The Natural

Saxist Ben Luco Combines Natural Talent In Music, Body Building Arenas

by

Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

       When it comes to playing funky jazz or performing in a theater production or placing in an all-natural body building competition, Ben Luco is quite simply... a natural.

The 28-year-old Sacramento saxophonist competed in the Capital City Natural Body Building Championships on July 9, taking Fourth Place in the Men's Novice Heavyweight category. Weighing in at a solid 190 lbs., this was his first body building competition. (See  www.californianaturalmuscle.org )

"I thought I did well," Luco said. "I think Fourth Place is a very good position to be because some of the other, more experienced trainers and pro body builders said that I looked better than they did when they first started their body building careers."

Luco's impressive physique is a well-recognized trademark of sorts to jazz buffs around the Sacramento area, as is his torrid sax playing, whether it's with his own group, The Funky Divine, or grooving with Big John Evans and The Chosen Few, a blues band.

Luco's buff guns and broad shoulders are also the catalyst for many-a female sigh whenever he partakes in the latest running of The Suspect's Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre.

Music, acting and especially time spent at the gym are important components that help Luco to build a well-rounded professional image, he said.

"Working out helps me in the look that I've got going on," Luco said. "It gives me a professional look as well as a handsome look."

Luco's interest in the sport started at age 16 while attending Mt. Douglas Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia, in his native Canada. When he first began lifting weights, it was more for recreational usage. But in time, Luco began seeing the results of how lifting weights can shape one's body image. And he liked what he saw.

"Looking in the mirror and seeing that I have a great physique really does it for me," Luco said about the weight training.

Luco continued lifting weights throughout his college days at Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo, B.C., where he majored in jazz music.

But it wasn't until about four-and-a-half years ago after graduating from college and emigrating to Sacramento that Luco began reassessing his fitness goals. He wanted to get serious about his weight training and searched for a personal trainer to help him target his fitness goals. He found what he was looking for in Valerie Cota. Cota, a Sacramento resident, has had 15 years certified personal training experience while also acting as a judge for the National Physique Committee (NPC). She also competes in body building contests herself, having won the 1998 U.S. Open Fitness Championship and more recently, taking Overall Champion honors in the 2002 Oregon State Body Building Competition.

"Valerie saw that I had growth potential," Luco said. "She told me if I worked at it, I could do well. I took her up on that and I hired her to train me."

Since then, Luco and Cota have worked diligently as a team.

"Valerie points me in the right direction as to what I need to do at the gym," Luco said. Luco trains at the Capital Athletic Club on 8th Street in Sacramento (www.capitalac.com).   

In fact, as a result of Cota's influence, Luco himself has become a personal fitness trainer. He hosts a website for those interested in utilizing his services at www.lucofitness.com  

When Luco made the decision to compete in the 2005 Capital City show, Cota was very excited, he said.

In keeping with his own personal philosophy, the novice body builder wanted to compete in an all-natural contest.

"I think (going natural) is a much safer and better way to go," Luco said. "Drugs are really bad for you. They are not healthy. They are really hard on your body. I don't want to have to go through that. Going natural is a very healthy thing to do. You are laying the foundation for a great body. You train all your muscle groups and they grow and respond to your training. You are setting for yourself  down the road, to have a great body."

Luco's trek to the Capital City Championships began last November when he started his rigorous training of diet of and exercise. Since his training began at the beginning of the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season, he had to pass on a lot of the good, and often times, rich food that's associated with that time of the year. 

"Even after the holiday season was over, I had to pass on a lot of good food," Luco said. "There were foods that I just couldn't eat. I couldn't party with my friends as much. When I did go out with friends, I was the designated driver." (laughs)

During the initial phase of his training, much of Luco's diet consisted of high-protein foods, such as chicken breasts, steaks, brown rich, and protein shakes, he said.

Six weeks prior to the competition, Luco eliminated all sugar consumption, including all carbohydrate foods, he said. 

And two weeks before show time, he consumed zero sodium and sugar products, he said.

