Friend's death inspires East Bay bodybuilder

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Photo cutline: Antioch resident Tim Hammett has won the prestigious "2010 Mr San Jose Overall Champion" - a premier San Francisco Bay Area competitive bodybuilding event. This win qualifies Tim to compete in National-level bodybuilding events leading to professional status.

In December of 2008 local bodybuilder Dan Zamora lost his long battle with pancreatic cancer. Inspired to honor his friend, "Danco," retired competitive bodybuilder Tim "T-Bone" Hammett decided to come back after five years for one more championship and win for his friend.

At 39, Hammett didn't waste any time getting back in shape. It took just seven months of extensive working out and a good healthy diet to complete the win he was looking for. Last month he took home the top prize at the 2010 Mr. San Jose Overall Champion. In the same event he also won first place in the heavyweight division.

"This was an awesome heartfelt thing for me," Hammett said about the win for the friend who was the first to call him T-Bone. "It is a great feeling for what it represented."

Hammett had been weightlifting for more than 25 years when he decided to retire from competing in 2005. He won his first competition in the 2000 as the Excalibur Overall Novice. In 2005 he won first place in the San Francisco Heavyweight Competition and second place in the Sacramento Heavyweight Unlimited.

Hammett said that although his friend didn't know he had taken on this goal before he passed away, he knows that Zamora would have been cheering for him.

In 2007 Zamora won the Mr. Contra Costa County title. Shortly after the competition he started having stomach pain while doing his regular workouts. Those pains turned out to be cancer. "He was a winner," Hammett said.

Before the competition last month, Hammett also participated in a team for Relay For Life in Martinez in Zamora's honor.

To get into top physical shape for the Mr. San Jose competition, Hammett followed a strict workout and diet regiment.

"Competitive bodybuilding is about fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it take regimented workouts and heavy weight training, but also a special diet of high protein, low carbs and minimal good fats," he said crediting his girlfriend, Jessika Green, with her support in helping him prepare his meals.

Since he took on the challenge honoring his friend, Hammett's father, who has battled cancer four times, is once struggling with the disease. Hammett has decided to spend the next year working on a new goal. He hopes to compete in the 2011 Mr. Universe Competition and win that award in his father's honor.

For those interested in getting involved in competitive bodybuilding he said that "you must live the sport, commit to the weight training, stay true to your diet and have a very supportive team behind you."

Hammett said that part of his support team includes his colleagues at Delta Diablo Sanitation District, where he works as a Collections System Worker II.