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Heidi Fletcher Interview
by Ed Ouble, Admin at www.IronLife.com
(For more information on Heidi Fletcher & www.HeidiFletcher.com, please click on the above banner.All pictures courtesy of HeidiFletcher.com)
 Profile
Age: 30
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 4’11”
Weight (Pre contest): 104 lbs.
Weight (Off season): 114-118 lbs.
Measurements: 34-25-35
Web Site: www.heidifletcher.com
Contest Experience:
- 2003 NPC New England – Fitness 4th place
- 2003 FAP New England – Fitness 3rd place / 1st Place Ms. Bikini and Overall Winner
- 2003 Nations Capital – Fitness 4th Place
- 2004 FAP Fitness Atlantic – Fitness 3rd place
- 2004 NPC New England Fitness 1st place and Overall Winner / Figure short class 1st place and Overall Winner
- 2004 FAP Pittsburgh – Fitness 1st place and Overall Winner
- 2004 GNC Adela Garcia-Friedmansky Fitness Championships – Fitness Overall winner / Figure Short Class First place
- 2004 NPC Nationals – Fitness 4th Place
Interview
- IronLife.com/Ed Ouble: Congratulations on your placing in the top 5 at the 2004 N.P.C. Nationals in Dallas. Must be a great feeling knowing you came in fourth place in your first national event.
Heidi Fletcher: Hey Ed! Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how excited I am. There were so many amazing athletes there, so I feel very honored to have placed among the top of them. It is great motivation to turn it up a notch for next year. My wheels are already turning, and I can’t wait to start my new routine. Right now, I am in a rest period, because I am healing a hamstring injury and eye surgery. (all things that had to wait until after Nationals.)
- Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in a suburb just north of Boston, MA. I’m still here now. I always think that someday I’ll move somewhere warm. I hate the winters here in New England, but I love Boston, so who knows what’ll happen.
- Educational background?
I attended a private college right outside of Boston, as a Fashion Merchandising Major.
- How long have you been training?
I have been ‘going to the gym’ for about 11 years now. I’ve been through different phases: nothing but cardio and aerobics to lifting heavy to body building and of course some serious ‘off’ seasons and now fitness. I’ve been training for fitness competitions for about 3 years.
- How did you get your start in weight training and nutrition?
During high school, I played softball, twirled baton and was a cheerleader. After graduating, I wasn’t as active as I had been and started gaining a little weight, I decided to join the gym. I didn’t live away at college so fortunately I didn’t gain the “Freshman 15”, but my weight still fluctuated. I bumped into a girl that I went to high school with at the gym and she had these awesome arms. I thought “I want arms like that”, so I started really getting into weight training. When I realized that with all the time and effort I was putting in and wasn’t achieving the look that I wanted it was because of my ‘diet’, I began to study nutrition and began incorporating all the right eating habits into my regimen. I realized that I was having separation anxiety from competing, and that is how I started competing in fitness. It’s nice to have something to work toward. A challenge for yourself.
- Do you have a set weekly training schedule?
Although my training varies week to week, as far as body parts go, I am very regimented. I train, eat, and sleep at just about the same time everyday. For me, the key to contest prep is knowing your body and consistency. Just like MMA there are many different facets for training for an event. Like fighting you have your stretching, plyos, grappling, stand-up, on top of the basics. So for Fitness there is more than cardio and weights. You have routine practices, strength hold practices, plyometric training, and a lot of stretching, so that needs to all fit into one week. I listen to my body, for example if it is the day that I am supposed to train legs and my legs are feeling tired or sore, I will do upper body training, and just switch my days around. There is no need to waste a work out if you know from that start that it is not going to go well.
- What is your favorite food?
When I am dieting, my favorite meal is breakfast, egg whites and oatmeal mixed together and cooked as pancake. Or a chocolate protein shake with a scoop of peanut butter.
- When dining at a restaurant what do you usually order?
Believe it or not, a salad. I love salads. A nice big salad with chicken and some honey mustard dressing, just can’t beat it. Other than that, I love going to Japanese Steakhouses. I don’t typically eat out the last 6-8 weeks before a contest.
- What is your favorite cheat food?
Nachos, without a doubt…with all the fixins’ especially the cheese melted on top! And for dessert my big thing now is cheesecake.
- Motivation is so important in every day life, yet alone in competing. What keeps you motivated and dedicated to help you achieve your fitness goals?
My motivation comes from many different places from within. Different days I feel that I need to rely on different sources of motivation. It is the ability to set goals for myself and the pride of achieving them. Once I stand on stage I have already achieved my goal, no matter what the outcome. As long as I know that I have done absolutely everything in my power to prepare and stand on stage at my very best, then I have succeeded. The rest is up to the judges. A huge part of the motivation for me, is knowing that my parents are so supportive and proud of me. Sometimes I get a bigger thrill of seeing my parents in the audience so happy. They go pretty much everywhere with me, and are always the ones, yelling, cheering and clapping the loudest. Another huge source is the ability to push myself, I truly enjoy the day to day challenges of contest preparation and pushing myself physically and mentally creating my own limits. Keeping myself dedicated is just a part of my personality, ‘…if you aren’t going to do something all out… why do it at all?’ The only boundaries that exist are those that you create and chose to live within”) I would say the hardest part is the diet. Going to the gym and training that is just what I do, but staying on the diet is something that I have struggled with here and there. Although I have learned that 5 minutes of “tastes good” is nothing in comparison to the way “in shape feels”. (“The only boundaries that exist are those that you create and chose to live within”)
- I have seen you posting a bit on our community forum and remember you referring to some professional fighters. Are you a fan of the Mixed Martial Arts?
