Brian Arrington has been training at Walt’s Gym for the past three years. Arrington has one simple reason for training at Walt’s.

“I really wanted to push on in my bodybuilding career and I knew I had to come to Walt’s to do that,” Arrington, a CSX employee, said. “My trainer and workout partner, Mike Phelps, have been working out here for the past three years because Walt has the best equipment around.”

Arrington recently walked away with the Middleweight Open Class and Overall championship at the Vulcan Classic bodybuilding contest in Birmingham April 11.

The event is one of many National Physique Committee events in the area each year. Arrington, Phelps and Walt’s Gym owner Walt Edson all compete in NPC events.

“The NPC is like the major leagues of bodybuilding,” Phelps said. “It is the most competitive and largest committee out there.”

Arrington competed in the middleweight class, which included bodybuilders topping out at 176 and ¼ pounds. Arrington weighed in at 174 pounds.

He was the winner of the middleweight division and also won the overall title between all of the division winners.

The competitors are judged on categories such as, symmetry, definition, muscle mass and presentation.

Edson said Arrington’s accomplishment this past weekend is not an easy task. Arrington beat out 22 other contestants to take home the Open Overall title. Any bodybuilder competing in the Open class has won an overall title at some other event.”

Phelps, who is a full-time personal trainer at Walt’s, said he hopes Arrington’s success invites others to train at Walt’s.

“You need to come here if you want to win competitions,” Phelps said. “If you want to succeed in the bodybuilding world you need to come to Walt’s.”

Edson began the business in Abbeville in 1986 and branched out into Ozark and opened the Troy gym in 1991.

“Bodybuilding really is a lifestyle and we would like to think we can give solid advice on how to get to a championship physique here,” Edson said. “We are so proud of Brian’s accomplishments.”

Phelps concurs with Edson’s sentiment.

“Champions are made at Walt’s,” he said.