Karen Mason at the Professional World Natural Bodybuilding Championships in NYC!
In November our Group Studios Manager, Karen Mason, jetted off to the bright lights of NYC to compete in the Professional World Natural Bodybuilding Championships...and came back a happy lady!
Read on for a sneak peak into her trip and into the world and mindset of a professional natural bodybuilder.
"To start let me give you a bit of background about me and this competition. To be able to compete at a professional level with the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation website) you have to win/have won the overall championship for the country you are representing or, if the competitor is American they need to win a state championship (their states being as big as most countries!). I won the overall British title in 1998 and again in 2000 gaining my professional status and thus qualifying for entry in future WNBF competitions. The WNBF is the only bodybuilding federation that actively drug tests every competitor against the illegal use of performance enhancing drugs through urine analysis and polygraph testing.
Competitive bodybuilding can be a very solitary sport to be involved in. Dieting is very severe cancelling out any sort of social life, and the amount of exercise needed to get into shape takes quite a bit of time each day. On competition day, if you’re competing abroad, as I do now, there aren’t too many friends & supporters there to cheer you on. This year at the Professional World Finals in New York however, was very different.
This year the WNBF competition was held in New York in November. This is the first time I’ve competed as part of a team. A new federation, the UKDFBA (United Kingdom Drug Free Bodybuilding Association), was formed in the UK this year and is associated with the WNBF. They sent out a big UK amateur team to compete and though me and the other professional competitors weren’t officially part of the team, we were all made to feel well & truly adopted! For a great read and a full report of the entire event please do look up Lee Kemp’s report on the UKDFBA website HERE. Lee is the chairman of the UKDFBA and is truly passionate about progressing natural body building in Britain as you’ll see from his very well written and heartfelt report. It’s worth mentioning that the 2011 Professional World Champions, both male & female, are British! With 10 countries competing for the same title that’s a fantastic achievement. Who said the Brits were no good at sports?!
From my side, I had the most enjoyable time ever at a competition. My preparations this year were easier than before, I think I had the right head on this time around! I got a decent place (6th in the Professional Lightweight class) and am so fired up for the next one that I’m already choosing a new bikini to wear on stage!
I would like to thank all the members here at The Park Club and at The Hogarth for helping me achieve my goal of looking the best I ever have done with all your words of encouragement, and of course working your socks off in my classes to help spur me on! I will add a thank you in advance for the next few months as I’ll be doing it all again in June!
Thank you all, Karen. x"
