Xavisus Gayden

He goes by “Xa,” short for Xavisus. Short, however, is not the list of what this 30-year-old does: United States marine, bodybuilder, music producer, model and single father of two little girls. On BodySpace you will find him as “HeatRock29,” the nickname his buddies gave him because he had a recording studio called HeatRock in Twentynine Palms, home of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Command Center.

Born in Houston, Xa has been a marine for 11-plus years and has seen duty in Iraq, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Okinawa and mainland Japan. He also served aboard the USS Rushmore, which transports Marine Corps hovercraft. A champion basketball player on base, he’s also a champion in every sport he plays, including football and rugby. And now he’s moving ahead as a champion bodybuilder, placing in a number of shows despite discovering bodybuilding only last year.

Suffering from chronic migraines during his tour in Iraq, Xa found that lifting in the gym helped control them. He kept lifting on his return to the United States, when a trainer told him he should give competing a try and helped him refine his lifting and diet. It was in Iraq that Xa found BodyBuilding.com—when he saw all the boxes coming in for other marines. On BodyBuilding.com he found BodySpace, which he calls a “community reaching for the same goals you are.” He says he really likes the innovations on BodySpace, like the workout plans, but most of all he likes the inspiration he finds there.

How Xa finds the time for everything he does while being a full-time single father is really impressive. He manages to work out daily, sometimes twice or three times, doing double- or triple-split routines. In the mornings he cooks up his five to six meals for the day, mostly chicken, beef, tuna, brown rice, oats and egg whites. And he always stays lean, currently at 6’1” and 205 pounds.

Xa is planning on eventually pursuing a career in music producing, having deejayed base concerts, having owned his own studio and having been in MTV Source. Even so, he remains Staff Sergeant Xavisus Gayden, marine career counselor, and very proud of it. In the bodybuilding world he is looking to doing some more shows in 2010 and putting on some more size, always trying to look his best.

Editor’s note: For more BodySpace bodies and info, visit Bodybuilding.com.