OSU assistant director of fitness also competes as a professional natural bodybuilder

Friday, August 21, 2015

An Oklahoma State University employee builds his body naturally by balancing a healthy lifestyle in everything he does.

Jason Vlastaras, assistant director of fitness, is a professional natural bodybuilder. His training is not that different from that of a mainstream bodybuilder, but he focuses more on his overall health by maintaining a specific diet, getting at least eight hours of sleep per night, minimizing stress and training without the use of steroids. Before every competition, he and the other natural bodybuilders take drug and polygraph tests.

“I’ve always been into superheroes and working out, but it’s my faith that drives me and gives me my moral compass,” Vlastaras said. “You get a sense of camaraderie at these competitions because we all made this choice. It’s a friendly community, competitive, but friendly.”

Vlastaras lost a lot of weight his senior year of high school after being sick with mono for two-and-a-half months and decided to start training once he got to college. He began competing two years into his training.

“When I first stepped onstage, I was immediately hooked,” he said. “Every year, you’re more or less competing against yourself. Being compared to others helps you see how much you need to improve. The nice thing about this sport is that it’s mostly centered on health, so you hit your prime later in life.”

When it comes to role models, Vlastaras looks up to Layne Norton, a professional bodybuilder and power lifter who promotes healthy dieting for the sport. But most of all, he looks up to his workout partner, Brian Whitacre, an agricultural economics professor at OSU.

“Brian is one of the legends,” he said. “He’s a five-time world champ in bodybuilding. Working out with him is when I ended up winning my pro card. I won my pro card at the North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation’s 2014 Southern State’s Classic, which is one of the largest amateur competitions in the country.”

As the assistant director of fitness, Vlastaras oversees personal training and group fitness classes. He also coordinates more than 25 events and programs during the year including the Midnight Glo Run and the Orange Mud Run. He started at OSU four years ago as a fitness coordinator.

“It motivates me,” he said. “Working here is just a natural compliment to what I do, so it’s also helped me a lot.”

In his spare time, Vlastaras enjoys collecting comic books and attending comic conventions, including Megacon. He also takes time to work with the weightlifting club on campus. Most of those students are first-time competitors, so he helps them with training and posing as well as giving them advice. 

“I tell them to focus on the basics,” he said. “Build strength, focus on becoming stronger and focus on consistency. Then make the decision to compete. If you say you don’t want to compete until you reach a certain level, you might not ever compete.”

Vlastaras will compete in the following competitions for his rookie year as a professional:

• Federation of Physique Athletes Pro International Sept. 19

• IFPA Yorton Cup Pro World Championships, pending qualification, Oct. 24

• WNBF Pro World Championships Nov. 14

Story by Matt Cohlmia