Newspaper article on the show
Dalton native pumped about MTV reality show
Jamie Jones
You can’t turn a teenager into a bodybuilder in eight weeks. Especially a teenager whose diet consists of greasy Southern fried food. Definitely a teenager who has never picked up a weight.
You can, as Dalton native and bodybuilder Peter Putnam learned, give that teenager a glimpse of a bodybuilder’s lifestyle and show him the motivation needed to succeed in the sport — and in life.
Putnam will appear on MTV’s reality program “Made” on Saturday at 4 p.m. as a coach who has two months to prepare teenager Cody Hammon for a bodybuilding contest at “Muscle Beach” in Venice Beach, Calif. While new to bodybuilding, Hammon wants to improve his self-image and confidence level and become physically tougher.
“It was not necessarily transforming his body into a bodybuilder because that was not remotely a possibility,” said Putnam, a 1995 graduate of Dalton High School. “However, his success would be defined by him being able to complete the challenges, not quit, actually make it to the competition and be able to go out and have confidence in himself.”
“Made” takes ordinary people who aspire to be extraordinary with the help of a “coach.” A prissy teenage girl wants to be a BMX racer. An overweight high school student wants to be a tri-athlete. An introvert wants to be a professional wrestler.
The project started with a call to Putnam from MTV producers — who admitted knowing little about bodybuilding — to pick his brain. After several phone calls and interviews, casting directors asked Putnam to try out for the show as the coach. They thought Putnam, who has appeared on the covers of several bodybuilding magazines, including Flex and Muscle and Fitness, would lend credibility to the program.
Putnam has been a bodybuilder for several years. His athletic background reaches much further as a member of the Dalton High School football team in the early 1990s. In 2007, he won the light heavyweight class at the USA Bodybuilding Championship in Las Vegas, the same city where he and wife Jessica were married.
It also helped that Putnam lives in Knoxville, Tenn., which would allow him to make the filming schedule. The majority of the show was filmed in Jackson in west Tennessee with additional shooting in Daytona, Fla., Huntsville, Ala., and Venice Beach.
Filming began in July. Hammon received a package in the mail with a pair of Speedos and a note from Putnam. He was to go to an empty theater and sit in the front row. The lights dimmed, the spotlight hit, the music began and the curtains opened to reveal Putnam posing.
“The whole journey begins,” Putnam said.
Putnam called the experience “an accelerated course in Bodybuilding 101.” He had to teach Hammon to eat meals of lean protein and healthy carbohydrates every two to three hours. He had to show Hammon proper weightlifting techniques. He had to inspire his protégé through hours upon hours of cardiovascular work.
“It blindsided him,” Putnam said. “He had no idea this was a part of a bodybuilder’s lifestyle.”
Hammon put up a fight and was at times reluctant to embrace the daily grind. He wanted to live a normal life, but at the same time aspired to be a bodybuilder.
“It was taking a blank canvas,” Putnam said. “You can’t give a kid a crayon and tell him to draw a Picasso. The issue is if they don’t even want to hold the crayon, you’re not going to get anything out of them. That’s kind of where it was, a constant battle and struggle; he was being subjected to often intense, grueling situations.”
Hammon may have lacked a chiseled physique at the end of the eight weeks, but he did lose 20 pounds.
Not to give away the entire episode, but Hammon makes it to the bodybuilding competition. He also gets to tour the offices of Joe Weider, who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) and created the Mr. Olympia competition. Weider also publishes Flex and Muscle and Fitness magazines.
That was a plus since Hammon is considering a career in journalism — just in case his bodybuilding career falls through.
