To start off my very first blog entry, I thought I would give everyone a brief, (ok, well maybe not so brief…lol….) history and background of how I got to where I am today, as an IFBB fitness professional.
When I was four years old, I started gymnastics. My mother actually used to tease me with the story that I would hang from the monkey bars and lift my legs up and down and eventually would attempt to hang myself upside down (with her spotting of course) and swing from my knees. Eventually when I was old enough, she wanted me to get involved in some sort of group lessons. I had the choices of ice-skating, ballet or gymnastics. I chose gymnastics.
Eventually I progressed into training with a private team called Head Over Heels, which I stayed with through my entire career. Then after joining the varsity gymnastics team at Red Bank Catholic High School, at the beginning of my freshman year, I hit a growth spirt, and went from being 5’1 and on the extremely petite end of the scale, to 5’4 and putting a lot of muscle on my frame. Mostly throughout my legs….which I soon learned to hate! Most of my teammates were very petite and had no problems staying that way throughout high school. I on the other hand, became very self-conscious and was always “dieting” and trying to lose weight. Looking back now, I laugh, because I would eat good/heathy for a few days, then eat a bunch of crap, with hopes that doing more drills in practice would melt away all the crap eaten on my secret pig out. Oh well, live and learn right? Ha! Even as a fitness professional, I still play food mind games with myself!
Towards the end of my high school gymnastics and private club career, I had decided to stop doing gymnastics due to being burned out and due to injuries that seemed to nag more and more as time went on. One of those injuries was a lower back injury, which drove me to a chiropractor who suggested after a few adjustments and treatments, that joining a local gym, possibly hiring a trainer and learning some exercises to strengthen my back as well as my core muscles to prevent future injuries would benefit me greatly. At first I was hesitant, because I didn’t know how to use any of the equipment and honestly felt overwhelmed once walking into a huge gym that was crawling with, in my eyes, were huge overdeveloped men that seemed very intimidating and unapproachable. And me, Ms. Shy, wanted nothing to do with asking anyone for help! Luckily, after a couple of days of manually reading each machine and trying to teach myself how to train properly, one the gym trainers took it upon themselves to approach me and show me around, while outlining a good beginner routine that met my personal needs.
To make a long story even longer…haha…once I started lifting, and following a regimented routine, I was hooked. Soon I was there 5 or 6 days a week, and before I knew it, my body started getting stronger and my lower back pain was gone! I guess my body adapted quickly, because of the 14 years of gymnastics training and hard drills I endured over those years along with intense competitions, summer camps and 4 x a week practices since the young age of 4! I also found that exercising, also helped to relieve stress, and for me, going to the gym was my “escape”.
The summer before I left for college, getting in better shape and going to the gym almost became an obsession. I started reading all the top fitness and bodybuilding magazines and began to follow all the top professionals of the sport. I even went to a Fitness expedition and bodybuilding show with a few friends from the gym and met a lot of the pro bodybuilders and fitness girls. I got to speak with some of them at their booths, and even got to take tons of pictures with them, which to me at the age of 17 was a huge deal….heck, before that day, I only got to read articles about them in magazines. That was the day I realized this was something I wanted to do myself.
I attended the University of Delaware, graduating with a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. During those 4 years, I found a gym called High Energy and started personal training clients and teaching aerobics. My sophomore year, I joined a second gym a few miles further called Gold’s Gym. It was then I met this guy Freddy Smalls. One day he approached me while I was going through my workout and blatently said “wow, you have a great physique….you should consider competing. Well, Freddy had to say nothing else. I found out that he had just started training clients there, and made an appointment with him to find out how to go about this competition thing.
Well, I knew that I did not want to do bodybuilding, because I personally never found it that attractive, and could not ever see myself flexing my muscles on stage in front of hundreds of strangers, let alone as a joke for the fun of it…..i would always break down laughing doing the famous crab pose making a grimacing face! I had nothing against any woman that did it, heck, I have a lot of female bodybuilder friends, rather, it just wasn’t for me. So, for the sake of getting involved with competitions, fitness was the natural choice for me, especially with my extensive gymnastics background, along with the fact that I loved to perform routines choreographed to music. Freddy was my trainer for the next three and a half years. He taught me a lot and pushed me mentally and physicallyto the best of my ability. I’ll always be grateful for his help, along with his ability to keep me focused. He was there through times that I thought I wanted to sabotage my diet, when I actually did sabotage my diet, when I wanted to goof off as all college kids did and even when I thought I could never be as good as the top pro’s and wanted to quit. To this day, he is a great friend and awesome trainer. We still stay in touch, and owning his own personal training company called Above and Beyond Physiques, he is still training many bodybuilders, figure and fitness girls, while competing as a phenomenal bodybuilder himself in the NPC.
My amateur years lasted up until 2003. Those were tough years, cause the judges always were telling me to tone down my muscle and or to tighten up. From being a gymnast, my legs seemed to always overpower the rest of my body. On the other hand, my routines were always scored very high, and I had the judges attention every time I competed, as well as the audience! To me, that is why I competed and continued to compete. Performing on stage was and still is the biggest thrill for me. My strengths were and still are the tumbling, and strength moves. My weaknesses are and still remain to be in the dance/hip-hop department. Luckily along the way I met Stacy Simons, who is also currently an IFBB pro. She helped me the last year leading up to winning my pro card. She is now not only my choreographer, but now a very dear friend.
I won my pro card in August at the 2003 Team Universe Championships in NY at the Tribecca Performing Arts Center. I won the medium class and the overall. Not only that, but oddly enough, I received perfect scores in all 3 rounds. What a day that was! I’ll never forget the feeling of accomplishment and excitement that I felt on that day!
So, skipping over some time and to update you to present day, this is how my first year as a pro fitness competitor went:
1st pro show I did was the NY pro in March 2004 and placed 8th out of 23 girls
2nd pro show was the South west in August and I placed 6th out of 26 girls
3rd and final pro show was the GNC in September and I placed 4th out of 31 girls.
Now, going into the GNC show of strength my goal was to place in the top 12, cause that was the only show where money was awarded to the top 12. After the long routine round, all the girls were on stage for the awards. Once they got to 6th place, which was awarded to Debbie C., I basically wrote off my placing of top 6. Well, luck must have been on my side that day, cause in the end, as the awards were given out, 5th place then went to Julie Palmer, and then they announced my name for 4th place! I at the time, didn’t even react, cause it didn’t sink in. Then, one of the girls nudged me on the arm and said…that’s you! I covered my mouth and started shaking, while walking to the front of the stage to receive my award. I was shoked, and kept motioning to the judged….ME? Me?....and was in total disbelief! My goal of top 12 was over and above surpassed with this placing and I was thrilled.
At that point, I still didn’t realize that I qualified for the Olympia, because all I knew was that the top 3 in each show qualified…..not knowing that if the top three were already qualified, then 4th place got to go.
We then filed off stage and I was walking to get changed, Jim Manion approached me and said “Mooney, your in the O!”
So, my 4th and final competition of the year was the Fitness Olympia in October of 2004, which I placed 14th.
The Olympia was a wonderful experience, and if I never compete or qualify for it again, I reached my ultimate goal that year. In my career as a fitness competitor, I set small goals to meet. Once each goal was met, I set an ultimate goal, which I thought was impossible. That goal was to try and qualify for the Olympia in my first year as a pro. My secondary goal was to one day, before I retired to qualify for the Olympia. So, as you can see, my ultimate goal that I set for myself was reached, and I couldn’t be happier!
Unfortunatley there have been two injuries that have occurred from the time of the Olympia and today, the present time. However…… I’LL BE BACK.
