It didn’t deter him when he had hip replacement surgery in 2001, costing him a year of training as he tried to work his way back into shape. He also outlasted his biggest obstacle, prostate cancer, which was diagnosed in 2003.
The problem started when Wolkoff had trouble urinating. He saw a doctor, and when he was given the diagnosis, he said, “I was shocked.”
Luckily, the cancer was caught early enough that Wolkoff had surgery soon after and is now cancer-free.
“I was never discouraged,” he said. “I always knew I was going to get back into shape.”
Wolkoff had been in good shape for most of his adult life. A former athlete, Wolkoff played high school basketball and earned a scholarship to Chapman College in Orange County, Ca.
After graduation, he worked as a general contractor until he retired and moved from his native New York to Boca Raton at the tender age of 45.
He started going to the gym to stay in shape, and soon Wolkoff progressed to competing in triathlons, where he said he would routinely finish second or third in his age group. Then, it was kickboxing. And then he took what was for him the next logical step.
“My uncle Ben was always into bodybuilding,” Wolkoff said.
“I always thought about him. I idolized him in that particular area.”
So Wolkoff decided to try his hand at it. Like everything else he had tried, he went at it full bore.
“I guess it became a challenge, and that’s my makeup,” he said.
“My technique I started in 1990. I read a lot of magazines, watched a lot of training videos.”
Before his hip replacement surgery, Wolkoff won the only event he had participated in, the Atlantic States Championship in his native New York, where he was first in the Masters 50+ division.
After recovering from hip surgery and winning his battle with cancer, Wolkoff made his return to bodybuilding competition last year, finishing second in the Masters 50+ division at the Musclemania Superbody event.
He admitted part of the reason for the long layoff was “I just wasn’t ready psychologically,” he said.
This weekend, Wolkoff will participate in his second event since his layoff, the Men’s Over 60 Heavyweight class at the 2008 NPC Southern States Championships, which will be held at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Friday and Saturday.
And he vows to win it.
“I’m going to dedicate my award to all 65-year-old males,” he said.
Wolkoff said the key to becoming a bodybuilder is “75 percent diet. Reduce carbohydrates, fats, increase protein, do a half-hour of cardio.”
In a typical day Wolkoff will eat oatmeal and have a protein shake in the early morning, have fruit in the late morning, eat peanut butter or turkey for lunch, have another protein drink at 3 p.m., dine on fish, chicken or steak at 6 p.m. and consume yet another protein shake from 8-9 p.m.
He does eat bread, but only the whole grain variety.
As far as his workouts go, Wolkoff does two body parts each day, four days a week. He only works out for 45 minutes-1 hour each day.
As the competition date nears, Wolkoff has been getting a lot of support at his new job at J&S Construction, and at his gym, the Boca Raton Health Club in the Boca Raton Hotel.
However, one person who won’t be attending this weekend is his wife of 38 years, Julie.
“She’s not a lover of bodybuilding,” Wolkoff said. “If I make nationals, she’s gonna be there.”
Whether he advances or not, Wolkoff knows this is something he won’t be giving up anytime soon.
“I want to do it until I’m 100,” he said.
Source - Boca Raton News
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