Will Harris is a retired American professional bodybuilder who competed in the NPC and IFBB Pro League. He competed for more than 20 years and produced some memorable performances in renowned bodybuilding competitions. This is his complete profile, biography, workout routine, and competition history.
Will Harris
Born: February 23
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA
Residence: Los Angeles, California, USA
Nickname: Big Will World Harris
Height: 5′ 9″ (176 cm)
Competition Weight: 240 lbs (108 kg)
Off-Season Weight: 320 lbs (145 kg)
Arms: 24″ (61 cm)
Chest: 58″ (147 cm)
Will Harris Biography
Early Life
Will Harris was born and raised in South-Central Los Angeles where he had a tough upbringing. However, he persevered and chose a life of hard work, and commitment and constantly tried to be a better version of himself. While describing his life story as someone who grew up in the conditions that he did, Will Harris said:
“You’ve just got to be persistent like anything. I’m just one of a thousand stories of those who came out and kept their head to the grindstone to make something out of nothing.”
Harris has mixed ancestry – African American and Samoan. He attributes his passion and genetic gift of bodybuilding and weightlifting to his Samoan genetics. When Harris started bodybuilding and strength training, it had little to do with the professional/competitive aspect of it. He strived to be strong, muscular, and big and this motivated him to train hard with consistency.
“What I wanted to do was to look like a mutant. Being half-Samoan,I could do push-ups with my eyelids and gained 10 pounds! The weights just happened to be in the way. That’s one aspect of being half-Samoan. When you start to do any type of exercises, you’re going to grow. It’s just the fact that I inspire to it. Something that felt good and I enjoyed to do in the long run.”
Harris’ physique started growing at a rapid pace once he dedicated himself to bodybuilding and weight training.
Bodybuilding Career
At the peak of his career, Will was a huge 330-pound individual with 25-inch biceps and a 58-inch chest. As a result, he got monikers like “World” “Big Will“, ”Best Biceps in the World”, and “Best Side Chest Pose”.
Will Harris started his bodybuilding career with the 1996 NPC Western Bodybuilding Competitions where he finished first. His best performances came at the 2004 NPC Los Angeles Championships and the 2004 NPC USA Championships, where he won comfortably.
In his sole Mr. Olympia appearance in 2007, Harris finished 15th. He continued to participate in bodybuilding competitions in the late 2010s and retired after a 5th-place finish at the 2019 NPC Flex Lewis Classic.
Thoughts on WBF
Although he has primarily competed in the IFBB Pro League and NPC for the majority of his career, Will Harris has tremendous respect for the erstwhile WBF.
WWE boss Vince McMahon started the World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) which defied the prevailing practices in the bodybuilding industry and had the potential to change it forever.
Harris, who was competing in the era when WBC was functional, shared his thoughts on WBF while speaking on ‘The Steve Austin Show’ podcast hosted by the WWE superstar ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.
“It was the f–king best thing that ever happened to the sport. Absolutely. I actually wish it had kept on going if [Joe] Weider hadn’t pulled some s–t, but it was one of the best things that ever happened because it was the first time, first of all, IFBB, it forced them to open their f–king pocketbook and pay their athletes.”
Harris appreciates the erstwhile bodybuilding federation and its founder Vince McMahon for trying to make bodybuilders into real athletes and helping them achieve financial success through this art.
Life after retirement
Will Harris now works as a full-time pro trainer associate at the Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach California. He has adapted well to the age of the internet and keeps in touch with fans and the bodybuilding community through different social media accounts.
Competition History
- 1996 NPC Western Bodybuilding Championships – 1st place
- 2004 NPC Los Angeles Championships – 1st place
- 2004 NPC USA Championships – 1st place
- 2007 IFBB Europa Pro Supershow – 2nd place
- 2007 Mr. Olympia – 15th place
- 2014 IFBB Ferrigno Legacy Pro – 11th place
- 2015 NPC Mid Atlantic Championships – 3rd place
- 2015 NPC Mid Atlantic Championships (2) – 3rd place
- 2017 Arnold Classic – 10th place
- 2017 California Pro – Not known
- 2017 NPC Colorado State Championships – 6th place
- 2017 NPC Colorado State Championships (2) – 4th place
- 2019 NPC Optimum Classic – 1st place
- 2019 NPC Heart of Texas – 5th place
- 2019 NPC Flex Lewis Classic – 5th place
Will Harris Workout
Will Harris is a perfectionist when it comes to workouts. The veteran bodybuilder is extremely cautious about performing every rep in his training with perfect form, technique, and range of motion.
His wide and thick back and massive legs are the strongest parts of his physique and they were also the first body parts to grow in a meaningful way when he first started training. To this day, the back and legs are Harris’ favorite body parts to train.
Will Harris believes that it is a person’s mindset that makes training difficult or easy. He feels that as long as you love training and getting better, the difficulty or pain of a workout becomes a negligible factor.
Harris attributes a lot of his growth to the sense of camaraderie and brotherhood that existed in the fitness community when he first started training:
“There was nothing like being with your comrades back in the day and saying, ‘Hey, what did you do to get better?’ We were not afraid to ask questions on how to make body parts bigger. We would test each other on every aspect of that.”
Harris acquired a vast majority of his bodybuilding knowledge through these interactions and the constant exchange of ideas. He feels that the sense of camaraderie is lacking in the younger generations, who, according to him, appear to be trying to keep the knowledge to themselves.
Will Harris’ training regime has not changed a lot since his early days of competitive bodybuilding. He trains hard, heavy, and mindfully to get the most out of each workout and keeps training simple with effective compound and isolation movements for the complete development of each muscle group.
Over the years, Harris has increased the emphasis on cardio exercises and does a lot more cardio work than he did when he was younger. To avoid injuries, Harris mostly relies on machines and keeps free weight exercises to a bare minimum.
Following are some of Will Harris’ preferred exercises for each muscle group:
Back
- Lat Pulldown
- Straight Arm Pulldown
- Seated Cable Rows
- Low Rows
- Machine Pullovers
- Bent Over Rows on Machine
- Seated High Rows
Chest
- Cable Crossover
- Incline Bench Press
- Machine Chest Press (Decline angle)
- Machine Chest press (Flat angle)
- Pe Deck Flyes
Legs
Biceps and Triceps
- Machine Preacher Curls
- Cable Triceps Extensions
- Diamond Push-Ups
- Bench Dips
- Overhead Cable Triceps Extensions
Shoulders
- Crossover Cable Rear Delt Flyes
- Machine Rear Delt Flyes
- Machine Lateral Raises
- Machine Incline Shoulder Press
(The exercises mentioned above are Will Harris’ preferred exercises for each muscle group based on his comments in several videos on YouTube and interviews. However, the order of exercises and combination should not be mistaken as a fixed training routine for each muscle group as it may vary.)
Will Harris Diet
Will Harris feels that he is genetically predisposed to getting big. As a result, staying lean has been an extremely difficult thing and a big challenge according to his experience. For the most part, Harris’ diet focused on maintaining muscle mass while keeping the body fat percentage low.
According to Harris, bodybuilding is the game of time. You get better at it and see better results, the longer you stay committed to it. Therefore, he suggests following a diet that you can adhere to for a longer time. The chances of someone getting fatigued and deviating from their prescribed diet are high if they don’t eat the foods that they genuinely like.
To Conclude…
Will Harris remains a great example of someone who did not have an ideal beginning. However, through perseverance, hard work, and determination, he was able to change the course of his life and climb the ladder of social mobility and success.
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