One lean, muscle machine

Don't let his 5-foot-10, 143-pound frame fool you. Ron MacCubbin is a beast.

MacCubbin, a 34-year-old McClure, Ill., resident, generally pumps iron five days a week at Southeast Missouri State University's Student Recreation Center. The gym rat trains at 5:30 a.m. before work in order to spend more time with his 11-month-old son, Clayton.

About 10 to 12 weeks prior to competitions, MacCubbin adds cardiovascular exercises to his weightlifting. At the same time, he begins following a diet that mainly consists of chicken breasts, tuna, Egg Beaters, oatmeal and baked fish. He follows the strict part of his training regimen in preparation for two annual shows that take place just a few weeks apart in the spring.

"The biggest thing in bodybuilding is the diet," MacCubbin said. "Our meets are right around the same time, so you don't have to diet forever and keep eating chicken breasts and tuna. Anyone can bodybuild, but it takes somebody special to stick to this kind of diet."

He said his diet has played a major role in his bodybuilding success, including a first-place finish at the NPC Grand Prix show in Rockford, Ill., a few weeks ago. MacCubbin defeated three others to capture the bantamweight (143 1/4 pounds or less) division title.

Last year, he finished atop the five-man lightweight field at the Mid-Illinois Bodybuilding Fitness and Figure Championship in Attua, Ill.

Both Illinois meets were all-natural, meaning participants are tested for steroid use and dismissed from competition if found positive. MacCubbin, a natural supplement user, prefers the tested shows.

"I feel like I do have a better chance in natural shows," he said. "We try to find more of them, but there's really not many around the area.

"Steroids are just too harmful to your body," he added. "There are so many side effects that we know about and even more that people don't know about. If I can't get big on my own, then there's no need to get big."

MacCubbin, whose bodybuilding interest is sponsored by his employer, Bluff City Beer, and Tans-R-Us, will travel to St. Louis for his next contest May 22 at the Show-Me Naturals, considered one of the premier natural shows in the Midwest.

He joins Kyle Kuba, Louie Bean, Casey Morgan and Adam Miller as part of the Southeast Bodybuilding Team, which was formed when MacCubbin met Bean in the weightroom.

"I was in the gym working out by myself," MacCubbin said, "and I saw Louie, and he was doing everything wrong. I started helping him out, and we started working out together. Then he brought Kyle in, and I started training Kyle, and it just went from there."

MacCubbin thinks he'll continue to get big in the gym and hopes to someday be part of a father-son bodybuilding duo.

"There's guys that compete at 60 and 70 years old," he said. "That's a long time, but it's a good way to stay in shape. I'd like to keep doing it as long as I don't have any injuries, and hopefully I'll be able to do a show with my son."

Mark Unterreiner is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian and a student at Notre Dame Regional High School. His Spotlight feature appears every Thursday.