Even with all the drastic dietary adjustments he was making, Luco never experienced any mood swings that sometimes can occur, he said.

Luco was also fanatically committed to his weekly training schedule, he said.   

"I do a five-day split," he said. "I work out five days a week and take two days off, usually the weekends."

Working on two muscle groups per day, Luco would train his back and bicep muscles on Mondays; chest and triceps on Tuesdays; shoulders and trapezius muscles on Wednesdays; hamstrings and gluteus maximus muscle on Thursdays; and abdominal muscles, calves and quads on Fridays.

In addition to the guidance and encouragement given by Cota, Luco also looked to body building icon Arnold Schwartznegger for inspiration. Even 40 years after reaching his zenith in the body building arena, the current Austrian-born Republican governor of California still welds enormous influence for body builders of all ages.

Diet and exercise weren't the only things athletes needed do in order to compete in the Capital City contest, which is a pro qualifier for the Sacramento National Body Building Federation. In addition to the entry fees and registration with the International Natural Body Building & Fitness Federation (INBF), one's moral turpitude was open for scrutiny. All contestants were required to take a 7-year drug-free polygraph exam, prior to the contest.

The INBF bans all usage of all anabolic steroids, testosterone, growth hormones, prescription diurectics, ephedrine, psychomotor stimulants, muscle implants of any kind, clenbuterol and GHB, and any illegal or illicit bodybuilding drug or substance.

Presented by local promoters Tina Smith and Bob Bell, the Capital City event brought out 65 contestants competing in eight classes: Teens, Men's Open (Lightweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight), Women's Open, Novice Men's (Lightweight, Middleweight Light, Heavyweight and Heavyweight) and Novice Women, Men And Women Masters (age 40 and over), and Women's Figure.

During the pre-judging the morning of the competition, Luco was more than ready. He looked lean, bad and buff. He also was confident about himself, but at the same time a little nervous as well.

"I had to get mentally focused on the day of the contest," Luco said. "I was mulling over in my mind how do I think about the other guys in my competition? I came to a resolution that I'm just going to go into the competition knowing that I've done the very best that I could. This is a personal best for me. All I need to worry about is me. I don't need to worry about the others."

While four of the five other men in the Novice Men's Heavyweight category all had previous competition experience, Luco was resolute, holding his own.

Ben Luco, third from left in aqua colored posing trunks, placed fourth in the Men's Novice Heavyweight division of the Capital City Natural Body Building Championships

held on July 9, 2005, at Sheldon High School in Sacramento. The event was a pro-qualifier for the Sacramento National Body Building Federation.

That evening, as they made their way on stage at the Performing Arts Center at Sheldon High School in Elk Grove during the Finals, ecstatic cheers and hollers went out for each contestant during their posing routine. 

Luco mixed a variety of poses to the sound track of  LL Cool J's Momma Said," Knock You Out," causing audience eruption when he did his Side Chest poses and whenever he flexed his bulging biceps.

"I think the audience sensed I gave a very good posing routine and they responded to that," Luco said. "The screaming fans also give you that extra' rush,' too."

When the eight judges made their final decision, Luco walked away at Number 4.

"It was a learning experience for me and I had fun," Luco said. "I have no regrets. I did my best. I looked good. I'll be back!"

In the interim, Luco will keep his plate full by helping others achieve their fitness goals as a personal trainer. He'll also continue to fine-tune his already sculptured body and plans to become involved in more theatre productions. He's also been expanding the venues where his band, The Funky Divine, play (they've performed at a few local wineries this past year and at the Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento). In addition, he's getting ready to cut a new CD with The Funky Divine. (See www.benluco.com )  

If you don't catch Luco at the gym or at the theatre, you can always catch him playing with Big John Evans and The Chosen Few every Sunday evening from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. at Betty's Kitchen And Bar on Lincoln Village Drive in Sacramento.

Ben Luco posing with his personal trainer, Valerie Cota, after the pre-judging phase of the Capital

City Natural Body Building Championships on July 9, 2005, at Sheldon High School in Sacramento.

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