Dan Falloon
Locally-connected fitness athlete Joyce Wiedeman will compete in the Manitoba Amateur Body Building Association’s provincial championships tomorrow.
Wiedeman, whose boyfriend is Fort Frances Lakers’ assistant coach Jon Cooper, has been training at Elite Performance in Winnipeg in order to prepare.
One of her trainers, former Winnipeg Blue Bomber trainer Jeff Fisher, lauded Wiedeman for putting herself in a position to contend at this year’s event.
“She’s done a fantastic job of keeping with a program that is known to be very difficult,” said Fisher.
“Joyce’s strength lies in her head,” he added. “She’s got a pit bull mentality when it comes to a goal.
“It’s very hard to shake her from it.
“With these contests, though you’re judged on your physique, 90 percent of your success is determined by your attitude,” Fisher stressed.
“Building that physique takes place not over one or two or three workouts, but thousands of them. . . .
“Just imagine, to bring in enthusiasm hundreds or thousands of times, what type of person it takes to do that,” he concluded.
Fisher said while Wiedeman, who has been working on her legs, core, and lower back, should be in the mix for the top prize, a major factor is the level of other women in her division, which can be hard to predict ahead of time.
“It all depends on what her competition comes in like,” he explained. “There are some years where the physique that I’m looking at right now wins hands down.
“She will do very well this year,” Fisher predicted.
Wiedeman, who finished second in the fitness short category last year, credited Fisher with keeping her on task and, especially, making the small changes that have helped her progress.
“He knows where to tweak,” she remarked. “If we couldn’t get it last year, then it’s all, ‘Okay, let’s focus in on this. I know what we can do to make it better.’
“He’ll ask you on Monday or Wednesday to pose, and then ask you to go ride the bike or go do your training,” she noted.
“Those are the small things that need to be worked on so you can look your best and feel your best when you’re up there.”
Wiedeman also sticks to a regimented diet, and said Fisher has an uncanny ability for knowing when his athletes aren’t keeping up with their meal plans religiously.
“He can look at you and he can go, ‘Hey, you’re not following your diet,’” she remarked.
“No matter how much you want to say ‘Yes I am,’ he’ll go ‘No, you’re not.’”
Wiedeman also acknowledged training away from Cooper, and other friends and family, is a challenge.
“There are so many sacrifices that you make,” she noted. “The one hill you always have to get over is the relationship with loved ones and friends.
“Because of the dedication and desire to be the best I can be, they do not always understand what I’m going through.
“It’s hard to do this . . . it’s a challenging sport,” she stressed. “It’s not you just get up there, you put a bathing suit on, and you train for a couple weeks.”
While it doesn’t make up for not seeing her friends and family here, Wiedeman commended her teammates at Elite for providing support and friendship.
“It’s like a big family there. Nobody’s there to compete with you,” she explained.
“You focus on your goal. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m going to win it and you’re not.’
“There’s no cattiness, everybody’s just really positive,” she enthused. “When you’re having one of those days, everybody’s there for you.”
