Heather Klaassen-Background
Born in Providence, RI, I moved to Kansas when I was 7 years old. Growing up I always knew I wanted to help people, but it wasn’t until I graduated from the University of Kansas (and about a year after that) that I discovered what I was meant to do. After getting married at 23years old, I began prepping for a fitness show with WBFF in Kansas City. I prepped on my own from November 2011 to January 2012 alone, and then hired a trainer from February till the show in May 2012. It was at my first show that I earned my Pro card with the WBFF. Through the process of prepping I truly found myself, and by the time I stepped on stage at my first show, I knew that I had to be a part of the fitness industry full time. I began prepping for my second show, for my Pro debut August 2012 at the WBFF World Championship in Toronto, Canada.
Getting to Toronto was not an easy task. I had to raise money doing all sorts of fundraising events and odd jobs (including hawking beer at the Missouri State Fair, during the concerts), but nothing was going to stop me from achieving my goal and I was determined to succeed. In Toronto, I was star struck by all the amazing athletes I had looked up to for so long, and was now getting ready to step on stage as their peer. My body was on point (if anything, slightly too lean), but my performance came up short. Although I didn’t leave with a win, I had gained an experience of a lifetime, and now knew more than ever what I wanted to do with my life.
I decided to quit my sales job of 4 years and take a leap of faith into the fitness world. While saving money to get my training certification, I worked as a paraprofessional at an Elementary school, and interned at a local gym. A larger gym, Genesis Health Clubs, later in the year, had heard of my accomplishments and approached me with an offer to join their team; I accepted.
With the support of my husband, who was already well immersed in the fitness industry through power lifting, I have been able to continuously learn and grow. As a couple we have grown stronger with our shared interest, and now have plans for our own future business; which is top secret. As far as this top secret business goes, all I can tell you is that I want to write a healthy-eats cookbook with a few of my own recipes, begin a children’s health awareness program, and bring fundraising and networking opportunities to other well deserving athletes. I am currently working at Genesis Health Clubs as a full time trainer and coach. In addition, I provide nutritional advice as well as posing clinics, and plan on continuing to pursue fitness modeling.
How did you first become involved with fitness and health?
When I first began my journey in the fitness industry, I began because I did not have a very healthy perception of health and beauty for myself; I knew some changes needed to be made. I was in a job I was unhappy with, I had lost a sense of self and didn’t know what activities/hobbies made me happy anymore, and it showed in my physique. My husband encouraged me to come to the gym with him to lift. I decided that working on myself in the gym was not just good for me physically, but mentally as well.
Lifting weights not only seemed to challenge me, but remind me what I was capable of. Every struggle through every set, every rep, seemed to parallel my struggles in everyday life.
That is when I decided to set some goals through competing. I began training for my first show with the WBFF. Prepping provided the outlet I needed to find myself. It was then I knew I wanted to be able to help others in this way too; not to prep for a show, but to become healthy, change their lifestyles, and ultimately change how they felt about themselves. That is when I decided to take steps towards getting my Personal Training Certification.
What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today?
Growing up, from about 5th grade- sophomore year of high school I was picked on, bullied, and misunderstood. I won’t go over any specifics, but let’s just say, my terrible acne, change in schools, and desire to be different made me a target for constant criticism by peers and teachers. However, I honestly think if I had not gone through those tough times, I wouldn’t be the strong person I am today; maybe I wouldn’t be as kind or understanding, or maybe I wouldn’t even have the outgoing, down to earth personality I have now, if I hadn’t been shaped by my experiences. Fortunately, acne clears, you grow up, and being different suddenly makes you stand out against the average person. Even now there will always be those negative individuals, with nothing nice to say, but I truly believe my middle school and high school days definitely gave me the thick skin I have today, and as I came to like who I was more and more, it became easier and easier to remove those negative voices from my world all together. There can’t be any “haters “if you don’t allow them to exist through elimination of their voice in your life.
Like many athletes, many of the obstacles I have had to overcome are a lot of mental battles; overcoming self doubt, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable (mentally and physically). But some more personal struggles include health problems (dislocated jaw, endometriosis, to name a few), financial issues, balancing time designated towards my passion and time with friends and family, and proving myself as educated and credible in the fitness industry as an athlete and as a personal trainer (got to earn your street cred in the gym with the big guys).
I think my biggest obstacle will be finding a way to continue to pursue my dream without dampening the importance and ambition of my husband’s dreams. As an individual you want nothing more than to fulfill your dreams, as you only live once and don’t want to regret anything. However, I think it would be harder to look back and say, “My dreams held back the person I loved the most in this world, from their true potential.” Now I am not saying we can’t both follow our dreams, and accomplish them, but there is definitely a challenge there that we must work on together every day.
What is your current workout routine?
My workout program changes on a week to week basis, mostly consisting of split body workouts, but always rotating through varying muscle groups. I work with a coach on my training program. His name is Josh Bryant, he developed his own method of strength training.
