Shawna Walker

by Gene X Hwang

October 2005 - The 2005 NPC USAs were Shawna Walker's National level competitive debut and the 28-year-old Californian stood on stage with one of the toughest crops of competitors to compete in that heavyweight class. Walker admits to feeling a bit out of place up there with the likes of Sherrie Smith and Heather Policky, but looking at what she has already accomplished and where she can go, you can easily realize that Walker has a very promising future ahead of her.

At 5'9" tall, Walker has the height to carry a large amount of muscle and her upper body in particular is already quite impressive. Having trained for eight years, but only competing the last three, she's quickly made strides and impact on the competitive bodybuilding scene with wins at the Contra Costa and placing well at the Cal.

Her background includes years of soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball and some Tae Kwan do so she's been an athlete all her life. In college she played volleyball and that's where she started serious weight training to help strengthen her lower back.

After that initial foray into the iron, she fell in love with it and has been training ever since.

One look at her physique and poise on stage and you get the feeling that Walker is very proud of her physique, but in her private life, she admits to being shy.

"I am always covered up and don't like showing skin," she says.

On the day of our shoot, she had tan lines from mowing her lawn all afternoon the day before so that's probably one of the few times you'll see that much of her physique outside of the competitive arena.

Walker admits that her back and arms are her best bodyparts and she loves training her back more than anything else and it shows. Stepping on stage at 143 lbs., she gets up to 170-175 lbs. in the offseason to add more mass.

As a personal trainer and nutritional counselor Walker stays busy, but one of her main goals with her training is something quite in line with what the NPC/IFBB is trying to do with women's bodybuilding.

"I want to go as far as I possibly can (with bodybuilding). I set goals as personal accomplishments and want to show other women that muscles are beautiful."

From what she's done so far, Walker has definitely done that. In her offseason look, she carries a good amount of muscle with good definition and absolutely looks feminine.

"If I were to admire someone in the fitness would, it would be Lenda Murray, she is just amazing. She has a beautiful face and the most incredible physique. And she is very sweet. She is one of the pros that has kept her femininity."

2005 has been the year of the "20% rule" with the federations trying to emphasize femininity which also plays well for Walker. The response she receives from the public is also in line with that.

"Most of the time people just stare when I walk by. Sometimes I hear whispers and I know they are talking about me. And sometimes a few people will actually come up to me and complement me. I have never got a negative feeling from anyone. I always get people that say that I still look like a girl which is good because that is what I am going for," she adds.

Of course muscles and strength are not independent and can compliment a statuesque physique.

"Some of my strongest lifts consist of: leg presses: 1200 pounds for about 6-8 reps; one arm dumbell rows with the 150's for 8 reps; squats with 365 pounds; and bench pressing 225 pounds for about 3 reps.

"I am stronger than I look," she adds with a mischevious smile.

When asked about her future plans, Walker says: "I am not quite sure what shows I am going to do next, honestly. I would like to do the Jr. Nationals in Chicago someday and the Team Universe in NY someday. I may need to do some more shows down South [Southern California]. I am not sure. As you can see I need to think about it. I guess it depends on how much my little muscles grow next year!"

Well, at the current rate, look for an impressive Shawna Walker to step on stage next time with an even more impressive physique that the judges won't be able to look past!

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Shawna Walker' stats:
Height: 5'9"
Off-Season Weight: 170-175 lbs.,
Contest weight: 143 lbs.
Hair: Blonde
Location: Northern California

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