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Meet the UK’s answer to Flex Wheeler…
3-Time British Champion Nana Manu
By Giles Thomas
I’ll never forget the first time I saw a photograph of Nana. It was 2004 and after many years of training I decided to compete in the NABBA North Britain first timer’s class. Like any curious competitor I was eager to find out what sort of talent and competition was floating about the country in the British regional qualifiers. Knowing I had it in me to achieve good condition with a reasonable amount of size, I was reasonably confident I could do okay. I scoured through the UK mags and checked out who was making it through to the UK first timer finals in Jim Charles’ Birmingham November contest. I’ll never forget when Muscle News came out and I saw the top 2 who had qualified at Paul Jeffries’ NABBA North East show. First was the dense and rugged thick physique of Dave Bell (who just placed 5th in class 2 at the NABBA Universe!) and second was this totally shredded Flex Wheeler look-alike Nana Manu. He had the similar tiny waist, the deep cuts, the outrageously full muscle bellies, genetically close to aesthetic perfection; quite simply I was shocked and scared both at the same time!
I went on to win my first show at the North with straight firsts and my confidence soared, but still thinking in the back of my mind about this little black guy I saw hitting that incredible front double bicep pose in the North East show report.
At the NABBA Universe that year pro bodybuilder and mentor to Nana, Dayo Audi introduced me to Nana, I took to him straight away and within seconds I was jokingly on my knees begging him not to do the Britain first timers finals in 2 months. We laughed and Nana just wouldn’t give me a straight answer. ‘Bugger’ I thought, that 2nd place trophy was seemingly the best I could hope for. (I ended up in 3rd)
A few weeks later I travelled to watch the EFBB Mansfield contest. Out came the turn of the under 70kg class and 11 of the countries best lightweight bodybuilders lined up on the stage hoping to qualify for the EFBB British. I was so relieved; there in the line-up was Nana. Of course he won and Nana went on to the EFBB British in his weight class, the under 70kg and finished a magnificent 2nd to Lee Williams and all in his first year!
Giles: Hi Nana, let’s start with the basics… age, occupation, that kind of thing, mate.
Nana: Hi Giles, I’m now 33. I was born in Ghana in West Africa on May 25, 1975. I’m five-foot-two-and-a-quarter inches tall and now live in Doncaster with my wife Andrea and three children Lewis, Whitney and Jaydia. I’m an engineer by trade.
Giles: When did you start training?
Nana: I started training in Ghana when I was twelve years old. I made my weights out of scrap car parts in my backyard and only trained my arms. A year later I joined a gym and learnt the fundamentals of weight training from a good friend of mine.
Giles: When did you move to the UK?
Nana: I moved over when I was 17, but I took time away from bodybuilding or weight training really, to pursue my engineering career and to start a family. I was 27 when I started to train again and trained five days a week; I changed pretty rapidly and started to hit my weak points physically to balance out my physique. It was 2003 when I thought that I would like to compete and with Dayo Audi encouraging me and offering me good advice on nutrition and contest preparation, I felt that I had all I needed to be able to compete successfully.
Giles: Your first show was the NABBANorth East wasn’t it, in the first timers?
Nana: That’s right Giles, it was on the first May in 2004 in Bradford. I weighed in at ten stone four pounds.
Giles: And ripped to the bone too… how could I forget? [Laughs] Seeing the photo of you from that show in the mag gave me some bad dreams mate! What shows followed that debut?
Nana: Two weeks after the North East I did the Yorkshire Five Towns contest which I won, I took the intermediates, the men’s open class and the overall, and I also won the best abs and best most muscular pose award!
Giles: Not bad for a second show, Nana. Thankfully for me, you decided to go the EFBB route later that year, which was the EFBB Mansfield wasn’t it?
Nana: Correct, deciding to do that show a last minute decision; I left to deciding it at only four weeks before the show and had to go from twelve stone eight pounds to ten stone seven pounds. As you know, I won that show.
Giles: I remember it well mate, that was a hell of a class too. There were ten or eleven British standard physiques there that day, and you won it easy too, I thought. Next up was the EFBB British wasn’t it?
