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From Spartan to body building, Petawawa's Lisa Nordin competes hard

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GARRISON PETAWAWA – For Petawawa resident Lisa Nordin, physical fitness is about more than health, it’s a way of life.

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Lisa Nordin competing at a Canadian Physique Alliance event. Submitted photo
Lisa Nordin competing at a Canadian Physique Alliance event. Submitted photo jpg, PM

While she has always been interested in exercise, sports and fitness, the civilian personal trainer who works on contract with Personnel Support Programs at Dundonald Hall has become a serious body builder in recent years and hopes next spring to be in the top three at the Canadian nationals. Nordin will soon be ramping up and changing up her own training towards that goal, but throughout the summer she has been focussed on Spartan Race, or obstacle course racing. To her, it’s about honing the strength of the body along with developing a strong mind and spirit.

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“(In body building) All these bodies are up on stage and you’re being judged but really at the end of the day, it’s a struggle against yourself,” she said. “The discipline required is so extreme that it makes it easy to quit the battle, but you don’t. You keep working and you see that steady progression.”

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She was bitten by the serious body building bug about five years ago although she had dabbled with it a little in her late teens. As a child and youth up to age 18, it was all about figure skating where she achieved her pro status which enabled her to teach the sport. Likewise with inline roller blades when she was 19.

She is from Chatham, but has now lived in Petawawa for nine years, settling here with her husband after his job brought them to the area.

Nordin said it was a close family friend that got her seriously interested in body building.

“I wanted to learn about it, I wanted to do something about it, I wanted to do it,” she said. She started down the path but decided to take a break for family reasons as the time and money required were too demanding. “I had a husband and a son, a toddler, and they came first.”

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Once her son was a little older, she felt she wanted to put her toe back in those body-building waters and see what she could do.

Lisa Nordin, personal trainer, body builder and Spartan Racer. Submitted photo
Lisa Nordin, personal trainer, body builder and Spartan Racer. Submitted photo jpg, PM

Placing top 10 in the 2018 Canadian National Pro Qualifier she described as a real eye opener and knew it was time for a change if she was to progress further. Although a personal trainer herself, Nordin has her own body building coach. After the qualifier last fall, she said she knew she had to work on her stage presence and so she switched coaches to four-time national champ April Gendron of Sudbury.

“There are gaps between where you are and where you want to be. Could be putting on some size or tweaking little things you know need to be improved upon. Nothing is ever perfect,” she said. “They (coaches) see what I don’t see so I talk with her just like I would talk with a client of mine. She sees with perspective.”

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With discipline, determination and guidance from her new coach, Nordin took top spot in the recent regional competition in Sudbury in the Bikini Masters over 35 class and in the Bikini C class. She’s also recently had a photo shoot with photographer Rick Oliver at the Muscle Insider magazine studio.

Nordin said she desires to be a well-rounded athlete so in the off season from body building, she is a Spartan Race competitor, which is an outdoor, extreme obstacle course race.

“It’s the exact opposite of all the glitter of body building,” she said.

Having put on some weight and bulk to run Spartan competitions in the summer, now begins the training to take some weight off and finally tune her muscles and stage presence, working towards the goal of top three at nationals in the spring of 2019.

adixon@postmedia.com

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