The X-Man Toney Freeman earned his nickname for his X-frame, with broad shoulders, flaring thighs, and a narrow waist. And while Freeman never won a Sandow trophy, he spoke about his long and successful pro career on January 30.

Freeman joined the Muscle & Strength podcast and answered fan questions. That's when the host revealed that one fan asked: "ask Tonywhat got him into bodybuilding and whatkept you going for so lon."

In response, Freeman said, "Initially it’s just, um, like I said, my ex-wife knowing a bodybuilder that wasn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger. I didn’t know that regular people could do that."

He went on to explain, "So, once I saw it with my own eyes, and it was a regular. That kind of inspired me a little bit. I was already inspired from Arnold, but like I say, seeing someone, it made me
feel like I could do it, too," added Freeman.

That's what inspired him to keep at it and continue competing. Interestingly, Toney Freeman initially never thought he would compete, but ended up becoming a veteran competitor. "So,
so basically a woman. Yeah..." he joked.

However, the veteran bodybuilder's career may have lasted even longer if it weren't for an unfortunate injury.

Toney Freeman on His Hiatus

According to him, a pec tear and politics led him to stop bodybuilding.

He said, “I tore my pec in ’95, August 1, 1995. I was 285 at about four percent body fat. I was about nine weeks out from the show".

"Luckily, it was a partial tear. None of the doctors wanted to touch it because at the time, I was so swole you couldn’t even tell it was torn," he explained.

Toney Freeman skipped the surgery, attended the show, and finished fourth. However, the following year would be the final one of his competitive career for the 59-year-old, despite being healthy.

"Then, the next year, I got blackballed. They took me out of the lineup. When that happened, I was like, man, I got a torn pec, and I’m dealing with politics, so I just quit," claimed Freeman.

However, Freeman did return to the sport years later at 36, and earned his IFBB Pro card at the 2002 NPC Nationals.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi