TURNING PRO
I
first competed at the end of February 1991 at the IFBB/NPC Ms Bendigo City
Bodybuilding Championships. The
IFBB/NPC Southern States Championships on March 17th 2001 marked,
almost to the month, my tenth anniversary as a competitive bodybuilder.
At the same time it marked the start of my new Pro Career:
a chance to stand on stage with my peers; the women I have come to know
over the last couple of years, a chance to show Australia that we are up there
and competitive with the Internationals, a chance to be seen by the rest of the
bodybuilding world, to be acknowledged for what I have achieved with my
physique, recognized for the years of hard work I have put in at the gym and to
become one of the most well-known bodybuilders of my time.
It’s been six yeas since an Australian woman was issued with an IFBB Pro Card. In 1995 Andrea Izard and I went head to head (or is that quad to quad) at the NPC Southern States Championships, with Andrea eventually taking the title 3-2 in a special pose-down; at the end of regular judging the two of us had been locked in a draw. Out of that show, Andrea received her all-important nomination to become an IFBB Professional bodybuilder. She was the last of only a handful of Australian women to ever receive this prized Pro nomination, so hopefully you can understand, even just a little, the full significance of how much it means to me as an Australian female bodybuilder to receive an IFBB Pro card.
Got to be a Pro!
I’m not sure how to
describe exactly what it feels like to finally get the opportunity to do
something you hadn’t dared dream of for fear of disappointment. I refused to think of ‘what if’ and chose to put my
energy into what I did have, making the most of the opportunities at hand and
promoting myself internationally (where the major bodybuilding fan market is).
Traveling to watch some of
the top shows in the US; Ms Olympia, Women’s Strength Extravaganza, US
Nationals, and participate in events such as Picturing the Modern Amazon, I
found that my physique did a lot of my talking. People weren’t interested in what I’d won or which
federation I competed for, just that I looked muscular.
This was good to a point, but very few of these people ever got to see me
at my competition best; the way I like to be seen. Inevitably the questions would come, “When are you going to
do the Ms O?” or “How would you go against Lisa Lewis, or Kim C?” (well, I
guess we’ll never know the answer to that!), or from my most avid supporters,
“You’d win the Ms O for sure….”
Was I destined to become
the female Victor Richards…..? Make
any claim you want and never have to step on stage to back it up!
NO WAY! That’s not my style.
It became tedious trying to
explain to people why I didn’t compete in the Pro ranks, but more-so for
myself, frustrating not having the opportunity to show people (and see for
myself) exactly what I look like next to IFBB Pro female bodybuilders…..after
all, they are considered to be the best in the world at our sport.
The more I traveled across
to the US, and even Europe, the more I realized that my competitive career
ultimately should be in the IFBB Pro ranks.
Not that I was unhappy competing internationally with NABBA.
Some of my most memorable experiences have been shared with members
Australian NABBA teams and the friendships I’ve made will last a lifetime.
It was becoming more a matter of ‘How many times can I keep doing the
same thing?’ Somewhere along the
line the enthusiasm dies a little and complacency creeps in (which is about the
time you suffer a sever ass kicking….).
A
new lease of life!
Turning professional is
like starting all over again. I have a new enthusiasm for my training; the
hunger of the ‘new’ competitor has re-emerged, I have a new focus, a new
motivation. I am starting all over
again. There is a new playing
field, one with major magazine exposure, greater numbers of competitors with
quality in the line-ups reaching further down than the top 3.
Competitors who are already ‘names’ in the sport (I can feel my
muscles twitching at the thought of being able to flex next to them!), and well,
a little cash prize money up for grabs if the placing is high enough!
Strangely enough, it is the
notion that I am going into unknown territory that inspires me the most.
I am entering into the Pro ranks with an open mind as to how I will be
received by the judges. There has been a lot of talk recently about the new
less muscular judging criteria in the Pro ranks and many people are wondering
exactly how my more massed physique will fit in. Quite frankly I don’t believe it is simply the ‘bigger’
girls who are being scored lower, but the girls with less aesthetic shapes,
which happens to be some of the more muscular girls.
I work hard to maintain balance and good proportion whilst building
muscle and I believe this will work well for me. My goal is to come in the best condition possible, no
weaknesses, taking away what Troy and I call ‘all plausible excuses’ (“you
had them everywhere but competitor X had 3 more striations in her left
quad……”) so that when I do step on stage I am 100% satisfied that I am
looking the best that I could possibly look.
Attaining this is what drives me and has given me back the hunger to
succeed.
As I write this I am
exactly 16 weeks out from the Jan Tana Classic, to be held in Lynchburg,
Virginia, USA on August 3rd &
4th. My pro debut! Needless to say I started dieting today.
Three weeks after the Jan Tana, on August 25th, I will compete
the Women’s Strength Extravaganza Pro Show in New Jersey.
These are the only two remaining shows on the IFBB Professional female
bodybuilding calendar, other than the Ms Olympia, which is only open to those
women who have qualified through one of the other shows.
The Ms International, held every year the first weekend in March with the
Arnold Classic, has already been contested.
At each of these shows qualification for the Ms Olympia is up for grabs. With only top 3 qualifying, it goes without saying that
competition is fierce.
I haven’t felt this
excited about a competition since getting ready for the 1994 Bendigo &
Southern States championships! Why?
Because I was going into those titles pretty much unknown and untitled
but at the same time I was confident about my physical development for that
level of competition. I feel exactly the same way now.
Although I have a strong fan base in the US I am relatively unknown in
the larger bodybuilding circles……I love being the ‘surprise’ at a
competition……. I’m happy the way my body has improved over the last couple
of years, so I am confident that where-ever I place in my first Pro shows, I
will be noticed!
In Retrospect…
Back in 1995 when I
received the “Australia’s Most Muscular Woman” award for being outside the
NPC-A amateur criteria I felt that I was ready to take the step and turn
professional. Physique-wise, my
body probably would have blended in well in the IFBB Pro ranks, we’ll never
know. Looking back now, knowing
what I do about the US (and international) bodybuilding ‘scene’;
business/money making, politics, marketing, presentation, etc I am glad I
didn’t. As a 22 year old naďve
Aussie I would have been overwhelmed and possibly discouraged by the differences
between our own relatively straight-forward ‘sport’ oriented bodybuilding
scene and the larger, more developed ‘money’ oriented US scene.
An unknown with no one to learn from, making mistakes that can stick with
you for an entire career.
I still had a lot to learn
about overall stage presentation and image.
I now have a clearly defined idea of who I am, what I am trying to
achieve (to become as muscular and ripped as possible without sacrificing my
shape), how I want to be seen, who my audience are, who I want to work with,
what I will and won’t do in photos, videos, etc.
Back then, straight out of
University, I didn’t have the time or money to take advantage of the few
opportunities I did have, let alone the contacts to make new opportunities.
Now the time is right and I’m in a position to make the most of
everything that comes my way!
