A Tyrone woman recently took top honors at the 2002 Natural Westmoreland Battle for the Belt bodybuilding competition.
Ms. Stefanie Naylor won her class, the Woman’s Open Tall Class, as well as the Women’s Overall. The competition was staged at the Westmoreland County Community College in Greensburg and took place on Sept. 21, 2002.
By winning the Westmoreland competition, Stefanie qualifies for the 2002 ANBC National Championships which will be held in Pittsburgh in November.
This was Ms. Naylor’s first competitive venture.
“I have always had people tell me, when I was working out at the gym, that I should try bodybuilding,” explained Stefanie. “When my own personal trainer Mary Metreba, who has competed in bodybuilding, urged me to try it, I thought it was time. She has experience in bodybuilding competition, I value her opinion. I thought if I didn’t try it now, then I would regret it later.”
Ms. Naylor, a 1994 Tyrone Area High School graduate, works out at the Summit in Altoona. She works on cardio-exercises twice daily and does weight training five days a week.
Stefanie started weightlifting in high school and would like to in some way, shape or form, make a career out of her bodybuilding experience.
After winning the Westmoreland competition, the training now becomes even more intense than before. More cardio work is added. The diet changes completely. A new 12-week diet takes precedence. Fruits and milk products are out, and supplements and chicken and tuna become almost the entire food chain. Protein must be increased to maintain muscle mass. Most carbohydrates are out, only certain ones are allowed. “There is a big adjustment. You have to get used to the feeling of never being full,” was the way Stefanie described it.
“The object is to make your body as symmetrical as possible,” said Stefanie, “make you upper body match your lower. You have to focus on areas that you don’t necessary do just by working out.”
Travel is key to bodybuilding competition if you live in Blair County or Central Pennsylvania. Also, the vocation is very expensive in addition to travel.
Stefanie has many local sponsors, including M and M Painting, Lamertina Fitness Center, Surplus City, Jim DelGrosso and DelGrosso Foods.
“I really lucked out that the Nationals are in Pittsburgh,” said Ms. Naylor. “It is an expensive sport. It can run into the thousands of dollars if you want to go into it right. There are posing lessons, tanning, drug-testing, food and supplements and other items. I am extremely grateful for all the sponsors and people who have made it possible for me to get to this level. I now have a new respect for anybody that has ever tried to do this.”
