Biography

“After two kids, it was good motivation to get back into shape and stay in shape. Being a personal trainer, I felt I had to look the part.”

 

Sylvia was born in the Philippines. She lived there until she was ten, when her family moved to California. After graduating from high school, Sylvia attended an automotive repair school in Arizona. She then decided to join the army and was eventually stationed at Fort Drum, in Watertown, NY, where she met her first husband. Sylvia Barker has an incredible story full of dedication and determination to achieve her goal. Sylvia had two boys and was a stay-at-home mom when she decided that she wanted to become a personal trainer. After getting her American Council on Exercise Personal Training Certification, she began working at Ontario Health and Fitness. It was there that she met a woman named Gregreen Coes. Gregeen talked to Sylvia about bodybuilding. Sylvia stated, "I really enjoyed the training, the discipline, you know keeping yourself motivated, and generally just feeling good about yourself because you’ve done the best you can.”

“You have to make the time, you have to get up an hour earlier and put in an extra workout.” -Sylvia Barker

 

With six weeks before a competition, at the age of 36, Sylvia decided to enter her first competition! In any case, “After two kids, it was good motivation to get back into shape and stay in shape. Being a personal trainer, I felt I had to look the part.” For the next six weeks she trained hours a day, and reduced her daily caloric intake to 1,200 calories a day. The most difficult challenge was “juggling workout time, parenting, home life, getting everything organized, planning meals, basically the biggest thing was time.”

“I had to really want it, bad enough for myself. You can’t look for support, because that person may not say the right thing to you.” -Sylvia Barker

 

 

Self doubt is something that almost all women have a problem with. “There is always a time of doubt, but for the most part, you have to stay positive in this sport.” “Positive feedback from everybody was a big support. My coach and co-workers encouraged me as they saw my body change.” Her friends and co-workers support was very important, as her husband was often out-of-town. Therefore, her friends would baby-sit for her. Nonetheless, she knew that she could only rely upon herself.

 

“The adrenaline high, stepping on stage, it’s like no other feeling in the world.” - Sylvia Barker

Her favorite part of the sport came from the competitions. However, she did not like the pain that she forced her body to work through. “You can’t stand the pain, but you know you have to do it.” Her dedication paid off. She earned eight first place trophies, two first place overall trophies and two second place trophies. “I didn’t like the 2nd.” Yes, her biggest weakness would probably be that she is too self critical.