Manitoba Muscle

After a record breaking MABBA Novice Championships back in March, it continued to be busy for us in Manitoba through April and May.

CBBF NATURAL PHYSIQUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

On April 23rd, MABBA brought a team of 9 athletes to Laval, QC, to compete in the CBBF Natural Physique Championships. Like it has been for the past several years now, my wife, IFBB Figure Pro Christina Mehling, and I were in attendance because we train a lot of the current nationally qualified competitors coming out of Manitoba. At this event, we trained 6 of the MABBA athletes competing, and along with MABBA Vice President Carrie Carriere I was also helping backstage as a MABBA Provincial delegate. All of this made for a busy weekend, but it was an exciting one nonetheless.

In Men’s Bodybuilding, MABBA’s own President, Tom Heffner, competed in the Grand Master’s 60+ class. Stepping on the national stage as the oldest (and he would argue ‘wisest’) competitor in the show, Tom showed that age is just a number. Anybody in attendance would agree Tom had the freakiest legs this day, displaying a level of muscle maturity and detail that only years of hard work and heavy lifting can accomplish. Tom placed 2nd in his class and was so happy to eat his Italian poutine and pizza after the show.

It was Adam “AJ” Zeglen’s first trip the CBBF Natural Physique Championships, but you wouldn’t have known it by seeing him this day. Through his many years of lifting weights for football, AJ has developed a strong base of muscle including legs that most bodybuilders would kill for! Even though I picked AJ as the winner of the Classic Tall class, the judges placed him 2nd. Once he gets more time to bring up his chest and delts, AJ is going to be tackling the competition for the win.

In Women’s Fitness, Shelly Paton and Amanda Woods represented Manitoba in the Short class. In the past year, Amanda has made some impressive improvements in her level of muscularity and strength which was well displayed in both the routine and physique rounds. Shelly has always been a strong competitor and continued that reputation again at this event. But it was Amanda who would be the better of the two Manitoba “Fitness chicks” on this day, placing 2nd ahead of Shelly who finished 3rd.

In Women’s Figure, last year’s winner of the Master’s class Sasha Herwig, last year’s winner of the Medium-tall class Melanie Falvo, and Kathleen Butler all made their return.

Last competition season, the only two people to better Sasha at both National shows are now IFBB Figure Pros so there was a lot of hype built on Sasha to win the entire show and join the IFBB Pro league. My wife Christina and I introduced Sasha to the sport over 4 years ago so we know her well so believe me when I tell you that she is determined, and even though Sasha had a very challenging off-season she was still able to show up looking at least as good as last year. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough this year as she finished 5th in Masters and 4th in Medium.

Kathleen Butler came to Laval in the best shape of her life! She was determined to best her last year’s performance. Due to some unforeseen car trouble on the morning of the show, Kathleen arrived late and walked on stage part way through the 1st round of comparisons in the Master’s class. As a result, Kathleen was still allowed to be on stage and pose, but evidenced by the contrast between her physique and her ultimate placings, 11th in Masters and 9th in Short, she was not considered. Not to be deterred, Kathleen is already training hard for her next show, MABBA Provincials on June 4th, with only one thing on her mind – REDEMPTION!

Similar to Sasha, Melanie Falvo was returning to repeat her Class win with higher hopes of winning the overall and IFBB Pro status. The hype was high and the pressure was on. Melanie did not disappoint, bringing improved shape and conditioning and another Medium-tall class win for Manitoba, but it wasn’t enough to capture the overall title. Driven with even more motivation, Melanie is now on track to battle with the best at the CBBF Nationals on July 23rd, being held in Saskatoon.

In Women’s Bikini, Ashley Hinther represented Manitoba in the Short class, placing 9th, and Elena Kalish held her own, placing 3rd in the Medium class.

IFBB FIGURE PRO CHRISTINA MEHLING UPDATE

On the weekend of May 15th, my wife, IFBB Pro Christina Mehling, and I travelled to Calgary for a much anticipated photo shoot with David Ford. If you have been following the fitness industry for any length of time, you will know the name David Ford. His work has been featured in every major fitness industry magazine (including the next issue of MUSCLE INSIDER), multiple television networks, and has worked with numerous sports supplements companies. David has photographed all of the top male and female fitness models and many UFC fighters. So it can be no surprise why Christina was so excited to shoot with David.

Christina is just 2 weeks away from the Toronto Super Show IFBB Pro Figure on June 17-18th. Christina loves competing in Canada. We have a big contingent of Freak family supporters coming out to cheer Christina on and we’re hoping even more will be showing up to “raise the roof”.

MABBA PROVINCIALS

MABBA just finished off another successful Provincials show on June 4th. Tickets went fast and the hype built even faster! I was backstage taking candid backstage pictures and doing my best to keep the MUSCLE INSIDER fans up to date on the show’s events. Check out the photos here!

Take care and see you at the Toronto Pro Super Show.

Yours in strength,
Darren Mehling
“The Freak Maker”

To learn more about Darren Mehling, please visit his website at: www.freakfitness.ca. If you have a bodybuilding question you want him to answer, email us at: questions@muscle-insider.com