First time putting on a bathing suit this year, Trisha Smick told her Facebook fans a couple of weeks ago. I might feel a bit self-conscious around the other moms!
Jaws dropping all around as Trisha swaggers by, her 13-year-old son by her side, or perhaps several steps behind, dying of embarrassment. All eyes are drawn to her honed, vascular physique. She exudes confidence. She's used to being stared at, used to being judged. There's pure disgust on some of the other mothers' faces, the ones that turn away, but on others' there are altogether more complex emotions, a mixture of shock and awe. Nobody batted an eyelid when they walked in, this woman whose muscles ripple with every step has effortlessly got the attention of everybody here...
When you're Trisha Smick, mother of three and NPC Physique competitor, I imagine you get a lot of stares. Even when she's not in her freaky contest shape, she probably gets a lot when she's out and about, especially when she's not too covered up in the summer. I wonder if one or two of her son's friends - nascent female muscle heads - don't come around a bit more often than necessary just to get the chance to stare. She probably gets a lot of stares at the gym too. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few more mature female muscle heads there who schedule their workouts for the thrill of glimpsing this goddess in all her pumped up glory.
And I imagine she wouldn't have it any other way.
My initial interest in fitness sprouted early in high school when I struggled with my weight and body image, she says. I joined a local fitness club within walking distance where I enjoyed circuit training and aerobics. By the time I was a senior, I was teaching aerobics and personal training.
She went on to study a degree in Exercise & Sports Science, but it wasn't until after university that she decided she wanted to compete. A friend and personal trainer invited me to attend a physique competition for a female client. That night, I told him "I can do that and I want to do that" and 3 months later I did. I had a great showing my first time out and continued to do well during my next few outings. Soon thereafter, I earned my WNBF Pro Card and went on to place 6th at my first pro show, 1994 WNBF Ms. Universe in NYC.
It was to be her last competition for 18 years. I found myself quietly struggling with accepting the concept that I will likely never be "THE BEST", and there would likely always be someone better than me. This destructive all or nothing mindset left me feeling deflated and defeated. Although I continued to train for the next few years, at 33, following marriage and the birth of my first child, I did what way too many women do and stopped altogether.
Happily, Trisha walked back into a gym again just over five years ago, and within a year and a half she was picking up trophies at the INBF World Amateur Championships. I have the maturity and wisdom now to embrace the concept that this sport is not about anyone else but me, she says. It really doesn't matter if I am "The Best" as long as I am "My Best".
Winner, 2014 NPC Mid-Atlantic Natural Classic
Trisha experimented, competing in Figure, Physique and Bodybuilding in a few lesser-known (natural) federations before settling into Physique and the NPC in 2014. Having competed in only natural bodybuilding, where polygraph/urine testing for performance enhancing drugs were routine, I was initially intimidated at my first NPC competition, she admits. But my coach [none other than Vilma Caez] reassured me that I had all the makings to do well in the NPC. I’m excited to continue my loyalty with them as I pursue my IFBB pro Card.
Most recently, a couple of weeks before Trish took the local pool by storm, that pursuit took her to the NPC Jr USAs, where she placed 6th in her class - not, once again, "the best". Time for some of that "maturity and wisdom" perhaps? Didn't place how I was hoping today but feel blessed with progress made this season. I'm not a fair weather fan, I love my muscles no matter how they score with the judges. And to prove it, there she was on her Facebook fan page, showing her love.
Those pesky judges. They only went and told Trisha that she needed to be "softer". Her response? To h*** with softer... that's simply not who I am! I'll choose the path of my own design and I love being lean and hard. If the judges don't like it for my category, instead of compromise, off to Bodybuilding I go!
Once again, IFBB/NPC attempts to get the women to reduce their muscularity or "tone it down" as they say, is having the opposite effect! Next stop for Trisha is the NPC Team Universe in New Jersey at the start of July. Competing in Bodybuilding. Looking even bigger and freakier when she visits the local pool afterwards...
Enjoy!
And if you can't be there at the pool but want to show your support or just get a bit more Trisha into your life, she sells autographed prints via her Facebook page.
No comments:
Post a Comment