Meet Potential: An Exclusive Interview With Cory Mathews
The word potential gets thrown around a lot in bodybuilding to t
he point where it’s almost become cliché’. There’s no escaping it. The problem with overusing a word is that we start to undervalue the true meaning of it after being beaten over the head with the same worn out phrases time and time again. You run the potential risk of potentially turning off potential fans and potential readers and you’re potentially running the risk of potentially sounding like everyone else. The problem is, when you look at Cory Mathews, his physique screams potential. Cory earned his pro card only two years after stepping onstage for the very first time. Find out more about Cory and his journey to becoming a pro in this Rx Muscle exclusive interview.
Q.) Before we talk about you earning your pro card at the 2012 NPC National Championships let's talk about how you got started in bodybuilding. Your first contest was the 2010 Lone Star Classic, where you won the overall. How long had you been training before you decided to step onstage?
A.) I seriously started training for competitive bodybuilding in 2010, but I actually started training in 1992. My competition history is rather brief: 2010 Lone Star Classic (Overall Champion); 2010 NPC Europa in Dallas (3rd Place); 2011 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic (Overall Champion); 2011 NPC Nationals (4th Place); 2012 NPC USA Championships (3rd Place); and then I earned my pro card at the 2012 NPC Nationals Championships. I started working out with my buds, Eight-Time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman and IFBB Pro Gus Carter in 2010, at the now-closed Gold's Gym in Arlington. Working out with them I finally decided to step onstage! Ronnie Coleman continues to be one of my greatest sources of inspiration and focus!
Q.) In 2011 you qualified for Nationals by winning the Ronnie Coleman Classic. Later in the year you took the stage again, competing at the NPC Nationals, where you took 4th in the Light Heavyweight class. What do you remember about being onstage for the first time at a National level show?
A.) It was my first time ever in Miami, and instead of being on the beach, eating everything and hanging out everywhere, I was glad to be there for a major bodybuilding contest. I was very excited and ready to present well on stage. I also wanted to make a BIG statement. I felt like it was time for me to show that hard work can pay off. I was not disappointed by the results. I was blessed and empowered to do much better. I was pretty impressed by the whole NPC weekend. I have to acknowledge IFBB Pro Sheilahe Brown and new IFBB Pro Terri Harris for my posing routine at my debut journey to the 2011 Nationals.
Q.) At the 2012 USA Championships you took 3rd in a very competitive light heavyweight class behind Darron Glenn and Adam Cohen. Why did you decide to wait until Nationals to step onstage again instead trying to hold your condition for a few weeks until the North Americans?
A.) I actually had family and ministry commitments after the USAs. Post-USAs, I needed a game-changer moment and I got with my team of family, church members, workout partner, trainer and business affairs advisors to plan my next steps. Plus, I also got with some of my entrusted IFBB Pro pals, Ronnie Coleman, Gus Carter, Johnnie O. Jackson, Branch Warren, new IFBB Pro Stephen Frazier (my training partner), along with Pro Trainer Herman Steele. With great faith, planning, training, prep, conditioning, mediation, meals, rest, and focus, the Nationals would be the contest for me! I came to personally know that if you want to go pro you have to learn and live like a pro. From IFBB Pros, NFL pros, Pro boxers, MMA Pros, pro trainers, my nutritionist, training/conditioning coach, and even my meditation yogi consistently help me to be ultra focused and ready. I literally approached and stepped to the Nationals as if I were bound for the NFL or NBA, delivering a champion package/presentation, hopefully strengthenin
g the bodybuilding industry, and inspiring others.
Q.) For those who don't know you train at the legendary Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas where you're mentored by Metroflex owner, Brian Dobson. Talk about your relationship with Brian, and what it means to have someone like him in your corner.
A.) Brian Dobson is the owner of Metroflex Arlington, and I appreciate and am thankful for him, his facility, and his extra push and help. I actually train at Metroflex Arlington and Metroflex Fort Worth MMA. I also occasionally train at 24 Hour Fitness, Gold's Gym, Lifetime Fitness, Metroflex Plano, and Straud's Fitness. I also privately train clients at South Grand Prairie Fitness Center & Spa Club, owned by IFBB Pro Stephen Frazier.
Q.) Could you describe what the training atmosphere is like at Metroflex for those who don't know.
A.) Metroflex is a hardcore gym! It's not a fancy health club with pricey gym amenities. Gym members, whether bodybuilders, powerlifters or fitness enthusiasts get power-packed workouts at Metroflex Arlington, as well as Metroflex Fort Worth MMA and Metroflex Plano.
Q.) Away from the stage and the gym you're an Ordained Minister and motivational speaker. How is that you came to be called into that line of service? Talk a bit about the messages you deliver to your speaking audiences and why you feel that it's so important.
A.) Yes, as quiet as it should not be kept, I am an Ordained Minister and a motivational speaker. I have had some life-changing experiences and challenges in my life. My experiences have made me a firm believer that great things can happen, and anything is possible. I am blessed to be alive and to be here. I am very honored to counsel, mentor and inspire others. I do outreach ministry to homeless communities. I also go to juvenile facilities to advocate and counsel with alternatives to incarceration. I also do gang intervention and peer counseling to youths/young adults.
Q.) Describe your training style. What would a typical leg workout look like for you?
A.) My training style is heavy and intense. A typical leg workout would be nothing short of a near-death experience! I go heavy as I can without compromising or sustaining an injury. High reps and high volume.
Q.) What element of training do you think is missed or overlooked by young bodybuilders? What can they do to correct it?
A.) Young bodybuilders should learn, know, and exercise the basics! Basic movements. Compound movements. Don't be too afraid to go heavy. They can rely on barbells and dumbbells. Learn from old school training, and old school bodybuilders.
Q.) You seem to have figured out a good formula for showing up in shape. Why do you think so many guys struggle with fig
uring out their formula for showing up at their best on the day of the show?
A.) I am one who is not afraid to admit that I am still learning. However, if I and others want to take the craft seriously, it is all about discipline!
I want to thank Rx Muscle for your needed presence on the bodybuilding scene. I can be contacted via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cory.mathews.167. Pro athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, powerlifters, mixed martial artists, trainers, pageant contestants, fitness, figure, bikini, physique athletes, and exercise enthusiasts of all walks of life, I welcome the opportunity to advise, coach, counsel , mentor and train you!
Be on the lookout for Cory to make some waves when he decides to make his pro debut. He just may have the potential to slide in under the radar and potentially upset a few big names.
Subscribe to RxMuscle on Youtube
