By Elizabeth Narins

Gina Policastro, 28, is a Queens, New York-born earth science teacher who works at a high school in Manhattan. She’s also an eight-time National Physique Committee competitor who’s placed 12th in three different national competitions, and is currently training for two upcoming shows.

Cosmopolitan.com recently talked to her about what it takes to go from the classroom to the stage in a bikini — and how she sculpts her body leading up to competitions.

Have you always been interested in fitness?

I always liked being active. As a kid, I did dance and gymnastics, and then cheerleading in high school and college. When I was in high school, I had a boyfriend who liked to work out, so I would go to the gym with him and his friends about twice a week. I think we just figured things out using pictures on the machines. I had no formal training, just picked things up along the way.

What made you take it one step further to start competing?

When I was a junior in college, I worked at a shoe store with a woman who was really fit, and she referred me to her trainer. I thought I knew how to work out — I think everyone does, at least until someone shows them the right way. Still, I was like, “Great! I’ll try it.” I’m one of those. I’ll try it.

I liked having someone push me. During that first year, my trainer said I had a lot of potential and suggested I consider competing. I remembered watching Miss Fitness America when I was a kid. It had all the glamour — the evening gown, the hair, the makeup — of Miss America competitions, but everyone’s talent portion is a fitness routine. So I’d always kind of wanted to compete.

But I actually took a break from working out after college. I met someone who was very controlling and he got jealous when I spent time at the gym. He would come with me, and if someone said, “Wow, you lift heavier than most guys here,” (which is something that really happened), he’d be like, “Why are you talking like that? Who is he? How does he know you?” At some point, I just stopped training altogether and stopped working out.

When I was 23, we got married. But things went from bad to really bad to “I’m just not going to take it.” I got divorced six months later and Googled “best body building gym on Long Island” [where I lived].

I was terrified to walk in, but when I did, I was matched with a trainer who competes. I thought I’d have to train for at least a year, but she said I could do it in 12 weeks because I was already very lean.

How did your fitness goals and routine change to train for competition?

When I used to go to the gym, I would run on the treadmill for, like, 10 minutes, because I hate running. Then I would do the thigh machine and use 10-pound dumbbells to do biceps and triceps exercises. Nothing heavy at all. My trainer would push me to do more.

I started working out one body part for one hour per day: Shoulders on Mondays; arms on Tuesdays; back on Wednesdays; cardio (on an elliptical, step mill, or arc trainer) and abs on Thursdays; legs on Fridays; calves, abs, and cardio on Saturdays; and rest on Sundays.

Six weeks before the competition, I add up to an hour of cardio in the morning and another 30 minutes of cardio after I do my hour of training in the evening. For me, the intensity of cardio doesn’t kill me; it’s the boredom. It’s like being in a hamster wheel. I have an iPad, and I watch a movie so it’s not terrible. It’s doable.

A video posted by GINA MARIE 💪🇮🇹 (@gmpolicastro) on Jan 26, 2015 at 5:14pm PST

What kind of exercises do you do? Mostly machines or free weights?

I use a lot of free weights, because they engage your core more than machines, which enables you to hit multiple muscle groups with one exercise.

For legs, I do use some machines like the leg press and Smith machine. I also do free-standing squats.

For arms, I use the cable machine to work my biceps and triceps. For abs, one of my favorite moves is to lie on a bench and lift both legs straight up into the air. I do crunches between sets of other exercises, which keeps my heart rate up. For all exercises, I usually count out three sets, then on the fourth set, I’ll go until my body gives out. When you get caught up in counting reps, you stop when you’re finished [with the reps], and you can’t really make progress that way.

Sometimes I’ll go online to see what athletes are doing, and sometimes I add that into my repertoire.

You’re currently training for two competitions in the spring. But you also work full-time as a teacher. How do you find the time to work out up to 2.5 hours per day?

My parents got me a spin bike for Christmas, [so] I can just roll out of bed and do my cardio. School ends at 3 p.m., so I go to the gym on my way home. I used to coach softball until 5 p.m. a few days a week, but even then I’d go straight to the gym to train.

When do you have time to eat? With such a strenuous workout routine, are you constantly starving?

I usually wake up hungry, which is a good thing because it tells me my metabolism is working and I’m burning enough calories to consume the amount that I’m eating. But I eat a lot throughout the day.

Because I’m training for a competition, I follow a diet plan, which is very different than just normally eating for everyday life. I prepare all my meals ahead of time, usually on Sundays. If I don’t have time to cook, say, vegetables, I buy the frozen ones and microwave them. There’s time in the day.

I always bring food with me. On a typical training day, I wake up and do my hour of cardio on an empty stomach. Then I eat five egg whites and one cup of oatmeal, and go to school. My first break is about 10:30 a.m., so I’ll eat my second meal (4 or 5 ounces of chicken, one cup of brown or white rice, and a green salad with oil and vinegar dressing). I do actually weigh it now, because I have shows coming up, but not during the year when I’m not competing.

