Bodybuilder developing more than muscle
By Mike Riplinger
Of the Emerald
She doesn't fit any of ttre
stereotypes
A softball-playing bodybuilder
who coaches basketball, yet still
manages to carry 24 credits,
Krista Parent isn't just any or
dinary person.
While a softball player is sup
posed to be fast and quick, a
bodybuilder is usually big and
bulky. A basketball coach is
supposed to always be thinking
strategy and a person who takes
24 credits worth of classes is
just plain crazy.
In an understatement, Parent
said her busy schedule "doesn't
leave much time for a social
life."
Understandably so But would
a woman bodybuilder have to
worry about a social life'? Aren't
they always big and stocky and
don’t they look like they can rip
a beer can in two with their bare
hands?
Not this one At least she
doesn’t look like it. But Parent
probably would have little trou
ble making a Lite Beer commer
cial, a la Bubba Smith
In street clothes, the straw
berry blonde looks like anything
but a bodybuilder Still, she fin
ished second in the first com
petition she ever entered, last
year's Pacific Northwest Cham
pionships
With her quick smile she looks
more captivating than threaten
ing But being a bodybuilder
does give a strange impression
to some people, she said
"It weirds them out A lot of
people just can't understand
me, or why I like to do it." Parent
said
"It's hard to explain, but I like
to take care of myself You
would think others would re
spect someone who takes care
of themself, rather than sit
around and get fat But some
people are real put out because
I like to tone my body," she said
Parent doesn't just tone her
body, she works it into the
ground
She starts the day with soft
ball practice at 6 30 a m
because I don't have any other
time to do it." After a full day of
If
classes, she goes to her prac
ticum at Springfield High
School, where she is the assis
tant women's basketball coach
After that she heads to Court
sports I where she works out on
weights for three hours, then
works on poses for her
bodybuilding routine*. About 9
or 10 p.m. she is finally done
There is nothing left to do but to
study
"I get really burned out The
last thing I want to do is study
when I get home, but I have no
choice I know that other
students have it bad and have to
work hard too, but it's still easy
for me to baby myself and not
study." Parent said
How did someone who is fast
enough to hold the school
record for stolen bases ever get
into a bulky sport like body
building?
First off, for women it’s not so
much a bulky sport with huge
bulging muscles, but "one of
definition and tone, where the
women are graceful, yet still
show muscle," she said
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PORTLAND
WOMEN'S
HEALTH
CENTER
6510 SE FOSTER ROAD
PORTLAND. OREGON 97206
503/777-7044
Photo by Mark Pynes
Senior Krista Parent carries more than just her own weight during a workout in preparation for the
Southern Oregon Bodybuilding Championships Saturday at Willamette High School.
Parent had always lifted
weights to keep in shape for
softball And when Tim Young,
who won the Mr Southern
Oregon title last year, was look
ing for a partner for the couples
competition at the Pacific
Northwest Championship,
someone suggested Parent
"I really couldn't see myself
ever doing it For one thing, you
get up there and you're not
wearing much The bikinis are
pretty small, and I'm basically a
shy person, so just going out in
front of a crowd was hard to
do,” she said
"But I thought I would give it a
try and it really wasn't anything I
expected,” she said
Couples competition stresses
synchronization, Parent said,
and is more dance than flexing
During the competition, the
bodybuilders are judged in the
morning In the evening they
perform for the audience, when
the actual winner has already
been decided
“It's fun. A lot of head games
The guys will hit a pose right in
III
front of someone and try to in
timidate him But the women
aren't like that They're much
more friendly and easygoing,"
said Parent
Finishing second in her first
competition gave Parent added
impetus to try again
Saturday, she will compete in
the Southern Oregon Cham
pionships at Willamette High
School, beginning at 8 p.m
With one contest under her
belt she's looking forward to the
competition. At least this time
she'll know what to expect She
said she'll also know how to
better deal with how others look
at her And also how her family
deals with it.
"It was hard enough getting
up there in front of all those
people, but to have my family
and my dad in particular out
there, made it really hard My
dad couldn't believe that I was
doing it in front of 3,000 people
"He was real supportive
though. My whole family was.
Still, I think my dad would rather
watch his daughter play softball
than perform as a bodybuilder,”
Parent said
Playing softball doesn't mix
too well with bodybuilding ac
cording to Parent
"I would work on my arms in
lifting, and then come out and
try to take batting practices I
would be death warmed over, ”
she said
Softball can get rough at
times, and scrapes and bruises
are not beneficial for
bodybuilders The competition
last spring was over before the
softball season started, but Pa
rent said she still had to be car
eful in practice
Going into a competition I
really didn t need a big straw
berry on my leg or a big bruise,
so it made for some pansy
slides
This year Parent plans on
taking some time off from
bodybuilding to prepare for
softball
This is my last year and I feel
like I owe it to them to work on
nothing but softball,” Parent
said
After graduation, Parent
hopes to land a job as a high
school basketball coach A
basketball star in high school,
Parent decided to play softball
in college because she was
better at it, she said
“I love basketball though, it’s
my favorite sport. Coaching is
my outlet since I don’t play
anymore," Parent said
But she doesn’t plan to stop
bodybuilding
"I hope to do it for a long time
I think it will keep me in shape,"
she said.
"Some people think you’re a
totally different human just
because you bodybuild But I
just enjoy taking care of my
body. What’s wrong with that?”
Nothing at all.
T T I I 1”T I t I IT 1 T
1
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