Nowadays, we’re used to seeing Bob Cicherillo announcing on stage at major bodybuilding events like the Olympia Weekend. He has a big voice, and he’s got a big physique to match. In fact, Bob spent years as a competitive bodybuilder, beginning at the 1981 Natural America, where he placed 4th in the teen tall class. He’s been around a long time and has amassed a large amount of bodybuilding knowledge through that experience.
His first-ever NPC event was the 1987 NPC Junior Nationals, where he won in the heavyweight class, and his first IFBB event was the IFBB North American championships, where he placed 4th. His first IFBB Night of Champions was in 2001, where he placed 11th. He placed 17th at his first Mr. Olympia in 2002, but he’s clearly found his niche in the media side of the sport in the time since.
Bob has been featured in media across the bodybuilding world, even being featured on the cover of FLEX magazine. He was also “Titan” on the original American Gladiators TV series. These days, he hosts and emcees contests across the Olympia weekend and joins Shawn Ray to host Monday Night Muscle, a bodybuilding and fitness show on the DigitalMuscleTV YouTube channel.
“I really enjoy training and I still put my time in in the gym,” Bob says. “But preparing for competition, the workouts and the dieting, demands your full focus and dedication. That leaves little left over for family, or business projects or anything else. After 20 years or more of competitive bodybuilding determining my entire lifestyle, it’s nice to be in a position in which I am still deeply involved in the sport, continue to have relationships with the great champions of the day, but also have a real life outside of bodybuilding.”
Bob’s motivation and dedication to discipline is evident when you look at his competition history. He came along just at the beginning of the “big guy” era. It took him until 2000 to win his pro card, and then he found himself competing against mass monsters like Ronnie Coleman and Phil Heath.
“It is amazing nowadays,” Bob says, “how great you have to be just to be good. At no time in bodybuilding history, for men or women, have the standards been so incredibly high.”
The high point of Bob’s competition career was winning the master’s Pro World in 2006. But once he began acting as emcee at local contests and started to be in great demand, he made a transition from competitor to “The Voice of Bodybuilding.”
“I’m very happy doing what I’m doing nowadays,” Bob says. “Since Jake Wood bought the Olympia weekend and Dan Solomon Chief Olympia Officer, and with the Ms. Olympia now back in the mix, it is unbelievable how much energy and enthusiasm has been brought into the sport in general, and the Olympia in particular.”
“As far as I’m concerned,” he concludes, “I am very much at the right place at the right time.”
