Body building parents: ‘The school gate mums call us self obsessed but let’s see them try it’
Husband and wife body builders Brooke and Richard Newland rise at dawn to train each day. Picture: Waide Maguire.THE couple that pump iron together, stays together.
That could be said of Brooke and Richard Newland.
The husband and wife body builders from the New South Wales Central Coast are a rippled and tanned definition of what true devotion means.
So committed are they to sculpting their bodies for the competitive body building sport, they rise at dawn to train, exercise for 15 hours a week and spend their Sundays chopping and blending vegetables for their extreme calorie-restricted diet.
“I am hungry,” Brooke, 32, admits.
Husband and wife body builders Richard and Brooke Newland train together at Impact Gym in Erina. Picture: Waide Maguire.
The couple are competitive body builders. Picture Waide Maguire.The couple — parents to Kira, 14, Jaik, 11, Max, 7 and Madison, 5 — do admit the lifestyle has its downsides, including the school gate critics.
“I think a lot of people think the sport is a bit self-obsessed, which it is,” Brooke says.
“A lot of people see me and say ‘How do you do it with four kids? How do you have a body like that?’
“I say you can do it if you’re willing to put the effort in.
“But a lot of people choose to hate over doing something themselves.
“It’s easy to go ‘They’re self-obsessed,’ rather than make the change to their lifestyle.”
Body builders Richard and Brooke Newland get plenty of help in the kitchen preparing their weekly meals from their four kids, Max, 7, Kiara 14, Madison, 5, and Jaik 11. Picture: Peter Lorimer.
Richard Newland measures out his weekly meals on a Sunday. Picture by Peter Lorimer.The couple, who met in Grade 9, both were both due to compete in the recent ASN Newcastle Bodybuilding Championships but Brooks was sadly sidelined with a cold.
They were not always gym junkies.
Mr Newland said he went to the gym “a bit” in his 20s.
His wife caught the bug trying to lose her baby fat.
She admits the feeling of empowerment, endorphin rush and seeing the rewards from their discipline was “very addictive”.
“I joined the gym just to feel better about myself after my fourth (child),” she says.
“I just love it. I love feeling strong as a woman but still feminine.”
Competitive body building requires extreme dedication.
Forget sharing a block of chocolate in front of the TV.
A ‘treat’ for this couple is some peanut butter sparingly spread on a rice cracker.
Brown rice, chicken and veges are the backbones of the Newlands' meals for the week. Picture: Peter Lorimer.Brown rice, chicken and spinach are the bedrock of their body building diet.
Richard will also need to gorge on 1kg of sweet potato in the final hours before he takes to the competition stage so the sudden rush of carbohydrates will hit his muscles like an adrenaline shot, pumping them up.
“Of course,’’ the 33-year-old says, when asked if he wanted to get bigger.
“But it’s hard to do that naturally,’’ he says.
Their body building coach Mick Moss — the 2001 World Bodybuilding Championship winner — has seen the skin sport evolve from when steroid abuse was rife to today’s drug-free competitions featuring new categories such as “physique” and “bikini” for women who want to show their bodies but don’t want to be overly musclebound.
Richard Newland, left, on stage in the under 80kg division at the ASN Newcastle Bodybuilding Championships. Picture: Peter Lorimer
Richard Newland poses at the ASN Newcastle Body building Championships. Picture: Peter Lorimer
Muscles flex at the championships with dad-of-four Richard Newland on the far right. Picture: Peter LorimerBut there are risks, particularly for women, he says.
“It plays with their emotions, they lose their period, they go crazy,” Moss says.
In the final days competitors starve themselves of carbohydrates eating “just enough for the brain to function” and go without water for up to 24-hours to look their leanest, leaving some fainting back stage.
The couple’s discipline and healthy choices has set a good example for their kids, Brooke explains.
“I think they’re really proud of us, they might not say it but our habits have worn off on them,” she says.
“They see our commitment to training, they see mum and dad have to do this to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Women compete in the ASN Newcastle Bodybuilding Championships. Picture: Peter Lorimer.
Putting their best foot forward. Picture: Peter Lorimer.And while the healthy diet is strictly enforced for everyone in the family, the children get dessert twice a week and McDonalds “maybe once a month but that’s it”, Brooke says.
“Richard and I don’t eat it,” she adds.
The husband-and-wife bodybuilders’ typical day starts before dawn at their Umina Beach home.
