Don’t tell Dennis Lord he can’t do something. He will do it.
That can-do mentality has the Lamar Advertising sales manager looking and feeling better than he did 15 years ago even as he approaches his 50th birthday.
In the early 1990s, Lord was a competitive bodybuilder, peaking as Mr. Colorado in his weight division in 1995. With this history in hand, Lord’s wife of 10 years has often joked: “I want to meet that guy some day.”
Now, Lord replies, “OK, here’s that guy.”
Last year, Lord returned to the competitive bodybuilding stage, and now the 6-foot, 2-inch 49-year-old tips the scales at 206 pounds, his lightest weight since 1980. Lord is fresh off a fourth-place finish June 5 in the men’s master 40-plus age category of the Tulsa Natural Bodybuilding Classic.
The climb back to competitive bodybuilding began a few years ago when Opfer Communications held an exercise competition as an abdomen product promotion. Lord lost 40 pounds in 90 days to win the contest. “That kind of got the bug back,” he says.
After stepping back into the bodybuilding spotlight with two competitions last year, Lord now has 11 competitions to his name, mostly dating back to 1990–96.
On paper, the body he’s sculpted is 46 inches across the chest, 18 inches around each the calves, biceps and neck, and 33 inches at the waistline. “I hadn’t worn 33s in 30 years,” Lord says.
To maintain that physique, Lord meets with a group of guys daily – and early. The site is the James River Assembly of God fitness center, and the hour is 4 a.m. – 4:30 a.m. at the latest. The crew works out for about two hours, including 30 minutes of cardiovascular work.
Sounds like a military regimen, but it’s an organic hobby, growing out of a desire for health and wellness. Of course, accountability plays a big role.
“I may get up and have a headache, or I may be tired,” Lord says, “but I know at least one of them is going to be there.”
Lord has counted on Heavy Duty Rebuilder’s Supply owner Derek Day and James River Assembly Adult Ministries Pastor Brad Wicks the last year. It’s become somewhat of a mentorship with Lord providing the experience and direction, and Day and Wicks bringing the youth and motivation.
Other guys in the gym have taken notice, they say, and now there are seven in the group, including two school principals, a chaplain and a construction worker.
Wicks completed his first bodybuilding competition this month in Tulsa.
“I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about getting up there in a Speedo,” he jokes. “But in the environment, everybody else is dressed the same way, so it kind of feels normal.”
After the nerves settled, the 37-year-old finished fourth in the open division. “You’ve got to feel confident and act like you belong up there,” Wicks says.
Once on stage, Lord says the hardest part is posing. “It sounds so easy,” he says, before listing the 12 poses judges order up, each expected to be held for 30 to 60 seconds. “Try to stand up and squeeze one muscle group as hard as you can for 30 seconds. It will start cramping up. … Compound that by every muscle group in your body for 12 times. It is very strenuous.
“If you’re shaking, they know you haven’t prepared.”
Once the trophies are handed out and the lights go down, it’s back to the gym before dawn and observing a rigid diet of mostly chicken and vegetables and a lot of water.
Still, this gang doesn’t get too serious.
“It’s just a hobby,” says Wicks. “Some guys have golf and some guys have bowling. This is our deal.”
