Athlete in Focus: Joseph "The Blessed" Ferandez

First off, I would just to highlight his last name as it is commonly mistaken as Fernandez, it is in fact Ferandez. His nickname "The Blessed" was given to him by his trainer Mike Baello and Jacques to note his good genetics.  And of course his good fortune to have a manager to support him to pursue the sport.

He started joining bodybuilding competitions in 2005. Back then, he contested the 55kg  division. He started serious  training last year, when he competed in the inaugural Mr. Phil-Asia.
Now, in just a short span of a year, he will be representing the Philippines in the 70kg category of the  World's Bodybuilding Championship in Bangkok this December.

Joseph's 5'6" symmetrical physique is highlighted by his razor sharp back. When I last saw him personally in competition condition in Hong Kong, he had the christmas tree effect on his lower back. 

But of course he is not just all back. The legs are also pretty impressive and the glutes are pretty striated during competition season. Though he mentioned that he needs to improves his arms, which for me seems to be pretty good as is. In fact, his forearms seems to balance out his biceps just fine.

He works out quite regularly in the different Gold's gym branches in the Metro as well as visit his friends' gym like Ironville (Jeddy Cris Giner)  and Enerflex Powerzone (Mike Baello). He works out five days a week, with a day reserved for yoga and another for rest. You can actually find more of his training video here in Youtube

He dreams of beco-ming Mr. Olympia some day. A pretty lofty goal, but with determi-nation, hard work, and the support of his manager we know this will come true.

He counts Jay Catli along with Phil "The Gift" Heath as his idols in the sport. One of his proudest moment in his pretty young career in bodybuilding was when he got the Overall Mr. Philippines title last May 5 in Greenhills. It was here that Rocky Dauden christened him the "Crying Champion" as it was an emotional and sweet moment after all the hard work and sacrifice.

He loves his chest workout routines but abhors his forearm workouts. He is one of the few I know that does not hate leg days. 

He mainly uses Muscletech products, giving special praise to NeuroCore, a pre-workout stimulant to help boost the energy during workout.

Aside from bodybuilding, he has done a few Indie movies. One of the more mainstream was Zombadings, where he plays a muscled phantasm. He plans to pursue the acting field aside from his bodybuilding career.

He's hoping to land a movie role next year. Could this be his next big movie role? Attack of the giant ants!!!

We wish you all the best in representing the country in the World's Bodybuilding Competition next month.

Here are some of his achievements for the year so far...

Cabanatuan: Mr New Ecija: first runner up in Lightweight category (70 kg) 
Baguio: Mr Philippines UBFFP: second runner up in Lightweight category (70 kg)
Santa Cruz, Laguna: Champion in Lightweight category (70 kg) 
Greenhills, Manila: Mr Philippines PFBB: Overall Champion
Greenhills, Manila: Mr Philippines PFBB: Champion in Lightweight category (70 kg)
Tacloban: Mr Sangyaw: Overall Champion
Tacloban: Mr Sangyaw: Champion in Lightweight category (70 kg)
Pasig: Ginoong Pasig: second runner up in Lightweight category (70 kg)
Hong Kong: HKFBF: Champion in Novice Lightweight category (70 kg))