Building For Success Area Bodybuilders Prepare For Competition

Months of pushing iron, aerobic conditioning, dieting, posing and mental testing will boil down to mere minutes before the discerning judges’ eyes at the 15th annual Rocky Mountain States Bodybuilding Championships.

Saturday night’s posedown will be play.

Saturday morning’s prejudging will decide the winners.

The contestants prepared for months, but a quick, once-over glance in the morning will narrow the field. They may not even have a chance to strike a pose before elimination.

“Depending on the size (of the group), the judges call the top five immediately,” explained nine-year bodybuilder Kurt Lemke of Coeur d’Alene.

“If you’re not in the top five, your heart will sink.”

Those selected retreat offstage to wait for all groups to go through the weeding-out process. Then the competition begins.

The lights are bright. The sparse crowd is familiar - family, training partners, friends. There is no music. A handful of poses are mandatory.

“As a competitor, I want to be there,” Lemke said. “It’s very nerveracking, where people freeze and usually forget what the routine or pose is. The comparison is the most draining part of the show.”

Carl Washington, a 32-year-old Spokane Marine, found himself doing some comparing, and thinking, after finishing third among Rocky Mountain middleweights last year.

Brenda Reed, 30, juggles two jobs - bookkeeping and managing a dining room - around a daily 4- to 5-hour training regimen. The Spokane woman started body building 12 years ago.

The Rocky Mountain competition will be Reed’s first in 10 years.

“I haven’t been able to get lean enough,” she said, adding that sugar is a weakness.

Fourteen weeks ago, Reed joined forces with Washington to train for the Rocky Mountain, which should draw about 40 men and 30 women contestants. They’ll enter two events each, including pairs.

“I’ve had to have a few talks with her, mainly with eating,” said Washington, an eight-year bodybuilding veteran. “I joke and tell her, ‘Hey, you like eating and cheating in the diet. By all means cheat, as long as you reach down and grab celery or carrot sticks.’

“I’ve helped her out a whole lot,” Washington added. “This is something she wanted to do. Like a big boulder, if she was all by herself I don’t think she would have made it. I’m very proud of her.”

Reed concurred with her partner.

“I’ve dieted hard,” she said. “I’ve trained very, very hard. “You motivate each other. You know someone else is going through it, having the same problems. You know they’re going to be here.”

A lot of posing and polishing, along with extreme diet management, are the final phases before competition.

“The last week is a really tricky phase,” Reed said. “You give it all you’ve got to look the very best you can.”

Reed’s shoulders and back should capture the judges’ eyes. Washington’s chest and back are his best features.

“I think it’s good,” Reed said of pairs competition. “It gives you more time on stage, more exposure, more practice, more experience, more to look forward to.

“Carl has an absolute upper body,” she added. “His legs have improved dramatically. He’s a very good poser.”

Added Washington: “Once (Reed) turns around to do her back pose, they’re going to notice.”

Experience is another telltale factor.

“When you’re flexing every muscle in your body, you can only do it for so long,” Reed said. “Because of what you’ve already done (in singles), you don’t want to push it. The last pose probably will be the lasting impression.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Bodybuilding Event: Rocky Mountain States Bodybuilding Championships. Where: The Metropolitan Performing Arts Theater, W901 Sprague. When: Saturday. Prejudging 9 a.m. Night show, featuring top five per division, 7 p.m. Divisions: Men-lightweight (under 154 pounds), middle (154 to 176), light-heavy (176 to 198), heavy (198-up), masters (age 40-up), juniors (20-under). Women-light (under 118), middle (118 to 132), heavy (132-up), masters (35-up). Mixed pairs-open. Awards: Top five per division; overall men, women, pairs in open divisions. Governing body: National Physique Committee. States represented: Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming. Guest poser: Professional bodybuilder Nasser El Sonbaty, second-place 1994 Night of Champions, seventh-place 1994 Mr. Olympia. Ticket prices: Prejudging $10. Night show $22.50 VIP, $17.50, $13.50. Reserved seating call G&B Select-A-Seat, (509) 325-SEAT or The Power Station, (509) 327-3805.