Around 3 p.m. before I leave school to go train, I’ll eat another meal, like 4 to 5 ounces of turkey and the same amount of carbs, like a sweet potato, plus a vegetable like string beans. I don’t count those. My coach will say if it’s, like, asparagus, you should count how many sprigs. But I’m not counting asparagus or lettuce or string beans. [Laughs.] That’s crazy.

I get two meals after that: Usually, one of them is chicken and a carb, and then the last one is eggs and oatmeal again. So five or six meals during the day.

The goal is to lose body fat and hold onto the muscle, which changes how your body looks, regardless of the number on the scale. The hard part is that these are competing forces.

So how do you do it?

You increase your cardio and the intensity of your workout, and cut back on calories. It’s not the healthiest thing for you, and I wouldn’t suggest anyone live like this year-round. What you see when you see someone’s stage photos is hard work and dedication, but it’s certainly not the epitome of health.

The state in which people go onstage is not for walking around in everyday life. That’s why I pick shows that are scheduled close together. For the rest of the year, I’ll try to stay in a healthy place, which is usually 10 to 15 pounds heavier than what I weigh when I go onstage.

In previous years, I kind of took it a little too far. I did four shows pretty much back to back, but my body was just like, “Screw you, I’m not doing this anymore.”
I actually was looking worse, because my body was tired. If you deprive yourself of foods you’re used to having for the 12 weeks before a show, it’s OK. But if you do it for six months straight, you start to think about food all the time. I was moody all the time, and I didn’t like the person I was. I couldn’t ever enjoy dinner with my family or on holidays or at friends’ birthdays. I’d be like, “No, I brought my food.”

Do you ever get bored of eating very plain foods?

Yeah. I’m a foodie and I don’t like to diet. I like brownies; I like cookies. I’ve always been able to eat what I want and not gain weight, and that’s not the case anymore. The diet is hard, and it does mentally break you. It’s amazing how strong your cravings are. I crave pancakes! And chocolate chip cookies. Those are my two big ones.
How do you resist it? And also, in school, aren’t you around tons of baked goods and all that?

Yeah! I just did a lab with my students the other day, and I used cookies to —

Torture yourself?

— represent rocks. The students asked if they could eat the leftover cookies, and I was like, “Please eat them!” Because I can’t even.

You must have incredible self-control. Do you ever give in to temptation?

When I was doing four shows a year, I was living with my parents and they would have regular food in the kitchen. In the middle of the night, I would wake up and binge-eat a tub of butter pecan ice cream or cookies or cake. For the moment, it was so satisfying, but afterward, I felt so guilty and horrible. I just yo-yoed like that for a while until I told myself, “If this is what I’m going to do, then I have to quit.” I took a season off.

A lot of girls who train for competitions develop eating disorders from this, and I think I definitely did that to myself. You see the beautiful people in magazines, on TV, and on Instagram, where everyone posts pictures of their abs. You want to look like them, but in reality, most of these people don’t have defined abs year-round. I don’t have them year-round.

Now I’m in my fourth year and I love how I look. I can’t believe I did such crazy things to achieve this look for a stage for only a couple minutes. Now I don’t weigh food during the year. If I want a chocolate chip cookie, I eat it, and the world doesn’t end.

Is it really just a few minutes onstage? What’s a competition like?

You pick your division: bikini (the least muscular), figure, women’s physique, or bodybuilding (the most muscular). I compete in women’s physique. It’s more muscular than figure, and we don’t have to wear heels onstage.

Then you’re separated into groups by height. Everyone in your height class comes onstage one at a time and performs some mandatory poses for 60 seconds. The point is to showcase yourself and your personality — a dynamic intro can help you stand out.

Posing is a beautiful thing for people who want to perform and be onstage; it’s a great outlet. I had my poses choreographed by a competitor who lives in California. I just love her stuff, so I was like, “Can you make me a routine, please?” So we Skyped and I loved what she put together for me. It’s like I’m dancing on the stage.

Judges look at your body for symmetry, muscularity, and definition. After everyone does their poses alone onstage, everyone comes out and judges (usually fifty-fifty male-female) do “callouts,” where they ask groups of girls who stood out to step forward and do a pose simultaneously for comparison.

The judges rank you, so your success depends on your competition. You don’t know who you’re up against until you get to the competition. You win a trophy if you place in the top five. If you place first in national competitions, you can compete on the professional level, where winners receive cash prizes. I’d like to get there. I’ve done eight competitions so far, and placed 12th in national competitions three times.

During my first two years, I took losing a little bit worse. At the end of the day, I’m not getting paid to do it. It’s a hobby that’s supposed to be for fun.

How stressful is it to stand basically naked among your competitors?

Backstage it can be stressful. You are a little bit vulnerable at that point because you’re going out to show everything that you’ve worked for. I bring a book and stayed covered up backstage so I don’t start to question myself.

Onstage though, it’s different. My first time onstage, I don’t even remember posing. I think I just went so fast because I was so nervous. I would always get nervous in figure competitions when you have to walk onstage in heels and a bikini.