Nana: Thanks Giles, that’s right. I did the British in the under 70kg class and came second to Lee Williams.
Giles: I thought you should have won that class Nana, you had a much better overall shape than Lee and you were both shredded too, the only thing he had you on was calves I thought. Next up was the amateur IFBB British Grand Prix wasn’t it?
Nana: That’s right, yes. I thought to myself, “There are going to be some really big guys there, as there is no weight classification”, but I didn’t let this deter me, it was too much of an opportunity to miss. Maybe I would get the chance to see the one and only Ronnie Coleman and the ‘Monster’ Marcus Ruhl… and I did!
Giles: You looked good there Nana, not as sharp as you were at the British, but pretty amazing to be stood up there in your first year nonetheless. Next for you was the British the following year right?
Nana: Yes, again in the under 70kg. I didn’t need to qualify as I already had by placing second at Nottingham in 2004. I was so nervous, but there was no need; I took the title of Lightweight British Champion 2005! I thought to myself, “What an achievement! All that hard work and dedication had paid off!” I was so happy! The hardest thing for me was to lose the weight for the under 70kg class.
Giles: If I was informed rightly I heard that at that British [2005] you came second in the overall to Paul Delahaye, beating guys like James Llewellin (under 80kg) and Lee Spencer (under 90kg). I’ll never forget being sat in the press row and discussing with John Hodgson that in the rear double bicep pose in the overall you were the best up there, certainly in that pose.
Nana: I’m not sure Giles, I’d have to find out.
Giles: So, what came next for you?
Nana: I decided that next time at the British, in 2006, I wanted to compete in the under 80kg class, so I thought I should take a year off to grow.
Giles: Which you won!
Nana: I did, yes.
Giles: So, after winning two EFBB/UKBFF British titles in two different weight categories what did you decide to do next?
Nana: I went for NABBA the next time, only this was in a height class. I wanted the challenge of going up against guys who were of similar height but could be much heavier than me.
Giles: Again, you entered and won the NABBA Central Britain, which I was also in, and the NABBA UK, both at the end of October in 2006, and the UK, qualifying you for the following year’s Britain. In 2007 you then went to Southport and won class 4 at the NABBA Britain, beating my old training partner Wayne Robinson into second place, because although he was a bit harder than you, he just couldn’t cope with your superior overall body shape.
Nana: After the 2007 NABBA Britain I was invited to do the NABBA Worlds, but due to work commitments I couldn’t do it.
Giles: Contest-wise little has been heard of you since, Nana, in the bodybuilding media and there has been news of you having some serious health problems… Can you tell us about them mate?
Nana: No problem… In 2002 I had a hernia removed from my belly button and didn’t know that it had been growing for the last six years inside of me. The surgeons had left some tissue from the operation in 2002 and it had been growing round my inside organs, which they call a strangulated hernia. I was very lucky they found it when they did as otherwise I would have had to have had half of my stomach removed. The thing that hurt me the most was that they would not let me eat or drink anything for three days after the operation!
Giles: So what would you say was your biggest challenge in bodybuilding?
Nana: I would say my worst time is dieting and having to work away as well. It is so difficult to diet, train and travel as much as I do.
Giles: What sort of engineering do you do?
Nana: I am a printing engineer.
Giles: Can you tell us your off-season eating plan and also your pre-contest diet?
Nana: Off-season I eat anything that looks tasty, I’m afraid, and most of the time it is not healthy.
Giles: What about supplementation? Off-season and pre-contest, what do you use and why?
Nana: Off-season I use Mammoth and pre-contest I have pure whey. The reason for this is I have a fast metabolism.
Giles: Can you tell us your training split and style of training?
Nana: Monday is chest and triceps, Tuesday is legs, I take Wednesday off, Thursday is shoulders, Friday, back, and Saturday and Sunday off.
Giles: Who are your favourite bodybuilders and why?
Nana: Flex Wheeler, I love his shape, and Dexter Jackson, also for his shape
Giles: What’s next for you competition-wise?
