He’s Into Heavy Metal and Music : Bodybuilding: Otis Albert, a blind bodybuilder who is also a musician, will try to add to his collection of trophies during competition Saturday at West Torrance High.

When the bodybuilders go on stage Saturday at West Torrance High, several will make unusual entrances.

Some will be in wheelchairs. Some will be pushing retirement age.

And one of the area’s best novice bodybuilders will be led to the podium by his trainer’s wife. Otis Albert, 26, has been an up-and-comer in the sport since he began competing 2 1/2 years ago.

In a competition where, the saying goes, the two most important tools are the barbell and the mirror, that’s no mean feat. Albert has been blind his whole life. He’s never seen his massive biceps or rippling pectorals.

If lack of sight has made bodybuilding more difficult for Albert, it hasn’t stood in his way. He’ll be trying to add to his collection of trophies in Saturday’s second annual World Cup of Natural Bodybuilding.

Not only does Albert compete in the sport; his enthusiasm has made him a favorite of Pete Samra, a former Mr. USA who is the main mover in the drug-free bodybuilding scene.

Samra helped Albert get into competing in 1988, showing him how to pose, providing counsel and nutritional aids. Now Albert is part of Samra’s anti-drug team that addresses schools and youth groups.

“He speaks, he poses,” Samra said. “People see guys like Otis, or bodybuilders in wheelchairs. The message is no matter what you do in life, no matter what your handicap, you don’t need drugs or steroids.”

Albert, who has been on his own since he was 19, supporting himself mainly as a musician and on Social Security, leans on the fellowship of his group of comrades who call themselves the Barbells for psychological strength.

Former Narbonne High buddy Elizardo Delrio, who went blind with retinitis pigmentosa in the early 1980s, has become his trainer and mentor. Delrio’s wife Nancy helps with posing, does the cooking and provides moral support. Albert moved in with the Delrios in 1988. They train in their Hawthorne apartment.

A more recent addition to the Barbells is Bobby Smith, 22, also blind. Smith is shaping up as a competitive bodybuilder as well. “I hope to have Bobby competing by next April,” Delrio, 27, said.

When they’re not training, the three also form an impressive a cappella group, performing old rock songs and Spanish standards.

Sighted friends Glen Kapuy and John Vasquez round out the group, acting as bodyguards, spotting the barbells and weights during workouts and providing whatever useful services they can.

“The important thing is we’ve got that closeness,” Delrio said. “Some ways we’re closer than blood brothers. We all have different roles. There’s never an ego trip. I’m the spokesman. Otis is the competitor, Bobby’s our spiritual leader. And my wife is the most important part--she looks after the three of us. We thank the Lord every day.”

It was Delrio who talked Albert into training two years ago. At the time, he said, Albert was a “sickly looking” guy with insomnia and a bad appetite.

“I’d been telling him to work out since high school,” Delrio said. “I told him, ‘You got a good physique.’ We had to force feed him. Now you better make us famous, the way you eat.”

Albert grinned in agreement. “I was active (as a teen-ager) but it was more like running, not so much sports. I had got out of that for a while. Thank goodness my trainer kept on me.”

The 175-pound Albert progressed, and one day Delrio’s wife saw an ad for a bodybuilding competition.

“We told him to compete for the heck of it,” Delrio said.

At last year’s World Cup, Albert came to the attention of Samra, who was intrigued. “I started training him to pose,” Samra said. “He placed, and he’s been in a couple more (contests) since.

“I had never been involved with handicapped people when Otis came along. At first I didn’t know how to deal with it. Teaching Otis to pose was very difficult.

“First I had to teach him where to put his feet so he’d always know where the front of the stage was. He came in once a week. At first he was very rough. He was so clumsy, so stiff. After the first time I was saying to myself, ‘How am I ever going to get through to him?’ But the second week he had about mastered it. He overcame that barrier. It was a major achievement. He learned quick he has so much more potential and ability.

“It’s a visual sport. I would have to do the pose, flex and let him feel me or move his arms around so he could feel it himself. To me it was phenomenal. He’s been very inspirational to me. A TV (cable) company showed our World Cup last year and they said if you hadn’t seen him led on stage you didn’t know he was blind.”

That, more than anything else, seems to be what pleases Albert, who is concentrating on developing his abdomen and legs to the competition level his chest and arms are. He competes at about 175 pounds.

“He’s got great potential,” Samra said. “He’s got good genetics, size, proportion, personality.”

Said Albert: “I love the challenge, I love the occasion. I just want to try to get better and better, maybe that’ll open up other doors--commercials and appearances. I want to be able to touch a lot of other people, especially other blind people. I want to break the stereotype, break the label that all we can do is stuff like music.”

That, too, is Delrio’s point.

“I got the idea to start training people after I lost my vision,” said Delrio, who sets up individual programs for each bodybuilder and continues to modify Albert’s training. “It was a self-esteem thing. More than looking good--you feel good about yourself, you start getting compliments. It’s something different to be blind and take care of yourself. Bodybuilding has opened up doors. It’s been the key to a lot of things. Our lifelong dream is to have our own gym.”

The Barbells are also trying to make a mark in show business. Albert has been a drummer since boyhood and they’ve “fooled around” with a cappella singing since high school.

Through HAPPI--Handicapped Artists, Performers and Partners Inc., a talent agency that exclusively represents disabled performers--they have gotten some singing engagements, including a recent appearance at the Directors Guild.

But the focus this week is the World Cup. Albert won’t see the surprised faces when he shows up backstage, but he’ll be aware of them.

“A lot of them are (surprised),” Albert said with a smile. “They ask me questions. A lot of those guys are inspirational to me.”

Delrio added: “He’s a big inspiration to them, too. A lot come up to me and ask about him. He’s one of a kind.”