The Legend Tony Doherty

[Deano87]

awesome pics Tony

[pvsampson]

Hey Tony,I've gotta say it.

Best episode ever!!

Also one of the best threads on this site.

[TonyDoherty]

Hey Tony,I've gotta say it.

Best episode ever!!

Also one of the best threads on this site.

Thanks on both counts. Much appreciated.

Filming again tomorrow, all day. This 20 episode series has been a huge job.

TD

[pvsampson]

Hey Tony,I thought this might interest you.

I have my eldest daughter at home from school today as she is a bit crook,so I let her use the computer for a bit.I was checking my corned beef and I walked in to a familiar voice and asked her what she was watching.

"Max's Muscle TV dad."

I checked and sure enough she was watching episode 10 from this season.I said "How did you find that?". She said she got on to Google,typed Max's Muscle TV Videos and away she went!

Of all the things she could have tried to find on the internet,Dora,Barbie etc.,she typed in Muscle TV! Says a lot about your show mate.Both my girls sit and watch it with me.I was so proud of her,and surprised she found what she was looking for.

She is six years old.

Here is a link to a post I made of the girls that you may like.They love lifting!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1086807393

[TonyDoherty]

Hey Tony,I thought this might interest you.

I have my eldest daughter at home from school today as she is a bit crook,so I let her use the computer for a bit.I was checking my corned beef and I walked in to a familiar voice and asked her what she was watching.

"Max's Muscle TV dad."

I checked and sure enough she was watching episode 10 from this season.I said "How did you find that?". She said she got on to Google,typed Max's Muscle TV Videos and away she went!

Of all the things she could have tried to find on the internet,Dora,Barbie etc.,she typed in Muscle TV! Says a lot about your show mate.Both my girls sit and watch it with me.I was so proud of her,and surprised she found what she was looking for.

She is six years old.

Here is a link to a post I made of the girls that you may like.They love lifting!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1086807393

Thank you mate, that just made my day.

TD

[kingofthailand]

Tony just got msg from Terilli that Cathy Illingworth passed away. She was a great girl and always had a smile for everyone.

[Maxjabbour]

Oh hey i was the guy doing dumbell side raises while you talked to the camera at the Campbellfield gym. I was on tv lols. I wish i knew how i could find the show you were recording!

[TheProgressiveOne]

Oh hey i was the guy doing dumbell side raises while you talked to the camera at the Campbellfield gym. I was on tv lols. I wish i knew how i could find the show you were recording!

Just have to watch bro!

[pvsampson]

Oh hey i was the guy doing dumbell side raises while you talked to the camera at the Campbellfield gym. I was on tv lols. I wish i knew how i could find the show you were recording!

My six year old girl found episodes.Check youtube.

[jeezus]

Hi Tony.

I just left Melbourne (and therefore the Brunswick Gym) to live in Auckland. Now I am struggling to find a similar type of well equipped gym with long hours, as here they either close around 9pm, or they are some compromised franchise. Would you have any pointers for me in this city? Thanks and cheers!

[Deano87]

yeh, come back to Melbourne :P

[P4ULLY]

Here are some other shots from Birmingham BodyPower Expo.

AWESOME pics Tony!
Out of the pros you've met, who had the biggest impact on you and who do you think had the best physique?

[TonyDoherty]

Hi Tony.

I just left Melbourne (and therefore the Brunswick Gym) to live in Auckland. Now I am struggling to find a similar type of well equipped gym with long hours, as here they either close around 9pm, or they are some compromised franchise. Would you have any pointers for me in this city? Thanks and cheers!

Get the hell out of there or become an early morning trainer,

[pvsampson]

Hope your still around Tony,I take it you are busy.I have a couple of questions.

How often do you train and what type of routine?

Also I note Ronnie Coleman is now a member here. How long have you known Ronnie and where/how did you meet him?

Hope life is good for you mate.

[etaskusut]

Respect man!

