{"id":104897,"date":"2025-08-31T12:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/104897\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T12:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:07:07","slug":"17-year-old-jayden-persad-challenges-himself-shines-in-bodybuilding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/104897\/","title":{"rendered":"17-year-old Jayden Persad challenges himself, shines in bodybuilding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tSports<\/a><\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tNarissa Fraser
\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n

6 Hrs Ago<\/p>\n

\"JaydenJayden Persad shows off his medals from the National Physique Committee TT’s Muscle Show in May, and Island Cup in August. – Photo by Lincoln Holder <\/p>\n

Unhappy with his unhealthy eating habits and their effect on his body at 12, Jayden Persad began working towards becoming the healthiest version of himself. He started exercising and swapped sugar-packed snacks for veggies and lean meat.<\/p>\n

Now, at 17, he has taken it a notch further and stepped onto the stage of bodybuilding, in which he has already earned five medals.<\/p>\n

Persad attended the San Fernando TML Primary School and recently graduated from Naparima College.<\/p>\n

The Palmyra teen said his family has always been the most important thing to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy childhood was very family-oriented, because I grew up being very close to my mom and dad, my cousins…\u201d<\/p>\n

But he also loved sports, especially cricket and football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always into some form of physical activity. I was also very much into (watching) wrestling and boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He studied business in secondary school, explaining that it\u2019s fun, diverse, and could create several avenues for him to earn money, as he \u201clikes to stick his nose in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Jayden Persad before he began his fitness journey. –<\/p>\n

Already having mustered the strength to push through the unfortunate experience of his family being victims of a violent home invasion in 2020, Persad took on another challenge.<\/p>\n

Around age 12, he felt he needed to change his lifestyle. As much as he enjoyed sports, he found himself struggling because of his weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off with some regular dumbbells. I really just wanted to get fit,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the first part of the journey was just to get fit and look good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how his friends at school reacted when his physique began to change, he said they kept telling him how much of a difference they saw in a short space of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was looking at myself and not seeing anything. But they did.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that his biology teacher Dave Singh also cheered him on and encouraged him to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was the only teacher at the time that realised I had something (going for me) besides academics.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also, and still is, an adventure scout with the 1st Naparima College Sea Scout Troop.<\/p>\n

He said he used to eat \u201clots of sugar\u201d and snacks. But over the course of his fitness journey, he cut out sugar entirely and even meat. He eventually reintroduced meat with plain rice and vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember I lost between 70 and 80 pounds. I used to be 182 at five feet three inches tall; then I weighed 100 in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said his body had felt much better and he had no idea that \u201cthat\u2019s how I was actually supposed to be feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the fattest in my class. I didn\u2019t know what depression was at the time, but I did have it. It was disgusting. So I chose to lose that physical state.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he stressed, \u201cYou don\u2019t know how much your body is capable of if your mind isn\u2019t in it. As much science as there is for what your body could do, you really need to have that mental state that believes you can do it. I had a hunger for it, and I pushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was actually starting to see the childhood dream I had of being something physically weaponised, or something physically great with my body. So I tried bodybuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did a lot of research and also got in touch with local members of the bodybuilding fraternity to learn more about it.<\/p>\n

He learnt how to sculpt his body in a particular way, what type of diet he should follow, how to safely flex his muscles, etcetera.<\/p>\n

In competitions, bodybuilders are typically judged by muscle mass, symmetry and definition, as well as their poses on stage.<\/p>\n

Persad has a dedicated space at home with his own equipment. He continued to add items to his home gym, which he said is responsible for \u201calmost 90 per cent of (his) physique.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cSometimes I would go to (public) gyms with friends and I would train, I would learn how to use the equipment properly, and try to apply that on what I have home.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were three phases: the \u201crusty dumbbell\u201d phase, the borrowing and loaning phase, and the purchasing phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a basic power rack and a bench: it has cable attachments to do every body part. I have 845 round plates, an Olympic barbell and some old rusty plates,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, around 2022, I started to take it even more seriously. I started to train for strength \u2013 and I realised I had a lot of potential and was progressing fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 15, he could bench-press 200 pounds and do a 300-pound deadlift, as well as a 250-pound squat for two sets of 12.<\/p>\n

At 16, he got a call from a representative of the National Physique Committee TT.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jayden Persad – Nadir Ali Photography<\/p>\n

There were about 12 days left before a show and he recalled being \u201cglad that this local network was happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to do the show to the best of my knowledge. I didn\u2019t have proper guidance at the time \u2013 I was totally new to it \u2013 but I competed for the first time in May.<\/p>\n

He had no fear of crowds, so the experience of being on stage was anxiety-free.<\/p>\n

But as for people now staring at him with minimal clothing on, he said he \u201ckind of hypnotised (himself).<\/p>\n

\u201cI got through that. My body was breaking down a little bit because I was dieting kind of strange. I had no idea what to do,\u201d he said, laughing. \u201cBut there were a little bit of cramps in my glutes and calves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI medalled for Men\u2019s Physique Teenage and Men\u2019s Physique Novice\u2026It was only me for Teenage and there was another guy for Novice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how the achievement felt, he said it actually took him about two months to realise what he had done.<\/p>\n

Wanting to do more, he competed again at the NPC\u2019s Island Cup Regional Championship in August. This time, he got medals for Men\u2019s Physique Teenage, Classic Physique Teenage and Classic Physique Open B.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this, it was just to be healthy. Then I realised I could push to my full potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s \u201cstill not where he wants to be,\u201d but acknowledges he is progressing well.<\/p>\n

Asked what is the most challenging aspect of bodybuilding, he said maintaining one\u2019s physique and mental stability off-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be a little bit insane to push yourself to the position you have to be\u2026to understand that a pain barrier is needed, and multiple pain barriers are needed if you are growing\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI am young. I don\u2019t know what my genetics told me. I don\u2019t know what the next month will say. So I have to play the biggest gamble and train in a way that I assume my body is going to respond to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said people have tried to accuse him of using steroids or performance-enhancing drugs \u2013 but he doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have nothing against people on those, but I don\u2019t use that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recently became certified with the International Sports Conditioning Association (ISCA) to become a personal trainer, and hopes to open his own gym someday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do sports sciences, and as a professional, I\u2019d like to pursue it as a skill for the human body and to be a personal trainer doing exercise physiology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows me how I can be a better personal trainer in terms of my entrepreneurship, because it includes business, it helps me personally with my athleticism\u2026so that\u2019s the next step for me right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports Narissa Fraser 6 Hrs Ago Jayden Persad shows off his medals from the National Physique Committee TT’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-104897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}