IFBB Pro Stacy Wright Interview

Photo Credits:
Photos 1-3: Tom Ong
Photos 4-5: RX Muscle


At Team Universe in 2010 Stacy Wright earned her much deserved pro card. She did well in a couple pro shows and then became pregnant. She became, to me, someone even more inspiring by showing that even while pregnant, you can stay in shape. Following the birth of her son, she quickly got on stage and looked amazing at the Ft. Lauderdale Pro in October, continuing to show why I have long said she has one of the best physiques in the entire fitness division. On a side note, I want to add something. One of the things that I love most about what I do, is through my own training and this blog, I have met so many people in the fitness industry. Stacy is one of the most genuine and supportive people I have met. She is someone who is truly deserving of all she has accomplished and someone that we all should support.

Q: Can you talk about how you got started in the gym?
A: When I was sixteen, I had been a cheerleader since third grade, and they started us training in the football gym, lifting the weights in the summer during our off-season and it stuck. Once I picked up the weights, I didn't wanna run track, I didn't wanna do anything but curl the iron. It was home. It has stuck with me ever since.

Q: What about the weight training appealed to you?
A: It was comfortable. You know how some people just have that natural gift or ability? The mind to muscle connection, I immediately picked up good form and how to make the specific muscle work during a specific exercise. There is no way to describe it, it is like a relationship, it came natural to me. The more I learned the more I wanted to try and improve.

Q: What made you decide you wanted to try competing?
A: I always knew I wanted to compete, I just didn't think it was possible. Being from West Virginia, we are one of the most obese states and it doesn't seem like a lot of opportunity here. I would see people in magazines like Monica Brant. She was the number one person on the front of all my folders as a teenager. I knew I would love to do it, I just didn't think it was possible. When I met my husband, he had competed and was able to show me the ropes. He said, "we can do this, let's do it" and it took off from there.

Q: When you finally did compete was it everything you expected?
A: Oh yeah! I hoped I would have done better. I think your first show is a reality check to you. Not that I thought I should go in and win, but it was like "this is serious, these girls don't mess around." My first show as figure in a small federation but even then, the things I thought I prepared myself for, I realized if I wanted to get to the top, I have to live this day in and day out. Do it one hundred percent, and that is what I did.

Q: 2010 you won your pro card at Team Universe. When you first realized you were a pro, do you remember what went through your head?
A: I do. The whole world stops, it is a perfect peace at that moment. The way things went with the morning show, as long as I hit my routine, you just have that feeling it was gonna happen. As they called out the places, the called my first place in the tall class and it was so surreal. Then as I walked off stage they told me to go back out for overalls and that just blew my mind. I was just laughing cause I was giddy from winning my pro card, and then I win overalls and that was icing on the cake. There are no words to describe the amazing experience of everything coming together. All the years of hard work and this is what I had hoped for and there it was in my hands.

Q: What did the pro card mean to you?
A: I always knew I wanted a pro card. I compete for fun. There is no way I would put myself through the torture of prep and the expense of it all if I didn't. That is just the lifestyle we live, we love to compete, we love the stage and performance. I always knew I would get there, it was just a matter of time and I wasn't giving up till I got there. The pro card was a knew chapter in my life. It was "I am a pro now, I have to step my game up further, I am not stopping here." A lot of people get their pro card and that's it, it is the one goal they have. I wanted to keep getting better and compete against the best of the best and make a statement in the pro ranks.

Q: You made your pro debut at the 2001 New York Pro, were you any more nervous for that first pro show?
A: When I first stepped out on stage, there is a picture where you can see, they have a screen in the back with the IFBB logo, and I walked in front of that, and was like "this is it, this is what I worked so hard for." That was a bigger moment than winning my pro card. Those first steps on the pro stage with the logo right behind me. I wasn't more nervous, I felt at home. I had taken a lot of time after winning my pro card, I didn't jump into a pro show, I wanted to grow and improve so they knew I was there for business. It was another great moment in my career.

Q: Not long ago you became pregnant. You were posting pictures where you were still in incredible shape, was that more for you or more to set an example and motivate others?
A: Both! I just wanted to show everybody that pregnancy is not an excuse to go out and eat everything under the sun and lay around on the couch. I heard horror stories about people being so sick and morning sickness. I didn't change a thing. Obviously the further along I got in my pregnancy, I backed off on the free weight exercises. But I literally worked out at a moderate pace up until the day before he was born. It made the pregnancy wonderful, it made my recovery wonderful. I was growing a human being and the biggest thing for me was that what I ate was growing him. I wanted to show people and set an example that it can be done. I want to show an example for our son of what a healthy lifestyle is and what to do to live a healthy life. We started from birth pretty much haha.

Q: Not long after his birth you returned at the Ft. Lauderdale Pro, why was it so important to you to return so quick?
A: Because I am stubborn haha. I have competed every year since 2004. The way things fell, I had time to get on stage without sitting out a year. I competed at the beginning of 2011 and the end of 2012. It was a goal of mine to continue that. To overcome obstacles and prove I could do it. There was a show in December I could have done, but it happened that the Ft. Lauderdale show fell on Mason's birthday and I thought "how cool would that be? He is exactly seven months old and there is a show that day." If I wasn't ready I wouldn't do it, but with a lot of work I was able to do it. It was to prove to myself I could do it. Everyone thinks once you have a baby everything is over. I like to do the impossible.

Q: Was it hard to balance the prep with raising a baby?
A: Absolutely! Like we mentioned in our messages, more emotional than physical. I had mentally prepared myself during the pregnancy that my body would be different and I would have a lot more work than ever to get on stage. I have never had to try to get muscle back and lose body fat at the same time. How much cardio do you do while trying to gain muscle versus trying to lean out? It is a fine line in a new situation. All while wanting to spend every second possible with my son. I got to where I refused to be away from him at all. I would take care of him during the day if I wasn't working and after I put him to bed, I would go to the gym. If I worked at the hospital, I would give him his bath and do our bedtime routine and then I would go back out to the gym. My sleep suffered and I am the type of person that requires a decent amount of sleep to function. It became a big strain on me. But if you decide to compete and set your goals, you need to do what you need to do to reach it and be content and satisfied. I wasn't complaining, it was what I had to do to get there.

Q: You have one of the best physiques in the fitness division, would you ever consider trying physique?
A: Never say never.

Q: DO you know when you plan to compete next?
A: Right now I am not really positive. With coming back to Ft. Lauderdale I was trying to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. So I had to take time to chill out and rest. I didn't go to the gym much. I needed to refocus and set new goals. Right now I am just trying to put on muscle, as you know I love muscle, the more the better. I wanna get back to where I was before the baby if not improve on things. I am not making any definite plans on what's next.

Q: If you could spend one day training with any one person you have never trained with, who would it be?
A: I am gonna go with Dorian Yates at the moment. That is who we base a lot of our training off of. A little modified here and there, but the high intensity training. Not a typical girl answer, but Dorian Yates.

Q: Anyone you want to thank?
A: Always thank my husband Andrew, he is wonderful. We are a team, we do this together. We have never stepped on stage without the other one there. Of course our son Mason, he is the joy and love of our lives. I love nothing more than being a mom.