King Kamali talks about the importance of controlling negative energy on ‘The Menace Podcast’ – Muscle and Fitness

In episode 273 of The Threat Podcast, Dennis James was joined by Chris Cormier, Milos Sarcev and special guest Shahriar “King” Kamali, who explained why his development in the world of bodybuilding was never derailed by negative voices.

The current era of bodybuilding is all about an impeccable appearance on social media, where peace and balance lead to brilliant results, but in the real world the pressure of competition and the effects of negative voices often hold back our progress. One man who was able to stay true to his vision despite the pressure he faced as an elite bodybuilder was King Kamali began his career with an overall victory at the 1994 NPC Collegiate Nationals and subsequently trod the boards at both the Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic finals.

“He can feed off the negative energy, right?” said Sarcev of Kamali. “We were talking about who has to have everything in order under the circumstances, has to be able to function, and if it’s something negative (it throws them off). King, you were the king of that.”

King Kamali explains how tough love helped him deal with negativity

“That’s because of Fairfax Hackley,” Kamali said TMP. Fairfax Hackley is the master trainer that was awarded the Dwight David Eisenhower Lifetime Achievement Award in Fitness by the United States Sports Academy in 2017. “Every weekend when I went to pose for him, from the national championships to my pro debut, he was the meanest motherfucker I’ve ever seen. I mean, everything was negative, nothing was positive. ‘You’re not even going to make the first top ten, what’s going on?'” Kamali would need a thick skin to share the stage with warriors like Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler.

The great man explained that he had initially struggled to fathom such harsh criticism, but eventually came around to it. “And finally I understood,” he said. “He told me, ‘I was trying to make you tougher.’” Bodybuilding, of course, is a dog-eat-dog business that isn’t always as friendly as it seems on some Instagram profiles. Kamali was told by Hackley that the ability to transform negative energy into positive energy was a skill that would be valuable to his journey. “I just carried that mentality throughout my career,” told The Persian Pearl, who became one of the most distinctive posers of all time.

See below to watch the full episode, where the panel also made Arnold Classic predictions and discussed all the latest bodybuilding news.