Training to be the Best

At the age of thirty-six, Sylvia Barker began her extensive training in body building. It was the year 1996. Although she struggled with “juggling workout time, parenting, home life, a part-time job, and planning the meals,” she excelled in the sport. Sylvia retired from body building with having won eight 1st place trophies, six overall trophies, and two 2nd place trophies. Sylvia said, “yeah, I didn’t like the 2nd.” This demonstrated her desire for perfection and achievement.

Achievement did not come easy for Sylvia though. She had to find time in her everyday schedule to fit in “two hours of cardio, plus forty minutes of heavy lifting.” She said that the extensive training was dependent upon “how bad you want it.” Sylvia also said that “it has to be you that wants it, or you will slack off.”

 

Sylvia's Workout Plan

After Sylvia decided to try body building, she had only six weeks to prepare for her first competition. Sylvia said it was “something else!” As a resut of her extensive workouts and diet, Sylvia dropped down to 110.5 pounds and became ill. This was a learning experience for her, as she knew that she should not try to get to that weight again.

Sylvia’s Workout:
She completed 2 hours of cardio each day. Everyday she would focus on a specific part of her body, whether it was the chest, shoulders, legs or back/lateral. Sylvia also made sure to work on her abdominal region every other day. She always made sure she was not working her muscles over time, doing all she could in order to avoid injury. “I applied all the principles of what I learned to be a personal trainer into my training” Sylvia said. Sylvia would always get “mentally charged up for [her] workouts, otherwise [she was] going to fail, and failure is not an option” in the world of body building.

“I always stepped on stage knowing I had given it my best.”

Sylvia’s Competitions-
1. Oswego NPC Captain Quarters Competition
2. All Natural- Physique and Power Conference (ANPPC)
3. Oswego NPC Captain Quarters Competition
4. New York State Body Building Championship
5. 1999 NGA Naturals Northeast
6. Bev Francis Competition
7. New York State Body Building Championship

Sylvia also had a difficult time trying to determine what judges were looking for, as every judge’s perception was different. She said that the “complete package” that they were looking for could change from one competition to the next. Sylvia loved being on stage, she said that was her favorite part of the sport. She loved “the adrenaline high.”

Sylvia’s most memorable experiences were the North East Naturals and the New York State Competitions because it was at these times that she felt most “satisfied” with the way she looked.

Although Sylvia’s first impression on people can be that she is a little cocky, she really is an all around great person. She is a devoted athlete, mother and wife. Sylvia pursued body building to “empower” herself.

 

“Anything is possible, but you have to put your mind too it, you have to really want it, and you have to have a good reason to want it,… it has to be for you.”