There is actually a lot of camaraderie there though. Everyone feels the same way. Some people just have a better game face and don’t show it as much.

Do your parents see your competitions? What do they think when they see you onstage in a bikini?

They’ve come to my shows. I was a stick my whole life, so when they see me, they’re like, ‘Oh my god.” My mom thinks it’s cool. My dad has always been an “if it makes you happy, do it” sort of person. They’re coming to my upcoming show. I’m excited to show them my routine and the work I’ve been putting in.

Do you ever feel objectified when you get up onstage?

When I’m onstage and I’m getting judged for my body, that’s my goal, that’s what I’m there for. If I felt uncomfortable with it, I’d take a step back and evaluate if it’s something I really want to be doing. You can always just work out to work out and not get on a stage.

Have you ever been judged offstage for the way your body looks?

I’ve never really had a negative response in person, but I’ve gotten a lot of “ew that’s so gross,” on social media. I know I’m not everybody’s look — I’m fully aware I’m not going to appeal to everyone. But I like the way I look, so I’m fine with it. I have a boyfriend; he likes how I look.

Does he compete too?

He doesn’t compete. He’s one of those people who likes to work out as if he’s going to compete and eat meals as though he’s going to compete, but he has zero desire to get onstage.
What kind of questions do you get at school about your competitions? Like when your students ask?

I don’t walk around flexing, but if I wear something that is sleeveless, you can tell I work out. Everyone’s initial reaction is, “Oh my god.”

I’ll always tell them about my competitions on the first day of school and tell them to get out all their questions. They actually come up with very good, thoughtful questions, but I also get some like, “Can you flex for me?” “How much do you lift?” and, “How much do you weigh?”

They Google everything, so if I don’t tell them what I do, they’re just going to find it and make their own assumptions as to why their teacher is on a stage in a bikini. Some of them follow me on social media and ask about my competitions or for advice on bulking up and supplements at GNC. So many of them have asked me to work out with them that I’m going to start a fitness club this spring. I’d like to take it to other schools too.

Are there any major misconceptions you think people have about women’s body competitions?

One of the things that bothers me the most is when people look at me and they’re like, “Oh, you’re a personal trainer, right?” or, “You’re a gym teacher, right?” I don’t think people see competitors as people who have other professions. But the majority of us are accountants, own businesses, work in real estate, or do something else in addition to this. It’s a hobby for most people. I’m not sleeping until noon, working out, and eating my meals all day. We’re not totally consumed with ourselves. We have families. We have jobs. I work full-time, and I’m in night school to get my graduate degree. I may take selfies at the gym, but I do other things and my day is jam-packed.

It seems like you’ve really figured out what works for you. What’s your best advice for other people who want to get into shape?

Take any article you read and any video you watch as a suggestion, because what works for one person isn’t going to necessarily work for you. I think the best advice is to be consistent. If you practice the same habits for a year or two, then you get to really see what works, what habits and foods gives you results. People don’t give themselves enough time.

After your last competition this year, when everything you’ve trained for is behind you, what are you going to do?

I’ve made the mistake of eating whatever I wanted after competition. I gained, like, 20 pounds overnight. Now, I always hit up a pancake spot after the show. I’ll order three different kinds of pancakes, and they look at me like, “You sure you just don’t want to order one type of pancake?’ And I’m like, “No, no, just bring it all out at once!”

I’ll eat whatever I want the following day. But after that, I’ll go back on a less-crazy version of my training diet plan. I’ll make my chicken, salad, and I’ll keep my diet clean with just one food I really want each day. Then, I slowly break away from the diet plan one meal at a time. This year, I also want to treat myself to a trip, because I haven’t had a chance to get away for anything but competitions.

Courtesy of: Cosmopolitan.com

Six years ago, Melissa Fanning took her now 13-year-old son to an aquarium during a beach trip. When he started running up a ramp to see the dolphin exhibit, Fanning—who weighed 280 pounds at the time—couldn’t keep up.

“I told him to go without me,” she remembered. “The look on his face was just disappointed.”

Fanning credits that moment with motivating her to make a change and get in shape.

Last month, she was named Ms. Alabama Female Bodybuilder in the statewide bodybuilding competition. One month earlier, Fanning competed in her first competition, where she won overall female bodybuilder in the Body B One show in Phoenix City.

“I set a goal, and six years later, here I am,” Fanning said. “Six years ago, I was very heavy. …I was just very unhappy with myself. I thought if I bought designer clothes, wore high heels, wore makeup, it would cover it up.”

But Fanning still wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. So, she signed up with a gym in Anniston and went to work.

“The day I started at the gym, I sat in the car for 45 minutes because I was scared,” Fanning said.

After months of hard work, Fanning had lost 50 pounds. Around that time, she was flipping through fitness magazines and decided she wanted to venture into bodybuilding.

“I saw magazines with these beautiful women with muscles,” Fanning said.

