Bodybuilding B.C. mom heads to Las Vegas as lone Canadian vying for Ms. Olympia title

Lisa Giesbrecht is not your average Victoria mother of two. For one thing, she looks like if push came to shove, she could pummel most fathers of two.

For another, she’ll be winging her way to Vegas next month as the lone Canadian duking it out with the elite members of the bodybuilding fraternity.

It’s her second Ms. Olympia performance, and the personal trainer is determined to improve on her finish in 2012.

“Being a new person on the block, I wouldn’t’ say I’ll just blow everyone away,” said Giesbrecht. “But I’ll do my best.”

With two teens at home, aged 17 and 13, Giesbrecht is almost a decade into her bodybuilding career.

The muscle-bound mother says judges aren’t looking for sheer size, but an overall balanced look.

“They’re looking for size, symmetry, and the lines of the body,” said Giesbrecht, who favours focused training rather that going for all-out strength. “They’re looking for the X-shape — broad shoulders, slim waist, and flaring quadriceps.”

Leading up to a competition, her five-day-a-week training regimen increases to daily training, with an intense 90-minute workout each and every day.

Bench presses have often been the gold standard for people hanging out in the gym, but Giesbrecht isn’t buying that.

“I’m not a power lifter — you’re not trying to out-bench someone.

“If it’s 20 pounds and a focused exercise, that can be better.”

She does admit to training with 90-pound dumbbells, which sounds like considerably more strength than the average person, but she insists that a well-proportioned physique is what judges reward.

A nutrition coach and two training partners help Giesbrecht out — and as a personal trainer she helps out others looking to personal improvement.