Shawn Myszka, Athens, a 21-year-old senior at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point studying health promotion with an emphasis in personal training and facility management, won the title of Mr. Wisconsin in the middleweight division at the recent contest held in West Allis. He also had won the lightweight division in 1999.
The title qualifies him for the four national competitions held this year and next. He plans to compete in the Collegiate Nationals next year and the Junior U.S.A. national competition in 2003. Very few national contest winners end up as professionals, he said.
"I want to see if I have what it takes to go pro," he said. "It's a lifestyle that puts high demands on the body, but for me it's a passion. It's just what I have always wanted to do."
Myszka balances his schedule at UW-SP by doing much of his studying while he works out on a cardio machine.
He maintains a 3.25 grade point average and works as manager of the strength center at the campus health enhancement center. He also is a member of the UW-SP weightlifting club.
After graduation in December 2002, he hopes to begin a career as a manager of a gym or health club. The son of Mary and DuWayne Myszka, he is a 1998 graduate of Edgar High School.
Myszka began lifting weights when he was 12 years old, following in the steps of his brother, a competitive power lifter. He began competing in powerlifting at age 15 and was first in the Mr. Wisconsin contest in 1999.
"Bodybuilding is an outlet for me to push myself to be better," he said. "It combines both physical and mental strength."
Preparing for competition requires much more than lifting weights, Myszka said. For the most recent contest, Jeff Kozlowski, a 1999 UW-SP alumnus and holder of three bodybuilding titles, helped him with his training program and nutritional and mental preparations.
Myszka regulated his weight through diet and cardiovascular exercise. Beginning 10 weeks before the last contest, he went from 205 to 161 by eating a meal of turkey and rice every two hours for about 10 meals a day to lose weight while maintaining muscle. By the time of the contest, he was down to below 5 percent body fat.
He also changed his weight-training regimen, focusing less on adding muscle and more on shaping it.
"People don't understand how demanding it is," he said. "So much time and effort goes into it. It's just as much mental preparation as it is physical."