But then again Amber Elizabeth Simerly is not just anyone.

“I received my first weight set when I was 12 years old and have been hooked ever since,” the 32-year-old mother of one said. “I powerlifted through high school and began bodybuilding in my 20′s. Six weeks out from my first show I dropped out and it drove me nuts for the past 10 years that I didn’t get up on that stage and finish what I started.”

What transpired since then was a whirlwind of negativity in Simerly’s life. “My mother was diagnosed with cancer for the third time, there were several deaths in my family and I was in a bad relationship,” she recalled. “I went through a divorce and had to face life as a single parent.”

Simerly met a woman in her gym, Natlia Zapata, that had competed in the past and won her class in fitness. After a short period of time, Simerly felt that the time was right to make her comeback. She had her sights set on the Elite Muscle Classic in Greensboro, North Carolina just a few short weeks ago.

“Even though I didn’t place, it didn’t discourage me one bit,” Simerly said confidently. “Natalia and I are going back for more in April at Johnny Stewart’s and North Carolina State.”

Because she has experienced such difficult times, Simerly uses her training as an outlet and something positive to focus on. “When I go in there I take every bit of passion, craziness and stress out on those machines,” she said. “I believe that you can literally think yourself hard. I love being able to say, ‘I want my glutes to come up.’

“Think of some crazy workout to do, do it two or three times and physically see and feel the results,” she added. “I believe, bottom line, is that it is all about intensity. In all aspects of life. You get what you put into it.”

And Simerly has put an awful lot into ‘it’ lately.

http://www.myspace.com/amberelizabeth77
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/AmberMagliocca/
http://community.worldphysique.com/profile/AmberElizabe…
http://www.muscle-ink.com/profile/AmberElizabethSimerly

Photos courtesy of Tyson Arts

Less than a week before the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, the International Olympic Committee’s war on steroids has gone backwards to go forward. Following an admission of using performance-enhancing drugs by one member of the United States 1,600-meter relay team, the governing body has stripped the gold medals from the entire squad that participated in the finals and preliminaries.

Antonio Pettigrew admitted using PEDs during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 during testimony of the May trial of Trevor Graham, a former coach of his. On the stand, Pettigrew acknowledged using erythropoietin, commonly known as EPO, and human growth hormone from 1997 to 2003. This started a whirlwind where some of the sprinters, including Pettigrew, stated that they would give back their gold medals. Now they were told to do so, if they wanted to or not.

The timing of the IOC announcement would seem to be a subtle message that even if an athlete thinks that he or she may have gotten away with using a banned substance for a period of time, it may rear its ugly head even years down the road.

Pettigrew also was handed a two-year ban, which probably spells the end of the 40-year old sprinter’s career on the track.