It can be easy to overlook the accomplishments of pro bodybuilders and physique competitors because everything is based on qualifying and ultimately winning the Olympia. But, don’t get it twisted. If you have the phrase “IFBB Pro” next to your name, you’ve accomplished something that many people will never get to, and the athletes that have it should be treated with the respect and admiration of a champion.
Carrie Hughes competes in the IFBB Pro League’s Women Physique division. She competed in both that division and Figure at the 2021 NPC USA’s. She had experience competing, but never in the division in which she turned pro. She told Femme Flex Friday co-hosts Whitney Jones and Alina Popa that it was a whole new experience.
“This was my first show ever competing in the Women’s Physique class,” she confessed. “So, it was new to me. I tried Figure for ten years, and they tried to convince me to do Women’s Physique, but (at first) I was adamant about doing Figure.”
The acceptance to try the new division paid off, and Hughes is now a professional. Now, she doesn’t see herself competing in any other division.
“I am (hooked). I really enjoy it,” she said. “I feel like that is where I’m really meant to be.”
Amie Mock is a new Figure Pro that hopes to make a big impact on her division as well. She only needed two contests to earn IFBB Pro League status. Her first competition was at Branch Warren’s show in Texas. That was by design as Mock revealed.
“I always liked Branch. I always tended to look up to more male figures in fitness and sports,” she told Popa. “They were always more grittier. So, I enjoyed watching them more. Branch was somebody that I always looked up to.”
Mock planned on having a long offseason after that contest, but her coach convinced her to compete at the USA Championships four weeks later. She acknowledged that the difference between a regional show and a pro qualifier is like night and day.
“When I walked backstage, that was like a flip side from your amateur show to a national. Wow,” she explained. “I wanted to walk up to each one of and say ‘you’re amazing.’”
In the end, Mock put her game face on, and she is now a pro as well. Watch the full episode of Femme Flex Friday over at www.wingsofstrength.net to find out more about Mock’s and Hughes’ journeys and what the future holds for both of them