Now, Fanning is a frequent sight at Max Fitness in Auburn. She works a different muscle group each day, and does cardio two-a-days when she’s prepping for a competition. She also works with prep coach Thomas Wade in Montgomery.

“The gym is my sanctuary,” Fanning said. “It’s grueling, but I believe it makes you stronger. I’ve learned about myself.”

Fanning admitted she was nervous before going onstage for the first time, but feels like she’s a different person during competitions.

“I was battling back and forth, ‘Can I do this? Do I want to do this?’” she said. “Let me go ahead and put on a bikini and have someone judge me. That’s crazy. Who does that?”

But the support of friends, family and her coworkers at GNC in Tiger Town helps drive her.

“I’m very grateful for Marsha Gladfelder and Terry Meeks. They are the best bosses ever. They have sponsored me, believed in me,” Fanning said.

She added her son is also one of her biggest supporters.

“He’s over the moon about it. He thinks it’s so cool to have a bodybuilder for a mom. …He says I’m a strong mommy,” Fanning said proudly. “It’s pretty cool to hear your children root for you.”

Fanning is still deciding if she wants to compete in nationals for a chance to become a professional bodybuilder.

“To me, it’s not all about chasing the illusive pro card. It’s about the experience,” she said, adding one of the most rewarding things about competitions is meeting her fellow competitors. “It’s amazing. Nobody knows what it took for you to get there. They’re some of the nicest people. All of them have a story.”

As for her story, Fanning hopes to use it to inspire others to reach their goals, big or small.

“Don’t be scared to make a change. Take that first step,” she said. “Set little baby goals. When you start hitting all those goals, it just motivates you even more.

“To me, it’s more than just bodybuilding. It’s been life changing,” she continued. “I feel like if I can inspire just one person with my story, it’ll all be worth it.”

Courtesy of: OANOW.com

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

If you thought bodybuilding was just for men, prepare to be knocked out.

These are the impressive pictures of Beaumont Park resident Sonia Armitage, one of the UK’s best female competitors in the sport.

A contestant in championships around the world, the Starling End Farm resident has proven that the sport is definitely not a men only domain.

And after discovering her passion at 21, Sonia, 42, who is a mother of two has no plans to retire her incredible muscular physique 21 years later.

Bodybuilding has become an ‘obsession’ for her and she undergoes lengthy work out sessions every day to maintain her look.

Sonia said: “I got into it when I was 16.

“I’d been into gymnastics but I started hitting the gym and found out more about it.

“It was quite a new activity for women then but I thought let’s just give it a go for a bit of fun.

“But once I got started I decided to put my all into it, I like to do things full on, and started competing and went to contests across the UK.”

However after several years of competing, Sonia, who works as a personal trainer, gave up the sport and only returned to it in 2011.

She said: “Because female bodybuilding wasn’t as well-known back then you couldn’t really go anywhere with it.

“I could only compete locally and gave it up when I had children but continued to work out.

“Then in 2011 I got an urge to get back into it and have competed in Harrogate, York, the British Finals and in the International Championships in Italy last year.

“Women’s bodybuilding has boomed thanks to the USA and we’re now finally starting to be able to compete in age sections too.”

She explained the large effort she has to go to to keep in shape.

Sonia said: “Some people tell me I’m lucky to look this way but they don’t understand is the work I have to put in. I get up at 5.30am every day and do some cardio, such as running.

“Then I go to Top Bodies gym (Birkby), where I can stay for up to two and a half hours and when a competition is coming up I’ll do more cardio later on.

“I’ve also got a very restricted diet. I have egg whites and porridge for breakfast then I have three rice and chicken meals throughout the day, along with protein powders, amino acids and multi vitamins.

“It means I can’t eat with my family and the training takes over your life but I just love it.”

Before a contest, Sonia must lose up to two stone to fit into her section, the figure category.

She says that people do not realise she is a bodybuilder until they see the photos.

Sonia said: “Even at the gym I keep covered up. But when people find out the response is usually positive – I’ve never had any bad comments, although my husband’s not so keen on it.”

Now she has her heart set on winning the British Finals, which will take place in June.

“I thought I’d give up after the World Championships last November but after taking time out I realised how much I missed it.

“Maybe I will if I win the British contest but I would feel lost without it.”

Courtesy of: The Examiner

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

You’ve read the book…..seen the movie…are you ready to LIVE IT?

Many female bodybuilders will attest to ‘standing out like a sore thumb’ in a crowd and being starred at by men and women. Some will even joke that they are often treated like “aliens”. It’s typical that even if female bodybuilders’ physiques are privately admired by men and women, many will still judge them publicly. Female bodybuilders especially are ridiculed on anything, from their muscles to their character. Usually the ridicule is solely based on their muscles. People often think that because a female chooses to adorn muscles, her character is automatically flawed. Truth is, these women are rarely given a chance of getting to know them before being scrutinized. This mindset of society alone may be one of the most intriguing reasons why some men are fascinated with female muscle.