[TonyDoherty]

Hope your still around Tony,I take it you are busy.I have a couple of questions.

How often do you train and what type of routine?

Also I note Ronnie Coleman is now a member here. How long have you known Ronnie and where/how did you meet him?

Hope life is good for you mate.

Yes mate been real busy. I train most mornings, about 5 X week. Always on an empty stomach. Usually one bodypart a day, or maybe one big bodypart and and one smaller. Try to do about 20-30 mins cardio but have never enjoyed it.

I have know Ronnie since about 1997. I actually bought him out to Australia before he won his first Olympia. I have interviewed him dozens of times since then.

TD

[KouRon]

Hey Tony,

Try bring down Antoine Vaillant to Melbourne please!!

[TheStrong1997]

tony

Will ever create a gym in the bayside area?

[TonyDoherty]

I have just been at the OLympia for the last week.

I did the interviews for NPC Newsonline. Check em out and enjoy.

Best Olympia in years.

TD

[AdamCharles]

Tony your a legend love the show. I also respect the **** out if you for everything u have done for and been through for bodybuilding. I was also at the Olympia this year. Question- who in your mind was better Phil or Kai? And why???
Cheers
Adam.

[Stakos]

Great show last weekend.

[TonyDoherty]

Tony your a legend love the show. I also respect the **** out if you for everything u have done for and been through for bodybuilding. I was also at the Olympia this year. Question- who in your mind was better Phil or Kai? And why???
Cheers
Adam.

Thanks mate.

Phil easy at the pre judging and at the finals Kai had caught up but it was too late. To beat the champ, you need to knock him out.

[pvsampson]

Good to see you here again Tony.Hope your family is well,training is good and you are enjoying your Friday night.

[chende]

This is my idea!

[FiLL]

OK here is my story, thanks for asking.

I started out in the gym business in about 1985, I had been working at a fitness centre in my home town for a year or two and saw an opportunity to buy it. I thought I knew everything and I paid way too much for it. At the time there was two gyms in a town of 100,000 people. Within three years there were nine gyms and the market share had shrunk. I still thought I knew it all and pushed ahead, losing money every month. I had gone into it with my parents backing and after the first few years just about lost the lot, including the family home. Being a cocky ****er, I just didn't get it and continued to think I knew it all, as young men do.

By 1994 things had become really bad, the town was over saturated by gyms, two more had opened up in my street and the wolves were circling. By then I was becoming well established as a bodybuilding promoter in Melbourne and knew that I needed to move quickly or lose the lot. I just could not see a way out. Then it hit me. I went to see the guy that had opened across the road, I knew his lease was coming up and he wanted to grow. I offered him my lease, all of my members and some equipment. I would walk away and he would get a better building and double his membership overnight. My only condition was that he would honour the members that had paid upfront, after all my folks still had to live int he town and I had to walk away with some dignity.

My dad has always been a partner in the business and we have become very close over the years, he still does all the bookwork and accounts which allows me to forge ahead.

I opened up in Brunswick, Melbourne in a small warehouse (400m2) with a truckload of worn out equipment, zero members and a dream. I had learned a lot but still thought I knew it all, there would be some more hard medicine ahead, all I had going for me was that I was too driven, stubborn or stupid to quit. At that time all I wanted was somewhere to train, somewhere to live and a Harley Davison motorcycle (one day).

The first year I lost everything to keep the doors open, house, cars, furniture, you name it I lost it. The phone or power got cut every month for the first year, at least. I had no where to live and no car, all I had was a vertical grill and a rice cooker. I slept on the couch at the gym most nights for that first 9 months, I would get up in the morning and walk up to the main road to get a paper and a coffee. This way it looked like I had come from somewhere when I would walk to the gym to open up at 6AM. I would work through to 9PM, most days on my own until everyone had left, once again I would lock up and pretend to head home until everyone had gone, then sneak back and let myself back in.

