Meet Bristol’s candidate for ‘Mr. University’

Mr. University is the first UK based fitness competition for university students. Sadly, it was won by Plymouth’s representative over the weekend – but who was Bristol’s candidate?

The Tab caught up with Bristol’s very own competitor, second year medic Perry Maskell, to find out what it’s all about.

What is Mr. University?

It’s a competition on 16th March to showcase the most healthy, athletic and fit students that the UK has to offer, trying to challenge the belief that we’re all lazy and can’t be bothered with fitness.

The show is not only judged upon our physiques, but also includes interviews to understand our lives as students, our ambitions and motivations, and other criteria such as confidence and attitudes towards fitness.

Mr Muscle

Why did you decide to enter?

I’ve trained consistently for a few years now, and as of yet I don’t have anything to show for it. Bodybuilding can be a very solitary sport of personal gain for a lot of the time and recently I’ve thought more and more about competing, so when I heard about the competition a couple of months ago I thought, why not showcase what I’ve worked for on stage? I was already preparing for boys full strip in Clicendales so the way I see it, two birds one stone!

What do you have to do?

The show first consists of the posing to show off our physique. This includes a T-walk, followed by mandatory comparisons with the other competitors, followed by free posing. Here we are judged upon our physique, but also stage confidence and posing skills. Public voting also plays a role in our scores.

After this, the top 3-5 competitors of each class are invited on stage for the interview round, where we’ll be able to showcase the student aspects of our lives, and our motivations/aspirations in and around bodybuilding. Our final place in the competition is down to the collection of marks in all of the above criteria.

What are you hoping to get out of it?

As it’s my first show, I’m really excited to just get up on stage and show what I’ve got. After that I would like to become more involved in men’s fitness/physique modelling, so hopefully Mr. University will provide the platform for this to develop.

Bristol’s version of Arnie

What do your friends think?

Well most of my closest friends know how much I love training and staying athletic and fit, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. My housemates and many others have been really supportive, helping me out with photos for the public vote and dealing with my ridiculously restricted diet!

Do you have a strict routine?

I train 5-6 times a week, as intensely as possible. This could be early morning or late at night, depending on where it fits around med school. I love it though, there’s nothing I’d rather do more. I consider myself lucky that I’ve found a hobby that I love to do and gives me the discipline I need to succeed in and out of the gym.

Check out the Mr. University Facebook page here.