If given the opportunity to date a bodybuilder, most male muscle lovers would jump at the chance. Of the men who have had relationships with female bodybuilders, they will tell you that dating them is not much different than dating a “normal woman”. They feel that female bodybuilders are normal women too who just happen to be in a sport which requires muscularity. These are “women and not aliens” and love the same things that most women love in a man and otherwise.

Outside of those who have dated female bodybuilders, it’s quite interesting how many men are intimidated by female muscle. Everyone has an opinion but a lot of the opinions are due to societies views that women should look “feminine” and not have muscles because “muscles are for men”. These same men will say they are pretty confident in themselves; however, when a strong muscular woman gets near them, they tend to become very uncomfortable. Usually this reaction is based on a level of insecurity of one’s self. Some men seem to feel that being a “man” means they have to be in control, and if a woman “appears” to be stronger physically, it sends a message that she just may be more dominant. But looks can be deceiving. Women who wear a muscular body do not always want to portray dominance. They enjoy being soft and adored just as any other woman would, the only difference is they choose to build their bodies.

Many female bodybuilders prefer men who are not bodybuilders. A lot of them feel that since they are surrounded by training the majority of the time, it is nice to have someone in their lives who can take them away from the gym, so to speak, and just concentrate on getting to know one another. However, these women do look for men who are confident in themselves and who are usually fit or have some sense of good health and utilizes it in his life.

Becoming a bodybuilder is a personal choice. Even if the choice is not understood or accepted by others, it is still a choice. The issues that other men and women have with this choice is not that important to female bodybuilders. Opinions, positive and negative will go hand in hand with just about any decision that is made in life. People tend to rebel against things they don’t understand because it makes them uncomfortable.

The comments female bodybuilders get range from ‘she looks like a man’ to ‘she could bench press me’. Some people appear to be grossed out by the look and others admire and want to know how they got their bodies to do that. What’s interesting is, whether grossed out or in awe, the need to stare is the same. This goes back to the sometimes “private admiration” and not being able to show it in a “public” setting for fear of what society will have to say about it.

Either way, female bodybuilders are not something people are used to seeing everyday; therefore, when they are seen, the sight of them will usually cause quite a stir.

Courtesy of: The Examiner

As the island awoke from its slumber Wednesday morning, sad news slowly began to travel around Guam: One of its pioneer and premier female bodybuilders, Florencia “Flo” Burke, had died. She was 48.

For more than a decade, Burke inspired numerous women both in and out of the gym by living a healthy lifestyle.

When Burke first started working out and would go to the gym ritually to stay fit, she never thought about being a bodybuilder. She later became motivated when she saw other women training at the gym. She also was inspired by her friend Terry Debold to work harder and compete in a contest.

Debold, a longtime friend and former bodybuilder, recalls Burke having a lot of discipline and being more intense than the other women in the gym.

Gradually improved

“Flo constantly tried to improve and learn as much as she could about the sport. You can see that she really enjoyed working out, so I suggested that she should take it to the next level,” said Debold. “It’s similar to how a distance runner gradually improves, gets better times, sets goals and suddenly they become a marathon runner.”

Debold felt privileged that Burke entrusted him with guiding her. He shared her happiness because he knew she had passion for the sport.

“It was more rewarding for me to see her enjoy bodybuilding. But it was certainly her other coaches, Tony Morrison and Steve Oshiro, who brought her to the next level,” Debold said.

Oshiro, a former bodybuilder, said he knew Burke for more than 30 years, but they didn’t start hanging out as friends until he began working at Gold’s Gym in 2000. Oshiro said he felt bodybuilding and fitness made them really good friends, and he became Burke’s coach in 2008.

Burke was a flight attendant and her occupation made it harder for her to train. According to Oshiro, Burke had to work out at different gyms in different cities, and sometimes the only place was the gym located at the hotel where she was staying. Often facilities at hotel gyms are not fully equipped for the type of workouts needed by bodybuilders.

“Flo always worked hard and did everything I asked. She tried to make do with what she had. She worked harder than the other athletes who were fixed in one place and worked out in one gym,” said Oshiro.

Selfish sport

Oshiro said bodybuilding is such a selfish sport and you rarely see people coaching their competition. Burke, he said, would often go out of her way to help people with their posing, help applying their tanning makeup on the night of the show.

“She helped people even if it meant giving advice that could possibly beat her,” he added. “She was gracious and giving, that’s why everyone loved her, even the people she competed against.”

Leading up to the 2011 Guam National Bodybuilding & Body Fitness Championships, Oshiro coached Burke for the bodybuilding category and April Cain in the fitness category. Both Burke and Cain won their respective categories. Prior to that show, Cain had the opportunity to train with Burke.

“Talk about motivating,” Cain said. “I was tired, depleted and nervous, but I had this legend next to me looking like a Lululemon model pushing through and encouraging me to do the same. She really was so supportive and encouraging. She didn’t have to be. I was so humbled that she believed in me.”

She had grace

Cain said she believes the greatest thing about Burke was her grace on and off the stage.

