A life-long native of Plant City who’s family has been here for generations, Alphonso Cromartie Jr. earned his pro card through the International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness last month — becoming the first IFBB Pro Bodybuilder from Plant City.
“Turning pro gives me a renewed sense of purpose in competing,” Cromartie said. “Ironically I actually feel more relaxed because going up and doing these national shows you have this pressure like, can I make it? Can I do it? And now I’ve made it. I can’t expect to just go out and expect to start winning pro-level shows though, I’m a rookie going against these guys who have been putting in work for years, but there’s levels to it. It’s exciting, but I still have to work. My life is still the same. I’m always going to train, I’m always going to eat the meals that I have to eat to bodybuild, I just love the lifestyle. I’m looking forward to stepping on the pro stage and see where I fit in with the pros.”
A graduate of Plant City High School in 2001, Cromartie played basketball and a little bit of football in high school but says lifting weights was what he ultimately fell in love with while there through a weight training class. Regularly lifting at Power Shop Fitness in downtown Plant City, in 2012 Cromartie was approached by a stranger named Milton Tigue who saw him in the gym and suggested that Cromartie should try competing in BodyBuilding competitions. A former bodybuilder himself, Tigue mentioned that he thought Cromartie had the structure for bodybuilding, giving him some information on how to find amateur competitions along with one little tip: eat baked or grilled chicken and fish with green beans.
Within a couple of weeks, Cromartie started to notice improvements in his physique thanks to his new diet.
“That’s kind of the staples of a bodybuilding diet but the funny thing is, he didn’t give me any portion sizes, he didn’t tell me how many meals to eat but I just started eating that and eating until I got full,” Cromartie said. “Within about three weeks I started getting shredded and I was like, whoa. I’ve pretty much always had a six pack but I was 29. I wasn’t fat but my stomach had gotten flat, my abs weren’t as pronounced and here I am three weeks into this meal plan that he told me to do and it’s back.”
A few weeks later, Cromartie was working out at Gold’s Gym in Tampa with a friend when he bought into a coach who was able to put him on a more structured diet plan and training program. And later in the year, Cromartie began competing. Over the years Cromartie and Tigue became close friends, with Tigue continuing to work at Power Shop Fitness where he would share knowledge, encourage and pass along any tips that he had to Cromartie. Cromartie added that he owes a lot to Tigue, not just for his introduction to bodybuilding alone, but so much of the life that Cromartie has built thanks to bodybuilding.
“I always tell him that I owe him so much,” Cromartie said. “Because of him I competed, that was 2012, and in 2013 I met my wife at a bodybuilding show. So I’m like, if he would have never told me to compete I would have never met my wife and we now have three beautiful children. I’ve traveled, not extensively, but I’ve been places through bodybuilding that I never would have been to. It’s all because this stranger said, ‘hey man, you should compete, you have what it takes.’”
Since his first competition in 2012, Cromartie has competed in eight regional shows — winning his class in all eight while winning best overall in three — along with three national shows, finishing sixth in his class in 2021, seventh in 2022 and finally winning in August where he earned his pro card.
“It was incredible, man,” Cromartie said. “It’s been an 11-year journey since I started bodybuilding… Ive gotten married, I’ve had children — we have three kids now — so it’s been a journey. There’s been some ups and downs but somewhere along that journey I really thought that maybe I could turn pro, so that moment was incredible just to do it and prove to myself that I could have what’s considered a professional level physique.”
Now a professional bodybuilder, the first IFBB pro to ever come out of “Itty Bitty Plant City” as Cromartie calls it, he says quite simply not much will change. He still works full-time in addition to the dedicated training, diet and interwoven lifestyle required for bodybuilding, he is still very involved at his church — Abundant Life Worship Center where he plays the keyboard — and he still values his family above everything else — his wife Naomi along with his children Alphonso III, Xion and Zhavia. In addition, he noted that he always wants to honor his father Ralph Ware who always supported him throughout his bodybuilding journey, along with the rest of his family, and never missed a show before he passed away last year.
But from this point on, when Cromartie competes, he will proudly represent Plant City on the professional stage.
“Representing Plant City means the world to me,” Cromartie said. “Like I said, I go a couple of generations back here in Plant City and I know we’ve grown but it’s still a small town to me. I don’t know who else knows about it but it’s an honor to me, everywhere I go I said, ‘I’m from itty bitty Plant City so don’t take this encounter lightly because you probably haven’t met anyone else from there.’ It’s a badge of honor for me… We might not have the best gyms in terms of equipment and stuff like that, but to still be able to build the physique that could be at the professional level and be from this small town, it means a lot to me. I love that I can represent our town.”