I stayed with Sonny Schmidt's family a couple of nights a week and his brother Pale stated working at the gym. They were very kind to me and that Samoan food kept me going. When Sonny moved back to Australia we managed to get a little rental across from the gym, it was a dump but worked great at the time. I started training like crazy with Sonny for the Olympia's and the gym started to get a following. People would come to watch us train and I started to get a few clients.

I still had nothing to show, but the gym was starting to go better and I had paid back most of the bills that I had bought with me. Once I started to get on top, I would buy a piece of equipment every time that I had some money in the bank. It was 6 years before started to get a regular wage but I managed to hustle up enough to survive between contests, personal training and a bit of debt collecting.

It was about this time that I started to wise up and realise that I didn't know everything at all. By now I had met Amanda (my wife to be) and we were starting to live a bit better. I managed to put food on the table, but still no car or flash living. At least I had killed my ego and learned a lot about myself and people from all walks of life. Looking back, going hungry and losing just about everything was the best thing that happened to me, no easy ride and looking down the barrel every day was probably what I needed to wake me up.

By 1998 we had kind of out grown the small building and the landlord wanted to turn it into apartments. So after finally getting ahead, (still no wage) but I owned all my equipment and had started to get our name out there. It was then that I found our current building, it was three times the size and the rent was also three times the size. However I have always thought that you have to risk something that matters. So with that we moved into Weston Street and it was like starting all over again. We went 24:7 immediately and things got really bad again. It was a good gym but with the overheads going up so much, it was impossible to make a buck. For the next three years I fought every day, worked twelve hour days and did everything myself, cleaning, maintenance, graphics, mail-outs, contests and day to day management. Things slowly started to turn around. I kept my policy of buying equipment every time I could, I would scour the internet and auction sites to find the best stuff I could at the right price. I kept pushing myself and by the time my first child was born in 2002, I was earning wages every week and business was looking better than before.

In 2001 I held our first pro show and the brand started to get known worldwide. We started to attract all types of athletes form Olympians to AFL footballers and power athletes from everywhere. Around 2004 we launched Muscle TV and I had started to work as a strength and conditioning coach at the Carlton Football Club, which gave us more credibility and a bigger following. Over the next 5 years it started to work, I kept buying equipment and expanding the gym. To this day I own every piece in every gym and don't lease any equipment at all. It keeps your overheads down and takes away most of the stress.

Three years ago I had a opportunity to buy an old hardcore gym that was rundown and going broke, it was in a great location and just need some love. I had to risk everything all over again. With the encouragement of my wife and family I went for it. We fixed it up nice and it is now very busy day and night. A couple of years ago I had the same opportunity in the middle of the City, it was in worse shape and provided the biggest challenge of all. It is also flying now and to have Tiger Woods train there for the last two weeks was the icing on the cake. We have done the same again North of where we are and also in my original home town. The last two are still to break even but heading in the right direction and getting busier every week.

The expos and shows have taken over a lot of my time now but have huge potential. I now have 62 staff and 4 of the gyms run 24:7, every day of the year. We have four healthy kids and live pretty well. I have never forgotten where I have come from and love to see others reach their potential. I still spend every day in the gym and wouldn't change it for the world. I am still working on the gym to make it better and will never stop trying to improve the product and the brand.

"It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll"

I know you posted this a while ago but just wanted to say this is very inspirational mate!

[Erin143]

lol

[sexnews]

Tony hasn't posted here in almost 4 months, yet it is still a sticky? This thread showed so much promise in the beginning.

[Iceman1981]

Tony hasn't posted here in almost 4 months, yet it is still a sticky? This thread showed so much promise in the beginning.

He also has a thread on GB in the Gossip section I believe.

[TonyDoherty]

He also has a thread on GB in the Gossip section I believe.

Yes true, I had been a bit busy and it was a pain to post pics here without posting them on another site and image linking them. Then I forgot my password and here we are months later. I will try to fore up this thread again, so any questions, let's go!

[pvsampson]

Good to see you here again Tony.Hope all is well.How soon before Muscle TV is back?