Bodybuilders place in regional competitions

WASILLA — Midnight Sun Muscle Club athletes say they’re “a special kind of crazy.”

Now located above the Subway restaurant at 1800 S. Knik-Goose Bay Rd., Midnight Sun Athletic Club is home to the Muscle Club, a group of male and female athletes age 6 to 60 who compete in various divisions of bodybuilding competitions.

But the kind of “bodybuilding” the Muscle Club ladies focus on doesn’t involve bulking up to “freaky” proportions, said Tim Hall, competitor and co-owner of the club.

While a few women across the U.S. do participate in that type of bodybuilding, the Muscle Club ladies only compete in the Women’s Physique, Fitness, Figure and Bikini divisions. These more specific styles still emphasize strength, but also femininity.

“These women work their butts off,” said coach Carrieann Hall, Tim’s wife and founder/co-owner of the club.

Dr. Brittany Blake, a chiropractor and 2005 Palmer High School graduate, and 18-year-old Taylor Hansen, who just graduated from Colony High last week, are two examples.

This past January, Blake and Hansen became teammates at the club, though Blake had competed in bodybuilding while in graduate school at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Florida. Both young women were multi-sport athletes in high school.

In the past two months, these ladies have placed in two major bodybuilding competitions: the National Physique Committee’s Alaska State Bodybuilding Championships in Anchorage April 4 and the Emerald Cup Championships May 8 in Bellevue, Washington.

Blake took third at state and fourth at the cup in Class B and Class D, respectively, of the Bikini division. (Classes are based on the athlete’s height and vary with each competition). Hansen won Class A of the Bikini division at state and took fifth behind Blake at the cup.

Baylee Bartgis, another 2015 graduate of Mat-Su Central School, won the fitness division and took second at state behind Hansen. Her mother, Lisa Bartgis, also placed at state, taking fifth in the Masters class of the bikini division. (To read more about Baylee Bartgis, see the Sept. 19, 2014 story on her dancing career at frontiersman.com.)

Jennifer Dawkins, Hansen’s boss, came in seventh in the Masters division at state.

Tim Hall represented the men at state as winner of the Light Heavyweight class, and took seventh place in the Masters over 40 at the Emerald Cup.

What it takes

Jennifer Reilly — who hasn’t been able to compete recently but is a vital part of the club, Coach Hall said, as a personal trainer — said a bodybuilder like Blake or Hansen is really “no different than an elite athlete.”

It’s true that each of the muscle club ladies have to pose on stage in a small, sparkly bikini, 5-inch heels and a spray-on tan. But that’s not as superficial as it sounds.

Blake said the tan is for the stage lights — if she walks on stage without a tan under a white spotlight, the judges won’t be able to see the definition of her muscles. The tan accentuates the lines, the heels pump up the calves, and the bikini covers as much as possible without hiding the evidence of how much effort the athlete has put forth in toning her body.

“You’re really doing it for yourself,” Blake said. “You’re just trying to beat your last show … and you want your friends and family to appreciate how hard you’ve worked.”

Hansen said she felt a little awkward talking to her father about what she was about to do when they pulled up to the Egan Center for the state competition, but was otherwise prepared for the stage. And supported by her parents.

“My mom was really behind me, she’s known I’ve wanted to do this for a while… and (my dad) just wants me to do what I love,” Hansen said.

And the athletes kind of have to love what they do to do it, because “it’s very time consuming,” Hansen said. Bodybuilders spend hours upon hours just planning their meals, not to mention eating them. For 12 weeks leading up to a competition, these athletes are “eating clean,” cutting out bread and dairy products, but they’re eating six or seven times a day. And since they’re not eating processed foods, for example, they need more time to prepare meals than the average person.

But because of their dedication, Hansen and Blake have managed to perform well on the stage, in the classroom and at work — and Blake is currently working 60 to 70 hours a week.

“It really hasn’t been hard because it’s become a routine,” Blake said. “I work out in the morning and feel really good for the rest of the day.”

But every woman breaks down at some point. Coach Hall said the stress of being a full-time athlete and a full-time worker or mother will take its toll, and the expression of that is not necessarily bad.

“I think, more than anything, it’s a release,” Hall said.

And when someone needs to have that release, the team is there.

“We all help each other,” Reilly said.

What’s next

Both Blake and Hansen are looking to “go pro,” but each have other aspects of their lives to take care of, too. Hansen plans to compete May 30 at the NPC Heart of Alaska Bodybuilding Championships, relax for the summer, and compete again Oct. 3 in a non-sanctioned bodybuilding event hosted in the Valley by the Midnight Sun Athletic Club. Blake, Coach Hall, and Reilly will join Hansen for that competition, as well as the Anchorage Fitness Expo Oct. 24.

Hansen hopes to start her college career this fall in either Anchorage or California, and intends to continue competing wherever she goes.

To read more about Midnight Sun Muscle Club and its members, visit midnightsunmuscleclub.com.

To read more about the National Physique Committee, visit npcnewsonline.com.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.