Joel Stubbs

Full name: Joel Jehu Stubbs

Nickname: Big Joel

Date of birth: December 30, 1967

Height: 6’3”

Off-season weight: 325

Contest weight: 285

Current residence: Nassau, Bahamas

Years training: 20

Occupation: Commercial airline pilot

Marital status: Single

Children: Son Lincoln, 21 months

Hobbies: “Spending time with my baby boy and my two rottweilers, Hercules and Xena.”

How did you get into bodybuilding? “I was just like any other young guy. I wanted to beef up my chest and arms a little bit to impress the girls. I was very tall and skinny.”

Who inspired you when you were starting out? “My uncle John, whom people called Steel, was very muscular and could have been a good bodybuilder if he’d ever been interested in competing. He was always the strongest guy in the gym. I was also very much inspired by Arnold as a kid and, later on, Flex Wheeler and Ronnie Coleman.”

Top titles: ’99 and ’01 Bahamas Overall champion; ’03 IFBB Caribbean and Central American Championships, heavyweight and overall; ’07 Australian Grand Prix, seventh

Favorite bodypart to train: “It used to be back, but now it’s my legs. It’s fun to see how hard I can work them and how deeply I can stimulate the muscle fibers of my quads.”

Favorite exercise: None

Least favorite exercise: Cardio. “Mind-numbingly boring, but you have to do it to get in shape.”

Best bodypart: Back

Most challenging bodypart: Quads

Obstacles overcome: “In 1997 I tore both quadriceps muscles clean off the patellar tendons during a basketball game I was playing just a couple of hours after a heavy leg workout. Leg training has been a challenge ever since, and I’m constantly doing my best to bring my quads up to match the rest of my body. I’m grateful that people rave about my back, but I want to be known as a great bodybuilder, not just for a freaky bodypart.”

Do you have a quote or a philosophy you try to live by? “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

How do you stay motivated? “I know I haven’t fulfilled my total potential yet, and I won’t stop until I do. It doesn’t matter how old I am or how long I’ve been training. I know there are still improvements to be made.”

How would you describe your training style? “I train much smarter now than I did in my youth. Back then it was all about heavy, heavy weights and ego lifting. Over the years I learned how to foster the mind/muscle connection and really work the muscle instead of just lifting the weights.”

Training split: Sunday: off; Monday: quads, hams, calves; Tuesday: back; Wednesday: off; Thursday: shoulders; Friday: biceps, triceps, calves; Saturday: chest. Abs are done at the end of each bodypart.

Favorite clean meal: Steak, brown rice and steamed broccoli

Favorite cheat foods: Cheesecake and barbecue potato chips

What is your favorite supplement, and why? “I love Freak Fix whey protein by Muscle Asylum Project, both the vanilla and chocolate flavors. It tastes just like ice cream, and it provides my muscles with what they need to grow.”

Goals in the sport: “To be number one someday—simple as that.” IM