“So often, in this sport and among women in general, there is constant competition and a sense of eliteness that athletes carry with them,” Cain said. “This was the opposite of Flo. She was never afraid to encourage others and help them be a better athlete.”

Two weeks after the Guam Nationals, Cain competed at the Paradise Cup in Hawaii and Burke arranged her work schedule so she could be there to cheer Cain on. Cain said she will never forget that moment.

The 2011 Guam national bodybuilding men’s champion, Richard Rosete, and Burke were members of the 2007 and 2011 Guam national bodybuilding teams at the Pacific Games.

“We were all supposed to do it again this August in the 2015 Pacific Games, but unfortunately we can’t now,” Rosete said. “I am still in shock by her passing.”

Rosete paused briefly before he continued.

“Flo was uplifting, free-spirited, helpful, a good teammate, a great person to travel with because she always had fun and had a lot of team spirit. We were like best friends whenever we traveled. We were always there for each other. She will truly be missed,” he said.

“Flo was like a big sister to me and we have been friends for a long time. I can’t believe she is gone,” said another teammate, 2007 and 2010 Guam national men’s bodybuilding champion Brando Quejado.

“Flo was so strong, you just didn’t see it coming. It’s like a nightmare, it happened so fast and now she is gone. She was an inspiration to everyone and promoted all sports. I will always think of her when I am competing and when I am in the gym. She will always be with me.”

Morrison knew Burke before she decided to compete as a bodybuilder. He recalls her being very positive and dedicated, with the commitment needed to compete and to represent Guam when given the opportunity in contests abroad.

“The one trait she never lost was the charisma and character that only an athlete gets when they achieve a certain level of success. And the beautiful thing about Flo was she didn’t just inspire the local athlete, she was also kind and positive to the regular gym-goer and always had encouraging things to say,” Morrison said.

“She didn’t only care about winning for herself, she cared about representing the island and the community full-heartedly. This was my experience with one of Guam’s top athletes and ambassador of sports for Guam, Florencia Burke. A beautiful woman and a wonderful person above all.”

Fond memories

Former Guam National Physique Committee president and Guam bodybuilder Lori Cruz Haden Marino, who currently resides in California, also knew Burke well.

“Flo was a bright star in this world,” Marino said. “We shared a passion for training and competing in bodybuilding. She made training seem so easy with her bright smile and warm and humble nature. Training with her was fun because she had a great sense of humor and was so encouraging. Her many achievements was a testament to the high goals she set for herself in competing against the best in the world of bodybuilding.”

During Marino’s tenure as president of the GNPC, she was proud to watch Burke win her first international competition at the 2004 South Pacific Bodybuilding Championships. As a previous winner, Marino knew how Burke felt as she was presented the overall winner trophy.

“It was a special bond we shared,” Marino said. “I remember when she was getting ready for the 2011 Pacific Games, she told me that she was trying her best to make the team and was hoping for the gold just like the last time. She wanted to know if I had any advice for this one. I had long retired from competition, but Flo said she had learned a lot from me and missed my advice. I, however, thought she far surpassed me and didn’t need my advice, but she wanted it all the same.

“She really knew how to make a person feel loved and was able to connect with people in a special way. I admired her so much. Her beautiful spirit will remain with me. May her light shine in the hearts of those who knew her so that others may know her also. Flo was a true friend and one of Guam’s finest sports enthusiasts and competitors. I shall miss her, but I will treasure our friendship and cherish our times together.”

Courtesy of: GuamPDN

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

Living ahead of the curve means you are a trendsetter; an early adopter of new things and ideas. But, being ahead of the curve, living a life above average, is not always as fabulous as it may sound. It can be a very lonely place. Especially when it comes to courage.

Somehow courage these days seems equated with action heroes leaping from tall buildings or athletes playing with injuries. But really, that’s their job. Not courage. Meanwhile, there are real and ordinary acts of courage that people perform daily that tend to be overlooked or dismissed.

This seems to be especially true of courageous acts demonstrated by women. Two shining examples of what it means to be courageous are Florencia “Flo” Burke and Monique Baza.

Power

The island awoke on a Wednesday morning two weeks ago to the sad news that Flo had passed away unexpectedly. She was a bodybuilding champion and role model for young girls, and women of all ages. Flo was a special kind of person who pursued her goals while ignoring traditional limitations.

It requires incredible amounts of courage and commitment to decide to compete in bodybuilding. The very nature of the sport means you are constantly being judged. The type of success the petite flight attendant achieved demanded more than just physical power. She needed an equally powerful mind, focused to rise above the challenges and preconceived notions of what makes a woman.

Let’s be honest. We still have issues concerning obesity. We try our best to live healthy lifestyles, but our eating habits and foods on the island are mostly the kind that aid with putting weight on.

Female bodybuilders face obstacles men don’t have to deal with. It could be that others think a woman bodybuilder is trying to look like a man, or that women must meet a certain image in their own minds. For some it might be a matter of intimidation, and for others still, just plain jealousy.

