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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 12, 2008 - 3 She's flexing her mid-life muscles By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF U LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER GEARING UP: Vicky Higgins holds up a weight after an hour-long weight training session with her trainer at Mississauga's Fitness Fanatix. The 49-year-old Oakville resident is in training mode for her next bodybuilding competition, which takes place in April. Higgins, an avid golfer, picked up bodybuilding after injuring her back while golfing. ntil about a year ago, 49-year-old Vicky Higgins had never set foot in a gym. She didn't know how to use weights. Higgins was an avid golfer. She played soccer, she ran, she skiied, but she wasn't one to weight train. Then the Oakville resident and mother of two picked up a new sport ­ bodybuilding. "I know," she said, smiling. "It's crazy." What's even crazier is that Higgins has competed in two competitions in five different classes, and has never placed worse than second. Higgins is beating women, she says, "who are half my age." Her bodybuilding journey began when she started working out at a gym in November "I now understand the of 2006 after injuring her back while golfing. The goal importance of strength was to strengthen her back, training. Women should so she could get back on the strength train their entire greens as soon as possible. lives. There are so many "After I started working benefits. You avoid injuries, out, people were saying, `Oh my God, you look so good.' it helps in everyday life. Then my trainer said, you You have more energy, should try bodybuilding," and you get that longer, said Higgins. leaner look." Her reaction was pretty standard. Vicky Higgins "No way, absolutely not. Not a chance. You have to get up and do poses and do a routine to music? No way." Higgins, who classifies herself as an "obsessive type A personality," was convinced when her trainer at Mississauga's Fitness Fanatix, Sean Everingham, made this point. "He said to me, you can golf when you're 70, you can't do this when you're 70." So, Higgins decided to give it a shot with the support of her family ­ sort of. "At first, they weren't sure," she said of her son, Brent, 21, daughter, Carolyn, 18, and husband, Paul. "But once they saw me on stage the first time, they were really impressed. They were saying, `Way to go mom!'" Her daughter's Facebook account now includes pictures of her mom competing. "They've all been very supportive. When you train at this intensity, you need the support of your family," Higgins said. She does weights and cardio at the gym at least four times a week, and two other days a week, she's boxing. When she's preparing for a competition, she's at the gym three hours a day, six days a week. See Bodybuilder page 5 PREPARE FOR THE ROAD AHEAD. Next course: January 31, February 1, 2, 3 - 4 Days (Semester Break) - 9:30am - 4:15 pm February 4, Monday & Wednesday Evening - 4 Weeks - 6:00pm - 9:15pm www.youngdrivers.com 905.845.7200 MTO APPROVED BEGINNER DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE PROVIDER