MINDI O'BRIEN IFBB PRO FITNESS CHAMPION 2004 IFBB SW/USA PRO CUP FITNESS CHAMPION – Pro Debut - 2004 IFBB HORIZON AWARD – Most Promising New Comer to the IFBB Fitness Circuit S.Wennerstrom – FLEX MAGAZINE 2004 IFBB FITNESS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR R.Silverman - IRONMAN MAGAZINE 2004 CBBF CANADIAN BB FEDERATION M.V.P. G.Bartlett – MUSCLEMAG INTERNATIONAL CBBF-CANADIAN NATIONAL FITNESS CHAMPION WNSO CANADIAN NATIONAL FITNESS PRO CANADIAN MUSCLE-MANIA BODYBUILDING CHAMPION 2 Time FVF NORTH AMERICAN FITNESS & STRENGTH CHAMPION 2 Time WNSO TSN FITNESS CHAMPION PERSONAL TRAINER/CONDITIONING COACH CO-FOUNDER & COACH OF TEAMOBRIEN BIRTHDATE: May 23, 1974 BIRTH PLACE: St. Catharines, Ontario. Canada CURRENT RESIDENCE: Hamilton, Ontario. Canada HAIR: Long blonde EYES: Blue HEIGHT: 5’4 ½” WEIGHT: Off-season: 130-135 lbs. Contest season: 124-129 lbs. Thanks for visiting my web site. For those of you who would like to get to know me a bit better, here’s my story. I was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario. I have an older sister, Danielle. My parents both worked for the Niagara Regional Police Force…Talk about a strict upbringing!! I was very clumsy as a young child and constantly injuring myself (tripping up the stairs, walking into walls). My mom was very concerned, so she took me to see our family Dr. Our Dr. recommended that I get involved in some kind of physical activity to help develop my motor skills. My sister was involved in gymnastics, so my mom thought that would be a great sport to help with my motor skills. So at the age of 7, that’s where my passion for fitness began. Within my first few months of gymnastics I was selected to compete for our Provincial Team and continued to compete for 15 years. Throughout my gymnastics career, I suffered from many injuries. I broke my arm when I was 10 and had to have it re-broken 5 times and then one year of rehab. When I look back, I think it was a blessing in disguise. During my time away from the gym, my coach hired a personal trainer to help keep me in shape and to help speed up the recovery rate. It was at that time that I fell in love with weight training and became very intrigued with the muscular development of the human body. At the age of 18, I became very ill. I was visiting the Doctor on a monthly basis and it wasn’t until the 8th month that the doctor discovered that I was pregnant! After doing a lot of soul searching and a lot of decision making, on September 18th, 1992, my son Alex was born. I decided at that moment that I needed to be a healthy and positive role model for my son. I joined a health club, took some courses on health and nutrition, and became a certified personal trainer. In 1996, I decided to take my weight training one step further. I decided to compete in a local fitness competition. I ended up placing second. I asked the judges for their feedback and they said that I needed to work on my overall symmetry, and put on some more muscle. I needed a new approach and do some more research on how to improve my training to correct my problem areas. A new health center manager (Dennis Beitler) came to my gym and I had heard that he had trained many high performance athletes. After meeting him and learning more about his background I was very intrigued and interested in having him train me for future competitions. Within the first two weeks following a new training and nutritional program, my physique changed drastically. I took a few years off from competing to improve my weaknesses. I came back and competed with the CBBF in 1999 and won my show. I have been competing at the national level ever since. It’s been 8 years since I met Dennis and he has been my biggest support system, my coach, my nutritionist, my best friend and now my fiancé`. 2004 was the best year of my entire fitness career. I finally won the overall Canadian National Fitness Championships (unanimous votes across the board) and earned my IFBB Pro Card. My rookie year as an IFBB Fitness Pro was an amazing one and one that I never imagined. After earning my pro card, Dennis and I made the decision for me to make my Pro Debut 6 weeks later at the SW USA Pro Cup in Dallas. I ended up winning all four rounds, winning the overall title, was awarded the Horizon Award and qualified for the 2004 Fitness Olympia. Wow!!! The Fitness Olympia was an overwhelming experience. I ended up finishing 9th overall. Not too bad!!! I than received an invite to the 2005 Arnold Classic/Fitness International. This was the “best” show. All of the athletes were treated very well and I felt like a celebrity. I placed 10th overall at this event. (My routines weren’t up to par at this show and it hindered my placing) I was awarded the IFBB Fitness Rookie of the year in IRONMAN Magazine and was also voted CBBF MVP athlete of the year. What an honor!! I continued on, and competed at the New York Pro show. I ended up placing 6th overall. After that, I went back to the gym, put a new plan together and continued to work on my weaknesses. I brought in a smaller and more athletic looking physique, choreographed a new fitness routine and went on to compete at the Europa Super Show in Dallas. I finished 3rd overall and qualified for the 2005 Fitness Olympia!!! Two weeks later I competed at the Charlotte Bulk Nutrition Show