WOMEN’S BODYBUILDING: RENE MARVEN
October Accomplishment New York Grand Prix Overall Winner
Age 26
Height 5’2
Weight 124
Residence Poughkeepsie NY
Contest History/Highlights 2012: New York Grand Prix 1st Middleweight and Overall; 2011: Rhode Island Championships 1st Middleweight; Hudson Valley Championships Overall Winner
Go here for more photos of Rene Marven!
TRANSFORMER “In high school I got a job at a Gold’s Gym working in the day care at 15 or 16, that was my first real experience in the gym. I tried my own stuff, I would do cardio and dumbbells but was afraid of all the machines. I entered a Gold’s Gym Transformation – I ended up only losing four pounds, but I lost 12 percent bodyfat. That was my first experience changing where you can become more muscular.”
OLYMPIA DREAMS “I did the 2009 FLEX Bikini Model Search at the Olympia. I just posted the comparison pictures on Facebook – my weight was actually the same! [as a middleweight bodybuilder] I just wanted to be on that stage. Hopefully I can make it to the Olympia stage this year.”
BODYBUILDING OR BUST “When I was first starting out, Women’s Physique was new and I really wasn’t sure how the division was going to go. I wanted to go with something that had been around for a while first. I thought I was a little bit thicker and because of my height, I thought I fit in better as a bodybuilder. Plus, there’s not that many competitors so I thought I had a better shot!”
GIMME AN A! “I did cheerleading and gymnastics for about eight years. It definitely helps me with confidence and not being nervous – I always look like I’m having fun, and that comes from cheerleading! Originally when I learned posing, I tried to put together a routine by myself, but it kept coming out more dancy. My boyfriend told me I had to hold the poses longer, but together we figured out a way to have cheerleading transitions into bodybuilding poses. I actually started working on a routine a year before I competed in my first bodybuilding show.”
FEMININE MUSCLE “One of the things with women in general, when they are just starting to go to the gym and not necessarily compete, they start out saying they don’t want to look too muscular. My goal with bodybuilding is to show other women that you can look very feminine and girly and still be muscular. I’m trying to keep both of those looks and hopefully have a different kind of look that motivates more women to go into bodybuilding, so the sport can have more competitors.”
