INTERVIEW:The Classic Viking

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The following is a Q&A interview I did with Tyrone Jagger. An entrepreneur, bodybuilder,fitness model, influencer and many other things. As media I'm naturally gonna discover athletes that brand themselves well are different and standout from the rest.  'The Classic Viking' is largely known for having one of the most aesthetic physiques in Mzansi characterized by presenting  wide clavicles also flairing lats which taper into a small waist - this gives him one of the best X- frames in ZA.  Tyrone is currently in prep for the NPC African where he bids to become South Africa's next bodybuilding Pro. 

Here's the convo

Wasup Tyrone so tell me how and when did the name 'The Viking' come about?

For the last 5 years. I’ve always had this beard that resembled a Viking. People in the gym and shops would always come up to me and say have you watch vikings because you look just like Ragnar. So watched it and thought it was a epic show. As people got to know me at gym I was just referred to as the “Mr Viking”.

Me being in love with Classic physique. I came up with the name The Classic Viking.

Tyrone sitting with his oldie sister

And talk to me about your first experience lifting a barbell, what drove you to do it? Did you already sports in Highschool?

I started lifting in high school because I always saw this amazing guys on fitness mags and growing up watching the Movies like Thor for the first time. I always knew I wanted to look like him one day and that’s what drove me to start training.  Started training in a garage gym with my friends in high school and just thought the pump was so sick we had to flex in the mirror even being that small 😂 but I honestly loved lifting heavy weights and was always competitive to lift heavier than they did. 

I played Rugby as well as soccer in school but the gym is where my passion stayed.

You say you love lifting heavy weights so obviously while lifting heavy your physique is  continuously improving right. How does having a 'fairly good body' due to working out then transition into you doing actual bodybuilding and competing?

I went for many years not even knowing about the whole industry and body building. I purely did this too look good and get more confidence . It was only at the age of 25 year 2017, people suggested  I get a coach and asked him to coach me and he suggested a show to do. Since then and competing at my first show (summer super bodies) and winning overalls did I fall in love with competing. 

I’m very competitive and always want to win. I take loses to heart but I always remain Humble and I think that’s a good way to stay grounded in the industry. Because you will never win them all and that’s just facts.

So the showdown in December is a few weeks away. How is prep going? 

Like where are you currently in terms of carb/calorie intake as well as your current cardio protocol? I ask this in terms of the package you want to bring to the stage at the NPC African?

Prep is going very well. One of the easiest preps so far the last few weeks till last week calories and carbs were still high around 2800 to 3200 cals carbs around 350g this was because my Body fat was in a good enough spot to use this time to still keep fullness and improve weaker areas of my physique.

From the 4 week out mark we started to push for conditioning now. Cals sitting now around 2400 training days and 2000 non training days. 

Definitely tightening up now but still keeping fullness compared to previous shows where I would do more aggressive carb cycling.  This new approach is really working well and my new coach is really focused on bring a more fuller look as I tend to look stringy on stage when I diet to hard. So we have definitely found a balance to this prep which I think will see me 4-5KG heavier than my last showing in Romania where I was to depleted. Although was my best package I was 97kg on stage in Romania. This time round we looking to be 100-102kg.

Where as of right now I could stand with the best internationally and be competitive. There’s no point in me getting a pro card here and not being able to be competitive internationally.

When we last spoke you said you felt your current physique suits Mens Physique better than Classic. Can you briefly touch on your strengths & strong points as a bodybuilder and how they make you better suited to Mens Physique?

I’ve always thought I was suited to classic physique for a few years till I did mens physique last year. 

I have always had great legs and that was always my strengths. And that’s why I did Classic. It was till last years big man show NPC I did mens physique because Head judge there said I’d do well. Because I have a great taper. See the last 3 years of training Ive really put a lot of volume of my training into improving my upper body. And now I feel I am more balanced and still suited for both. 

After competing at Romania the head judge who is the judge of Olympia Terrick gave me advise that I really looked well in mens physique because of my great tapper and great shoulder to waist ratio. So he believes I should stay in that catagory till I out grow it.  I believe that you should always that the judges feedback and run with it if you want to succeed in competition. I feel that classic physique I still have more mass to add to dominate internationally.

How do you keep your waist that small actually? Like do you always wear a belt or what?

I do absolutely nothing for my waist. I think it’s genetic and also I don’t over eat to blow up my stomach ever

Now looking at the field of competition at this year's NPC African, how do you rate your chances? Do you see yourself as one of the favourites?

I’ve learnt to not focus on competition I have to face, because you never know who will show up to the show. There are many athletes that don’t have hype around them from other countries we do not know of. 

I look at bringing my best and that’s all I can control. Saying that I do believe that I have what it takes to win the show come December. I believe that this physique is pro quality and that anyone who stands next to me will have a tough time.

Lastly you seem to focus alot & understand the importance of branding. You take good quality pictures, you're easily distinguishable from the crowd and are associated with something recognizable for many 'Ragnar from vikings'. How are you now planning on taking the next step in terms of growing the 'Classic Viking' brand into a brand that outlives your bodybuilding career??

 I’ve been posting a lot more high quality stuff yea, for many years I’ve been chasing wins thinking that would grow my following and and brand but it’s not the case. I have a big passion for this sport and really would love to make money from it. But in SA it’s really hard. Yes we get sponsored but never paid for it. So the thing for me to do next is make better content. And maybe short videos. I will only look at YouTube maybe if that is asked for by the audience but as it stands YouTube is time consuming and only the very good guys make it in this and you have to be really good on camera and talking to camera and I’m not that type of person. 

So short term goals would be to build onto the Viking brand yes. 

Possibly looking as creat Merch for the Viking brand and very different clothing to what is currently out there.  look at creating a Viking training app for users to get ideas on how to train that people can subscribe to on how I train and prep. Maybe expand into coaching.