Maybe it was simply a calling Adam Cohen answered.

If it was, the impetus for the Bangor native’s involvement in the sport of bodybuilding has proven to be anything but a Siren song.

Rather than washing up on the rocks of frustration or failure, the 21-year-old sophomore at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has enjoyed great success.

Since deciding to train for and compete in his first bodybuilding contest almost 21/2 years ago, Cohen has won all five competitions he has entered. His most recent win was in the junior division (ages 18-23) of the Musclemania World Championships in Anaheim, Calif., last month in a field of 15 regional champions representing 10 countries.

“It’s my biggest win,” said the sophomore kinesiology major, who took the fall semester off to train for the competition and plans to return to school after the winter break. “That really made all the training and the sweat and the hassle well worth it.”

The son of Barry and Ruth-Ellen Cohen is referring to a 14-week regimen involving two hours of weightlifting, two 40-minute aerobic workouts, a very strict diet, and a minimum of eight hours of sleep daily that becomes more intricate and strict as it gets closer to competition day. How strict? Well, consider his diet, which is refined three times during his overall training session.

“The first month, I eat steak, fish [salmon], salads, sweet potatoes, asparagus, oatmeal, egg whites, rice, protein shakes, and water,” Cohen explained. “The second month, I cut out steak and fish and have chicken breast, salads, brown rice, and egg whites [seven egg whites make for a complete breakfast].

“The third phase really gets old fast: chicken breasts, brown rice and asparagus, which is a natural diuretic.”

All though his training period, Cohen drinks at least a gallon of water each day.

Talk about bland.

“It gets boring, but you know, when it comes time to eat, I’m so hungry I eat it all,” said Cohen, who works part time as a personal trainer at John Paul (J.P.) Soucy’s Bangor Athletic Club, his “home” gym. “They’re not the best-tasting meals, but they fill me up.”

Cohen’s association with Soucy, who helped him with training, diet and preparation, started during Cohen’s senior year at Bangor High School after he won his first contest, the Maine Super Natural Championship in Scarborough in August, 2002.

Soucy started talking to Cohen and invited Cohen to train with him. Soucy liked Cohen’s genetic makeup, basic fundamentals and competitive drive and promised to get him ready for the Natural America Bodybuilding Championship nationals in November. The two revamped Cohen’s training regimen and designed a diet to work on specific muscle groups.

The result, according to Cohen, was “dramatic” improvement and Cohen won the junior and open middleweight [155-175 pounds] classes and finished second overall, qualifying him for nationals.

His accumulated experience the last two years and his academic emphasis on exercise physiology have allowed Cohen to become his own trainer.

“I do most of it on my own, but I get some advice on my diet from J.P.,” Cohen said.

Saying the sport requires dedication, determination and discipline to be successful is an understatement. Cohen quietly chuckles when someone suggests bodybuilding is not a sport, or worse, calls it the male version of a beauty pageant.

“It’s subjective, yes, but we’re not being judged on how handsome we are and you don’t have to exhibit a certain talent like singing or dancing,” he said. “The posing is not as easy as it looks because it’s hard on your body. It’s not comfortable and it takes a lot out of you.”

Not to mention the fact that not everyone is cut out to flex their muscles in the glare of spotlights on a stage by themselves, wearing nothing but a Speedo, in front of a large crowd and a panel of judges – while slathered in oil and a bronzing/tanning compound.

“It’s called Pro-Tan. It’s a spray you apply with a sponge and you do several applications over a series of days,” Cohen said. “It was originally invented for people with skin pigmentation problems and it binds to your skin cells, so it takes a week to wear off.

“The advantage is that it shows muscle definition better under the bright lights.”

And yes, there is a constant threat and temptation of steroids and other artificial agents, but it’s one Cohen ignores.

“When people are in a gym, they’ll see you’re serious and offer to hook you up if you need something,” Cohen said. “It’s tempting because they do work very well and if you want to do it, it’s something you can get pretty easily, but I compete naturally. I prefer it that way.

“Muscle Mania is the top natural drug-tested series. It’s urinalysis-controlled and you get tested after the finals.”

The 5-foot-6 Cohen “got into” bodybuilding early during his junior year at Bangor. The former swimmer and cross-country runner found that weightlifting agreed with him.

“I really didn’t have any sense of direction or purpose, but I’ve always been in good shape and athletic and been a little above average in musculature,” Cohen said. “And I really started seeing noticeable results quickly. Plus it’s addicting. The endorphin effect is very noticeable.”

Throw in his immediate success and it’s understandable why Cohen has taken to it so.

So what’s next? For now, Cohen is enjoying an unrestricted diet that is good-tasting and helpful in bulking him up. His weight has shot from 173 to 200 pounds, and will go down again when he starts his next round of training, which will start in April in preparation for the Musclemania Super Body Universe Championships in Miami in late June. Before that, he’ll be heading back to class the first week of January.

Cohen’s long range plans are more fluid. He’d like to turn pro and start earning cash prizes, but that’s still a long way away.

“It’s not an easy thing to make a career out of bodybuilding,” he said. “I plan to stay amateur as long as I’m a junior. I want to be competing for awhile, but I don’t want to do it the rest of my life.”