One-on-One with Dean and IFBB Pro Leigh Brandt

The Jack and Jill of All Bodybuilding Trades, Competitors Dean and Leigh Brandt Strive to Make Each Contest They Promote Better Than the Last

Exclusive MUSCLE INSIDER Interview

MUSCLE INSIDER: You’re a well-known power couple in the fitness industry with a finger in many pots: competing, running a personal-training business, gym and supplement retail store, launching a supplement company and recently you started your own a spray tanning business. Does your passion for fitness spread in that many directions or do you have a particular favorite?                       

Leigh: It’s clear we defiantly like keeping busy! Health and fitness are what we are passionate about and this has led us to pursue all these ventures that complement one another. So to pinpoint one specific area is tough for us because we enjoy all of them!

MUSCLE INSIDER: Dean, your wife turned pro in 2009 and has competed all over the world. Has being Canadian helped or hurt her career? 

Dean: It’s helped, as Leigh was the first IFBB Bikini pro in Canada and the pioneer for those who followed. It gained her notoriety when we travelled, and that’s helped in landing international fitness-magazine covers.

MUSCLE INSIDER: Dean, we were first introduced to you many years ago by MUSCLE INSIDER writer Don Gauvreau, who told us you were Mr. West Coast. How many years have you been promoting contests in BC and what made you get started? 

Dean: I’ve been promoting shows in BC since 2010. I first took an interest in contest promotion after I attended the Gators Classic run by Sergio of Gators Clothing. I saw the entertainment value he brought to his shows with guest posers, lots of sponsors and swag, plus I remember thinking how cool his life looked, hanging around with pro bodybuilders, and running his gym and clothing business. He seemed to know everyone in the fitness industry at the time. 

MUSCLE INSIDER: Your wife is an IFBB pro and you’ve competed at the North American Championships. As you’re both competitors, has it helped you run successful events?

Dean: We’re still both competing, and every day we’re involved in the industry in some form, which has allowed us to be at lots of different local gyms and talk to and encourage new competitors into the industry. 

I recently switched over to compete in the Men’s Classic Physique class in Fort St. John (BC), which has brought me full circle in the competitive scene, going from bodybuilding in my late 20s and early 30s to Men’s Physique in my 40s and now back to Classic Physique. This has made me appreciate what each discipline goes through during prep and competing, so I have a better understanding as a show promoter to serve the athletes at our events.   

The fact that we are both competitors, trainers, supplement-company owners and published physique models is a great advantage to being contest promoters because we can relate to what the competitors are going through with their prep and what they want to see at events, and it also allows us to better understand their needs the day of the show. After all, the competitors are the show and if they don't have a pleasant experience, then we haven't done our job properly.

MUSCLE INSIDER: What characteristics make you good at what you do?

Dean: I’m very detailed orientated and create daily tasks to be completed. I then concentrate on getting one item completed at a time before moving on to the next. I have such lists everywhere around the house and at work on dry-erase boards. My wife and staff make fun of me about them, but they’re a great help in prioritizing and completing tasks. 

MUSCLE INSIDER: Competitors always rave about the outstanding gift bags you give them at your shows. How important are gift bags and prizes in today’s contests versus how it was many years ago when you first started promoting? 

Dean: Having been a contest promoter for 11 years and owning a retail supplement store for 15 years, I’ve formed many great personal relationships with sponsors and supplement-company owners, which allows me to get amazing prize packs for athletes and plenty of free samples for all attendees to try.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: You were one of the first promoters in BC to leave the BCABBA to promote under the CPA/IFBB Pro League. How has the transition been for you as a promoter and second, as a CPA competitor [in Dean’s case]? 

Dean: The transition into the CPA as a show promoter has been amazing. President Ron Hache has really encouraged us to own our shows and become more innovative with prizing, marketing and promoting of our events. This along with fewer restraints and rules have really made promoting shows fun again, and the athletes will see and feel the difference in the atmosphere backstage. 

MUSCLE INSIDER: What’s your opinion on the judging in the CPA vs. other organizations?  

Dean: The judging within the CPA is the best I’ve seen in my 11 years of promoting and competing in shows, in part because they adopted a zero-tolerance policy for trainers and contest-prep coaches being judges. This has brought back a much-needed reassurance to athletes that fair and ethical judging is a priority.

MUSCLE INSIDER: How do the drug-testing standards of the BC Natural Cup compare to other supposedly drug-tested contests in BC? 

