Muscle_&_Fitness_JulyAugust_2016

SPRING JOE NAUFAHU TRAINING
Smart move. Talking out of school
while on a show like GoT is like
begging for Khal Moro’s early and
grisly death. And such an untimely
and forced fate for his character
would shatter the dream Naufahu is
currently living.
“I remember watching Game of
Thrones with my siblings [he has
four brothers], and I would say to
them, ‘If there is one show that I
would love to do, it’s gotta be Game
of Thrones,’ and they would laugh at
me. And a couple of years down the
road, here I am on the show playing
the leader of the Dothraki.”
A
LONG WITH BEING A
standout rugby player, respected
personal trainer, and
talented actor, Naufahu also enjoys
reading magazines.
“I read almost every issue of
Muscle & Fitness when I was 10,”
he says. “It’s such a huge honor to
be part of it. I have always had so
much respect for [M&F]. I remember
at 19, going to train with my
cousin, the famous bodybuilder
Sonny Schmidt, at his gym in
Melbourne. We used to read the
magazine, and now, years later, I am
in it. It’s pretty awesome.”
Despite traveling the world to
film GoT and running a business,
Naufahu stresses that without his
family’s support, he would have
never achieved the kind of successes
that have come his way. As a token of
his appreciation, he had his family’s
names tattooed on his body.
“There are Mother Mary and Baby
Jesus for my mom; the birds are doves
and represent my two sisters; my oldest
brother’s name is Tiger, so there is
one for him; and the horseshoe is for
my other brother, whose nickname is
horse.”
Samoans just look
at weights and we
get bigger.
In addition to having a rose tattoo
named after his godmother, there
is also a set of praying hands and a
profound phrase in Latin on his chest
that translates to “Be strong. Pain will
be useful to you someday.”
“I wanted to have that because
pain strengthens you,” he explains.
“At the time it happens, it seems like
the worst, but you get through it and
you’ll see how much you grow as a
person.
“Nothing is impossible if you set
your mind to it. Focus on it and you
can achieve it. When the lights turned
on after the L.A. premiere, my mom
turned to me with pride and said,
‘Son, I didn’t know you had so many
lines.’ For me, the coolest part of doing
what I do is setting goals and achieving
them—and for my mom to be here
to see my success.”
t Must-Know Moves
Here are Naufahu’s top 10
exercise picks: leg raises, pullups,
pushups, burpees, sprints,
kettlebell swings, crawls,
thrusters, knee-touch wall
donkeys, and rowing.
GROOMING BY CHRISTIE CAIOLA
54 MUSCLE & FITNESS JULY/AUGUST 2016