Strong, beautiful, and confident

Shermaine St Ber-nard could almost be described as a mistress of disguise. To someone with no knowledge of her background, it would almost be difficult to discern that she is a professional bodybuilder from her everyday attire, until she strips down to gym wear, or a two-piece. You would be “lucky” to catch sight of her arms, from elbows down, she said. She is not the showy type. You would not catch her in a navel breaker tank top or a halter to show off the acute definition of her 30-something-inch back. In her massage parlour, while at home, and on the streets, Shermaine’s a conservative dresser. However, the newspapers clippings tell a different story. Two Sundays ago, the 29-year-old St James “strong lady,” had her audience ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ at her awesome shape and skill at the Senior National Bodybuilding and Ms Fitness Championships hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Body Buidling Association. She copped overall winner.

She felt “good” about her win. She told People: “I don’t do anything to not come out on top because too much time and energy is invested.” She had to postpone the idea of “celebrating and rejoicing” since her one week of rest was cut short to three days, according to her trainer’s (Lawrence “The Beast” Marshall) orders. But Shermaine wasn’t the only one who aroused gawking gestures. Monisa Harbans and Nina Jeremiah, who placed second and third respectively, had the judges’ attention. Monisa was a bit disappointed on her placement. “I know how much I put into this and I knew the criteria. I competed in this competition two years ago, placed second and I was told that I needed to work on my legs. By the time of the competition I was ready, I was in perfect proportion,” Monisa said. At the time of our interview she was engaged in training at her home gym in Diego Martin. “I am not accustomed to taking time off, I usually take a day before I get back into training... My muscles are getting more and more mature and I don’t like looking like a blimp. I like that fit-looking physique,” said the 34-year-old.

In the space of 18 years, Monisa moved from 165 to 135 pounds. “I was a big person. In the ‘earlys’ I was like 165 at age 13, 14, 15 and at the age of 16 I got serious about myself. People were teasing me in school and then my dad, he was into fitness so I used to get pressure at home. So, I just made up my mind and said I would diet and train and I never stopped since 16.” Since then, Monisa has given up the “sugars,” the chocolate and candy. “I used to eat a lot of food on the whole. If mummy said take a lil callaloo, I would take all that remained. I used to overdo and that was making me bigger and unhappy. “But then I started starving myself. I went the wrong way, dieting on apple cider alone and my stomach lining got messed up. I went down to 125 pounds.” People are now “shocked” to see her on the papers, she said. Instead of pizza and ice-cream, a breakfast of eight egg whites and two servings of cream of wheat will suffice. The yolks, she said, are given to the homeless as a sandwich spread.

Over time, Monisa developed a love for the sport and is motivated by her fianc?, Ronald Brooks, who is also a bodybuilder. “I like the sport. You can market yourself for ads, supplement companies, magazines. I like showing myself bec-ause I put so much into it. I’m trying to show people that women bodybuilders don’t have to look like men; we can still maintain a sexy, feminine attractiveness. You don’t have to make yourself big and hard.” Monisa sports a 23-inch waist with 23 12-inch thighs and 35-inch back. She loves to give her admirers something to talk or gawk about, like wearing the “very skimpy” tops. She still squirms when she hears the negative comments on her physique, especially comments about her upper body. She admitted to giving in to the peer pressure. “I have no chest and I pad my bras... Most bodybuilders, we don’t have a choice. We have to do something to make ourselves look as though we have. You really lose all your breast when you get into bodybuilding,” Monisa explained. Nina agreed. She said bodybuilding is a “sport, like swimming or track, when you start, you have to go all the way. Only those who understand the sport know what the output is.” That may be so, but the 31-year-old mother and entrepreneur (an agent for Victoria Secret products and heavily involved with Legends mas band), has been blessed with a desirable physique. She told People: “I have the genetics. I have good calves, good legs.” Those she attribute to her parents and lots of workouts “thanks to my trainer ‘Channa’ who I’ve known for ten years, Karen Walcott, masman Ian Mc Kenzie and others.”

The newcomer to the sport, made her debut after encouragement from her friends. “It was very exciting. Emotionally, it plays with you. You tend to be a little bit more on edge. It’s up to you to tell yourself it’s temporary, but it made me feel good about myself. I’ve been training for quite a while and apart from myself having confidence in me, I have a lot of friends who gave me the drive.” One of them is the father of her four-year-old daughter, Caitlin. The full-time mom said there is no off-season in the sport, “but you can’t allow yourself to be bloated, you can’t let yourself go loose.” Workouts at Bio Fitness Gym, where Shermaine also trains, along with her parnter, Ian Mc Kenzie, has produced a physique that even Matel’s Barbie would envy — 32:25:34. Her nicely etched muscles came with little sacrifices, unlike Shermaine who craves cheesecake but can’t eat it. “I’m not really a sweet person. For the competition I couldn’t eat much rice and stewed stuff. Most of your stuff must be baked and boiled, nothing holding too much water.”