Misti Sturkie thrives on competition
Most people around the MUSC campus know Misti Sturkie as a polite and intelligent second year dental student. What most don’t know is that Sturkie is the 2002 NPC South Carolina Overall Figure Champion. This means that not only is Sturkie smart and kind, she’s also beautiful and fit.
But
Sturkie’s head is no bigger than it should be; rather her beginnings in
West Columbia, are what seem to keep her grounded in her interest of dentistry
as well as figure competitions.
When Sturkie was about 6 years old, she began seeing a pediatric dentist for severe gum problems.
“I was so incredibly insecure. My parents went through a tough divorce and the teasing from other children was awful,” Sturkie said. “My dentist made it OK for me to smile again and completely renewed my self-esteem as he helped me deal with my many dental problems and insecurities.”
Most
of us whimper and whine over a couple of 10-pound weights, while Sturkie
almost effortlessly pumps several hundred pounds with her quadricep muscles.
Weight lifting and toning are essential in order to prepare for competitions.
She also participates in cardiovascular conditioning including exercise
bikes and treadmills.
With this renewed sense of self, Sturkie set out to make her dreams happen. While preparing for college and eventually dental school, she spent 14 years competing in beauty pageants throughout the state as well as the national level. “I won about $20,000 for school and more than 100 titles,” she said. “As I became older, I was often the first runner-up, which is wonderful, but after awhile, you start to wonder what’s really going on.” Sturkie left the beauty pageant industry a little more than two years ago because she was tired of the politics.
“But I love to be on stage,” she smiles. “So I began looking into fitness and figure competitions.”
Sturkie
poses for the audience and competition judges. Her position is held precisely
so that each muscle, curve, and definition may be noted.
Sturkie chose figure competitions for several reasons, but most importantly, there are no on-the-spot interviews and it’s more affordable. Sturkie pays about $300 for the two swimsuits required in figure competitions versus the $3,000 she would spend on dresses per beauty pageant.
There are three basic realms to Sturkie's most recent hobby, including bodybuilding, figure competition, and fitness com-petition.
In body building competitions, you have Arnold look-alikes and other male and female heavy-weights.
Fitness competitions consist of a highly aerobic gymnastics routine and modeling one and two piece swimsuits. Figure competitions, where Sturkie competes, consist of precise and poised modeling in the two types of swimsuits with the intent of highlighting the magnificence of the human body.
By
using the green exercise ball, Sturkie is able to target specific areas
of her abdominal muscles for a workout. The ball helps to relieve stress
on her neck and lower back that sometimes accompanies other types of ab
workouts.
Sounds fairly easy, but the workout regiment will change your mind pretty quickly. When Sturkie prepares for a competition, she does an hour-and-a-half weight workout five days a week paired with two-hour cardiovascular workouts seven days a week.
“It is incredibly time consuming,” she said. “And the dieting can be pretty difficult to keep up with everyday. It’s the exact opposite of what you would think it is. You’re actually eating a major amount of food but it’s certain types of foods and in strict portions.”
Sturkie has help when it comes to discipline before competitions from her personal trainer Jim Raman. He also happens to be her fiancée. Raman’s internet business helps fund the pair’s trips and supplies for competitions, and he recently opened a nutrition shop next door to West Ashley Aerobics and Fitness, where the two can be found working out.
Raman
helps Sturkie maintain good form during an abdominal workout. He accompanies
Sturkie on all her workouts, especially since her injury, to guarantee
her physical health.
Raman and Sturkie agree that many people trying to break in on fitness and figure competitions have no clue what they are getting into before they realize how difficult it is.
“It is so important to get a good trainer and really watch some competitions before you think about becoming involved in this,” Sturkie said
Since 2001, Sturkie has already gained bragging rights for two major figure titles, she’s the 2001 NPC Eastern Seaboard Figure Champion and 2002 NPC South Carolina Overall Figure Champion. Her most recent competition was in June 2002 and was followed by surgery in August for a torn chest muscle.
Definitely on the mend, Sturkie looks forward to continuing her hobby, marrying Raman, becoming a cosmetic dentist, and maybe even trying her hand at beauty pageants again.
“I’ll be married by March of 2004, so maybe I’ll compete in the Mrs.
South Carolina pageant,” she said.
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