Lukas Duncan, Class of 2008, "Kewpie of the Month" August 2008

Lean, mean muscle machine
Hickman grad loses weight, finds success at bodybuilding event.

By RUS BAER of the Tribune’s staff

Published Sunday, July 27, 2008

Gerik Parmele photo

Lukas Duncan weighed more than 280 pounds when he played football for Hickman, but he recently dropped to less than 200 to compete in his first bodybuilding competition. Duncan finished third in his weight class in the Mr. Missouri event.

Lukas Duncan can’t quite put his muscular finger on what it is about bodybuilding that interests him.

"I don’t know … ," he said, pondering the question for a few more seconds. "Just being big, it’s cool."

Gerik Parmele photo

Although a self-proclaimed workout freak, Duncan hits the gym for just an hour a day before letting his “muscles recover.”

If that’s true, consider Duncan one of the coolest cats in Columbia.

The 2008 Hickman graduate competed in his first bodybuilding competition on July 19 and placed third among 12 entrants at the National Physique Committee Missouri State Bodybuilding Championships held at the Oasis Convention Center in Springfield. Duncan, who is just shy of his 19th birthday, was the youngest competitor in the light-heavyweight field and won the teenage division.

"I was pretty happy with the way I looked," Duncan said. "My goal was to get top two, because then you get nationally qualified for other shows, but I think I looked all right."

Competing at 198 pounds, Duncan looked amazing for a guy that just eight months ago was tipping the scales at 282.

In December, Duncan was bigger than big.

A self-proclaimed workout freak who has been lifting weights six days a week since he was 14, Duncan entered his senior year at around 240 pounds. Expected to start on the offensive line and at linebacker for the football team, he was preparing for a successful season.

In the first game of the year, however, he severely sprained his ankle.

"Once I got hurt," Duncan said, "I was like, ‘Screw it.’ I’ll just go crazy with food."

The feeding frenzy added to his wild weight-lifting routine, which involved lifting with the football team in the mornings and then doing a body-building workout after practice, Duncan added 40 pounds to his already thick 5-foot-9 frame.

Once the football season was over, though, Duncan directed his efforts into preparing for his first bodybuilding competition. Eying the Mr. Missouri championship as his first foray into bodybuilding, he started to watch and weigh what he ate.

"I started to diet because I was planning on doing this show," Duncan said, referring to the July 19 event. "I started eating clean and basically split my diet into eight meals throughout the day. Chicken, broccoli, rice and oatmeal. That’s it. Every day."

It was a surprisingly easy adjustment, considering he initially only liked half of the food he was putting in his mouth.

"I like chicken and I learned to like broccoli and oatmeal," he said. "Now I like the taste."

Duncan dropped about 15 pounds the first week of his diet and another two to four pounds every week after that. But while he continued to drop weight, he didn’t lose much of his impressive mass. Duncan said most of his excess weight came from his gut and legs. Now there’s hardly a speck of fat on his muscle-bound body.

"I was big when I was 280, but I had no cuts and no definition or lines," Duncan said. "I’m pretty much the same size, but it’s just muscle and a lot less body fat. That’s what you want."

Much like his muscles, Duncan’s knowledge of bodybuilding is self-made. He has no personal trainer - his 21-year-old sister, Melanie, is currently training with him - and he picked up most of knowledge about the sport from the Internet or magazines.

One thing he picked up early on was that less is more in bodybuilding.

"People think you have to be in the gym for like 4-5 hours a day," Duncan said. "No. You just hit it hard for an hour and let your muscles recover."

Duncan focuses on a different body part every day of his weekly regimen that runs from Monday through Saturday, breaking it down into chest, quadriceps, shoulders, arms, hamstrings and back. On Sunday he rests, and occasionally breaks away from his diet during one of his eight meals.

"I had ice cream Sunday" after the competition "and a steak and a lot of candy bars," he said, with a grin. "It was just one day."

Besides, Duncan has plenty of time to work off that tasty meal as he prepares for his next event. He said he plans to bulk up to around 215 pounds and compete as a heavyweight the next time he hits the stage.

Remember, in Duncan’s muscular mind, it’s all about being big.

"The thing about it is you keep progressing," Duncan said. "You can never be big enough or look good enough. Like with football or basketball or baseball, once you’re really good, you’re really good, you know? With bodybuilding you can always keep getting bigger."

Reach Rus Baer at (573) 815-1787 or rbaer@tribmail.com.