Nana: Well, I was supposed to do this year’s NABBA England and Universe, then the UKBFF North East, and then hopefully the Britain. But now after recovery from my operation I will be doing the UKBFF next year [2009], but I’m not sure which one yet, we’ll have to wait and see.
Giles: I see you have a website and a DVD… Can you tell us a little about both of them Nana?
Nana: Yes, of course. It was my brother’s idea for my website (www.nana-manu.co.uk) and so he designed it for me. And I am an open type of guy so I wanted to help people with advice if I could, so that’s what I have done. My DVD? Well it was going to be out this year but the “op” has set it back until next year now. I have done a few shoots so far; my first shoot was in the hospital and the last shoot was my first day back at the gym when I got the all clear to start back training. I’ve still got a lot more to do, so hopefully by November next year it will be out.
Giles: Who are your biggest supporters?
Nana: It’s got to be my family; if it wasn’t for my Mrs I would not get fed, and also my training partner Craig and his wife Michelle.
Giles: You seem a very family orientated kind of person and I see you at all the shows with your wife and kids… Is family the most important to you? Do they support and love what you do, especially when daddy wins?
Nana: Like I said, my Mrs does all my meals for me, our Whitney teaches me how to pose, and our little Jaydia just keeps me smiling.
Giles: What made you come to the UK from Ghana in the first place? Work aspirations maybe?
Nana: Yes, I came to England to learn how to be a printing engineer. My dad is also a printer back home in Ghana.
Giles: You seem close to Dayo Audi. Has he been a big influence and key player in your success in bodybuilding?
Nana: When I first started to train with Dayo he said I had the perfect body for gay mags! [Laughs] Then I told him I wanted to compete, so he then took me seriously.
Giles: For a beginning weight trainer, how would you recommend he or she start off?
Nana: On the lightest weight and to get a routine on training all body parts.
Giles: How far do you want to take your competing? Where do you see yourself ending up?
Nana: Well, hopefully all the way to the pros. I would like to compete in the 202 weight class in the Olympia one day.
Giles: You’re known for being a seriously good poser… Who was your major influence with this, if anyone?
Nana: No one really. I’ve watched bodybuilding DVD’s and watched and studied posing. I just make things up as I go along to the music and my Mrs and Whitney tell me what to do next and what looks the best for my physique.
Giles: Who do you think is the next Mr Olympia?
Nana: Dexter again, and then Victor Martinez.
Giles: If you could be any other bodybuilder, who would you want to be and why?
Nana: Flex Wheeler, for his shape.
Giles: How do you manage to eat, train and diet successfully when you are working away? For how long do you spend away from home at a time?
Nana: All I can say is that I eat when I can, and I can’t really say how long it could be… two days to two weeks.
Giles: You arms are pretty awesome, what do you do for them?
Nana: I haven’t trained my arms for about two years. I am just starting to train them again.
Giles: What do you think of the current UK bodybuilding scene, as I know you follow it quite closely don’t you?
Nana: Well all I can say is everyone is growing apart from me [laughs]. There are some really awesome bodybuilders nowadays.
Giles: Does anyone really impress you over here in the UK?
Nana: It’s got to be Darren Ball… how huge he has he got?!
Giles: Right, I think we can leave it there now, Nana. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for BodyFitness.
Nana: And thank you Giles for being my number one fan [laughs] and for your support!
To see more on Nana, go to www.nana-manu.co.uk.
Nana Manu’s Contest Diet
Total duration: 12 weeks
Weeks 1-7:
Meal 1 – 1/2 cup of porridge oats with pure whey isolate
Meal 2 – Chicken thigh (I dont like the breast), 3oz rice with green beans
Meal 3 – Tin of mackerel, 3oz potatoes
Meal 4 – Same as meal 2
Meal 5 – A piece of steak and 3oz of potatoes
*Plus a pure whey protein shake before bed
*Saturdays and Sunday are treat days
5 weeks out the fun begins:
Meals 1-5 are all the same apart from the carb source – 6oz turkey, 3 oz potatoes or rice, small portion of green beans
*No treat days
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