For most, summertime means showing off that beach body. For Kristy Clark, this summer will be the first time showing off her new bodybuilding muscles.
“My goal is to wear a tiny little sparkly bikini on stage,” Clark said. “My personal motto is to go from bootylicious to bodybuilder.”
Clark is one of the many fitness buffs taking part in the annual Organization of Competition Bodies’ Colonial Open on June 30 at CrossWalk Church. The OCB Colonial Open, a natural bodybuilding contest, has multiple categories to compete in including, figure, physique, body building, classic physique and bikini.
The competitions are for those dedicated to fitness and health, said Maria Phillips, 45, who will be competing in the figure portion. For each competition, competitors have to do a series of poses on stage for a panel of judges and must take a polygraph test that proves the competitor hasn’t used any illegal substances to build up their muscles.
Getting stage ready
This will be Phillips’ first year in the competition, but she feels prepared. As a retired Army veteran, Phillips said she came into bodybuiding with the skills for discipline that she learned from 20 years in the military. But even with the tools she already had, finding coach Salby Salang from SSFitness made the biggest difference.
“I knew he wasn’t going to take it easy on me,” Phillips said. “When I think something is my limit, he might know that I have more in me. He’s going to make you do the best you can, no questions asked. You’re going to be challenged and you’re going to be sore.”
In addition to tough workouts, both Phillips and Clark said they have strict diets as well, each planned meticulously by their coaches. Phillips makes all her meals for the week every Sunday, and then makes sure she has healthy eating options around her at all times so that she doesn’t deviate. Her coach gives her an exact list of what she can eat, and Phillips follows it to the letter.
Can’t go it alone
Most competitors attribute their success to the guidance of their coaches, including Jodi Sheakley, 45, who already had a background in nutrition when she began training.
Sheakley is a health and wellness coach with KK Wellness Consulting, and with her background in nutrition she thought she would be able to train herself to a stage-ready body. However, Sheakley quickly realized that she needed help and hired wellness coach Kelly Killen.
“It’s not just about the physical aspect that’s hard,” Sheakley said. “Mentality is just as important and having a coach that will support you psychologically through the process is key to success.”
Just starting out, Sheakley felt the support of her coach and her loved ones. As a living kidney donor, she was able to look into the crowd and see her kidney recipient who had come all the way from Florida to support her.
“I did this with only one kidney,” Sheakley said. “But I realize how fortunate I am to compete. Not everyone has the ability or opportunity.”
While most competitors start their first competition and maybe only win second or third place, Sheakley came out of her first competition winning first place in two divisions.
The journey to healthy living
Phillips became interested in the competition when she started working out to lose weight. When she started working out two years ago, she weighed 237 pounds. Once she started to lose weight, though, she realized that this was her moment to take it to the next level.
Many of the contestants enter the competition after going through a lifestyle change or starting a weight-loss regimen.The competition has even started to reflect this by creating a new category: body transformation.
This year, Clark, 37, will compete in body transformation, which celebrate contestants who have been on a journey to a healthy lifestyle through fitness. To compete, entrants must write an essay about why they wanted to start a new lifestyle, as well as submit a few photos of their path.
For Clark, this is her first year doing any sort of competition like this, but she is eager to share her transformation that started nine months ago at 297 pounds.
“I realized I needed a change,” Clark said. “I was tired of saying, ‘I was a beauty queen, or I was a track runner.’ I was living my life on past accomplishments. Now it feels so much better to say, ‘I am.’”
Since starting her path to a healthy lifestyle, Clark has lost 75 pounds and continues to lose about 3 pounds a week.
“There’s so much I can do now that I couldn’t before. I don’t even have to use a seatbelt extender on an airplane anymore,” she said.
She has gained encouragement from an online community that she connects with through her fitness Instagram page, @rhinomentality. With the help of her brother and coach, Christopher Bell with E.M.P.I.R.E. Fitness, Clark plans to continue reaching her goals and eventually becoming ready to compete on stage.
“Whenever I set a goal, I make it challenging,” Clark said. “And I want more. I want the next level.
