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Langford bodybuilder works toward international prize

Of all the people you’d expect to enjoy gym class as kid, bodybuilder Lisa Giesbrecht should be a sure bet. But the 45-year-old Langford resident, who plans to compete in North America’s top bodybuilding competition next month, says it wasn’t so.

Of all the people you’d expect to enjoy gym class as kid, bodybuilder Lisa Giesbrecht should be a sure bet.

But the 45-year-old Langford resident, who plans to compete in North America’s top bodybuilding competition next month, says it wasn’t so.

“I hated gym class,” she said. “Back when I was in school, it was either, you’re a jock on the basketball team or you’re a nobody. I wasn’t a team sport person and I always got picked last.”

If Giesbrecht avoided the gym early in life, things have certainly changed. The personal trainer and mother of two will travel to Las Vegas as the lone Canadian competitor in the Ms. Olympia contest. (Yes — that’s the women’s equivalent of Mr. Olympia, the competition that Arnold Schwarzenegger trained for in 1977’s Pumping Iron.)

“This is the highest level in the world,” she said.

And it’s not an easy feat as a Canadian.

Although Giesbrecht began weightlifting after high school, she didn’t consider bodybuilding until she was in her 30s. In 2004, she met a former bodybuilder at her gym in North Vancouver.

“I thought, wow, she looks great with her muscle and everything,” Giesbrecht said. “You don’t see that very often.”

She participated in her first show the next year, even though she said she didn’t have “much muscle at all.” She still won her category and hasn’t looked back, despite challenges, including the high cost and lack of support.

It’s difficult to advance in bodybuilding in Canada, where there aren’t many opportunities to compete in shows that qualify you for international competitions, she said.

“There’s not a lot of shows I can go to, there’s not a lot of promotion. The promoters who put on the shows don’t want to promote female bodybuilding because it’s not as appealing to the public.”

No one knows that better than her daughters, who are 13 and 17. While Giesbrecht shrugs off the looks her physique draws in public, she says her daughters protect her.

“I don’t really pay attention. My kids tell me that sometimes I get a look and they try to glare them down for me,” she said.

Although neither daughter plans to become a bodybuilder — they prefer dance — Giesbrecht said they both support her.

“They’re very tolerant of different types of people, just because I’m a little different, too.”

Preparing for a show like this, which runs Sept. 18 to 21, means adopting a strict regime.

Geisbrecht’s mornings are spent working as a personal trainer. She spends the early afternoon doing paperwork and errands. And then she heads to the gym for the evening.

She schedules six meals per day, determined by her New York-based nutrition coach, who she said also coaches Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. And in the 12 to 16 weeks leading up to a show, she adopts a “carb depletion” diet, decreasing carbohydrates in her diet while increasing her cardiovascular workouts to burn fat while preserving muscle.

Giesbrecht said she’s proud of her success and hopes her daughters see that perseverence and dedication to whatever you’re passionate about can pay off.

This will be her second time competing in Ms. Olympia — she placed 13th in 2012. But while she hopes to increase her standing, she doesn’t expect to win with Iris Kyle in the competition. Kyle has won the title a record nine times.

“I do it because I enjoy it,” Giesbrecht said.

“That’s the thing that I tell my clients, too — you’re not training for a show. You’re doing a show because you train, you enjoy training, enjoy dieting and enjoy eating clean. The show is the end by-product of that.”

asmart@timescolonist.com