Aspiring body-builder, Plum grad Sarah Kvortek uses advice to reach goals at 2nd competition

Sarah Kvortek fared well in her first bodybuilding competition March 30 at a show hosted by Slippery Rock University.

The Plum graduate and SRU student placed third in the figure division and was rewarded for all the work put in since deciding to start training 12 months earlier.

But at the same time, Kvortek felt a little frustration from the feedback given to her from some of the judges.

“They all said I needed to be a little more conditioned which meant I needed to be a little leaner,” she said.

“I was frustrated because I had a year to prepare for this show, and I was working with someone on nutrition. I was around 12% body fat the day of the SRU show. One of the judges said I needed to be around 8%. I followed everything to a T and I felt I was prepared.”

But Kvortek was able to seek out training advice to become leaner and reach her goals for her next competition, an Organization of Competition Bodies Best of the Burgh event April 26 in Pittsburgh.

“I started talking with an OCB pro who wanted to know everything I did nutrition-wise,” Kvortek said.

“He and one of his buddies were able to help me out with a new plan. He said that if I wanted to be stage ready and have a shot at doing well in that competition, I would essentially have to lose 4% body fat which equates to about eight pounds, and I would have to do that in a month. That was not easy.”

She did an hour of cardio every day while training, completing her academic semester, and balancing that all with consuming 1,200 calories a day.

She ended up losing nine pounds by the time of the competition.

“I was right on target, and I think they were shocked just as much as I was,” she said.

“I had a good time working with them. It was like I had my own little team. The support from them was really great. When the day came, I really didn’t care how I placed. What meant the most to me was that I was the best I could physically be for that day. I was as lean as I could be.”

Kvortek did shine in figure at the OCB event.

She placed second in the debut division (first sanctioned event), second in the collegiate division, and fourth in the novice division (those who hadn’t won a competition before).

Kvortek, a former champion gymnast in both club and high school, said it still is hard to fathom just how far she’s come in body building since her start 14 months ago.

“This is pretty crazy,” she said.

“Never in a million years did I think I would ever do a body building competition. I had been working out here and there. I really got serious about it, and it has taught me so much. Sometimes, you are looking forward so much, and you don’t stop to look back at all the progress you’ve made. I stopped and was able to appreciate how much higher I kept raising the bar and would check another goal off the checklist.”

Kvortek said she has learned so much about nutrition and how to track her food intake properly.

“That is something I have become so passionate about,” she said.

“I ate pretty healthy prior to starting my training, but I didn’t look closely at things like ingredient lists on foods. I was able to develop a good routine of what to eat and how many calories I needed at different times to reach my goals.”

Kvortek said the change in her diet also helped improve things such as digestive issues and her quality of sleep.

“I used to feel tired and lethargic all the time, and now I just seem to have a lot more energy, so I definitely learned that about myself,” she said.

Kvortek said she also earned a lot about training and how training for bodybuilding is different from just going to the gym to work out.

“I did a lot of research on my own about proper training strategies and how many sets per muscle you should do per week and how many times you should hit a certain muscle group if you want to achieve muscle hypertrophy, which is just increased muscle size. I learned a lot about the science behind bulking and then also cutting. I definitely want to approach my cut in a different way if I decide to do the Slippery Rock show or the OCB show again next year.”

Kvortek said that this summer, the focus is on bulking. With her training and nutrition plans in place, she has upped her caloric intake to gain a pound per week.

“I thought I had a lot of muscle, but when I saw my stage pictures, I could see I needed to put on more muscle,” she said.

“It won’t be easy, but my goal is to gain muscle. It is hard seeing yourself on stage being so lean and knowing you essentially have to gain fat back. You have to do that in order to build muscle. That has been a mental hurdle for me because you are always chasing that new low when you are on a cut.”