CC Matthews was not the boy who dreamed of playing in the NFL or the child who one day wanted to be the next New York Yankee. Matthews, the personal trainer at Trinity Fitness Studio, has only wanted to live the purest life possible.

Matthews has lived his life eating only the best foods and keeping his body in tip-top shape.

“I started weight training consistently because I like quality of life,” Matthews said. “I love working out and eating healthy. I would rather add years to my life than have a premature death from health issues or obesity.”

Working out three times a day and eating the right foods paved the way for Matthews to bring home two first place trophies in the Atlanta Championships of the Super Natural Bodybuilding Federation earlier this month.

“It was such a great feeling knowing I had won,” Matthews said. “It was so great because I knew how much I had put into it.”

Matthews won the medium height division and he also snagged the overall first place trophy.

With the victory Matthews gained his pro card of the bodybuilding world. He can now enter competitions that have cash prizes for the Top-5 competitors.

Judges critiqued Matthews’ chiseled frame on symmetry, muscularity, definition and stage presence.

He started preparing for the October competition back in July.

While training, Matthews wakes up at 4 a.m., does a cardio workout for one hour, eats a breakfast of natural oatmeal and egg whites at 5 a.m., trains clients beginning at 6 a.m., breaks for one hour at noon to hit the weights hard and does one hour of cardio from 8 p.m. until 9 p.m.

All throughout the day he is loading up on carbohydrates and protein every two hours.

A normal meal is either grilled chicken or tilapia, with no seasonings, and vegetables.

“I take pride in my daily routine and I also take pride in being drug-free all the time,” Matthews said. “There are too many young people nowadays who think the best way to get big muscles is to take a pill or use a shot.

“But they don’t realize what they are doing to their bodies. I want to become the best natural bodybuilder in the world someday, but I do all this to educate people about the sport and how to live a healthy lifestyle.”

Matthews grew up in Andalusia and graduated from Red Level High School in 1998.

His love for the physical training world began during his eight years enlisted in the United States Air Force. But his desire to be a bodybuilder began much earlier.

“It all started when I would watch “The Incredible Hulk” as a kid,” Matthews said. “I was in awe of all the muscles on the Hulk. Everyone loves superheroes and growing up the Hulk was my favorite.”

But Matthews did not single out bodybuilding during his teenage years, as he played football, basketball, and baseball and was on the swim team in high school.

Matthews left the Air Force to pursue a degree at Troy University in 2006 and never left the Troy area.

“I got out of the military and I saw a great need in this area for a personal trainer,” Matthews said. “This is what I love and I feel it is my duty to help the people in this area.”

There must be something to what Matthews teaches because one of his clients, Kawana McGough, took home the overall first place trophy in the female division at the Atlanta competition.

Next up for Matthews is the pro tour. He said he is going to look at the upcoming shows in the area and dip his feet in the professional ranks sometime next year.