Mitch Calvert
Joyce Wiedeman soon will be putting her hard work to the test.
The Fort Frances resident, who lives with her boyfriend, Jon Cooper, part-time here when not in Winnipeg training with Elite Performance, is hitting the stretch drive in her final preparations before the 2009 Manitoba Amateur Body Building Association provincial championships, set for May 24 in Winnipeg.
Wiedeman took third at last year’s provincials, and is looking to duplicate or improve on that feat this time around.
“None of the other two top finishers are back this year, whole new group, and things are going really, really good going in,” Wiedeman noted.
Her progress over the last year has been significant under the tutelage of Jeff Fisher at Elite—forcing her to stay on task both at the gym and in the kitchen.
“From the meal plan to the training, it’s really helped my physique,” Wiedeman enthused. “Made a big difference.”
The help of Elite has taken a lot of the guesswork out of the equation, allowing Wiedeman to follow the guidelines and reap the rewards.
“They are doing everything from my diet to training,” she explained.
“It’s getting down to the grinder now,” she added. “He’s a drill sergeant, there’s no fooling around, but you either make it or break it at this point.”
Wiedeman’s diet includes very limited carbs for six days a week, with a high-carb “cheat day” on the seventh day acting as a way to kick-start her metabolism and keep the fat burning.
“I have one cheat day where I can eat all the pasta and potatoes I want, but no [simple] sugars,” she noted. “I’m doing 90 minutes of cardio three days on and then one day off, on the bike or treadmill, too.”
Some of the judging criteria also has changed from a year ago, which has forced Wiedeman to adapt and steer away from her natural strengths.
“[Fisher] said I had to get softer because they changed the criteria now,” she said.
“They want the fitness girls to look a little more like figure [competitors], so you look less like a bodybuilder with less striations between the muscles and a less-muscular look.
“For me, that’s hard, but they are looking for a more feminine look,” she added.
Fitness competitors go for a slicker look than those in the bodybuilding division, and are judged on symmetry and their 90-second dance routine.
The symmetry round features competitors in two-piece swimsuits, with the judges looking for good muscle tone, posture, and symmetry between all the muscle groups, as well as keeping an eye on charisma, projection, and confidence.
The routine portion gives athletes 90 seconds to perform a choreographed dance or aerobic performance to music of their choice, demonstrating athleticism, creativity, and personality.
Wiedeman also plans to do the Ontario Physique Association’s Thunder Bay Championships along with Alana Pierce from Energy Fitness here on May 30—just six days after the MABBA event—and will need to maintain her condition over that mini-break between contests.
“We’re going to see how we do, but I’m looking at the nationals [Aug. 15 in New Westminster, B.C.],” she noted. “We’ll see how the results are [later this month], and then decide if I want to compete at nationals.”
For now, Wiedeman is just anxious to step on stage again, though admitting she’ll welcome the break from intense dieting when June 1 rolls around.
“You do need that break,” she stressed. “You can’t go from competition to competition and be depleted for too long because it’s not healthy in the long run.”
