Bodybuilding Weekly: Trinidad's Sportswoman of the Year - Candice John

Trinidad's Sportswoman of the Year - Candice John
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Hardbodies News on 15 March, 2008 01:50:00
 
By Abby De Four
Want to know the secret to having a lean, muscular body without compromising
your femininity? Just ask Candice John, two-time Central American and Caribbean
(CAC) Body Fitness Champion and daughter of former UNC politician Carlos John.
She will tell you, however, that the process will include a gruelling exercise
regime, a strict diet and an unwavering determination to succeed. Body fitness
should not be confused with bodybuilding, as it focuses on a woman’s beauty as
well as her athletic physique.
The sport judges her hair, facial beauty, overall athletic development and her
ability to present a symmetrical body. The competitor’s physique should not be
excessively muscular or lean, but must strike an even balance between their
womanliness and athleticism.
After placing third in the CAC Championships in 2003 the flames of John’s
ambition were fanned higher.
“I am the type of person who gets motivated by criticism and defeat. It gives
me energy, determination and drive to train harder and harder. I knew in order
to take the win at the 2005 and 2006 CAC Body Fitness Championships that I had
to be at the top of my game,” she said.
In addition to winning first place in this year’s competition, she was also
elevated to a higher rank removing her from the amateur realm.
Excited about the opportunity her promotion brings with it she said: “Now I
am ready to take it to the professional level where I will be competing against
the best physiques in the world. I love tough competition, I absolutely thrive
on it.”
The spark that ignited the 26-year-old’s passion for fitness came from her
mother, Glenda, who always exhibited an interest in maintaining a healthy body.
“I recall so vividly watching my mother do her Jane Fonda workouts every
evening, on some occasions she would take me to her aerobic classes straight
from school, where I would watch her and the other ladies with eagerness, as I
sat in the back pretending to do my homework,” she said.
“Watching my mother take care of her body from such a very young age had a
major influence on determining what would be a great love of mine in later
years.”
The road to success has called for an immense amount of sacrifice, as her
vegetarian diet is strict and her training challenging.
She admitted to separating herself from people weeks before a competition and
even refusing phone calls in a bid to keep her focus.
During this pre-competition period, she said, any kind of stress can cause the
body to deteriorate and much of the progress made in the gym could be lost in a
short space of time.
Exactly how much time does she spend in the gym in preparation for a
competition?
She visits the gym every day, from 4 to 5 am where she does a cardio workout.
Between the hours of 5 to 7 am she has weight training and she ends her day with
another set of cardio work from 7.30 to 8.30 pm.
John knows that her schedule is rigorous.
“I cannot lie; training for a competition is hard work. At body fitness
competitions you may see me well made up, in a beautiful swim suit and heels and
think that it looks very easy as I twirl around the stage in front of the
judges, but this is not the case at all. To train for a competition, you must
take your mind and body into a next zone,” she said.
John is able to find balance though, in the bond that she shares with her
family.
“My family has been my biggest fans to date, they travel with me to all my
shows and if they cannot attend, they make up by calling me a hundred times
before, during and after show times,” she said.
Her mother designs all her suits and her father she labels the “most raucous
cheerleader at my shows.”
She is thankful for the support she received from her parents over the years.
“They taught me that whatever I choose to do in my life, I should strive to
be the best at it, they were at every parents’ day, at every function, in
every organisation in school, and even now, as adult as I am, they continue to
support me,” said John.
Source:  Trinidad Guardian