and once again placed 3rd, winning both routine rounds and then recently competed at the 2005 Fitness Olympia placing 8th overall and placing 2nd in the two minute routine round to Jenny Hendershott!!! This concluded my first full year as an IFBB Fitness Pro. Wow!! This year has been an amazing year. I feel that I have learned a lot about me and about life. I feel that I am not only physically stronger, but mentally and emotionally stronger as well. I will be sitting down once again and putting another plan into action for the 2006 Competition Season. I am excited to get back into the gym, work on my weaknesses and keep improving. I have many exciting projects on the go right now and I can’t wait until I can share them with all of you….. Love Mindi O xo CONTEST HISTORY 2006 – I.F.B.B. West Palm Beach Pro – 4^th Place (1st routine round) 2006 – I.F.B.B. Fitness Olympia – 9^th Place 2006 – I.F.B.B. Europa Super Show - 2^nd Place (1st routine round) 2006 – I.F.B.B. New York Pro Show - 5^th Place 2006 – I.F.B.B. Arnold Classic, Ms International--10^th Place 2005 - I.F.B.B. Fitness Olympia – Tie-7^th Place (2nd routine round) 2005 - I.F.B.B. Charlotte Pro Fitness Championships – 3^rd Place (1st both routine rounds) 2005 - I.F.B.B. Europa Super Show Pro Fitness Championships – 3^rd Place (Olympia qualified) (1st routine round) 2005 - I.F.B.B. New York City Pro Fitness Championships – 6^th Place 2005 - I.F.B.B. Arnold Classic, Ms. Fitness International – 10^th Place 2004 - I.F.B.B. 2004 Fitness Rookie of The Year, IRONMAN April, 2005 2004 - C.B.B.F. Canadian B.B. Federation M.V.P., Gary Bartlett – MUSCLEMAG May, 2005 2004 - I.F.B.B. Muscle Tech & Weider Fitness Olympia – 9^th Place 2004-I.F.B.B. SW USA Pro Fitness Cup Champion-1^st Place Pro Debut, The First Canadian to Win an IFBB Pro Fitness Competition, (She also came 1st All 4 Rounds) 2004 - I.F.B.B. SW USA Pro Fitness Cup - Horizon Award. given to the best newcomer by FLEX, Steve Wennerstrom 2004- C.B.B.F. Canadian National Overall Fitness Champion. 1^st Place Earned IFBB. Fitness Pro Card – (Winning All 3 Rounds) 2003 & 2002 - 2 Time F.V.F. North American Fitness & Strength Challenge Champion – 2 time 1^st Place 2003 - C.B.B.F. Weider Invitational – Slovakia Grand Prix – 3rd Place 2003 - W.N.S.O. MuscleMania – Heavyweight Womens Body Building Canadian Champion – 1^st Place 2003 - W.N.S.O. Ms. Fitness Canada Pageant – 4th Place; The only Canadian Athlete ever to qualify for World Naturals in both Fitness and Bodybuilding in the same year 2002 - W.N.S.O. TSN Fitness Series – 1st Place 2002 - W.N.S.O. Ms. Fitness Canada Pageant – 4th Place 2001 - W.N.S.O. TSN Fitness Series 1st Place 2001 - W.N.S.O. Ms. Fitness Canada Pageant – 1st Runner-up 2000 - C.B.B.F. Ms. Fitness Ontario Championships – 1st Place 1999 - C.B.B.F. Mississauga Fitness Championships – 1st Place 1999- C.B.B.F. Ms. Fitness Natural Ontario Championships – 1st Place SPONSORS Since 1999 – DENNIS BEITLER PHOTOGRAPHY Since 2004 -- WATSONS FITNESS AND NUTRITION CENTRES Since 2003 -- PRESENT-KHP DESIGNS FITNESS COMPETITION ATTIRE Since 2005 – PASSION FRUIT DESIGNS – COMPETITION POSING SUITS Media/Print 2005- Present- All Major Fitness & Body Building Magazines, Too many to list. 2005-Cover model for Hardmagazine 2005-Cover model for Musclemag Mexico with a three page interview 2005-Interview with www.bodybuilding.com 2005-Cover model for www.femflex.com 2005-Cover model for www.herbiceps.com 2004-Present- Cover Page/April 2005 and many articles in Women’s Physique World Magazine. 2004-Present-Featured in Musclemag, Ironman, Oxygen, Flex. 2004- Featured on the SPORTLAB Website 2003- Present-updates- SERIOUS ABOUT FITNESS- Competitive article 2003- Ramada Plaza Hotel- commercial with the Hamilton Bulldogs Mascot. 2003- Raw Power Fitness Gear- featured on packaging for many different fitness accessories. 2003- Hamilton Spectator Newspaper – Cover page & two (2) page interview on Qualifying for the Worlds in both Fitness and Bodybuilding. 2003- Personal Radio Interview (Hop Ironshow)-Interview Topic: Advanced Ab Training 2003- Athletic Women's Magazine:Cover Model (online magazine) 2003- Modelled, Promotional Ads for multiple Nutrition & Fitness companies 2003- Toronto Star National Newspaper - Cover page followed by 2 page interview 2003- Vision Quest-Gabrielle Fischer (world-class artist) three (3) Body Castings 2003- Personal radio interview for FAME (Hop Ironshow) 2003- Faremon Sportswear - Modelled new Sportswear 2003- Breakfast Television - FAME Promotion 2003- Bodycasting - Promotional work for FAME - Fitness and Model Expo. 2002- Femsport & Femflex online magazine; Fitness Model 2002- Fitness Canada Pageant (Featured on TSN) 2002- TSN Fitness Canada Pageant Series 2002- Prolab Nutrition ; Supplement Ads 2002- New VR - Promoting health and fitness (3 segments) 2002- Prolab Nutrition ; TV Commercial, Multi Media Model 2001- TSN Fitness Canada Pageant Series 2001- Florida Fitness Ottawa ; TV Commercial 2001- Photos for Musclemag Magazine (Scott Appleby-Photographer) 2001- Fitsquad.com ; Three (3) Photo Galleries 2001- Fitnessboost.com ; Featured on the Fitness Boost Photo Gallery 2001- Femsport Magazine-Photo shoot for female online Magazine 2000- Competition highlights in Oxygen Magazine 2000- Muscletech Research & Development, Featured in Hydroxycut Ads