Rachel Shoemake turned a wedding party invitation into a bodybuilding trophy.
It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t easy. But once this diminutive dynamo begins, it’s hard to tell where her determination will lead.
In this instance, it culminated with a pair of championships eariler this month during the 2015 National Physique Committee Natural Northern USA competition at the Lakewood Civic Center.
The 2009 Mansfield Senior graduate won both the Class A and Overall championships. It was her inaugural show, and no one was more surprised.
“It was the craziest day of my life,” Shoemake said. “I was totally blown away. I thought if I finish in the top 5 and get a trophy, that was all I could ask for.”
She shattered that expectation.
Participating among a field of approximately 15 competitors, the 5-foot-1 Shoemake won the Class A competition for bodybuilders of similar height.
The overall title was a battle of champions from all the height classes.
“That’s where you compete against other women, for me that meant taller women,” Shoemake said. “I thought they would pick one of the taller girls, the taller girls usually win. But when I won (the overall) by a one-point decision, I was so ecstatic I literally ran across the stage. I gave the person who gave me the trophy a big hug. I don’t know if you’re supposed to do that or not, but I was so happy I did it.
“You get a seven-foot trophy. It was so awesome. I was so happy I did it. There’s nothing like winning the whole thing.”
Interestingly, it all began in 2014 as part of a diet.
“One of my friends from middle school asked me to be in her wedding,” Shoemake said. “I weighed 148 pounds and I didn’t want to look like that.”
So, she began training in 2014 for a July 2015 wedding. All the while she continued her schooling at the University of Akron, where she’s studying to obtain a doctorate of audiology.
She got down to 125 pounds by using high impact interval training. Shoemake believed she was in pretty decent shape, but decided to continue after the wedding just to see how far she could go.
She worked with a coach, Javon Shaw of Akron. He helped plan a diet and workout schedule. She weighed 118 pounds for the competition.
“The intensity level was really different,” Shoemake said of her intense weight training. “It’s hard to build muscle mass when you’re on a caloric restriction.”
Although she played volleyball and softball for the Tygers, this was really her first foray into a weight room. She had no idea what to expect at her first show either.
“I guess it is a hobby, but I’m grateful I have been able to pursue it,” Shoemake said. “It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the whole process and look forward to doing more shows in the future.”
Still, she knows bodybuilding is not a career. Shoemake earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh in communication science and disorders. Her future appears tilted toward the health field, with a pastime in physical fitness.
“It’s not realistic to do this as a main career,” she said. “You’re not going to be young forever.”
Still, she claimed a lifetime memory with an improbable story, born from a wedding invitation.
TYGER TALE: Shoemake wasn’t the only Mansfielder to earn a trophy at this event. Ryheem Williams was second in the men’s Class E Physique competition.
Williams, a 2007 Mansfield Senior graduate, and Shoemake were both members of the Tygers’ marching band while in high school.
Courtesy of: Richland Source