“No pain, no gain” is an old maxim Christina Kam is living by.
The 41-year-old Ruth Lake resident is giving it her all in the weight room six days a week and making big sacrifices in her personal life as she builds and tones muscle for an upcoming bodybuilding contest.
The Northern Classic in Fort St. John, B.C., on June 17 will be Kam’s second such regional competition. Her first was three years ago, where she placed second in her category.
The demanding dieting and training routine involved in this type of contest for maximum muscle gain can hardly be understated.
It’s a complete lifestyle change, explains Kam, who admits her first competition was a struggle.
“Building muscle does not come overnight. You don’t know how your body is going to respond to the dieting process, the rigorous workouts, and then the competition prep, which is a completely different ball game.”
The sacrifices are multifold. Her relationships, her pocketbook, her social life, her basic enjoyment of the more leisurely things in life, all take a hit while she’s in the midst of her months-long pursuit of muscle-bound perfection.
“It’s an individual sport and it really is all about you. But, from my experience in that first competition, stepping off the stage…it was a goal completed. I felt amazing, I felt on top of the world.”
Like many people, she admits to feelings of self-consciousness with respect to her own body. So it’s a big deal to step on a stage half naked, flexing your stuff for hundreds of people and a panel of judges, literally critiquing and picking apart every piece of you, and feel good and inspired in the end.
“For self-esteem alone, you realize you can certainly overcome things. You just have to go up there and realize you’re going up there for yourself.”
Kam is working diligently with three different trainers leading up to the June competition. At Focused Fitness in 100 Mile House, there is Kam Taylor and Mitch Malandrino. Down on the Lower Mainland, where Kam lived before she relocated to the Cariboo with her fiancé about 10 years ago, is her long-time personal trainer Lori Mork.
Kam gives thanks to her “amazing support system,” which includes her fiancé by her side, at home and in the kitchen making similar, residual sacrifices, throughout her unyielding and demanding quest.
“Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
Should Kam place in the top three at the Northern Classic, she will qualify for the BC Championships in July. Malandrino, a local personal trainer, helps Kam on a near-daily basis as she works to achieve that goal.
“I’ve never met anybody who takes on new challenges and battles through adversity like Christina,” he says. “It takes a lot to internally find that motivation to go that extra mile. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this.”