Airman tops local bodybuilding competition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joshua Garcia
  • JBER PAO
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Shawn Wolfe won big at the Anchorage Bodybuilding Fitness and Figure's 22nd Annual Anchorage Professional/Amateur Natural Bodybuilding Championships Oct. 3. Wolfe, an Air Force master sergeant with the 611th Air Support Squadron, won both the lightweight division and the overall male category.

"It felt great (winning the two competitions), but the most rewarding part of it was the reception I received from the crowd. It was overwhelming," Wolfe said.

Wolfe has competed in 12 events including this one, and has won top honors in most challenges he has entered. His ability to win is what got him hooked into the sport from the beginning, he said.

"When I was stationed in Japan, a friend talked me into competing for an upcoming show, The Mr. Northern Japan (Competition). I entered the show and won the overall title, and I was hooked from there."

The ABFF is a natural bodybuilding organization which doesn't allow its competitors to use any performance-enhancing substances. Where some bodybuilding organizations only check for anabolic steroids, the ABFF and other natural bodybuilding organizations have a more stringent banned substance list. Many of the different organizations have their own "banned substances" and testing methods. These methods range from polygraph tests to urinalysis -- and, in some cases, there is even blood testing like in the Olympics, .

"In natural bodybuilding organizations, it levels the playing field for all competitors by requiring a urine test and/or polygraph test, meaning you have to be very cautious about what you put into your body," Wolfe said. "(Outside of natural bodybuilding organizations) you don't know if you're competing against someone who has truly worked for what they have or had some type of illegal assistance -- meaning the use of anabolic steroids."

The Pro-Am offered different weight classes for both male and female competitors. With stiff competition in each weight class, all athletes have to put in time and hard work during training.

The judges do not judge the competitors solely on muscle mass.  Definition, symmetry, proportion and stage presence all play a vital role during the judging, so the competitors have to be dedicated and disciplined while training, Wolfe said.

When asked about his training regimen, Wolfe replied: "I use moderate to light weights with high repetitions. For cardio, I walk on the treadmill in the morning for 45 minutes before work the first 10 weeks.  The last 6 weeks, I do cardio twice a day -- 45 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes after my workout in the afternoon. I train one body part a day and I workout 7 days a week when I'm preparing for a contest."

Working out is not the only part of preparing for a bodybuilding competition, according to "About.com" entry on weight training -- a competitor's diet plays a major role in preparation as well. Fad diets such as the Atkins Diet or the South Beach Diet are not suggested as they cut out vital nutrition one needs to compete. A healthy diet should allow balance across all major nutrients.

"In my opinion, this is 75 percent of the sport. Once you learn the nutritional part, you will know what it takes for your body to perform and look at its absolute best," Wolfe said.

When asked if he would ever consider becoming a professional competitor in natural bodybuilding, Wolfe replied, "I just won my ABFF Pro Card, so yes."

The professional bodybuilding world should be careful, because a Wolfe is now on the prowl.