Learning the art of body building

When Melissa Busby walked out on stage in her skimpy blue bikini in her first-ever bodybuilding competition, she was nervous.

It was cold. Her teeth were chattering. She asked herself: “Are my shoulders back? Do I look confident? Am I smiling?”

For the judges at the Ade la Garcia Classic last month in Austin, the answer was yes to all those questions.

At age 46, Melissa won first place in the Master’s Division (45 years old and up) against four other women, most with considerably more bodybuilding experience than Melissa.

“I told my coach: ‘I don’t care if I win first place. I just want to get out on that stage and do this,’” says Melissa.

Melissa had been training for the contest since February. She didn’t exactly start from scratch. Melissa and her husband Keith operate Busby’s Gym on Las Flores Drive in Wimberley. She was in good shape to start with, but found bodybuilding, with its strict diet and rigorous workout regimen, to be especially challenging.

Melissa is a personal trainer at her gym and, in order to build confidence among her clients, asked them to overcome an obstacle that scared them. They, in turn, asked what she was going to do that frightened her.

Her answer: a bodybuilding competition.

She had tried bodybuilding when she was in her 20s, but it didn’t work out. “I just didn’t have the discipline then,” she explains. “The older I have gotten the more disciplined I have become.”

Says Melissa: “I don’t like to be the center of attention. When you are up on that stage you are the center of attention. I was thinking, I don’t want you (the judges) to look at me in this tiny suit. Yet, that’s why I am here.”

Discipline

Make no mistake, bodybuilding takes self control.

Melissa hired a coach and began training seriously in February.

She got up every morning at 3:45 to prepare the multiple meals she ate throughout the day. The list of what she could not have is lengthy: coffee, dairy products, sugar, fats.

Melissa’s 13-year-old son Wyatt — who is partial to Dairy Queen — would ask why one little bite of a forbidden food would hurt. “He would be like, mom, you can have just one bite of this cookie. What’s it going to hurt? He got to see what discipline, hard work and sacrifice look like.”

She worked out five days a week and rested for two days. The bodybuilding routine was much different than her normal workouts. Previously, she had focused on strength training as well as cardiovascular health. To prepare for the bodybuilding competition, her twohour workouts were slow and deliberate and pinpointed each muscle group.

Melissa figures her preparation was 60 percent diet and 40 percent training.

The American Council on Exercise, estimates a “fit” woman should have 21-24 percent body fat. A female athlete comes in between 14-20 percent. Melissa started her bodybuilding training between 13-15 percent body fat and eventually brought that down to eight percent.

“For the judges to see those muscles you have to be low in body fat,” says Melissa. “It’s like your body goes into survival mode.”

She calls bodybuilding “physique training.”

The National Physique Committee, which staged the contest Melissa competed in, judges participants on muscularity, balance and symmetry, and presentation or posing.

“It’s all about physique,” says Melissa, “so I literally had to start training to change my physique.

“They want you to have an athletic build but you still have to have curves. You also have to wear (high) heels. I have always been more of a tomboy, but you have to wear heels. It wasn’t natural to me.”

Posing was tough

The hardest part was the posing routine, which, she laughs, took her eight months to master. She had to convey confidence and personality as well as display distinct muscles. “The judges need to see every little part,” she says.

During the day of the contest she had three ounces of water to drink and nothing else. Her coach monitored her blood sugar. Her muscles had to pop.

At the end of the day she won and was awarded a trophy.

After her victory she splurged with a filet and a sweet potato. She even had some ice cream and a cookie.

Melissa says she likely won’t be competing in more bodybuilding shows. “I got it out of my system,” she says.

So now it’s back to Busby’s Gym. Business is getting back to normal after months of COVID-19 restrictions. “I always considered my job ‘essential. What could be more essential than health and fitness?” she asks. “As soon as they said you can open up, we opened up.”

The gym features personalized training in a no-frills atmosphere. Class sizes are limited.

“It’s a very encouraging atmosphere here,” says Melissa.

The sign over the door to the gym reads: “Never Quit. Finish Strong.”

“You learn a lot about yourself when you challenge yourself,” says Melissa.

For information on Busby’s Gym call 830-214-3554 or email [email protected].