Competitor Profiles & Interviews

Submitted By Timothy Rigby, M.A., NSCA-CPT

Last month in this section of the Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE) website, we profiled Dual Pro Kimberly Fry (Figure and Glamour).  This month, we give the men a turn and take a look at the journey of Adam Wilks, UFE PRO Bodybuilder, originally from Montreal and now residing in St. Thomas, Ontario.  The Pro level is UFE’s highest competition level, with the other three being Novice, Open and Elite.  In this way, UFE offers a unique tier level system in order to accommodate competitors of all abilities and experience levels.  The long and short of it is, if you want to compete, there will always be room for you at UFE.

Submitted By Timothy Rigby, M.A., NSCA-CPT

Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE) is pleased to present a monthly showcase of some of the extraordinary men and women who have graced our stages at a multitude of competitions and enjoyed exceptional success. Each month we’ll leaf through the pages of our 12-year history to recount the journeys of the amazing champions in our bodybuilding, fitness model, figure, physique, bikini, and glamour classes. All of these remarkable athletes have their own unique tale to tell regarding their respective backgrounds and how they came to commit to fitness. From there, a further commitment was required to dedicate their lifestyles and training protocols to a level where they could compete. The rest, as they say, is history.

While competition is certainly not all about winning and bringing home the hardware, these model athletes represent astonishing stories of commitment, perseverance and executing a plan. The results they accomplished have shown to be comprehensive with far-reaching positive effects on their family lives, careers, and emotional states. Establishing a plan, working towards a goal, obtaining results and ultimately succeeding: UFE champions are proof that there’s no greater feeling. And when you consider that these champions and legends are regular individuals like yourself, one thing is clear: there’s no reason why YOU can’t become the next UFE champion and legend too.

Shauna McEachern was inspired by other fitness competitors and decided to compete in this past May’s UFE Vengeance event in Calgary. It started as a motivating event in which to keep herself accountable as she worked to transform her body. Then, it became a springboard for a lifestyle of fitness. And now, upon reflection, Shauna vows to be back to improve on her 7th place finish in Calgary.

Here is her story:

From a young age, I was an athlete and this passion continued into adulthood with a love for fitness, sports and weight training. However, life happened. With a hectic career in financial services and after having two beautiful daughters 15 months apart, my workouts and overall fitness, fell by the wayside.

Do you remember your last new year’s resolution?

Did you follow through with it?

Jocelyn Coe was often in the boat of people who would set a bar for themselves on Jan. 1, but forget all about it by Dec. 31.

Sophie Stansbury, a project manager from Harrow on the Hill in England was first introduced to fitness and bodybuilding when she went to watch her brother-in-law compete. Instead of being impressed with the male bodybuilders, it was the female bikini competitors that took her breath away. After an injury sidelined her from competing in triathlons, Sophie decided to give Bikini competition a try. She came to UFE with 3 fitness competitions under her belt and competed at the UFE European Championships in Birmingham, UK this past October. With lessons learned from previous competition, she brought a physique to the stage that earned her a first place finish, a UFE PRO card and a trip to the UFE World Championships in Toronto, Canada where she had a chance to represent the UK in a showcase of the best natural fitness and bodybuilding competitors in the world.

As we gear up for another contest season, Sophie gives some insight into the training and nutrition that earned her such success – insight that may help you refine your plan for the 2017 season.

As we look towards 2017 and setting goals for the New Year, Verity Smee shares her story of setting goals and, not just overcoming obstacles, but smashing right through them on her way to reaching the goals she had set in 2016.

Verity had decided in January that she wanted to do a fitness competition and be on stage at the UFE World Championships, so she turned around to her coach, Dan Osman, and told him, “You better make me amazing so I can be in Toronto this year!” At first, Verity was not totally convinced her goal was achievable, but by keeping it in mind, she powered through a routine that included 4am cardio due to the demands of her job as an assistant spa manager. Her fitness journey was also made more challenging due to her diagnosis of two chronic illnesses that require medication and weekly treatment at the hospital, but by keeping her goal in sight even with the challenges, she was able to dig deeper and push herself harder when required. The incremental results she saw along the way were what she needed to keep her fire and determination going.

Jill Nash will be taking the stage as Newfoundland’s first dual UFE PRO at the UFE World Championships, being held at the Westin Harbour Castle on November 19th and 20th in Toronto.  She will join 200 other fitness and bodybuilding competitors from all over the world after earning her dual PRO status at UFE Showdown in London, Ontario this past June.

Marina Cornwall is an accomplished woman.  Not only is she a pro natural bodybuilder, but she is a British, European and world powerlifting champion.  So it makes sense that the next accomplishment for Marina involves coaching others to help them work towards similar success.  She currently runs her own personal training business where she trains clients of all levels of fitness, including those who wish to pursue fitness and bodybuilding competitions.

UFE’s much-anticipated new Glamour category launched this year at UFE Revolution in Cobourg, Ontario. In this category, women get the chance to wear glamorous themewear costumes similar to those on a Victoria Secret runway. It was very exciting to see all of the amazing themewear that the competitors wore, and to make things even more exciting, we got to see UFE’s first Glamour PRO get announced since UFE Revolution was a special Pro qualifying event! That competitor was Maria Sheppard. The audience saw a confident, beautiful, and fit woman posing on stage in her outstanding peacock-inspired costume. But nobody watching the show would ever imagine her struggle to the stage.

At 50 years old, Sheila Liddle took the challenge and prepared to compete in a fitness competition for the first time on May 7^th at UFE Revolution in Cobourg! The mother of two decided to challenge herself to something new and exciting for her 50^th and found the perfect challenge to be a UFE competition. She realizes how important it is to stay fit. “I’ve been in health care for the past 27 years and I see on a daily basis what happens to the body when we don’t take care of it. Fitness not only strengthens the body, but the mind and spirit as well. I want to prevent, or at least delay, as many health issues as I can that come with aging.”