Full Name - Darren Jack Toma
Born - November 23; St. Boniface, Manitoba
Height - 5’ 10 ½”
Off Season  Weight - 280 lbs
Contest Weight - 250 lbs
Favorite Cheat Food - anything chocolate and  Pizza
Favorite Meal - Moms home-made Chicken Paprika and Vera’s Burgers (chain in Vancouver)
Favorite Car - Aston Martin
Favorite SUV - Range Rover
Favorite Music - Hip Hop, Rap and Rock, a new like for jazz and classical
Favorite Vacation - warm, tropical beach resort 
Favorite Sports - Soccer, Hockey, Football

I started training as a bodybuilder at the age of 22 but before that I had always participated in all types of sports. Growing up and throughout my school years, I was very athletically motivated and involved in team sports and track and field, but my main focus was soccer. In soccer I excelled in the rep division and later at the National and World levels. At the age of 17 I was selected for a team that represented Canada at the Junior Soccer World Cup in Sweden.

After a couple years away from soccer and at the age of 21, I started to practice for a tryout to play soccer at the professional level. At the time I stood 5 ft 10 ½ in. and weighed only 154 lbs. I was advised that if I wanted to be successful at this level I would have to gain about 10 pounds of muscle and become faster. So I headed to the gym to start a weight gain program. I had lifted weights before but nothing serious. I had always enjoyed the experience of lifting weights and my body seemed to respond well to it.

The gym where I trained was “hardcore” and there were signed 8x10 photos of top IFBB pros on the walls. I had never before seen athletes that looked like that. I started to ask questions about the whole bodybuilding scene and what someone needed to do to develop a physique like those in the photos. I bought my first “Flex” and “Muscle&Fitness” magazines and started to read everything I could on the lifestyles and training techniques of athletes like Dorian Yates, Lee Haney, Gary Strydom, Bob Paris and Rich Gaspari - all the top pros of the early 90s.
At about the same time there was a local bodybuilding contest being held in Vancouver and I decided to go check it out. I was amazed at how the competitors looked. At the show was an IFBB Pro named Berry Demay who was a guest poser. Berry Demay was one of the bigger pros competing during this time weighing 270 lbs in the off season and standing 6 ft tall. I couldn’t believe my eyes that someone could even look like that!

I continued to train for 4 months that summer with the goal of gaining weight for soccer and managed to put on 15lbs. I returned to soccer but also continued training at the gym, but the weight gains I made over the summer soon started to fade as a result of the 3 - 4 intense soccer practices each week as well as the games. It was then in 1990 that I decided to end my dreams of a soccer career - my heart was no longer in it. It was a decision that would set a new course in my life.
Fast forward to 2002. I was training hard and competing at competitions and achieving good results and success, but I knew it was time to step it up and get serious if I was going to compete at the National level. So, I began to travel frequently to Venice California to train at The Mecca of body building – Golds Gym. This gave me the opportunity to start hooking in with the best Bodybuilders and trainers in the world and to learn from them. Over the next couple years I absorbed all the information I could and was training at a much higher level of the sport. Then in 2004 I was introduced to Hany Rambod (The Procreator) who is trainer to some of the best Pros in the world, such as 4 time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler, Phil Heath and many others. We soon began to work together.

Two years later in 2006 I returned to the Canadian Nationals, 20 lbs heavier and in amazing condition, and won my IFBB pro card. After earning Pro status I decided to train hard and then travel to Spain for a contest at the end of 2007.  The twenty two hour trip to Spain took its toll on me and a number of things went wrong before the competition. I wasn’t happy with the results so I was determined to train even harder over the next year under Hany’s guidance to prepare to compete in 2008. Then, one week before my contest preparation was to start for upcoming contests in the US I was involved in a serious car accident. This derailed my training and put on hold my career as a pro for 4 years. Next year I will be returning to the stage in June where I intend to bring in my best package to date at a contest weight at around 250-260 lbs.

I currently own a Reflex Sports Nutrition Supplement & Clothing store and my personal training business – Custom Built Training in Langley, B.C. My next competition will be June 1-2, 2012 at the IFBB Toronto Pro SuperShow.

Contest History

1990  Okanogan Classic 3rd Middleweight- contest weight - 173 lbs
1993  Golds Classic 2nd Heavyweight - 208 lbs
1994  BC Provincial Championships 2nd Heavyweight - 213 lbs
1995  NPC Western Washington Championships 1st Heavyweight - 217 lbs
1998  NPC Oregon State Championships 1st Heavyweight - 225 lbs
2000  NPC Emerald Cup 2nd Heavyweight - 229  lbs
2002  NPC Washington State Championships 1st Super Heavyweight - 232 lbs
2002  Canadian Nationals 5th Super Heavyweight - 244 lbs
2003  Canadian Nationals 5th Super Heavyweight - 233 lbs
2004  Canadian Nationals 5th Super Heavyweight - 237 lbs
2006  Canadian Nationals 1st Masters Super Heavyweight Overall-Winning IFBB Pro Card - 248lbs
2007  IFBB Spanish Pro Grand Prix (Spain) 15th place - 252 lbs