Joe Kozma Bodybuilding Beginnings in Knoxville Times

Kozma traded football for weights

By Jeff Fletcher
News-Sentinel Sportswriter

A finance major at Tennessee, Joe Kozma recently claimed the heavyweight title at the National Collegiate Bodybuilding Championships.

Joseph Kozma was a football player. He was on scholarship as a linebacker/defensive lineman at the University of Wisconsin. All that ended with a knee injury—an injury that, ironically, opened doors to much greater success than he might have found in football.

When the knee problem forced Kozma to give up football, he transferred to the University of Tennessee and took up bodybuilding—serious bodybuilding.

Earlier this month, he took first place in the heavyweight class of the National Collegiate Bodybuilding Championships.

“I’ve been an athlete my whole life,” he said. “I started lifting weights for football when I was 15. Then I hurt my knee and couldn’t play football anymore.”

Unable to fulfill his scholarship at Wisconsin, Kozma transferred to UT when his family moved to Nashville in 1987.

From football to bodybuilding

“If I would have stayed in Wisconsin and played football, I felt I could do permanent damage to myself,” he said. “I would have been harassed by the coach if I had stayed in Wisconsin and not played football.”

Upon arrival at UT, the 21-year-old finance major put his full dedication into building his body to “perfection.”

“When you’re constantly exercising like me,” Kozma said, “you get to the ‘pump’ feeling—when your muscles get pumped with blood. There’s a high associated with bodybuilding. I’m into looking perfect. It’s something that has become as deeply ingrained in me as brushing my teeth.”

Training and diet

In addition to his workouts, Kozma’s daily regimen includes several meals a day, which account for the 8,000 to 10,000 calories he needs to maintain his physical condition.

“I just about have to be eating constantly when not training and not in class,” said Kozma, who spends about $1,000 a month on food. “I have to eat every two hours.”

Kozma eats mainly lean meats such as chicken and tuna, grains, and other natural foods. Faced with the task of turning those ingredients into tasty meals is Kozma’s wife of two years, Traci.

“She can make it taste good,” he said.

Looking ahead

Kozma, who has been competing in bodybuilding for about a year, said he was looking forward to the chance to represent UT in the national competition that was held June 15–16 in Houston.

Although the entire competition featured about 100 college bodybuilders, Kozma, who weighed 230 pounds at the time, was in a heavyweight class with five other competitors.

Kozma said he hopes the recognition from winning the collegiate title will help him gain sponsorships to compete more often. He said Muscle Magazine is a potential sponsor.

If Kozma is to compete in professional bodybuilding, he will need to win his class in one of the national qualifying competitions that are held about three times a year.

“The next is in October,” Kozma said, “but I probably won’t be ready for that one. My body’s kind of burned out right now.”