Full Name: George Victor Farah Age: 32 years old Nationality: American/ Lebanese Height: 5’6” Contest Weight: 214 lbs Off-Season Weight: 230lbs Current Residence: Rochester, New York Education: Bachelor in Electronics Certificates: Nutrition, Personal Training (NFPT)-(AMAF) Occupation: PRO Bodybuilder, Nutrition Consultant/ Personal Trainer Train At: Rockell’s/ Power House Fitness Center, Rochester, NY
George Farah's Story
"I was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent my adolescent years in the military, fighting in the civil war. During those years, one of my outlets was working out. I started getting interested in bodybuilding and received lots of encouragement from my gym owner. At age 15, I entered my first competition in Beirut, weighing 148 Lbs. won the overall and became the youngest Mr. Mount Lebanon. A couple of years later I immigrated to the United States to join my mother & brothers, and after moving around for almost a year I settled down in Rochester, NY. I resumed my weight lifting and bodybuilding and entered my first US contest at age 19, and won Mr. lake Ontario in 1991 a year after I entered two shows the Rochester and the Gold clasic and won my class in both , weighing 152 lbs. In 1995, I won Mr. Rochester overall, weighing 164 lbs. In August 1997, I got shot three times in a robbery attempt, in downtown Rochester. Two shots in my back and one in my stomach, I bled profusely and had major internal injuries, which brought me near death 7 times. I was rushed to surgery and had my kidney and bladder fixed, my lower spine fixed and half of my bowels removed. I ended up having my small intestine brought out to a pouch right above my right groin: an ileostomy.
I spent 5 weeks recovering in the intensive care unit; my weight went down from 200 to 130 lbs. I got discharged home
4 months later and what an ordeal: I lost all my muscles, could not walk and had an ileostomy bag full of stools to care for. I pulled all my strength and stamina and decided to go back to the gym. Slowly and painfully I was able to regain some strength and muscles, and built my weight back to 180 lbs. In January 1998, I had surgery to reconnect my bowels and to get rid of the ileostomy. It took me 2 months to recover from that, but what a relief. All that was left from my ordeal externally is a long scar extending from underneath my sternum to below my belly button, a small side scar above my right groin and an imperfect 6 packs. From the inside, short bowel with an impaired digestion and absorption of food. All of that did not defer me from continuing my quest to become a professional bodybuilding.
Six months after my last surgery, I entered the NY state bodybuilding championship, weighing 169 lbs, and took the overall. Six weeks later, I competed at the 1999 Junior Nationals and took second in the middleweight class. I rested for a year and packed some muscles then entered the 2000 NPC Nationals and won my middle class, weighing 176 lbs and received my PRO card. I again took a year off to prepare for my PRO debut, and packed 225 lbs before I started my contest preparation. I competed at the 2002 Southwest Pro, weighing 204 lbs on stage, and placed third which qualified me for the Olympia. It was a dream coming true, long awaited and filled with pain, hard work and extreme determination.
George Farah's Records
1999
Junior Nationals - NPC, MiddleWeight, 2nd
2000
Nationals - NPC, MiddleWeight, 1st
2002
Olympia - IFBB, 19th
Southwest Pro Cup - IFBB, 3rd
Toronto Pro Invitational - IFBB, 9th
2003
Night of Champions - IFBB, 8th
Show of Strength Pro Championship - IFBB, 11th
2004
Florida Pro Xtreme Challenge - IFBB, 6th
Night of Champions - IFBB, 6th
2005
New York Pro- IFBB, 12th
Niagra Falls- IFBB, 8th
Charlotte Pro- IFBB, 3rd
Mr Olympia- IFBB, 12th
2006
Europa Supershow - IFBB, 9th
Montreal Pro Championships - IFBB, 9th
New York Pro Championships - IFBB, 7th
