By Joshua Huff, sports editor
TRUSSVILLE — In the beginning, people lifted stones in preparation for battle. The Chinese once trained for war by lifting trees, rocks and even deer, according to legend. The Sumerians created murals depicting feats of strength and skill to intimidate rivals. The Egyptians created versions of Olympic lifts and opened the ancient equivalent of gyms dating back to 3500 BC. Today, people lift manufactured weights in front of mirrors, flexing and posing as envious mortals look upon those blessed with the natural gift to look as if chiseled by a master carver and determined enough to laugh in the face of a regiment of pain and sacrifice.
We call those types of people bodybuilders. Those that have answered the call have gone on to leave an indelible mark on our culture: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brandon Curry, Phil Heath, Flex Wheeler, Oksana Grishina, Chyna and so on. You won’t find these people lurking through the halls of Planet Fitness, or bobbing to the beat at Orange Theory, or even running the Boston Marathon, but you will find one in Trussville.
Her name is Jana Mathews.
And no, she is not a weightlifter, nor is she a figure competitor or a bikini competitor. She is a physique competitor, one rung below the bodybuilding division and three rungs up from the bikini division. Despite the obvious physical differences between a bodybuilder and a physique competitor — a bodybuilder has considerably more muscle mass — both divisions require a posing routine and neither require heels, a T-walk and a separate two-piece that the lower divisions require.
Now, what exactly is a physique model, you ask? Well, it begins with what the judges look for: symmetry, shape, proportion, muscle tone and poise. Excessive muscularity is actually frowned upon. Competitors do mandatory poses, which include open-handed front and back double-bicep shots. They also do an individual posing at the judging, as well as a 90-second musical routine.
As serious as these competitions are, and as serious as their training is, the actual story of how Mathews found herself in such excellent shape and respected within the bodybuilding community begins in a slightly more jovial fashion. You see, as most rags to riches stories do, this story begins with new-found independence, a desire for change and a butt.
In 2009, Mathews’ youngest son began middle school. At that age, most children discover that they’re capable of doing things on their own, which could either be a terrifying prospect for some parents or a godsend to others. For Mathews, it was an opening towards a new way of life.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, my child does not need me to make a sandwich for him anymore,’” Mathews said. “I need to start to put myself first. Typical mom, kids were first. So, they were running cross country, and I decided that I am going to learn. I started going to the track every day after I dropped them off, and I started to lose weight.”
This was in February of 2009. Mathews ran her first 5k in April of that year. By May, she had lost 35 pounds. In that same month, she also joined a gym and became a self-prescribed “class addict.”
Fast forward five years to the moment when one of her gym friends came up to her with a quip that was more off-putting than witty, but it ultimately proved transformational. People can’t pick and choose the moments that impact a life as little as they can change the time the sun rises and sets.
“This is a true story,” Mathews said. “A friend of mine comes up to me and goes, ‘I just want you to know that you have the butt of an 11-year-old boy.’ … I blew that off, but of course that kind of stuck with me in my head. I thought, ‘I’m looking good. I’ve lost 54 pounds on my own.”
Instead of letting it go, her friend returned to the subject a few days later, but this time in front of a someone who instead offered a solution: “Meet me here at 5:30 in the morning and I will help you get one,” Mr. Proactive said.
Unbeknownst to Mathews, her competing career had begun.
“And I never looked back,” she said.
Mathews participated in her first show in 2014, the NPC Clash at the Capstone in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which was just a few months after she first started lifting weights. She was 47 years old, but the quickness in which she added muscle left no doubt that she was ready to hit the stage.
“My coach said that he could not believe someone her age put on that kind of muscle,” Mathews said.
That first competition proved to Mathews that she had not only made the right decision, but that she could compete and do well. She recalled being back stage for the first time when she realized that, regardless of how good each competitor looked, nobody there was perfect. They looked perfect on stage to the untrained eye, but backstage Mathews knew, “They’re not perfect, and I’m not perfect.”
She placed in the top five.
Her most recent show happened to be her first national competition. She traveled to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in late August of this year to participate in the NPC North American Championship. She also placed in the top five, which was her goal.
In the beginning, Mathews spent her first year as a competitor in the bikini division. She hated it.
“I worked hard after that offseason when I did bikini,” she said. “I did not want to do bikini again. Bikini is not me.”
She made the jump into the figure division where she stayed for two years. During the past two years, she has competed in the physique division. She has no desire to move up to the bodybuilding division.
She’s exactly where she wants to be.
“Those bodybuilders … that’s not for me,” Mathews said about moving up. “That’s a bit too much for me. I don’t like that look. I respect their work. They work hard, but that is not the look that I want.”
To each his own, she added.
To this day, you can find Mathews training at the local 24e Health Club, putting in the sweat equity towards a profession that rewards hard work and dedication. She trains six days a week. Most days she is up at 4:15 a.m. She starts with fasted cardio, but as of now, she is reversing, which most competitors do following a show.
Her training schedule is not for the faint of heart: on Monday, she trains chest; on Tuesday, she trains legs; on Wednesday, she trains biceps, triceps, calves and abs; on Thursday, she trains back; on Friday, she trains her shoulders; on Saturday, she trains legs again, which is a volume day with glute work involved.
“It’s all about me,” Mathews said. “Proving to myself, and having the healthiest, best physique that I can have. That’s what keeps me motivated.”
For those who ask why she continues to push herself with such intensity despite being over 50, Mathews has a simple answer: “My rest day is my hardest day.”
Recent studies have shown that those who lift weights face less issues such as stiffness, sore back, sleep trouble and other ailments associated with aging than those who forgo weight training. For people aged 50 and older, weightlifting greatly reduces the risk of death, as discovered by the Penn State College of Medicine.
Mathews never intends to quit training. She might not always compete, but she will continue to do so for as long as she enjoys it and can afford it — Competitors not in the professional ranks have to pay their own way, and there is no cash prize. National shows can cost around $2,000 to compete in. From hotels, to hair, to tan, to suits, the price ads up. Only those in the professional ranks earn money, and to become a professional one has to win a national show first.
Even as Mathews begins prepping to compete in a national show next August, she has her eyes set on another goal.
“I’ve always wanted to run a full marathon,” Mathews said. “Running does not go with bodybuilding … I can’t even imagine what my time would be like now. But, I’m a very goal-driven person. Give me a goal and I’m going after it.”
