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Click here to go to Justins Profile page

Justin Rys [“Big Kiwi”] is a former New Zealand champion and IFBB pro bodybuilder. Justin was released from a New Zealand prison on July 23 2008 after serving two and a half year for drug importation.

To use a cliché, it is said “when you fall down, you must get back up 10 times stronger”. Justin is clearly doing this, perhaps not in the traditional bodybuilding sense of being physically stronger, but in an all encompassing sense.

Still weighing some 123kg [270lbs], Justin is involved in three business ventures, gained four A grade diplomas while incarcerated, is studying for his bachelors degree, plans to open a gym and may even grace the bodybuilding stage again.

We spoke with Justin a week after his release, where he talked about his past experiences and what the future holds for him.

As was first reported in the media, Justin suffers from megarexia¹ a condition where the sufferer perceives their body as too thin and desires to be ever larger.

While in prison, he received treatment and regularly talked to a psychologist. He says the officials wanted to try drugs as part of his treatment, but Justin didn’t take that option as he wanted to avoid medication, as he was trying distance himself from those aspects in life. Justin was drug tested while incarcerated, but it is not part of his parole.

Justin says "Most bodybuilders have some form of it and don’t even know it. With me it didn’t matter if I was 1,000kg I would still look in the mirror and see myself as a twig, it’s really, really hard to look at yourself when you feel so small”.

 As we assumed an extremely muscular professional bodybuilder is not the ‘norm’ behind bars, we enquired about the reaction he got when he first went in. Justin chuckled, and noted that he seemed initially to have had extra security, with four to five guards around him many times.

Justin’s first year in prison he said he had no access no weights at all, as he was classified as  “high medium” so officials restricted access. During his incarceration he trained with the makeshift weights six days a week, abs and cardio five days a week. With access only to a few barbells, small dumbbells and two benches, Justin made do as he could with training once his first year of restrictions was over. Like every good bodybuilder, he adapted and took bodyweight exercise to a new level utilizing fellow inmates as additional weight. He says he “had guys hop on” and did what he could.

In addition to regular prison meals Justin was able to spend $60 week on shopping, which he spent mostly on powdered milk. He had no access to supplements whatsoever. He says that the milk powder was “about it, so he made do as he could” as far as trying to maintain some semblance of a bodybuilding diet.

He says most inmates were very interested and enthusiastic to both help him train as well learn from him. Justin says there was not much to do inside, so he found himself educating many others and helping them reach their fitness goals. He says “many didn’t have much in life, so training gave them goals, and was good for them”.

Justin started his prison sentence weighing 139 kg [305lbs]. In the two and half year span he was incarcerated, he lost 16 kg [35lbs] and now weighs 123 kg [270lbs]. Justin says most people say he doesn’t look much smaller, although he says with a laugh he obviously is – 16kg.

Justin is right back into his training, and these are recent shots of Justin, taken only eleven days after his release and we think he looks great, all things considered. Two and half years of a non ideal diet, milk powder as his only supplement whatsoever, one year with no weights access, and the obvious stress factor as well. Despite this, at 123kg/270lbs he is still sporting muscular size that many can only hope to aspire to one day.

As far as Justin is aware he is still an IFBB pro and just needs to renew his fees. He says while he may compete in bodybuilding again, if he does it won’t be for over a year and will also depends on which nations will allow him entrance.

Justin says since the USA takes drug importation seriously, he is aware and understands that officials would not issue him an entrance visa due to his conviction. As he may be entitled to a European Union passport through family descent, his options on legally entering and possibly competing in Europe look to be more promising.

When we asked Justin about the IFBB Australian Grand Prix, Justin spoke highly of both promoter Tony Doherty as well as all the Aussie IFBB pros. He said whether he will compete in Australia in the future all stems to down to his business commitments and whether the Australian government will allow him to legally enter.

New Zealand recently hosted an IFBB pro show in 2008 and also hosted one in 2001, but Justin is not aware whether or not there will be any future IFBB pro shows on his home soil.

It was obvious during our conversation that business and family are Justin’s first priority, although he still looks into possibly competing in bodybuilding again in the future.

With a laugh, Justin now says he is now “studying hardcore”. He says once he started he actually found it agreed with him, and was never one to want to waste time so he set on a path of self improvement. Justin received four diplomas in the last two years; Business, Management, Marketing, and Drug and Alcohol counseling – all with A grades. Justin also wanted to expand further, so started to study for his Bachelors degree in Business.

Justin, along with his partner, is involved with a few successful business ventures. His clothing line Convict Gear² is two years old and features a graphic of a muscular man breaking out of bars. Selling well to the ‘hardcore gym crowd’, the casual wear clothing line is also making strides in the mainstream circles with his website receiving orders from all over the world including Australia, Britain, USA and throughout Europe.

In addition to the clothing line, they also produce their own fat burner, called Lean-FX. They plan to expand the range to include top quality protein powder as well as few other key supplements.

They also own a store called ‘The Protein Bar’ in Wellington, New Zealand where they retail their products as well as other related items.

To add to their already impressive business portfolio, Justin and his partner are planning to open their own gym in New Zealand in approximately six month time, dependent on various factors.

Justin says he was always an ambitious person although now he has a different focus. Although he still plans to eat well, train hard and possibly compete, his main priority now is business and family, whereas prior was to be professional bodybuilder.

He plans to work on business growth, expand his supplement line, continue to promote his Convict Gear clothing line, open a new gym and perhaps he will be onstage in 2009 or 2010.

Time will tell how much bigger this Big Kiwi can get.

Click here to go to Justins Profile page

1 | Megarexia [also called reverse anorexia, bigorexia or muscle dysmorphia] was first diagnosed in the early 1990s by Dr. Harrison Pope, a Harvard psychiatrist and a bodybuilder. For more information/links see here

2 | Convict Gear clothing can be purchased online at www.bigkiwiconvictgear.com. Starting from $30 NZ [$23 AU, $21 US or £11] the Big Kiwi Convict Gear line compromises of singlets, tee shirts and hoodies in a full range of colours.