2004
NOT OVER THE HILL!
"If I had only known a mid-life crisis could be this much fun, I would have had one years ago!" 47-year-old Jan Hunt (Wolf) exclaims. "I was experiencing fairly intense emotions about closing in on the half-century mark, so I decided to set two new goals for myself in 2004. The first was to compete in a bodybuilding competition."
Even though she had never competed, pumping iron was not something new to Jan. "I joined a Gold's Gym in a suburb of Detroit in 1984 and met some guys who were competitive bodybuilders," she explains. "I ended up training with them at various gyms in the Detroit area. In 1986, I moved to Wisconsin and wound up at the Princeton Club."
Jan's first assault on her mid-life crisis came in April of 2003 when she put the pedal to the medal for the next 12 months. "The competition I decided to train for the INBF Wisconsin bodybuilding championships, which was scheduled for April 17, 2004," she recalls. "Two weeks prior to that was the INBF Great Lakes Bodybuilding and Figure Competition - a pro qualifier. I decided to also enter that contest to gain experience."
With the assistance of personal trainer Rick Rinden, Hunt left no stone unturned in her quest to properly prepare. "We split my leg workout into two days - quads on one, hams on the other," she explains. "And I worked calves both workouts! The rest of the week, Rick had me doing chest and biceps one day, shoulders and abs the second and back and triceps the third. And as the show got closer, every other morning I was running wind sprints uphill! Rick was crucial to my training and also helped me with posing and diet. And on competition day, he gave me the most important assistance - moral support!"
In addition to Rick, Jan also relied on her twin sister, Rae, who volunteered to be her training partner and pushed her through many intense workouts during the preparatory period. And it was all worth it. She competed as a heavyweight at the Great Lakes show and ended up the overall winner, also earning a medal for Best Arms and believe it or not, a WNBF pro card in the process! And to put the icing on the cake, two weeks later, she won the Women's Masters division and overall trophy!
Oh, and by the way: If you're wondering what Jan's other mid life conquering goal was, this one makes wearing a posing suit in front of a packed auditorium look tame in comparison. My second goal was to buy a Harley," she says. "In May, I purchased a brand new black 2004 Dyna Super Glide."
Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine May 5, 2005