INTERVIEW: How A $100 Bet Transformed Dennis James Into A Bodybuilder
Dennis James reflects on his time in Thailand and how a simple $100 bet changed the entire course of his life into bodybuilding.
Dennis James is well known today as a bodybuilding guru of sorts. He helps coach and train some of the biggest bodybuilders in the sport. He’s also a sort of unofficial color commentator for bodybuilding. He’s a co-host of the Olympia press conference and provides analysis for the various top-level physiques we see on stage. He was also one hell of a bodybuilder in his prime.
So it may come as a shock that his entire life as an iconic bodybuilder, commentator, and coach all stemmed from a simple $100 bet. Not only that – it was a $100 bet that was agreed upon while James was drunk. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Dennis James explains how a $100 bet changed his life and transformed him into a bodybuilder.
Dennis James is an extremely knowledgable bodybuilder in the sport. That’s why during our video conversation with him, we asked how a beginner bodybuilder can get credible information for research into training and dieting and supplementation. Like any sport – there is no one right answer. The fundamentals are all easily available for anyone to learn – but the pro level tactics come from experience. And everyone’s individual journey is often different.
So instead of giving generalized advice, Dennis James shares his story of how he became a bodybuilder and learned how to perfect his diet, training, and supplementation. The story is quite a rollercoaster and shows that even an icon like James required years of trial and error before become the pro we all remember. The best part about the whole story? It started off with a drunk $100 bet.
Dennis James took a two week trip to Thailand in the early 1990s. He loved it so much there that he never left. He ultimately stayed there for many years – far past the two week vacation plan. While living there, he spent a lot of time enjoying life and hanging out at the local bars. One such bar often had bodybuilders come in as patrons. After some time of becoming friendly, a fun and drunken wager was made.
Dennis James bet a bodybuilder that he could become just as muscular in three months. He was drunk and overly confident. He had little to no knowledge on how to achieve this goal. Regardless, he shook on the bet. $100 if he could build up mass monster muscle in 3 months.
Dennis James dove head first into training. He knew nothing about diet. He actually changed nothing about his diet. Instead he just rained hardcore non-stop. According to him, his body reacted so well and so fast that he received the $100 from the bet in just six months.
Shortly after the bet, Dennis James continued to train and eventually caught the eye of the Mr. Universe promoters. In 1992 Dennis James was drunkenly taking a random $100 bet. In 1993, he was on stage at the Mr. Universe in England.
The rest, as the say, is history. He continued to make bodybuilding his passion. In having to finally compete on a stage – he asked for advice on how to diet. His initial advice received was to simply eat chicken, rise, and pineapple for every meal. That’s why he did and it helped. Of course, we know that the bodybuilding diet is far more complicated than that.
And that’s the point. Dennis James went from a bet, to competing, to making mistakes, and eventually went pro. He used that passion and pro status to eventually become the man we know today. There is no one single correct way to learn about bodybuilding. Everyone’s journey is different. You will make mistakes – but just make sure to do as much research as possible so you don’t make dangerous mistakes. If the passion is there – the rest will come to you.
You can watch Dennis James go into complete detail about his bodybuilding origins in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
