No pain, plenty of gain, for Wain

And Kelly Wain crackles with enough energy to light up every Christmas tree in the Merrimack Valley.

The 30-year-old stands 5-foot-2, weighs 114 pounds and has the motivation to move mountains.

A year ago, the Billerica resident knew nothing about fitness competitions.

Last month, competing against the top women in the United States, Wain finished 37th out of nearly 100 competitors at the Fitness America Nationals in California. At the same competition, with the television cameras rolling and a large crowd looking on, she placed third in the ESPN Series.

"Being in the gym is fun," she said inside Pro-Fitness, her home gym. "It's never been a job for me to work out because you see the end result and it continually motivates you. When I take time off I feel worse. I'm very pleased with everything that's going on in my life.

"Being fit is now a way of life for me," Wain added. "It's not a job at all. When you decide to live healthy 365 days a year it's something that you enjoy."

Wain and her husband, Doug, the parents of a daughter, Kelsey, 4, and son, Campbell, 1, lift weights with each other four nights a week, for 1-1 1/2 hours each. This is after Wait does cardiovascular training, for 30-40 minutes, five mornings a week.

"I plan on maintaining the physique I have because it makes me feel good about myself," she said. "My kids really enjoyed watching me compete this year, especially my daughter. She's my biggest cheerleader. My family is extremely supportive."

Wain, the owner of Conceptual Communications, believes her gymnastics background allowed her to make such a quick splash in her fitness competitions. Unlike bodybuilding competitions, the emphasis in fitness is tone and agility, not bulging muscles.

"They look for being feminine and yet toned," she said.

She took up gymnastics at age 10 and was proficient enough to become a high school All-American in Loudonville, N.Y. She lived for three years in Nashua, N.H., just prior to high school, before moving back to New York with her family. During her time in Nashua, Wain trained at Walker's Gymnastics in Lowell.

She took her talents to Southern Connecticut State University, where she continued to shine in gymnastics, and earned a Corporate Communications degree in three years.

"Fitness competitions really include a lot of gymnastics skills, as well," she said.

After giving birth to Campbell, she began to think about entering a fitness competition.

"I had a goal and that was I wanted to qualify for Fitness America Nationals," said Wain.

She trained diligently and her hard work paid off this past April when she placed 10th at the Super Fit Weekend in New Haven, Conn., allowing her to qualify for nationals.

In July, in Newburyport, Wain finished second at the Massachusetts Championship.

"I was pleased with that finish," she said. "I thought I had done the best I could there."

During fitness competitions, judges evaluate each person in two routines fitness and physique.

In the fitness routine, contestants have two minutes to choreograph a routine.

"I know how to be my character. I have a bubbly personality, people say. The object is to get the crowd involved," said Wain, whose first routine was a swing theme to the music of the Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Jump, Jive and Wail."

The physique routine consists of the women walking around the stage wearing high heels and a two-piece bathing suit.

Wain was proud of her performance at the Fitness America Nationals and excited in large part because of her friends at Pro-Fitness that she was able to present a check for $500 to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

"I was kind of a no-name going in. I think people noticed that I was new and bringing some talent to the stage," she said. "The women there were very talented and very fit. When you're new, there are no expectations."

And when you have Wain's energy level, the sky is the limit.