Rocco Dioguardi will never forget his roots as a standout athlete at North Bergen High School. Dioguardi was a fine defensive end and an excellent punter, earning Hudson Reporter All-Area honors in 2003 as the county’s top punter.
While he was playing for the Bruins, Dioguardi took a liking to working out, especially weightlifting.
“I always loved weightlifting,” Dioguardi said. “When others would take a rest, I was still in the weight room. I was always into it. My Dad [Ronnie, another former Bruin grid standout in the 1970s] was into weightlifting as well and he got me into it. I was being realistic, knowing that I couldn’t take football to the next level. And after I had a few concussions my senior year, I knew that I had to find something competitive, but safer.”
Through it all, Dioguardi always remembered the inspiration he received from the legendary North Bergen head football coach, the late Vince Ascolese.
“I gained my discipline and dedication to the sport from Coach Ascolese,” Dioguardi said. “He brought out the very best in me every single day during my high school years. He’s responsible for helping to mold me into the man I am today.”
In fact, more than a decade after Ascolese served as Dioguardi’s coach, the coach’s words ring in Dioguardi’s ears.
“I often listen to his locker room speeches on my iPod before I head out to train,” Dioguardi said. “Nothing gets me more fired up like hearing Coach Ascolese deliver a pre-game speech. He really knew how to get me motivated like no one else ever could. At that time, I didn’t realize the impact that those principles he was instilling in me at such an early age would have an impact on me so many years later.”
After Dioguardi stepped away from football, he remained vigilant in the weight room. He earned a certification as a personal physical trainer and continued his dedication to regularly lift weights.
“I’m always working out,” said Dioguardi, now 30 years old and a resident of Guttenberg. “I wanted to see if I could take it all a little further.”
Dioguardi had some friends who were involved in bodybuilding. It seemed like a perfect union, a chance to remain competitive and have his dedication to weight training pay off.
“I read all the bodybuilding magazines,” Dioguardi said. “I read the Arnold’s Encyclopedia [of Modern Bodybuilding, written by the famed bodybuilder/actor/California governor Arnold Swarzenegger] all the time. I don’t think I ever put it down. I had the Pumping Iron DVD and played that all the time as well. I saw the way the bodybuilders looked and that lift a fire in me. I knew that it was something I wanted to do.”
So Dioguardi, who is a full-time custodian for the North Bergen Board of Education at the Lincoln Annex and also works part-time as a personal trainer, was determined to make his way as a competitor in bodybuilding.
It meant waking up way before dawn to get workouts in before the work day began.
“I work out six days a week and do two sessions a day,” Dioguardi said. “I’m in the gym at 5 a.m. before work for two hours, then come back after work.”
Dioguardi trains regularly at the Can Do Fitness complex in Edgewater, working out with North Bergen native Vinnie Cue, another bodybuilder who played high school football at St. Peter’s Prep.
Most people have a tough time dragging themselves out of bed before the sun comes up, but not Dioguardi.
“I look at the alarm clock in the middle of the night and I can’t wait to get up, knowing I’m going to the gym,” Dioguardi said. “I know that if I’m up and working, then I have an edge over my opponents.”
Dioguardi didn’t know how he was going to begin bodybuilding competitions, but then received guidance from his friend and fellow bodybuilder Nick Anzovino of Lyndhurst.
“I went to see one of his shows and I was blown away,” Dioguardi said. “I knew that this was for me. Nick helped me get through the process and learn how to compete.”
Two years ago, Dioguardi began to enter the world of competitive bodybuilding.
“I didn’t know how I would do,” Dioguardi said. “I entered novice competitions.”
In June, Dioguardi entered the NPC Garden State Championships at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford, a highly respected and prestigious competition. Dioguardi entered both as a Novice and in the Open divisions in the middleweight classification.
“I did the novice as a warm-up,” Dioguardi explained.
As it turned out, Dioguardi won the gold medal in both the Novice and Open competitions, which rarely takes place. Usually, competitors choose one or the other, but don’t do both – never mind win both.
Dioguardi thought he was doing it just for the experience as a competitor.
“That was a shocker,” Dioguardi said. “I ended up winning the open as well. I never thought that I’d do that well.”
The victories have now certified Dioguardi as a National Physique Committee (NPC) bodybuilding competitor and have earned him a spot in the Junior USA Bodybuilding Championships in Chicago next June, facing all the top competitors in the nation. Success there would enable Dioguardi to earn certification in the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) and his card as a professional bodybuilder.
Needless to say, Dioguardi is well on his way.
Dioguardi said that he was inspired to do well this year because he lost both of his grandmothers, as well as the passing of mentor Ascolese last December.
“I had a big desire to honor them,” Dioguardi said. “Losing Coach Ascolese was tough on me. He was like a grandfather to me. I know he would be proud. It’s nice to be able to honor him.”
Dioguardi said that he aspires to be able to compete professionally.
“That’s the goal right now,” Dioguardi said. “I want to be able to continue to compete. Bodybuilding is an experience sport. I need to get all the experience I can get. I’m always learning. I would love to be able to continue doing it and take it to the next level. I always had faith in myself. I always have this inner drive in myself to succeed.”
And he always has the words of Ascolese in his head.
“I remember sitting in the locker room before football games and hearing his voice,” Dioguardi said. “I get those feelings now in competitions. It all goes back to the emotions I had before football games.”
Ascolese may be gone, but Dioguardi has his voice in his iPod.
And if Dioguardi needs any other pep talks from football coaching legends, he doesn’t have to travel far. You see, Dioguardi’s girlfriend is Erin Stinson, the daughter of another coaching Hall of Famer Ed Stinson, the former Hoboken head coach who just recently stepped down after two seasons coaching at St. Anthony.
Coach Stinson may not know much about bodybuilding, but he certainly knows the benefits of weight training. And Stinson was also taught by a great one, considering that Stinson’s coach at Hoboken High School some 50 years ago was none other than Vince Ascolese.
The wheels just keep churning.
“It’s great knowing him,” Dioguardi said of Stinson. “He’s like my own personal coach now. He’s a good follow-up to Coach Ascolese.”
But if Dioguardi needs some intervention from above, he just turns on the iPod and listens to the master motivator.
“I’ll just continue to work hard and hope it all takes me to where I want to be,” Dioguardi said.
To see more about Dioguardi’s success in bodybuilding, complete with pictures, log onto http://bevfrancis.com/npcnortheast/npc-garden-state-championships.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.