On Saturday, Oct. 1, three members of Fitness Zone competed in the NPC Best of the West Classic Bodybuilding show at the Nugget Casino-Resort in Sparks.
That group included Mark Andrews and the husband and wife duo of Zach and Vanessa Wallace. All three are personal trainers at Fitness Zone.
This was Vanessa Wallace’s first competition and she took part in the women’s novice bikini, where she placed third out of 21 contestants. She got into fitness over three years ago, where she met her husband.
“He was very dedicated and I admired it,” Wallace said. “I finally gave in and fell in love with it. I recently decided I loved it so much, I wanted to make a lifestyle or career out of it. It was an amazing experience, because it was something my husband and I accomplished together and pushed each other toward our goals. We got to meet a lot of great people involved in the fitness industry. We plan and look forward to do more.”
Three months ago, Wallace became certified through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). She said after becoming certified, they thought it would be best to further her career by competing.
This was also Zach Wallace’s first competition. He placed third in the men’s novice middleweight bodybuilding class and fifth in the mean’s light heavy bodybuilding class.
“I have always been around sports and fitness,” he said. “I helped get my wife Vanessa started in fitness, even though she hated it. It slowly grew on her and she is all about it.”
Wallace noted that what keeps him going in fitness now is getting a great workout and feeling healthy. He added the most important thing he loves is the relationship and how it brought him and his wife closer together.
“We also want people to know that we are here to help others as well and bring them the same feeling it brings us,” he said.
Andrews took part in the men’s masters over 50 bodybuilding class, men’s master over 40 bodybuilding class and the men’s novice middleweight bodybuilding class.
He placed second in each class. This was Andrews’ fourth show and he helped prep the Wallace’s for the show.
Andrews has been a personal trainer for 17 years and has always kept himself in great shape. In June 2014, Andrews' son in law had recently competed in a bodybuilding show in Las Vegas and tried to convince him to compete since he was in good shape.
“I can tell you, I really had no desire to get on stage in front of hundreds of people in a little skimpy suit.”
He added he is always up for a challenge and he started to prep about 12 weeks before his first show in Lake Tahoe. It was grueling to say the least for Andrews, who dropped from 218 pounds to 186 in 12 weeks. Andrews placed fifth in the men’s middleweight division and said he was hooked from there.
About five weeks later, Andrews took part in the Best of the West Classic and placed third in the middleweight division.
In 2015 at the Best of the West Classic, Andrews took part in the men’s over 50, men’s over 40 and middleweight division and was the runner-up in each class.
“I plan on competing in four shows in 2017,” Andrews said. “By the way I am 55 years young and thoroughly enjoy what I do.”
Bruce Clark and Shane Havens are also into bodybuilding. This past year, Clark placed fifth in the men’s master division at a show in Lake Tahoe. Clark has been a bodybuilder off an on since he was 14.
“The fascination of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and Frank Zane was and always will be inspiration to build myself in a similar fashion,” Clark said. “The one thing I never thought I would do is put my hard work on stage. The allure of standing in front of an audience in next to nothing just didn’t exist. I have many good friends who did not give up on talking me into giving body competition a try.”
Clark said he realized he had no idea of the hard work that would be involved. He noted that everything has to be 100 percent, one hundred percent on training, dieting and rest and positive attitude.
“What I did not expect was my personal life to crumble,” he said. “After all I went through, including the training and dieting with nerves in a bundle, I still put myself on stage. I blocked it all out and focused on having fun and doing the best I could with what I had. I was dejected over my placement, but talking to my trainer he informed me Ferrigno didn’t place in his first show.”
The only question Clark had left was if he was going to compete again. His response was, "in a New York minute, with an improved package.”
Havens noted his journey as fitness advocate and bodybuilder has been challenging but fun. He has been working out for about four years.
“My passion for lifting came from always wanting to see how strong I could get. That was my first goal. I wanted to hit 225 for bench and 315 for squats. It took me a good 18 to 24 months to achieve that.”
Haves decided to take part in his first bodybuilding show in 2014 with a good friend. Havens added they pushed each other to get better and they did. Havens placed fifth and his friend third.”
After the show, Havens took time off off to go back to his passion of lifting. He noted all the show prep took the fight out of him.
“It was no joke with the hours of grueling cardio and the strict diet plan that you have to nail to a “T”, So, I went back to getting stronger,” Havens said. I set the goals of 315 for bench, 405 squats and 495 for dead lifts. I was able to achieve these goals in 2015.”
Havens decided to prep for another show and his trainer had a new style of prep and workout regimen for him the second time around. They went organic with the food intake and it kept him lean throughout the process.
“I was much happier, needless to say,” Havens said. “This show was bigger and had more competitors than ever. I ended up with a fourth-place finish in the novice decision and third in the open division in my weight class. It was a great improvement from the last time.”
