Meet David Kaaya, South Africa’s bodybuilding champion

South Africa’s Body Building Champion: On November 14 2015, David Kaaya of Rondebosch, Cape Town travelled to Barcelona to represent South Africa at the World Body Building Championships. He claimed a silver medal for his adopted country, capping off an astonishing rise for the man who left his homeland of Uganda in 2002 for a better life in South Africa.

David’s drive and determination stems back to a simple magazine cover he spied in Uganda. Kaaya laughs as he recounts the story. “The funny thing is I never wanted to be like a Ronnie Coleman or a Jay Cutler or another famous bodybuilder. The only person who really made me want to be a bodybuilder was a woman on the cover of an American fitness magazine. If she could do it, why couldn’t I do it? I bought the magazine. And now, every time, I still look for that body.”

Kaaya admits he has come a long way. A dedication to his craft has seen him rise from humble beginnings to become Western Province bodybuilding team captain and South African champion in his weight class (65KG).

It wasn’t always that way. In 2002, Kaaya arrived in South Africa jobless and spent two years living on the streets of Johannesburg. He managed to scrape together enough money to travel south, to Cape Town, where he found himself a gym and got into shape. A former kickboxer, Kaaya had always been drawn to active sports, and as a member of Zone Fitness gym on Main Road, Rondebosch he now had a base to call home.

Three years later, in 2007, Zone Fitness management approached Kaaya with an opportunity that changed his life: an all-expenses paid trip to school, with a qualification in personal training waiting at the end of it. Studies complete, Kaaya returned to Zone Fitness as a certified personal trainer. “Zone became a home for me and changed my life,” Kaaya says.

He immediately began competing in national competitions and has been a serial winner on the circuit since, competing in competitions like Mr and Mrs Fitness, IFBB, WBBF, Samba and WPF. Now, his silver medal in Barcelona lends Kaaya the international renown he never thought possible.

Having honed his craft, David is now helping promote the benefits of exercise wherever he goes. “The key to being a bodybuilder is understanding your body. You don’t need fancy brand name machines. The key is knowing what you need to do in your mind.”

Kaaya trains five times a week and if he’s preparing for a competition, heads to the gym twice daily.  “I like working chest and biceps one day, shoulders and triceps another, back and forearms a third day.”

His favourite exercise? “I would say cardio is actually my favourite, but when it comes to weights I enjoy working on my legs.” To Kaaya, weights and cardio are equally important, but diet is 75% of getting in shape. “You are what you eat,” Kaaya says with a smile. “I usually stick to lighter carbs such as sweet potato. As it gets closer to competition time, I cut out all carbs, sugar and salt. This would be 2 weeks before any competition.”

Kaaya hopes to help other fitness novices find peak physical condition, and believes that he is proof that anyone can make a success of themselves. “Training with me is crazy,” he laughs. “I like doing boot camp classes in the morning with light weights and high repetitions.” But the results speak for themselves.

2016 is set to be an exciting time as David will be once hosting amateur bodybuilding competitions at the Zone Fitness gym in Rondebosch. “I want to help other people realize that with the right training, the right diet and the right mindset, they can achieve their goals.

David has come a long way since his humble beginnings, and he smiles as he reflects on his eight years in bodybuilding. “I’ve been very blessed, very fortunate.”

In the end, David’s appreciation for his good fortune has given him the hunger to train like every day could be his last. The belief Zone Fitness has shown in him has helped him rise to the top.

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To arrange a session with David Kaaya, phone Zone Fitness Rondebosch on +27 81 427 3237