Hafid James is reaping the rewards for his strong work ethic, discipline and determination to “be the best” in his chosen sport.

The Bermudian-born bodybuilder has enjoyed a stellar year having placed on the podium at international competitions over the past several months.

James won his category at the Arnold Classic in Ohio in March and followed that success up with a second place showing at this month’s Central American Caribbean Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in the Dominican Republic.

Those solid performances qualified the 30-year-old athlete for last weekend’s International Federation of Bodybuilding Diamond Cup in Liverpool where he placed second in the men’s physique (up to 178 centimetres) and third in the open elite class.

Not bad considering that James had not originally planned on competing in Britain.

“In all honesty, this was a last minute show,” he said. “When I came second at CAC it wasn’t what I expected and it did kind of hurt me badly. But I had a great support team through my coach Carmichael Bryan, my sponsor Kara Simmons of Kara’s Kitchen and my brother Shae James. They really pushed me to do this show because I was already in conditioning.

“The main reason for this show was to get my head right and challenge myself going to the furthest I’ve ever travelled. It’s a different federation and these athletes don’t know me, so it was really to push myself and challenge myself. But I honestly would not have done this show if these lot didn’t motivate me to.”

James’s impressive showing at the Liverpool Arena Convention Centre went a long way towards restoring any confidence lost at the CAC Championships.

“I always want to win but to come second is nothing to sneeze at,” he said. “These guys compete against each other all the time and I’m a new face, so to go there and place second is a big deal and something I am very proud of.

“The majority of the athletes were from the UK but you did have athletes coming from other places in the world as well. It was most definitely a world-wide competition.”

James has taken his sport “more seriously” in recent years and he is determined to fulfil his lofty ambitions.

“I am not being arrogant, but I know I have the genes and the mindset to become one of the best in my sport in my category,” he said. “So with the help of my coach and my sponsor we are just going to go all out until I can become the best. That’s my goal. If I’m doing it, then I want to be the best at it.

“I have been competing in bodybuilding for about five years and as a serious bodybuilder for three. It has been a long year, but a very productive year.”

James became hooked on the sport because he said it challenges him both mentally and physically.

“I like anything that challenges me mentally and physically and you get both it with this,” he added. “It’s something where you are always learning because you have to learn the science behind the sport and then learn your own body’s individual science.

“It’s just about never giving up and I’m always pushing and challenging myself to get outside of my comfort zone and trying to be better.”

James trains at Positive Results where he enjoys the solid support of gym owner Sergio White for which he is also thankful for.

“I have to give thanks to Sergio as well because he’s been really great,” he said. “Even though he doesn’t compete, he sees the work that we put in and helps out as much as he can giving us access to his gym and sometimes buying us a case of chicken leading up to shows.”

James enjoys duel citizenship as his mother Marian is from Grenada, which is the country he competes for internationally.

Next month he will travel to the Caribbean island to help promote the sport.

“Cecil Mitchell, the president of the Grenada Bodybuilding Federation, along with the prime minister of Grenada [Keith Mitchell] are actually flying me out in two weeks,” James said.

“I will be going to push bodybuilding there because it not as big. I will be pushing bodybuilding and fitness in general and so that’s something I am really looking forward to.

“Without them [Grenada] I would not have been able to do the Arnold Classic, CAC and the IFBB Diamond Cup so to be able to go out there and to help motivate up-and-comers and give back really means a lot to me.”