What is it that inspires people to do great things? Are they driven by a social stigma to be better than the rest, or is it a more personal drive which propels them? For one local mom, it’s simply the desire to do – the human aspiration to tackle that which seems impossible.
Coastal Point • Submitted
Casey Vosburg of Bethany Beach, second from left, placed fourth in the New Jersey State Fitness and Figure Championship and Suburban Open. Vosburg competed in the figure portion of the event.
Casey Vosburg of Bethany Beach took on those odds on Nov. 8, when she competed in the New Jersey State Fitness and Figure Championship and Suburban Open. Vosburg, who competed in the Figure portion of the competition, placed fourth, even though it was her first major competition.
“Figure is all about a perfect physique,” explained Vosburg. “You’re not bulky; you’re showing a perfectly proportioned physique. It’s like a beauty pageant with muscles. You train the same as bodybuilding, and the diet and the training is like nothing else. Between the two, it’s such an extreme that it consumes your entire life. Then you apply that discipline to everything else in your life.”
“I’ve always been into working out, health and being physically active; and I really like helping people,” said Vosburg, who now works as a personal trainer at World Gym in Ocean View. “I went to New Jersey to work out with a friend of mine, and someone noticed me and told me I should start doing shows. I started training hardcore Sept. 1. I would come into the gym at 4 in the morning, before we opened, to work out.”
Vosburg held herself to a strict diet as well.
“I wish I owned a small chicken farm, from all the protein I had to eat.” she said. “Five times a day, I had to eat protein and vegetables, with just water and black coffee to drink. The day of the competition, you can’t drink anything, and you’re eating lots of carbohydrates, like peanutbutter and rice cakes.”
“In the off-season, I’ll be lifting as heavy as I can to put on more muscle,” she continued, “so that when I cut down the muscle next season I’ll have better definition. I’ll do three or four exercises with eight or nine repetitions.”
Vosburg plans a work-out routine involving five days of lifting weights and seven days of cardio work, “with a day off every once in a while.”
“I may get into body building in the future, but I really like the figure competition,” she said. “The glamour of it is very fun. It’s like a beauty pageant, so you get to look very pretty and, of course, you’re in 5-inch heels, trying to do all this. My daughter thinks it’s hysterical – I have a 5-and-a-half-year-old, and she loves the fact that she can dance around in my shoes.”
Vosburg described the competition process.
“The bodybuilding/figure season runs from April to November. A competition begins with prejudging, which is the most important part of the day. That’s when the judges look over every aspect of you. After prejudging, you have to wait until the finals at 6 o’clock that night.”
In the formal competition, contestants face two rounds of scrutiny. First, the competitors are judged in a one-piece bathing suit and high-heeled shoes, followed by round of judging in a two-piece bathing suit. The competitors stand next to each other and make a series of quarter turns, being inspected for symmetry and definition in their musculature.
“Around a thousand people showed up,” Vosburg noted. “It’s nerve-wracking, but you get used to it because that’s what you’ve trained hard for. You’re up there knowing that you’re going to be judged; but it’s fun. You train hard, then you get up there and you show it off.”
Vosburg explained, “[The Suburban Open] is one of the hardest championships on the East Coast and, being my first time, it was really intense, because I was up against 26 national competitors.”
Vosburg is already planning her return to the stage for the next season of competition.
“I qualified for national competition next year,” she said. “If you win three competitions, you’re automatically qualified for professional status. A lot of people take off really fast. Just from this show, I’m now going to be regional rep for Species Nutrition.” (Species offers a wide variety of protein supplements, vitamins and other natural supplements, which are designed to help build muscle and definition.)
“There are probably a hundred shows, if not more, all over the country.” Vosburg continued. “I’ll compete in as many as I can, and if I go pro, then I get to compete internationally.
“Going pro would also really help my personal training career,” she added. “I could apply the experience to helping other people, which is what I really want to do. I’m certified now in personal training and sports nutrition. I’d like to further my education and get a master’s training certification.”
The trick to success, Vosburg explained, is to “always keep a positive mind, and stay diligent with your exercise and nutrition. Find something that works with you. Everybody has different things that they like to do, and if you find something that keeps you active, that you enjoy doing, you should stick with it. That’s the most important part; to love what you do.”
“You can achieve anything that you put your mind to.” Vosburg added. “This seemed to me like such a large goal. I worked so hard for it, and to achieve what I did the first time around shows that you can really do anything. I would recommend doing something like this to anyone. If you try, you can do it. Something like this is so good because of the structure and discipline that it provides. It affects everything else in your life. The reward is huge.”
Vosburg story suggests that it may be struggle that makes the effort all the more worthwhile. Perhaps, in the end, it is not the glory or the honor that inspires people to do great things; but merely the desire to look back at oneself and say, “Hey, I did this. I took on the giant. I faced the insurmountable, and came out on top.” That prize can certainly be worth more than any trophy.