Local bodybuilders take physiques to competition

Kris Shanahan grew up with the nickname "stick-woman."

Even today, it cuts her to the quick just to mention it. Not that she has to worry about hearing it anymore. No one would dare.

Ms. Shanahan, a personal trainer and mother of two, is 130 pounds of solid muscle. When she competes in bodybuilding contests, she's at 125 -- with only 6 percent body fat.

"The first show I ever did, I came home with four trophies," she said. "It was the worst thing that could have happened (because) it'll never happen again. (But) it was such a good feeling. It was self-esteem. I was accepted."

This summer, she posed alongside other pumped people in the state bodybuilding and fitness championships.

Another personal trainer, Helena Jenkins of Shipley's Choice, and Bob Magersupp, manager of the Big Vanilla health club in Arnold, also competed. All three won awards.

Months of special training and special dieting -- even beyond their normal rigorous schedule -- was required to prepare for the event, but all want to keep on competing.

They have different reasons, but share a dedication that would bake most couch potatoes.

They typically eat five or six small meals a day, eating about every three hours and packing in lots of protein with little fat. They also take nutritional supplements.

Just the planning of so many meals seems rigorous to those more used to eating on the fly or at a desk during a free minute.

Still, each will indulge every so often, either after a competition or on a weekend. A couple slices of pizza or some french fries were their two biggest "cheater" foods.

But the break doesn't last long, despite the constraints bodybuilding puts on their lives. They're addicted to working out, controlling their body and the thrill of seeing how they stack up against others.

"There's a tremendous amount of sacrifice involved," said Mr. Magersupp, who began working out after high school when he saw several classmates developing beer bellies.

His routine included a 6:30 to 9 a.m. workout at his club and then another 45 minutes to an hour at 8 p.m. When work was factored in, it made for a nearly 12-hour day.

Even without a competition in sight, he still lifts a ton -- actually, tons. He figured out the other day that he hefts 17 to 19 tons of weight during a typical two-hour workout.

"People find time to do what they want to do," said Todd Swinney, a sports nutritionist at World Gym in Millersville and a former bodybuilder who now judges state and national contests.

"What kept me going was that I liked what I was able to do with my body," Mr. Swinney said. "My sincere opinion is most (bodybuilders) are driven by

the desire to succeed in competition (and) to have an oustanding physique. A physique that turns heads." Shaping up

The specter of a gut wasn't enough to keep Mr. Magersupp going indefinitely.

The 46-year-old former Mr. Maryland admits he slipped, and by January 2001 he'd ballooned to 258 pounds and had a 40-inch waist. He still lifted, but he knew he wasn't doing enough cardiovascular conditioning and certainly wasn't eating right.

He needed an extreme goal to kick him back into shape. He decided to compete in bodybuilding contests again.

Twenty months later, he was down to 201 pounds with a merger 4 percent body fat. (He had 21 percent when he started.)

He won two awards in the state competition -- one against all competitors and another in the over-40 division -- and has no plans to stop.

"I'm not going back now, ever," he said.

Eventually, he'd like to expand to national contests, and figures he needs to improve his upper body definition.

He admits he's nervous when he poses for judges at a competition, but he's also excited.

"It's the longest 90 seconds you can imagine," he said.

The posing is so rigorous, he said he's sore for days after a contest.

Mr. Swinney said judging is by nature subjective, but there are control measures.

"Judging can be a tough job," he said. "At the national-level shows, you have the best in the world. The very top spot can come down to something as small as a difference in calves."

Ms. Shanahan, 33, actually stops working out four or five days before a show to give her muscles a rest. She keeps up her diet, then on the day of the show she does high reps of light weights backstage to "pump up."

Like the other competitors, she's also slathered with dark body stain so her definition will show up under the bright stage lights. On top of that, she sprays herself with Pam to further accentuate her figure.

FYI: She uses the original, not the flavored sprays.

"You don't want to get hungry," she said, laughing.

Ms. Shanahan started teaching aerobics at age 14 by answering an ad with a "we'll train you" clause.

But she still only weighed 98 pounds when she was 20. That's when she decided to try lifting weights to add mass. "My mom always told me she hated women with muscles; that was more incentive to get bigger."

Ms. Jenkins, 35, first dabbled in lifting at 14 because she wanted to try what her brother had started. She continued to work out over the years, but she didn't get serious about bodybuilding until after the birth of her second child about six years ago.

"I love the rush you get with the strength," she said. "Especially for women; the strength, the power."

Ms. Jenkins participated in her first shows this summer. She's currently training for another in a couple weeks.

"I love it," she said. "It's in my bones now."

Beyond that kind of satisfaction, Mr. Magersupp has another motivator: self-preservation.

There's a history of heart disease and cancer in his family, and no one's lived past 62.

He actually has a heart condition, but he's convinced it would be a lot more serious if he hadn't resumed competitive bodybuilding. Giving families a lift

All the sacrifices and time involved in bodybuilding could certainly put a strain on a marriage -- unless your spouse works out, too.

That's the case in the Jenkins and Shanahan households, where the husbands put in just as much time pumping iron as the wives.

David Shanahan even follows the same diet as his wife. Ken Jenkins plans his wife's routines and they work on her posing daily.

"It's a partnership," said Mr. Jenkins, who works for the Secret Service. "She pushes me and I push her. It's hard to do (alone)."

Mr. Shanahan, a salesman for a scientific equipment company, said that with two young children (Allie, 2, and Brandon, 4) and busy work schedules, their combined workouts are like dates.

"We chat in between sets," he said. "It's a lot like a daily date. It's really quite enjoyable."

But neither husband wants to compete himself. Work schedules play a part, but both said they get enough enjoyment from helping their wives.

"Her motivation is contagious," Mr. Shanahan said. "She gets so into it, you get sucked into it."

Mr. Magersupp is single, but has an 8-year-old son, Gage, who is eager to start lifting.

"He's too young, but he wants to," Mr. Magersupp said. "He always begs me to come to the gym. He does sit-ups and likes to show me his abs."

Working out actually brought the Shanahans together -- and it played a vital part in the Jenkins' relationship almost from the start.

The Shanahans, married five years, met when both worked at a medical products company in Massachusetts. Both were exercising at the time, and Mr. Shanahan remembers that it was the subject of their earliest conversations.

She was definitely more into working out at the time, he admits, but he soon found himself stepping up his routine.

"(At the time) she wanted to compete, but never acted on it," he said. "I thought it was cool. ... I didn't think it freaky or unusual, anything like that."

The Jenkinses met in high school through friends and began working out together in college. Mr. Jenkins played college football, so he was more into working out -- initially.

Together for 20 years and married for 10, their children, Ryne and Kieran, are 9 and 6. Now, along with raising the children, they spend time each night focusing on different aspects of Ms. Jenkins' training.

"It's like (another) full-time job," Mr. Jenkins said. "I think it's a partnership. It brings us closer together."