Example Schedule (changes weekly, as do muscle groups):
Monday: morning cardio on stairmaster, afternoon weight training (Chest/tris), followed by anywhere from 4min-30 min of HIIT, Core
Tuesday: morning cardio, afternoon Leg Day, HIIT, core
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: morning cardio, afternoon Back/bicep, HIIT, core
Friday: morning cardio, Shoulders/Arms (add some lower body work), HIIT, core
Saturday: Cardio only
Sunday: Cardio and Core
What is your diet like?
I follow a carb cycling plan I wrote for myself. This consists of high and medium carb days on my lifting days, and low carb days on just cardio or off days. On my low carb days I may add in additional healthy fats depending on how I feel and look, but also how much physical activity I have going on that day.
Example High Carb Day (typically utilized on a leg day):
Meal 1: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup frozen blueberries, stevia
Meal 2: 2 slices Ezekiel bread, 6 oz chicken breast, walden farms bbq sauce
Meal 3: ½ cup brown rice, 6 oz chicken
Meal 4 (post-workout): 1 scoop protein powder, ½ banana (alternate banana with other fruit or 1 low fat poptart)
Meal 5: 4oz lean animal protein (chicken, fish, flank steak, turkey, etc) and veggie stir frye
What supplements do you use and how do you think they have improved your overall fitness goals?
Supplements used: Isoflex whey Isolate, Tribulus, ZMa, Aminocore, Game Day
Isoflex is a great pure whey isolate, it allows me to get a fast digesting protein to replenish my muscles without putting on additional fat.
Tribulus is an all-natural herb, most commonly considered a ‘testosterone booster’. The truth is, this is an item that comes from a flower, that stimulates the pituitary gland, and for women allows regulation of natural hormones; allowing one to feel stable moods through stable hormone levels, providing more energy in workouts. I used this during my off-season after reading studies on female athletes (runners, swimmers, track and field athletes, etc), and the use of Tribulus during their training. I don’t know that it actually helped with strength gains, or if I had strength gains due to increased energy and awareness, but my moods were great.
Zinc/Magnesium I used as a natural Human Growth Hormone stimulator, taken before bed. It provides an amazingly deep sleep with vivid dreams, and should allow for strength gains in the gym, as it promotes good muscle recovery through the night.
Aminocore is a product containing Branch Chain Amino Acids. I used this during workouts or even post cardio on low carb days. Providing my body with the correct amino acids allows my body to keep energy stores and muscle recovery high without causing gluconeogenesis (using muscle as an energy source).
Game day is a pre workout. I mostly use Game Day for the stimulant and niacin. Keeping my energy levels up allowed for me to push harder through workouts, while the combination of caffeine and niacin allowed oxygen into my muscles, promoting better growth and endurance.
What are your top five go-to songs that motivate you when working out?
Radioactive- Imagine Dragons: gets you feeling the workout from the inside out, puts my head in competition mode thinking about my strengths emanating from the inside out
Hold my hand- Del Rae: The darkness of the song gets my head ready to lift heavy with the sound of chains, reminds me failure is not an option- to not let anyone pull you down
Counting Stars- One Republic: super upbeat, keeps me positive, gets me thinking about all the things I want/will accomplish with my partner in crime (my husband)
TNT- ACDC: I think the answer here is obvious…
Eyes Open- Taylor Swift: it’s a good cool down song. I heard this during my first prep when I felt like I had lost a lot of friends over my decision to change my lifestyle, during a time when people close to me criticized what they did not understand. It keeps me focused on keeping my course of direction, and not letting down the people who have been there for me from the start.
What is your favorite motivational quote?
“If it was easy everyone would do it”- this statement is so simple, but has kept me going many times. On days when I was exhausted, or upset, or frustrated, I could hear my husband saying these exact words to me. I would then ask myself, “would the average person go do (insert activity here) right now?” 98% of the time the answer was ‘no’.
I had made the decision that if the answer was ever ‘yes’, then I did not have to do that activity…. Which happened, NEVER! WELL, like I said the answer was always ‘no, the average person would not go do (insert activity) right now, they would make up an excuse not to do it’; then I had to go do it, because in my mind, the only way to reach greatness, is by doing the things nobody else wants to do.
Needless to say, there have been days where I sat in my car, outside of the gym, crying and banging on my steering wheel because I was frustrated or tired; knowing I wasn’t going to let myself get out of working out. NO EXCUSES!
Ways To Stay Connected With Heather
- Find me or my fan page on Facebook under Heather Klaassen Wbff Pro (my profile), or Wbff Pro Heather Klaassen (fan page)
- Fitandfirmmag.com – August Edition 2013
- My blog: Octobershope.blogspot.com
- WBFFshows.com: posts articles and info on their athletes, but an excellent source on how you can become a competitor with the WBFF, too
- Joshstrength.com: My coach and mentor, he lends an abundance of information through his articles, sometimes featuring yours truly
- Supplementgiant.com: My Sponsors, and supplement company I purchase all my products from
- Genesishealthclub.com: the gym I work at and call home
