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Body of workDate: 25.02.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
Arnold event’s amateur bodybuilders find real challenge is balancing career, avocation
Bodybuilding isn’t for the weak of muscle — or the light of wallet. Aside from the hours in the gym, even amateurs have to spend thousands of dollars on personal training, specialized diets, tanning and custom-made posing suits. Despite the costs, a measure of fame is the most that most competitors can expect. Very few will ever make a handsome living endorsing diet and exercise products. The bottom line: Even people with rockhard abs have to pay the bills. "There’s no way we could compete this way and hold a 9-to-5 women are judged by the presentation of a well-developed but feminine (versus very heavily muscled) figure.
This year’s Arnold Sports Festival fitness competition, being held Friday through Sunday Downtown, has added amateur-division events for the first time. While the top pro winners can get cash prizes of up to $130,000, the winner in each amateur category — men’s women’s bodybuilding, figure will receive a trophy and have a ith Arnold Schwarzenegger. might be different, but the de- same, which means a regular hen you’re doing cardio by our food from Tupperware ht times a day and getting om a lack of carbohydrates. met while working at the Prime n Lodi. Craig worked at Vitamin saleswoman for the Jones New hing store, was a customer. married in 2002 and went to rst bodybuilding competitions . They later moved to Columbe closer to Mike Davies, a and organizer of the Arnold al’s amateur-division events. ies’ reputation draws people m as far as Australia and the ahamas to train with him.
Lisa had competed in ballroom dancing for years, with her mother making many of her costumes. Lisa’s mother, Lucy Dean, from Creston, not far from Akron, stepped up again to sew her posing suits for figure competitions. But instead of using yards of flowing fabric, these called for a minuscule amount of fabric covered with gleaming stones.
The suits turned into a side business when others admired them. Lisa and her mom became busy with special orders, and even Grandpa, Lucy’s father, Robert James Dean, pitched in. It soon became apparent that this was a way to make money, be able to write off some of the expenses associated with going to shows and for the couple to be their own bosses.
"Mike (Davies) said going into this that there’s not much money in competing, but there’s a lot of money in the industry," Craig said. "We took that to heart. Now, we’re doing as well financially as a lot of the pros."
Online, at mikedaviesfitness-.com, Davies sells such products as workout routines on CDROMs and T-shirts poking fun at the expense involved in competing in women’s figure events. One reads: "New Shoes: $85. Nails/Hair/Tan: $300. New Suit: $1,000. Personal Training: $2,000. Standing 1 Naked On Stage: Priceless."
Styles by Miles suits start at $500, and reach $1,500 depending on the fabric (usually crushed velvet for women), beading and detail in the suit. Craig also operates a spraytanning business for fellow competitors.They also have a new deal to represent diet-supplement maker Cytodyne in ads.
"In a way, we don’t really have much of a life anymore outside of competition, but I think we both kind of like it that way," Lisa said. "We’ve already exceeded what we ever thought would be possible."
Achieving balance
Others competitors find a way to balance their all-consuming hobby with a full-time job in another field, although they say it’s a challenge, given their eating and training routines.
Nutrition demands alone are almost a full-time job. Bodybuilders spend hours each week preparing a highly specialized, low-calorie and low-fat diet that typically includes grilled fish, chicken, egg whites and salads. Even if they prepared their meals ahead of time for the week, it can take up to 45 minutes in the morning to assemble and bag their food to take to work. It needs to be refrigerated in an accessible place, as these minimeals need to be eaten seven or eight times a day.
This is one of the issues that Janet Routzong deals with each day. She has followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming an assistant high-school principal in the Columbus Public Schools system.
Routzong is a little more blonde and a little more tan than your average school administrator. But her boxy jacket and slacks conceal the best evidence that she’s a serious figure competitor.
The figure category is the hot spot for female competitors today. Women’s bodybuilding, often associated with a heavily muscled, even masculine look, has waned in popularity, Routzong said.
"Figure is just a little more classy look," she said. "You’re not out there barefoot. You’re wearing high heels, you’re made up, and you have some tasteful jewelry."
Just having any kind of hobby is a foreign concept to many students, Routzong said.
"Kids are surprised that we adults have a life outside of school, period," said Routzong, who, at 42, has recently returned to her alma mater, Beechcroft High School, as assistant principal.
Like Lisa Miles, Routzong is married to a fellow competitor. Husband Bill Routzong is an accomplished power lifter.
The mother of two says she strives to keep her work and fitness-competition endeavors separate to maintain a professional relationship with her students. She’s not averse, though, to sharing nutrition hints with kids who don’t know how to eat healthfully, or to bringing the same discipline and focus to school that has carried her to finalist status at several figure competitions.
The strength and endurance she develops at World Gym in Worthington also come into play in the school setting.
"We just got done with parentteacher meetings," Routzong said, sitting in her office on a recent morning. "I sat here for hours meeting with people. I have to say, I was totally exhausted at the end."
Women and muscle
Jessica Clay, a 26-year-old competitor in the fitness category also works a regular day job. Working for her father at his Clay Creative Group in Lewis Center provides her with more flexibility than if she’d moved to New York to pursue a similar marketing job.
"It’s pretty nice. I can usually work out before I come in and find some time later on to get back to the gym," said Clay, a blonde, fresh-faced former gymnast. Other perks of a familyowned business include room for several pet dogs to roam, and plenty of space for preparing and eating food.
"Probably the hardest thing is when I have to take clients to lunch," she says. "People don’t understand if I sit there picking at a piece of lettuce."
She’s usually in the office around 8:30, after doing her morning cardio workout and packing her food for the day. She often ducks out later to go to one of two gyms she belongs to, or to Midwest Gymnastics & Cheerleading in Dublin, where she practices her choreography routine.
Clay says she would love the influence and opportunities that could come with advancing to the pro level, although she said her main goal is to balance her professional life "with something fun."
There are pressures that come with the field, though. Clay said that "probably 90 percent" of serious female competitors look to enhance their figures through breast implants. She also has mixed feelings about getting paid to "work the booths" at events such as the Arnold Expo, where supplement makers and other companies go to promote themselves and sell their wares in conjunction with the Arnold festival.
Although it’s a sign that an athlete is popular enough to draw people to a booth, Clay says being asked to greet people and pose for pictures can be uncomfortable. It attracts a lot of hangers-on who seem to want more than a photo of their favorite competitors.
"The Expo definitely gets groupies. It can be scary," she said.
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