"I took two years off and asked them what I need to work on," said Copeland, a 34-year-old personal trainer from Waikiki. "More cuts, more rips and that's what I did. I think that's why I came with a completely different package than what they saw two years ago and that's what I try to do. Improve and come out with something completely different each time."

Copeland won the light heavyweight division and then the pose-off among the six division winners.

During the pose-off, the finalists did a series of compulsory poses including the front double bicep, front lat spread, back double bicep and four quarter-turns.

"I was actually surprised that I won the class and also surprised that I took the overall," Copeland said. "It was a very tough class. For some reason, Mike Castillo didn't show up. It would've been more tougher if he was there."

Copeland said he had doubts he would win, but his focus wasn't on the competition.

"I just focus on my stuff," he said. "I made the improvements that I wanted to and that's what I brought to the stage. From there, it's up to the judges.

"I'm always confident. If I wasn't, I wouldn't get onto the stage."

The win capped off four years of training and 16 intense weeks of what Copeland called "calorie manipulation," where carbohydrate intake varies, and intense weight workouts five days a week, sometimes as much as three times a day.

"As you get closer, you have to step up the intensity," Copeland said.

Copeland received a berth to nationals but may opt out depending on when it takes place after the Paradise Cup, his next competition. He might wait for next year to make further improvements.

"I still want to focus on my legs," Copeland said. "I got the cuts in there I wanted and now I want to focus on size. Get my legs a little bit bigger, my abs more cut. Just get more crisp and more mature with the muscularity."

Copeland credits his wife, Masayo, for her support during his training. The two prepared his meals for the entire week on Sundays and also worked out and biked together.

"My wife is great," Copeland said. "She eats similar to me so that makes it very easy. That's support right there when you have somebody eating similar to you most of the time. It's not like you have to look at her eating a Big Mac and you're sitting there eating chicken breasts."

After receiving his overall trophy, Copeland reminded the audience the importance of hardwork, determination and staying drug free.

"To me it's very important," said Copeland on staying drug free. "You don't know what it's going to do to you in the long run. You see a lot of these pros nowadays having to quit their careers because of kidney trouble, colitis and high blood pressure.

"I want everybody else to know that with hardwork, you can achieve anything. It took me four years to win this. I just kept going back to the drawing board and did everything right with my nutrition. To me that's where it is. You don't need to take the drugs."