Richard is at the gym by 6am for an hour of weights and 40 minutes of cardio before going to work as a panel beater.
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Brooke gets the kids to school before squeezing a morning weights or cardio session between her personal training clients.
Sundays are “prep day’’ where they cut, peel, blend and cook an entire week’s food — every calorie carefully accounted for.
And then there’s the supplements, protein shakes, bars and vitamins, coaching, tanning and costumes.
While she couldn’t put an exact figure on how much they’ve spent on the sport, Brooke says it would be “thousands”.
“It’s not a cheap sport,” she says.
“When you look at it, supplements are expensive, I train with Mick (Moss) so personal training is expensive, the tanner we use, bikinis, food ... I wouldn’t like to think how much we’ve spent.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-see-them-try-it/story-fni0cx12-1227541902967
That could be said of Brooke and Richard Newland.
The husband and wife body builders from the New South Wales Central Coast are a rippled and tanned definition of what true devotion means.
So committed are they to sculpting their bodies for the competitive body building sport, they rise at dawn to train, exercise for 15 hours a week and spend their Sundays chopping and blending vegetables for their extreme calorie-restricted diet.
“I am hungry,” Brooke, 32, admits.
“I think a lot of people think the sport is a bit self-obsessed, which it is,” Brooke says.
“A lot of people see me and say ‘How do you do it with four kids? How do you have a body like that?’
“I say you can do it if you’re willing to put the effort in.
“But a lot of people choose to hate over doing something themselves.
“It’s easy to go ‘They’re self-obsessed,’ rather than make the change to their lifestyle.”
They were not always gym junkies.
Mr Newland said he went to the gym “a bit” in his 20s.
His wife caught the bug trying to lose her baby fat.
She admits the feeling of empowerment, endorphin rush and seeing the rewards from their discipline was “very addictive”.
“I joined the gym just to feel better about myself after my fourth (child),” she says.
“I just love it. I love feeling strong as a woman but still feminine.”
Competitive body building requires extreme dedication.
Forget sharing a block of chocolate in front of the TV.
A ‘treat’ for this couple is some peanut butter sparingly spread on a rice cracker.
Richard will also need to gorge on 1kg of sweet potato in the final hours before he takes to the competition stage so the sudden rush of carbohydrates will hit his muscles like an adrenaline shot, pumping them up.
“Of course,’’ the 33-year-old says, when asked if he wanted to get bigger.
“But it’s hard to do that naturally,’’ he says.
Their body building coach Mick Moss — the 2001 World Bodybuilding Championship winner — has seen the skin sport evolve from when steroid abuse was rife to today’s drug-free competitions featuring new categories such as “physique” and “bikini” for women who want to show their bodies but don’t want to be overly musclebound.
“It plays with their emotions, they lose their period, they go crazy,” Moss says.
In the final days competitors starve themselves of carbohydrates eating “just enough for the brain to function” and go without water for up to 24-hours to look their leanest, leaving some fainting back stage.
The couple’s discipline and healthy choices has set a good example for their kids, Brooke explains.
“I think they’re really proud of us, they might not say it but our habits have worn off on them,” she says.
“They see our commitment to training, they see mum and dad have to do this to achieve what we want to achieve.”
“Richard and I don’t eat it,” she adds.
The husband-and-wife bodybuilders’ typical day starts before dawn at their Umina Beach home.
Richard is at the gym by 6am for an hour of weights and 40 minutes of cardio before going to work as a panel beater.
RELATED NEWS
PICTURES: MR AND MRS MEXICO BODYBUILDERS
WHY YOU NEED TO EAT LESS AS YOU AGE
INSPIRATIONAL: FROM OVERWEIGHT AND HOMELESS TO A BODYBUILDER
Brooke gets the kids to school before squeezing a morning weights or cardio session between her personal training clients.
Sundays are “prep day’’ where they cut, peel, blend and cook an entire week’s food — every calorie carefully accounted for.
And then there’s the supplements, protein shakes, bars and vitamins, coaching, tanning and costumes.
While she couldn’t put an exact figure on how much they’ve spent on the sport, Brooke says it would be “thousands”.
“It’s not a cheap sport,” she says.
“When you look at it, supplements are expensive, I train with Mick (Moss) so personal training is expensive, the tanner we use, bikinis, food ... I wouldn’t like to think how much we’ve spent.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...-see-them-try-it/story-fni0cx12-1227541902967
