Sydney police senior constable Danny Schneider is a national bodybuilding champion
A SHOCKING head injury forced a police officer from a promising rugby league career with the Penrith Panthers into the world of competitive bodybuilding. Now after a shoulder injury and a two-year ban he’s a national champion.
Fairfield
Don't miss out on the headlines from Fairfield. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FAIRFIELD police officer Senior Constable Danny Schneider had a promising future in rugby league with the Penrith Panthers until a shocking head injury during a game sent him on a path into competitive bodybuilding.
Following his head injury, Schneider focused all his attention into rehabilitation to make his body strong again.
On a friend’s advice Schneider entered his first body building competition at 19, which coincided with his first week at the Police Academy, and he took out the top spot.
Schneider said the win spurred him to continue.
“I got hooked from then on,” he said.
After winning or placing in all of the competitions he’s competed in, a shoulder injury and a two-year ban from the Australasian Natural Bodybuilding (ANB) forced Schneider into semi-retirement.
Schneider said he learned a vauble lesson from the ban, which was imposed after he took an over-the-counter pre-workout supplement that contained geranium oil extract, not knowing it was another name for methylhexaneamine — an ANB banned stimulant.
“I took the pre-workout 24 hours before my competition, not realising the banned substance was named as something different,” he said.
“The natural bodybuilding competition is very strict because we’re supposed to be completely free of anything that enhances your body.
“Athletes need to really understand what they’re taking because a lot of the American companies will label banned substances with different names and that’s why it’s important to have a team behind you to guide you,” he said.
The time off allowed Schneider to rebuild his reputation with a team of experts who now monitor everything that he takes and he returned to competition late last year, winning the category and best overall titles at the International Natural Bodybuilding Association.
“I won the state title and then the national title two weeks later,” Schneider said.
“I was pretty happy with the results after just coming back again.”
Schneider has started the gruelling process of weighing meals and lifting weights for hours in preparation to compete for the professional category of the Australasian Natural Bodybuilding Universe later this year in the Philippines.
“I’m fairly motivated and have competed in several competitions now so I’ve worked how to make my body however I want,” Schneider said.
“I have some problem areas because of my shoulder injury, but most of my physique comes from a strict diet.”
Schneider said he has a strong team behind him now with his diet overseen by Mark Grech from Team Flexstream and supplements supplied by Muscle Bros in Penrith.
”I have been tested at every competition by ASADA and regularily within my role as a police officer which have all come back clear, including four times within two months at the end of last year.
“It’s important that I keep a really strict diet which I actually really enjoy — until the last week before competition, that’s not very fun,” he said.