Dean: The CPA uses WADA drug testing, which is the same world anti-doping agency that the Olympics use, so there is no better testing available. I can’t speak for other organizations and what they use for their testing procedures, but I’ve seen firsthand how professional and ethical the WADA organization conducts itself, bringing in their own staff and setting up backstage at our shows with very strict operating procedures.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: Who’s that guy with the outrageous outfits and glasses who always emcees your shows? His suits are so unique! Where did you find him? 

Dean: I first saw a Kim Farrsion when he emceed ashow at the Emerald Cup back in 2009, and I said at the time, “If I ever promote a show, I must have him working with me. I then reached out to Kim and I was the first promoter in Canada to bring him up from Seattle to emcee our 2010 BC Championships.  

From the first show we hit it off and formed a mutual friendship. I told Kim after that contest I wanted him back for every show I promoted in the future, and that has now been 12 shows over 10 years working together. 

MUSCLE INSIDER: Everyone who has some success in the fitness industry always seems to acquire a few "haters" along the way. How do you deal with them?

Dean: I use it as motivation to work harder. My mom’s advice a long time ago was, "You can't please everyone and nor should you try." I just continue to work hard to earn people's respect rather than trying to be everyone's friend. 


MUSCLE INSIDER: Your Body By Brandt training business is wildly successful. What separates your coaching style from the many coaches out there? 

Dean: I’ve always loved training people because it's instant gratification when you motivate and push people to become a better version of themselves. It's a very empowering feeling that you had a small influence on them by helping bring some positive feeling about themselves by increasing their self-esteem.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: You’re a huge proponent of taking supplements. What are the key substances that you keep competitors on right up to the day of a show? 

Dean: I formulated my first product Oxy3Rx based on three key supplements I had my clients use during their contest prep starting four years ago. These ingredients are L-carnitine, DIM and ketones, which are now the main ingredients in my best-selling natural fat oxidizer. Others supplements that followed Oxy3Rx were the naturally flavoured BCAAs with carnitine called Amino4 and a high-quality probiotic formulated for athletes called Probiotic15. These total-body health products can all be used right up to contest day with no concerns about artificial ingredients causing inflammation or water retention.

MUSCLE INSIDER: You secured Eren Legend to guest pose at the BC Natural Cup. Take us through what made you choose him over other athletes like Mike O’Hearn, who you brought as your guest poser the last two years. 

Dean: I looked at supporting a Canadian IFBB pro and noticed that Eren Legend had recently competed at the San Diego Pro. I reached out to him about coming here for the BC Cup. I also love the fact that he’s a natural athlete and who better to represent the BC Cup Natural Championships then someone like Eren, who natural amateur athletes can look up to and strive to emulate.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: Our magazine will soon be publishing all the overall winners of the BC Cup. How important is media and social-media exposure to getting sponsored and growing your own brand if you’re an athlete just starting out?

Dean: Media exposure is extremely important nowadays for personal branding and marketing, or selling supplements, products and even online programs. Amateur athletes need to understand this, and Eren and I will be hosting a seminar on the Sunday following the posing seminar to talk more about this very topic.   

MUSCLE INSIDER: Leigh, what is your current training split? 

Leigh: I follow the Metabolic 365 program of course! It includes three days per week of heavy volume training with basic movements like squats, deadlifts, military presses, bent rows, etc., and three days per week of metabolic-style full-body workouts, consisting of 2-3 exercises back to back with minimal rest between sets to ensure a metabolic burn and high caloric expenditure.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: If you were both able to give advice to yourself when you just started training, what would it be? 

Dean: I’d tell myself to make every workout and opportunity count and enjoy the process. I wasted a lot of time in my 30s partying on weekends and losing sight of what I really needed to be focussed on. Plus I’d recommend taking more risks in business and life. Do the things that scare you the most. It took me until my late 30s and early 40s before I really started to believe in my abilities and hard work, and that’s when I took risks to start the businesses.

(Editor's Note: To read another inspirational story on someone who grew an empire in the fitness industry, don't miss this piece on John Cardillo). 

MUSCLE INSIDER: Does a contest promoter play any role in the judging of an event? 

Dean: None whatsoever. The judges and the format of the show are run by the organization (CPA) and we really are just the hosts of the event.  

MUSCLE INSIDER: How has the sport of bodybuilding changed since you got into it? 

Dean: At the core, it hasn’t changed. We all just have a passion for working out. But back when I started, there was no Internet,  so no selfies, no famous models on IG, no online-coaching business, and no Bikini or Physique classes.  

I remember living in Kamloops, B.C. prepping for a bodybuilding show and making a trip down to Gators Gym in Surrey to check out my competition, and guys were wearing 2-3 sweatshirts to make themselves look bigger in order to intimidate the competition before show day.