Wendi West - How the West was One!

How the West was One!

Wendi West whirled off her red Wonder Woman cape and began a fitness routine of flips, one-arm push-ups, break dance moves, splits, handstands, straddle holds, and tumbling feats. Her fast-paced, two-minute, non-stop performance was done to the beat of a techno version of the theme from "Wonder Woman" with patriotic phrases peppered through it, such as "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country," taken from President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in 1961. Her signature move was a front handspring in which she landed in a sitting position touching her toes.

Wendi West

After that, the 31-year old Chicopee woman impressed the judges in the ESPN's Fitness Atlantic Pageant in the swimsuit portion of the competition. She strutted her stuff on stage in high heels, a red bikini with glittered stones and sparkling jewelry. "The judges were looking for beauty, athletic tone, poise and presentation from head to toe," she said.

The two performances got her into the finals of the April contest which was held in New Haven, Connecticut.

Finalists were interviewed and when Wendi was asked the question why she thought she was a good fitness role model, she was surprised at how easy it was to answer. "I have experience competing and I want to share the experience and help out other competitors and people at my gym," Wendi said.

The interview counted 20 percent, the swimsuit competition 40 percent and the fitness routine 40 percent. The key to the routine was to make it entertaining as it would be shown on television.

Wendi knew she had done well, but when the time came to announce the winner and her name was called. "I felt awesome. The field was really tough. All the women were beautiful, talented and had fantastic routines," Wendi said.

She will go on to compete in the ESPN Fitness Universe Pageant held in Miami, Florida and the ESPN Fitness America Pageant National Championships in November in Redondo Beach, California.

Although each contestant only performed for two minutes, her routine demanded tremendous effort, strength, flexibility and agility and it took her months to prepare. "I can run six miles without breaking a sweat," said Wendi. "But the non-stop routine was a challenge. I was flipping, dancing, doing push-ups, holding myself up in strength moves."

Wendi rises every morning and runs four to five miles at 5:45am. Then she reports to her job as a product engineer at InteliCoat Technologies in South Hadley, MA. After work, she and her finance' Brian head straight to the World Gym in Chicopee, where they lift weights and she does more cardiovascular exercise. They spend close to two hours there every day.

Wendi West While Wendi was practicing for competition, she spent even more time at the gym practicing her routine. Wendi works out six or seven days a week and for fun, belongs to a volleyball and softball team, rides her bike, rollerblades, and plays tennis. "The only sport I don't like is swimming," said Wendi.

She enjoys working out with Brian. "Having a guy as a weight training partner makes me stronger. I work harder when I am with him. He pushes me to exercise harder," she said. "I think exercising together helps you stay together and grow as a couple."

Wendi has always enjoyed exercise. "It's a good stress reliever," said the 5-foot-7-inch woman, who weighs 134 pounds. "My diet consists of chicken breast, white meat turkey, tuna fish, egg whites, vegetables and yams."

She also loves peanut butter and jelly on rice cakes and indulges in frozen yogurt when not preparing to compete. Wendi rarely eats bread or pasta and hasn't had any red meat for years.

Although she has always been an avid exerciser, Wendi loves to compete because it gives her a goal. "I'd be lost without a competitive portion of something in my life. It makes me push myself and find new challenges and meet new goals," she said. "You never really know what your body and mind can accomplish unless you try it."

Wendi began dancing at age 4 and continued lessons until she was 18. She took tap, ballet, jazz, acrobatics, tumbling. During her high school years at Chicopee Comprehensive and while attending Springfield College, she competed in track and field events. After graduating in 1992 with a degree in Chemistry and Biology, she worked out daily and also became a certified aerobics instructor. "But I still had all the energy and I missing competing," she said. One day, she saw fitness competitions on ESPN and decided to enter.

Wendi competed for the first time in 1997 and won first place in the Fitness America Pageant Connecticut Regional. She went on to the National competition, but "I had a lot to learn about hair, make-up, costumes, and bathing suits," she said, adding that she wore a floral bathing suit she ordered from a catalog for the swimsuit competition. Later, she learned that solid colors and glitter won more attention.

When she got to the Nationals, "I felt very intimidated. But I have been addicted ever since," she said.

She entered ESPN Fitness America Pageant again in 1998 and 1999, then took a year off due to a injury.

Today, she is sponsored by Supplement Zone in Springfield. Last year, after the tragedy of September 11th, Wendi decided that she wanted her routine to have a patriotic slant. She decided on Wonder Woman as she was super strong. Wendi had the theme song hyped up with patriotic phrases and a Latin touch by musician Todd Ganci.

The routine was created with professional help from choreographer Cathy Savage and was so difficult she had to break it up into pieces when she practiced to keep from getting exhausted. In fact, it was so grueling that despite her level of fitness, when she first began practicing there were some days when she got of bed and felt like she was 80 years old. Her wrists, knees, and everything were sore.

She soon adjusted and was primed to appear and perform in New Haven, Connecticut, wearing her Wonder Woman cape and outfit where she won against 23 contestants, showing off her endurance, strength, and gymnastics ability as she entertained the audience.

The fact that her family and friends were watching helped her excel. "People expect me to do well, so I'm afraid not to," she said.

She is looking forward to competing again and may even change her routine a to a "Wild Wild West" routine with a cowgirl costume and music to match.

When she tires of competing someday, she plans to use her experience and talents to help younger woman do the same thing. And as far as exercise goes, "I plan on doing that until I can't walk anymore," she said.