Flo’s commitment to her sport took a special strength, a conviction to be strong enough to find the courage to stand out and stand alone. Every woman does not have to fit the same mold to be considered a woman. Flo proved that.

Speaking out

Monique is another woman who inspires me. I had wanted to meet her for quite some time, so I was thoroughly delighted when we had the chance to get to know one another. Our kids’ interest in soccer provided that chance.

Early one morning in 2012, the teacher and mother of three left a local bakery and got into her car, unaware that evil lurked in her backseat. She was kidnapped, tied up and sexually assaulted. But, unlike so many young girls and women who have been victims of sexual assault, this courageous woman did not remain in silent shame.

Monique’s courageous stance encouraged other women to rally around her. Together they made the spiraling crime rate against women a hot topic in Guam — and Monique refused to be swept into silence under the rug.

Learning that the case against one of her attackers had been dismissed, Monique bravely spoke out against her revictimization by the judicial system. But not before her attacker was re-arrested for yet another crime against a woman in a Nimitz Hill home invasion.

“If you want to be heard then you have to be proactive and involved,” Monique explained as we stood by the soccer pitch. “I do not ever want to leave this world without making an effort to make it a better place. My favorite motto, from Mahatma Gandhi, ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world.'”

And so she is.

Thinking about these two amazing women helped me to better understand what courage is and where it comes from. You see, courage comes from love. Loving someone or something deeply gives you courage. The love both ladies shared for their families and their island, are reaffirmed in their courageous lives. Be love, Guam. Be courageous.

Courtesy of: GaumPDN

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

A conscious bodybuilder paints her nails to perfect her feminine look, despite her bulging muscles.

Tomoko Kanda admits she has managed to maintain her army of male admirers by wearing sexy outfits after she became worried that putting on so much muscle meant she was losing touch with her feminine side.

As one of the country’s most successful female bodybuilders the Japanese 47-year-old admits it’s important to keep her feminine touch in the male-dominated discipline.

She said: “I don’t worry about that anymore though, because I paint my nails and wear cute workout gear, and I now have a legion of male admirers constantly paying me compliments, and turning up at my performances to cheer me on.”

Tomoko, from the city of Osaka, has been winning hearts across the country ever since.

She added: “I started bodybuilding at the age of 23 as a way to control my weight, and it just went on from there.”

She became a regular at bodybuilding shows and has made quite a name for herself, often featuring in magazines.

A mini-documentary following Tomoko’s daily routine has also recently appeared on YouTube, with more than two million views and 200 comments from viewers who praised her fitness, beauty and upbeat personality.

Her daily routine includes a high-protein shake for breakfast, followed by sunbathing to maintain her tanned complexion, although she never tans her face, opting to use dark foundation instead for shows.

Courtesy of: Mirror

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

In 1998 Marvin Joseph was still a new face on the Post’s photography desk, but he was ready to test himself and move beyond the assignment that might require hours, or days, and that would yield just one image for the paper to run. So he began looking for subject matter that could allow for deeper immersion, that could produce—how else to put it? —a larger body of work. He noticed an ad in City Paper about a local body-building competition, being staged at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts by Yohnnie Shambourger, who earned the title Mr. Universe three years earlier. Joseph took his camera—and his “stringbean” frame— over there and got to work. He was given full access and shot from the front of the stage, backstage, in the wings. He watched people getting dressed and undressed, watched their biceps swell up like balloons when it was time to flex. That first time, he shot dozens of rolls of film. He was still learning his craft—not just how to use his camera, but also how to see.

Joseph has been going back to the same competition every year since. He knows plenty about how to use the camera these days, and he better understands the intricacies of shadow, how to make use of just a sliver of light. Knows, now, how to capture that one little strand of muscle within the muscle. And like the bodybuilders themselves, he keeps getting stronger.

Inspired by all the contestants he has shot in nearly two decades, from 13 years old to 85, he regularly works out with free weights in the gym. And it’s given him an aspiration that has nothing to do with taking pictures. “The ultimate goal for me is to actually compete in one of the shows,” he says. A chance to test, so many years later, a new kind of strength.

Courtesy of: Washington Post

Photographs by Marvin Jospeh

A new mum who once tipped the scales at 18 stone is feeling in a league of her own after losing eight stone to become a world championship bodybuilder.

Jenny Clark, from Bournemouth, Dorset, ballooned to a size 18 when she was pregnant with her son Mason and once he was born, decided to join a gym to lose the weight.

When a gym instructor told Jenny, 36, that she looked very symmetrical and should consider bodybuilding, she tried pumping iron as a way to shift the baby-weight and found she was a natural at it.

In just 18 months, the new mother lost five stone in fat and built up her impressive muscles with gruelling weight and cardio sessions.

Although she came last in the first weight-lifting competition she entered, Jenny didn’t give up and after a few more disappointments she started winning.

She qualified her for the International Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (IBFA) British Championships last year which she won and has now gone on to win the World Championships.

Now Jenny weighs 10st 9lb and her body fat is down to just nine per cent.

