Dan said his hobby wasn’t shared by anyone he knew at school
A man unexpectedly achieved his dreams last month. Dan Burke, 32, from Old Swan, is the newly crowned winner of this year’s NABBA Mr Universe competition, held last month in October.
The event describes itself as the “pinnacle of the bodybuilding world” which “brings together elite athletes to compete for the most prestigious title in the sport”. Dan, who is also the owner of local personal training company Muscle Performance, has been training for this moment for years. He was inspired to take up this hobby when watching the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger both in bodybuilding competitions and films such as Conan the Barbarian.
Speaking to the ECHO, Dan said: ”It started obviously when I was young. My dad used to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger films. I loved it.
“They were good memories with my dad. I just started to think, oh, that’s what a man should look like! So I started training quite early, when I was about 14 or 15.”
Dan admitted his hobby wasn’t shared by anyone he knew at school, but he relished this. He said: “I think part of me really enjoyed that, I can’t lie.
“When everyone in school would be saying, can we play football in PE, I’d just say to the teachers, oh, do you mind if I just go to the gym?
“I went to Cardinal Heenan which had a really good gym at the time. I feel like it’s way more common now for 16 and 17 year-olds to be in the gym and smashing it, but at that time it was almost unheard of.
“I didn’t know anyone else who was going to the gym, so I quite liked that no-one else really had any muscles, if that makes sense. When I was getting them little compliments from having muscles, no one else was. It was my little thing.”
Dan was eventually noticed by the rugby team, who thought his strength could be useful. It was a chance encounter in a gym which then sparked its interest in bodybuilding.
He said: “I got into rugby and then through that I was going to the gym regularly. Then someone just spotted me and said, you should get into bodybuilding.
“I said, when’s the next show? This was when I was about 22. I did the show in St Helens and then the next year won a show in Miami. It just kept going and after that.”
Dan was fairly confident as he headed to the show, but he still wasn’t sure that he would win. He said: “You obviously feel a bit confident when you go down, but bodybuilding’s so subjective that you can’t really say, yeah, I’m going to win.
“If you knew you were the fastest person in the world, you know you’re going to win the race. But bodybuilding is so subjective. The judges might like a smaller, more ripped guy or a bigger, more muscly guy.
“You don’t really know what the judge is going to pick on the day, so you’ve got to come in as good as you can and just hope for the best.”
Thankfully for Dan, the show focussed on the “classic bodybuilding” of the 1970s and Schwarzenegger, which he prefers.
Talking through the moment he won, Dan said: “You can see on my face – I’m thinking, what is going on?
“I’m in a bit of a daze. But I always try and think to myself when I’m on stage, try to be present and enjoy the moment because it doesn’t last that long.
“Someone threw up him a Union Jack flag when I won. That was a nice touch side, the Union Jack flag on. But half of me was wishing it was a Liverpool flag.”
Dan got £1,000 for winning and is now a professional bodybuilder. He ended up coming third in his third competition, which was held shortly afterwards.
Dan is keen to continue his personal training business and showcase what it’s actually like being a bodybuilder. He said: “Don’t be a person who’s just a little gym head and doesn’t do anything else.
“I went to Budapest three weeks ago while I was still on prep. You can still travel and enjoy yourself. I like being with my family and friends. You don’t have to live this isolated life to be a bodybuilder. It shows in your body when you’re enjoying your life.”
