“The passion I have about fitness is causing my dreams to line up…and one day VERY SOON, I will be a top competitor.”

Burlington, North Carolina resident Andrea White does not mince words. She has her sights set and her mind made up, so who are we to doubt her? Since her younger days, perfection has been something she has demanded from herself. “Whether it be track and field or cross country, finishing on top of my event was the only way I felt like a winner, so that was the ranking place that I strived for.”

Utilizing many different activities to get her body in the condition she wanted, White even studied dance in order to tone her overall figure. But nothing gave her more of a thrill than being able to squeeze out extra reps in the gym. “I’ve often found myself the only woman at the pull-up bar or jumping in on a set to squat with the ‘big boys,’” she said proudly.

It was at a community recreation center where White reached out to the weight room coach and asked him about fitness competitions. “I was so pumped up with the information that he was giving me that I worked extra hard in the gym to further push myself.” White did not personally know anyone who entered these type of competitions so she did her own research by reading magazines and going online.

While she was doing the background work, White – who now trains at The Rush – was asked to assist at the rec center’s boot camp, which led her to start her own outdoor fitness program entitled “Just Do It for Christ Athletics.” She was able to feel the satisfaction when she and her athletes entered a 10K Road Race and were able to bring home trophies.

This is something that she hopes becomes common in her life as she prepares for her first competition. White does not have a trainer and is self-taught, and that will make the success even sweeter tasting. “I’ve learned through dedication and consistency that you can get started and make it through just about any journey,” she commented, “but to go that extra mile, it has to be in your heart.”

From the humble beginnings with the idea of just staying fit morphed into inspiring others to get in shape and now the possibilities are endless. “My dreams of reaching the stage in the best shape of my life are moments away,” said White.

And we’ll all be there to watch when she does.

‘This is Your Magazine’ is merely one of the reasons why MuscleSport Mag is far and wide better than any other publication out there. What other media outlet features the up and coming athlete, the same as if he or she was a professional in their industry? This is the place to get your face and story out there, and who knows what opportunities may arise from that type of exposure?

The last date for competitors to file is April 13 and so far, George Farrah, Andy Haman, Jonathan Rowe, Nathan Worlsey (USA), Francisco Bautista, Raul Carrasco (Spain) and Darrem Charles (Trinidad) are the seven who are definitely in. Charles, who finished 11th at the 2008 Mr. Olympia, has to be looked at as the early favorite. 

There will be Fitness and Figure competitions, but women’s bodybuilding is not scheduled for the weekend.

They say the best place to hide a tree is in the forest, but how does that transcend in the world of women’s fitness competitions? Female bodybuilders have obviously used heavy doses of anabolic steroids and not many would be surprised if one of the Ms. Olympia competitors tested positive. It was supposed to be a different story when the other women ‘s categories came into play. Fitness and Figure classifications were viewed differently, but that may have changed.

Julie Coram’s positive test for three different types of anabolic steroids may have – fairly or unfairly – changed the public’s perception on the sports. A urine sample taken after she won the female muscle model category at the Ainsley McSorley FAME Model Search Championships in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 24 revealed high levels of boldenone, oxandrolone and DHEA.

Before the urinalysis was completed, Coram won a second contest, the 2008 Miss Fitness Maintoba. Once the results were released, the FAME World Tour stripped her of her title. There was no report of the Manitoba Body Building Association taking any action against Coram in regards to the second contest, with the organization’s president, Tom Heffner, questioning the validity of the FAME test.

What makes this an interesting case is that the competitors are not normally tested at FAME events, and this was a result of the judges flagging Coram for a drug test when they “saw her on stage and were told her body size had increased substantially over a short period,” according to a report in the Winnipeg Sun.

There are a few problems with this. First off, if the judges had any doubts concerning Coram, then why did they give her the championship? Secondly, it is not as if even one of the judges had an independent recollection of Coram’s physique and brought that into consideration. They were “told” by an unknown third party of the body changes and used that as the barometer to call for the testing.

It seems to be a moot point once the test was administered, but in retrospect, Coram may have been able to delay or even have the test cancelled without a valid reason to call for one.

With this behind us, the scrutiny may begin to be intertwined between figure, fitness and bodybuilders. In the past, the Ms. Olympia stage was filled with the type of builds that are in today’s figure and fitness competitions. Rachel McClish set the first standard, even starring in “Pumping Iron 2 -The Women.” Cory Everson started the trend where muscles and beauty were combined perfectly. Bev Francis then became the pioneer for ‘size matters’ for the women, and that has continued to this day.

Critics will say that if a fitness competitor is on steroids, three-fold, then the top tier female bodybuilders may be cycling as much as the men.
Photo credit: Steroid Nation