Even if you didn't know Frank Sepe by name, if you're even remotely interested in staying in shape, chances are you've seen Frank Sepe's face. As ubiquitous a presence in the health and fitness arena as anyone in the country right now, Sepe has appeared—invariably smiling and shirtless—on more fitness magazine covers than any other man in the industry.

But stepping way beyond what a traditional physique model would ever do, Sepe is also an incredibly accomplished entrepreneur. The author of three best-selling fitness books—including his first, The Truth: The Only Fitness Book You'll Ever Need (Hay House)—Sepe also serves as Editor-in-Chief of MET-RX magazine (a company he's represented as a marketing consultant and spokesperson for more than a decade), group editor of three additional fitness magazines and is co-owner of his latest fitness publication, Men's Athletic Quarterly (MAQ) magazine.

But there's more. Sepe also runs his own media company as well as recently picking up photography, expertly shooting many of his publications' cover and feature subjects himself. Basically, this Long Island, NY native is the muscle-bound version of a Renaissance man. The married dad of one is about to launch his own health and fitness branded product lines in 2009. With all of this going on simultaneously, we're glad BRASH.com was able to reach this busy fitness mogul in his home in New York that he shares with his wife, Lisa, pictured with the man of the hour above.

Did you become a bodybuilder to meet girls?

What teenage guy doesn’t lift weights in hopes of attracting a girl from the cheerleader clique? That's part of the reason, but I also started bodybuilding because I was really skinny. You could have painted my legs silver and used them as bike kickstands. My first workout was done in the basement of my parents' house in Queens, NY. I used to bench press on a bench my dad bought from Lou Ferrigno’s dad. You may remember that Ferrigno was the champion bodybuilder who portrayed The Incredible Hulk on TV.



What was the perception of "physique models" when you started working?
When I started fitness/physique modeling, there were two or three other popular physique guys and we pretty much had the monopoly on all magazine covers, endorsement deals and the rest. We all weighed around 230-240 pounds so we weren’t considered hardcore bodybuilders but we all had a good amount of muscle and were completely shredded. Today it seems like everyone with an ounce of muscle considers themselves a physique model. Unless you have some good muscle mass, perfect symmetry and are in prime physical condition you shouldn't be calling yourself a physique model. A six-pack of abs doesn't make you a physique model, it just means you're lean.


Is the stereotype that muscle heads aren't intelligent ever hamper you?

I didn’t have to fight that stereotype for too long. I think you're judged on what you accomplish in life. I don’t think there's anyone in the fitness industry that can say they have followed the same path as me: bodybuilder, top fitness model, author of three best-selling books, Editor-in-Chief of MET-RX magazine, Group Editor of three additional fitness publications, co-owner of MAQ, Men’s Athletic Quarterly magazine. Additionally, I've been a marketing consultant for one of the top sports nutrition companies in the world, have run a media company and now, as a published photographer, I've shot multi-million dollar ad campaigns, celebrities and a slew of professional athletes.

I didn’t mean to get into a plug fest for myself but I think that it'd be really hard to say that I don’t have a brain because I have bigger arms or chest than you. Let’s put it this way: if you have a lot more muscle than the average man, you'll invariably be categorized as unintelligent and most certainly a narcissist. That’s just the way it is. I mean, think about it: have you ever seen a 300-pound bodybuilder performing surgery? Have you ever seen one in the Senate or on CNN discussing the financial crisis? No. You can say look at Arnold Schwarzenegger to contradict my theory. Yeah, look at Governor Schwarzenegger, now his is a red-blooded, living example of a genuine American success story. But if we're being completely honest here, Arnold's championship physique didn’t follow him to the California Governor's office. If Arnold looked like he did in Conan the Barbarian, voters would've undoubtedly perceived him in a vastly, less flattering light than he's perceived now.

Regrets? Missed opportunities? Greatest achievement?

It's always a waste of time to think or dwell about things you should, shouldn’t or could of done. Do you think David Caruso, the star of CSI: Miami, regrets leaving NYPD Blue all those years ago? For every action there's a reaction and a consequence. How does anyone benefit from living in the past? I should've taken that job, I should've asked that girl out, I should've said yes or no. You'll drive yourself completely nuts. You need to live in the now. Come to grips with the decisions you have made and deal with them.

You can’t change the past. Like Rev Run says, no matter what you've done in the past, your future is spotless. How do you gauge your greatest achievement? That's a tough one. Besides my wife Lisa and son Dylan, I'd probably say going 19-0 and winning the Super Bowl on Playstation 3’s Madden 09. Now that was cool.


*Sean Kahlil