Definitely! I love MMA and I have such a respect for the fighters. Unlike the assumption of the general public, I know that it isn’t two guys in a ring or cage trying to kill each other (well most of the time). You have two skilled athletes out to prove who is better at their trained discipline and in their cross training. I think it is very interesting.
I was introduced to MMA back in 1996 by my boyfriend (Tony Fryklund), and had no choice but to take an interest. I have been exposed to a lot of the ins and outs of it, as well as seen first hand the amount of dedication and intensity that each and every one of these athletes puts in. Now after having met so many of the fighters, who are some of the coolest people, and attending multiple events, I feel it is just a part of who I am. Just like some people play football in high school, they are forever fans of the sport. Same goes for me with MMA. Although Tony and I are no longer together, we still remain great friends, and I am still very interested in and watch or attend a lot all of the MMA events. And I can assure you that a week doesn’t go by in the gym that you don’t find me sporting my TapouT gear or Team Miletich hoodies.
- Steroids are obviously a big topic with the MLB scandal and recent indictments of a few pro‘s in the bodybuilding community. What are your views on steroids supplementation in bodybuilding and sports in general?
My view on steroids are the same as they are on most things in life. I believe that people make choices based on what is right for them. I don’t pass judgment. If someone feels that taking steroids is conducive to their goals and lifestyle, that is their choice. If they have made that choice then they need to be prepared of dealing with the consequences if caught, as steroids, as we all know, are illegal. I do, however, have issues with people that take steroids and enter drug tested contests. And competitors who enter non-drug tested shows, know what the competition could potentially be and what they could possibly be up against. It is a two way street.
Steroids are present in all sports, regardless of what people may think. I think that bodybuilding gets the worst wrap because it’s focus is on the muscles and how they look. No one is going to accuse a swimmer, for instance, of taking them, because no one cares how the swimmer looks just what his/her times are. Maybe they should question the swimmers that are beating all sorts of records and the ones that are swimming the fastest. Just like they question the bodybuilders who are the biggest or the leanest. I could go on and on about this issue because I have seen it day in and out from every different angle. But I just choose to let it be, it isn’t part of my life, so it is what it is.
Just for the record ‘swimming’ was just an example…
- Can you tell us a little about your website and other business endeavors?
My website started out as a fun little project that I did just to be able to post some pics of my shows, and stuff that was going on with me and the fitness world. Seeing as I have a lot of friends and family in different parts of the country it was almost like a newsletter. Now that things are progressing within competing and my personal training, I felt that my website needed to follow the same approach. It has a lot of the same content, but has been updated by an awesome graphic artist in the Boston area, and is now geared with more of a ‘professional’ look, in order to promote myself as a fitness competitor, model, and personal trainer. In the near future you will be able to buy 8x10 signed pics from my site, and I will offer on-line personal training and nutrition plans. In the mean time anyone can contact me at heidi@heidifletcher.com . As far as business endeavors go, right now I am doing a lot more personal training. My main focus at the present time though, is competing.
- Are you currently under contract with any modeling agencies or supplement companies?
No, I am not under a contract, but I am a non-contracted athlete for GNC. I travel to the shows (Arnold Classic, SOS, Olympia) with GNC and appear and work at their booth. Hopefully someday soon I will get a contract.
- What shows are you planning to compete in this upcoming year?
I don’t have 2005 completely mapped out yet, each show depends on what happened at the previous one. But I do know that my first one of the year will be the NPC Pittsburgh show in May, and the day after I will fly back to Boston where I will guest pose at the New England show that I won last year. I was contacted by the Promoter of the Show and asked to appear. I will be guest posing along with Jay Cutler (who is from Worcester, MA) and Victor Martinez. Who would have ever thought?
- Do you have any tips for our readers who are training in hopes of making it one day?
Believe in yourself and all of your dreams and your endeavors. Don’t let anyone tell you or make you believe that your goals aren’t worthy. As long as you believe in them and yourself, then you will succeed. Not everyone can ‘make it’, but at the very least you can always say that you tried. You’ll never have to live in the ‘what if’ world. Remember, that nothing comes without hard work, sweat, and tears. Don’t be afraid to take that extra step. You never know what’s around the corner.
“When you want what you've never had, you must do what you've never done.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- Thanks for your time. Happy new year and God bless.
Thanks Ed. It was great talking with you and I hope that you and all the Iron Life members have a Happy and Healthy Holiday!
MUAH! Heidi
* Article by Ed Ouble, Admin @ www.IronLife.com.
* Back to This Issue's Frontpage
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