A.J. Jarrell, a dedicated personal trainer and lifetime natural bodybuilder, has been a vegetarian his entire life, following in the footsteps of his parents who adopted a vegetarian lifestyle two years before his birth. This remarkable individual has been training religiously for over 20 years, inspired by the television show "The Incredible Hulk" to strive for a physique that would mirror the character.
As one of Arizona's top personal trainers, A.J. has consistently demonstrated that with a solid diet and consistent workout routine, a vegetarian can indeed be competitive at the highest level. His impressive list of achievements includes winning the L.A. Championships Novice Heavyweight and Overall Novice titles in 2004, and then taking top honors at the NPC Natural Western Regional Championship in 2005, winning the Overall title.
A.J.'s competitive bodybuilding career also included national and international competitions, where he placed 7th place out of 17 competitors in the Light Heavyweight class at the 2006 Team Universe in New York, and again took 7th place as a Heavyweight competitor at the 2007 Team Universe. His final bodybuilding competition was at the 2008 Natural Western Regional Competition in Phoenix, Arizona, where he ended his career with an Overall victory, winning both the Heavyweight Class and the entire show.
After a successful bodybuilding career, A.J. decided to pivot and return to his first love, art. He has picked up where he left off and is currently working on a series of famous jazz musicians, with his first painting being Joe Williams. A.J. sent a framed copy of his painting to Joe Williams' wife, Jillean Williams, who responded by sending him some memorabilia of her late husband. A.J. is now in the process of painting jazz legends such as Buddy Tate, Al Grey, Jay "Hootie" McShann, Milt Hinton, Benny Carter, Marshall Royal, and many more.
