Trainer plays part in Ed Akay's against-the-odds Natural Mr Universe success

Ed Akay with his wife Helen Akay and trainer Matthew White just after winning the UK International Championship. Picture credit: Sam Solarfly

A PARTIALLY paralysed bodybuilder has scooped another accolade with the help of his Rotherham-based trainer.

Ed Ackay, who is partly immobilised in his left foot, has been named the official Natural Mr Universe champion, crowning a memorable first season of competition.

In tandem with trainer Matthew White, he won a World silver medal in June and captured the Inaugural UK International Para Bodybuilding Championship title.

Now he has taken his success story a stage further by collecting a gold for the UK in the para division at the INBA Natural Universe competition in Hungary – the Natural Bodybuilding world’s version of Mr Universe.

Ed Akay. Picture credit: Dunavolgyi Media.

Matthew, CEO of Rotherham-based MW Strength and Performance, originally coached Ed for a charity body transformation four years ago and has since calculated his student’s fitness and nutrition strategy to a microscopic detail.

“Sometimes in life, as in sport, we run into destiny,” said the trainer.

"This has happened times over in Ed’s story and it has been my pleasure and honour to mentor and train the lad to the level he is at now.

"It has been a proud and grounding moment in my life.”

Ed competes as a both a “para” and “able bodied athlete,” something incredibly rare.

He said: “I feel blessed in defying the odds to inspire other people who are perhaps written off to achieve success.

"I also feel gifted to have a wonderful support network in my wife Helen, my world class trainer and also the UKDFBA (UK Drug Free Bodybuilding Association), which is a truly visionary organisation who are fantastic in supporting their athletes.”

2025 will see the pair target the Natural Olympia event in Las Vegas, the pinnacle of the Natural Bodybuilding world.