Batu Pahat continues to produce bodybuilding champions

BATU PAHAT - Mention bodybuilding and many will recall two legendary figures, Datuk Abdul Malek Mohamed Noor (better known as Malek Noor) and Sazali Samad, who once brought glory to Malaysia on the world stage.

Interestingly, both of them hail from Batu Pahat, Johor.

Amin Rasuad with his medals won at the international level since representing Malaysia in the sport beginning in 2022. - Bernama photo

The district has now produced another bodybuilding champion, Amin Rasuad Sidek, who secured fourth place in the 70-kilogramme category at the 57th Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championship 2025 in Thailand last month.

Amin Rasuad, 46, said his involvement in the sport began during his primary school years when he used to accompany his late father Sidek Yahya, who was a bodybuilding coach, to their family-owned gym in Tongkang Pechah here.

"I often followed him and watched him train Batu Pahat district and Johor state athletes. That’s how I started to develop an interest in this muscle-building sport.

"From there, I pursued it formally with specific training starting at the age of 16, and it took nearly a year before I was able to develop suitable muscle definition,” he told Bernama recently.

Amin Rasuad said his hard work began to pay off when he was crowned champion of the junior category at the Mr Johor 1998 championship at just 18, a platform that enabled him to compete more actively at the national level.

He became a national athlete in 2022 after competing in the Asian Championship Bodybuilding in the Maldives, where he placed fourth in the Bantam Weight 65-kg category.

The father of three is now under the Malaysian Bodybuilding Federation (MBBF), led by Major General Datuk Dr Ahmad Badrus Othman, which has opened opportunities for him to compete in several international competitions.

Since then, his highest achievement on the international stage has been competing against world-class bodybuilders and winning second place in the 65-kg category at the 15th WBPF World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports Championship 2024.

He said to prepare his physique for competitions, he consumes more chicken, eggs and fish than usual, and also eats brown rice instead of white rice, and takes supplements as well.

"I also have to train every day, that is, two hours in the morning and another two hours in the evening or at night.

"If I miss even one day, it will affect certain muscle groups and fat may develop in those areas,” he said.

Amin Rasuad added that he is also continuing his late father’s legacy by running his own gym to discover new talent and nurture the next generation of bodybuilders. He is also training his second child, who is 18, to follow in his footsteps.

Besides his son, he is also training four Johor state athletes, one of whom, Mohammad Hakimi Othman, 27, managed to secure third place in the Mr Malaysia competition in 2023 and 2024.

Amin Rasuad hoped that bodybuilding, often overlooked by the public, would receive greater attention as Malaysia has the potential to produce more champions. However, he noted that the biggest challenge for bodybuilding athletes is the difficulty of securing sponsorships to progress further. - BERNAMA