And her son Mason, now aged four, has become her biggest fan and loves going to ‘mummy’s muscle shows’.

Jenny spends three hours a day training in the gym and is aiming to compete in the Miss Universe competition in Italy this summer.

The mother-of-one said: ‘I ate for three the whole time I was pregnant and I put on a lot of weight.

‘I really struggled to lose the weight afterwards for about three years and I was really unhappy.

‘Through exercise and diet I’d managed to lose a bit of weight. I was doing a gym class and I was the only one who turned up.

‘My gym instructor must have been watching me more closely because it was just me and she said I was really symmetrical and had I ever tried bodybuilding.’

Jenny, who is a tattoo artist, said her husband, Dominic, used to be a bodybuilder and encouraged her to give it a go.

She said: ‘We went along to a show and I decided I wanted to do it.

‘In my first competition I came last out of five people in my category and I was absolutely mortified.

‘I’d put in so much work and I was just gutted but I signed up for another competition two weeks later and came fourth out of five.

‘Doing that first competition I never imagined I would now be world champion.

‘I like the way I look on stage. You have to learn how to pose properly so it shows your physique off to its best.

‘Even when I’m not at competitions I still get a lot of positive comments about the way I look.

‘I’m not as lean as I am during competitions, but I still have quite a bit of muscle definition.

‘At the beach it’s usually guys that comment, saying things like “check out how big her muscles are”, I think they’re probably jealous!

‘I don’t take anything to heart because everyone has different ideas of what’s attractive.’

Courtesy of: Daily Mail

As 2013 ended, Johannesburg, South Africa’s Lee “Binks” Chaldecott was looking forward to closing out a very rough year. She had been through numerous surgeries and other health issues. To rub salt in the wound, Lee developed a heart condition that prevented her from doing any form of cardio. Physically broken and in need of a serious change, her boyfriend suggested she try weight training.

Looking to turn things around, Lee’s New Year’s resolution was to be able to do a single pull-up. Unable to afford a gym membership or supplements, Lee and her boyfriend began training using only their body weight and weights made from cement. They spent hours researching websites, looking for information on training and the exercises they could do.

Lee was inspired by calisthenics and began using it as the core of their exercise routines. So inspired that Lee created a video to share with others on body weight training and calisthenics.

2014 turned out to be quite the year for Lee. Starting at a weight of 40kg (88 lbs), 27 year old Lee added 10kg (22 lbs) to her 157 cm (5′ 1″) frame, in just over a year. “My journey has just started and I have a long way to go but I am enjoying the process and have become a lot healthier. I no longer have any problems with my heart and havent had to see a doctor in almost a year now,” Lee adds. “I now keep my hair shaved even though I could grow it back, just as a reminder of what I have over come and where I have come from.”

Find out more about Lee and her incredible journey on Facebook.

Photos courtesy of Marcello Dezallez

At 5′ 6″ and 139 lbs, from the UK, Brighton’s Dometria has always been passionate about being strong and sculpting her body. A long term love affair with wrestling and MMA has given her the opportunity to push herself and realize many personal goals. Quickly finding that very few women could stand toe-to-toe with her on the mat, Dometria welcomed competition from male wrestlers. “There is no better feeling for me than the sensation of my trained and taut muscles straining against a male physique.” She adds, “There is something deliciously intimate and carnal about wrestling, men or women, which empowers me and makes me feel truly alive.”

In addition to her passion for wrestling, Dometria has been boxing and kickboxing for 17 years. She has also trained in Muay Thai and MMA for 10 years. She trains 6 days a week and it was the focus and discipline her fight training required, that led her to bodybuilding.

With her conditioning and her development, people always assumed that Dometria was a professional bodybuilder and often asked when her next competition was. So she took the plunge with a new goal; to step on to a bodybuilding stage. With the coaching of IFBB Pro Rene Campbell, Dometria entered her first show, the 2011 South East United Kingdom Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (UKBFF) Show. Where she placed in the fitness category.

Dometria was invited to compete at the World Amateur Body Building (WABBA) Universe in 2013, placing 6th in a very competitive shape category. Up next we an invitation to the Hercules Olympia WABBA World Qualifier in 2013. It is quite an honor to be invited to compete at this prestigious show and Dometria wanted to make it a most memorable experience. She decided to do something a “little” different and leave a long lasting impression on the judges, fans and her fellow competitors. Dometria’s routine was to bring a big Alpha male bodybuilder to stage with her, place him on his knees and make him subservient to her. The routine drew gasps from the audience and disbelief from the judges and she made him crawl around the stage on all fours. While the audience may have been shocked, Dometria was invigorated. “To me, was an ultimate example of power, using the strength of both my toned body and focussed mind, my personal power, in this way,” she adds.

Keep an eye out for this beauties shock and awe routines and more of her amazing physique!

Having trained for so many years, I’ve truly learned to appreciate the strength and shape of a nice pair of biceps. And as you know, I’m not too shy to flex mine upong request. Here are a few biceps that I’ve come across over the years, that I truly adore. I’m confident you will too!