Theresa Schlosser, for supporting him and allowing him to travel from Korea to compete. He would also like to thank his coach and mentor IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Derek Aparis, his brothers Jonathan and Joey Gallardo, Team Aparis, his wife and son; Alyssa and Jayden and his training partner David Jones aka Big Oklahoma for helping him train.