Why
did you become interested in fitness?
I have been a fitness instructor for 7 years, teaching a variety
of classes from step to kickboxing to bodysculpting at a variety
of gyms around town. I ran, played flag football competitively
and did some weight training, but only light toning and I ate
whatever I wanted. My body had plateaued and I felt a need to
take my fitness to another level. Then a friend of mine, Sandra,
from one of the gyms trained and competed in bodybuilding. The
transformations she made with her physique from week to week were
so noticeable. By the time she was 2 weeks out from her first
competition, she looked amazing! It was very inspiring.
I
had watched and admired fitness competitions on ESPN, bought every
issue of Oxygen since its premiere, but had always thought that,
being 27, I was "too old" to learn any types of gymnastics
or flexibility. Sandra was 4 years older than me and looked fabulous-
she ended up taking first place provincially, AND nationally,
then 12th in the worlds! I thought maybe fitness might interest
me more than bodybuilding, and thought one day, I'm going to try.
So one afternoon I was watching a Canadian fitness competition
on TSN and a girl I went to high school with and hadn't seen for
almost 10 years, Denise Maffioli, had placed just 3rd. I thought
if she can do it, so can I! So I phoned Sandra and she helped
me with my strength training, my diet and my fitness routine-
all throughout the first 6 months of pregnancy after her last
bodybuilding show.
While
I had just started training, I found out my mom had breast cancer.
Once she was in her late forties, her health was constantly becoming
an issue and this was the worst. She had to have a mastectomy
and chemotherapy. While she was going through so much pain and
losing her hair, she became dedicated to a full recovery- and
I was training for my first competition. It was like we inspired
each other: for her to become as healthy as I was, and for me
to become as fit as I could be so that I would decrease my chances
of getting this horrible disease, that seems to be hereditary.
She is now in full remission and a week before I competed in my
second show, she was having a painful 8 hour surgery for breast
reconstruction and she had lost 30 lbs of her 50 lb goal to lose
weight! My mom lives in another province so we don't get to see
each other often, but just before I'm about to compete for anything,
be it a football game, a hockey tournament, a fitness competition,
or even the bikini contests I've been in, she phones me to tell
me that I'm "beautiful inside and out- and that she's always
in my heart cheering for me." My dear friend,Sandra, does
the same:).
When
did you first start working out?
I was very shy and self conscious in high school, so by senior
high, I stopped taking Phys. Ed. I took art and creative writing
as electives, joined a gym and started lifting weights. However,
I hated running and never did any cardio, as aerobics classes
scared me to death. By the time I was 23, I was in university
and gaining confidence, wanting to get in better shape. So I slowly
got into aerobics, particularly Step classes. I became a keener
at the front of the class and one day an instructor suggested
I take the course to become and instructor. I was so scared, because
I was so shy. However, once I took the course and taught my first
class, I was addicted to the adrenaline of leading a group in
fitness! My personality changed and my confidence grew. I truly
became a happier person with fitness in my life, and helping others
with theirs. At one point, I was teaching 13-15 classes a week!it
was the perfect job for a university student; I was getting paid
to workout and have fun!
What
other physical activities do you enjoy to stay fit?
I still teach 6 fitness classes a week, cardio box, step and strength
circuit. I've recently added plyometrics and body bar to my circuit
classes and I can't wait to see how it changes my physique and
adds to my strength, as well as my participants! I lift weights
fairly heavy 2-3 times a week, play ice hockey twice a week (practice
and games)in the winter, and flag football (practice and games)
2-3 times a week in the spring. I grew up skiing, living 20 minutes
from one of BC's best, but little known, mountains, Fernie Snow
Valley. Now I prefer to snowboard and do so on as many weekends
in winter as I can afford. For a couple of months in the early
spring, hockey and football overlap, which makes for a busy schedule
on top of teaching fitness classes, AND this is usually when I
begin seriously training for fitness competitions that are usually
in the early spring and summer months. In the summer, my sport
is beach volleyball, and I do lots of running and hiking, inspired
by the beautiful weather. I'm definitely a summer girl!!
I
am a high school English teacher, but am currently teaching grade
9 and 10 Phys. Ed. and with the help of my wonderful boyfriend
Paul, I am coaching the junior boys volleyball team. Two of my
PE classes are all boys, so I try to participate all day to motivate
them- they sure don't want to get beat by a girl! I also try to
run 2-3 mornings a week either around the golf course by my house
or on the treadmill/stairclimber. It's quite funny how 10 years
ago, I HATED doing any type of cardio, aside from skiing, yet
my nickname on both the ice and the football field has become
Cardio Queen- now just Cardio for short. Sometimes I think they
forget my name is really Melissa!
What
are your goals within the fitness industry?
I love being a teacher - be it English and Phys. Ed. at the high
school level, coaching soccer or volleyball or teaching aerobics
at different gyms around the city. Once I get that full-time teaching
job in a great school, my career will be set. Fitness for me is
a lifestyle- it is part of who I am. I believe it is the key to
a happy and healthy life. Convincing others, whether they are
insecure 13-15 year olds or adults stuck in unhealthy ways of
living, of my belief in fitness is one of my main goals. I will
keep teaching fitness in my Phys. Ed. classes and I will continue
to push the participants in my aerobics classes to new heights.
Eventually, I want to start fitness lifestyle consulting out of
my home, acting as a resource and support for people trying to
get to where I am. As for myself, I have the "fitness"
bug- I will always keep pushing myself to compete in different
ways, and at different levels. Over the fall and winter I have
3 goals:
