Brentwood Lifestyle had the opportunity to sit down with fitness expert Whitney Wiser to dive into her incredible journey, one marked by growth and a deep commitment to empowering women in the fitness and competition world.
What initially inspired you to get involved in the fitness/competition world?
I’ve been an athlete for most of my life, and I was just looking for a new way or outlet for my athletic and competitive nature. When I was about to graduate from college, I realized that I wouldn’t have any sports to compete in anymore. The idea of competing in the bikini division of bodybuilding was oddly intriguing to me when I first discovered it. When I finally got involved, it gave me an outlet and a new challenge to pursue. I was determined to get better and better as I became more involved in it over the first couple of years. Building muscle for my body to look a certain way had never been a goal of mine before. Up until that point, my goal for lifting had always been to simply build strength and get faster, so I could perform better on the basketball court or any other field or court I played on.
Competing also gave me a purpose to pursue, as I was about to go through one of the most devastating setbacks of my life. I had finally decided to leave the toxic and abusive relationship I was in. He had a horrible reaction to this,
resulting in a serious injury.
I had to have emergency back surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center, where they fused my spine with metal rods and screws in place. The doctors said I’d have to learn how to walk again and that I wouldn’t be able to compete anymore. I couldn’t even process what they were saying, but when I finally did, my stubbornness said otherwise, and I was then on a mission to prove everyone wrong and not let this determine the rest of my life. I slowly but surely came back with a vengeance and kept getting back on stage until I earned my pro status three years later. It was not a smooth journey over those three years either, but I kept pushing and kept trying no matter how long it was going to take -- mentally I was locked in on the end goal.
Since earning my pro card, this sport has led me to so much more than just “competing” on stage. I started judging and helping athletes get better by giving them feedback on how they could improve. Eventually, I realized I could help them better if I were backstage or even on stage with them, so I started expediting. Expeditors are the people who line up the athletes backstage to ensure they are in the right class and get them to the stage. Then, the on-stage expeditor stays with them to tell them where to go and what to do and when to do it, so I liked that position much better, and I continue to do that now.
During this whole process, I became intrigued with the production side of the shows and also the lack of effort of current promoters years ago. I was sitting at the judges’ table one day years ago and thought, “I could promote a show better than this.” And that small seed planted in my mind started growing until I couldn’t ignore it anymore. I slowly started trying to figure out how to put on and even “promote” a show myself. It took some time, but now I’ve been running shows for almost a decade with the athletes’ best interests in mind. I always want to make sure that every woman who stands on that stage feels like the rockstar that she really is and has a pro-level stage to stand on!
What’s one misconception people have about fitness that you wish you could correct?
The biggest misconception for fitness in general is probably women thinking they will get big, “bulky” muscles by lifting weights and eating protein. Building muscle definitely doesn’t happen that easily or overnight like that, but I really wish it did! Women can actually only gain about 1-2 pounds of muscle per month, and that’s if they are eating enough in general, but specifically protein, and if they are training and recovering properly, specifically for building muscle.
I have a theory, though, and it’s that the “bulk” they think they see is actually the layer of fat over the muscle! Muscle itself is lean and dense. It’s what adds shape to your body and what makes you look fit and “toned,” as most women like to say. Tone is muscle, though.
The biggest misconception about competing is that it’s just for vanity. I feel like bodybuilding is looked at as a very selfish sport that is competitive and narcissistic. It’s actually a community of very tight-knit, but welcoming people who strive to help each other. At least on the women’s side of the sport, I can speak for directly. Usually, when people are exposed to this industry for the first time, they are extremely surprised by how helpful, supportive, and friendly everyone is!
I started seeing this even more so a few years ago at the all-female competition I created in 2018 and continue to host every year now called the NPC/IFBB Nashville Fit Show. Backstage girls are helping each other with their suits, hair, and hyping each other up to go out on stage, and then staying in touch long after show day! Most people outside our industry probably wouldn’t believe this unless they saw it firsthand, but it’s pretty amazing to see so much support and strength among a group of women.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your own competition experiences/fitness journey that you now pass on to others?
Basically, every mistake I made – and I made just about all of them – helped me learn how to do things a better way, and that is part of my passion and purpose now: to educate other women on how to be successful, on stage and beyond it. I teach other women through 1-on-1 and group coaching, the workshops I host, my social media, and more.
The biggest lesson overall is to use every competition – or every experience – as a learning experience to get better for the next one. You can’t control who you compete against, the preferences of the judges, or many other factors -- but you can focus on you and your progress to become better day by day and show to show.
Can you walk me through a moment where you faced a major setback and how you pushed past it?
Being in a severe car incident that broke my spine was a pretty major setback. Learning to walk again and slowly building my body back a little bit at a time, day by day, was very difficult. I had to actively build my mind back in the process to even have the motivation and discipline to build my body back, too. God gave me the tools and the steps to do things back then that I didn’t even have the language for yet. For example, I had no clue what “visualization” was back then, but I was doing it almost every day. I would walk around the neighborhood block hundreds of times (because that’s all I had the capability to do yet) and just visualize myself on stage competing again. Specifically, seeing myself standing next to the other competitors in a line-up, being judged on stage, and winning. Over and over again.
Reading books by Joyce Meyer, like “Power Thoughts” and “The Battlefield of the Mind,” helped me stay grounded and focus on the positive. Having a vision and a purpose to pursue is what helped me push through the setback to come back better and stronger.
How do you think the fitness/competition space is evolving for women, and where do you hope to see it go in the next few years?
I saw it starting to evolve almost nine years ago, and that’s a big reason I started my all-female competition, and I believe it’s still trending in the same direction with the added divisions on the women’s side of the sport. More women are becoming interested in building muscle, becoming stronger, and competing in this sport as a challenge for themselves to push themselves even further.
What’s one piece of advice you wish more people would lean into when starting their fitness journey?
To start small by gradually making health & fitness part of their lifestyle instead of trying to overhaul their whole life routine by going to extremes or looking for “quick fixes.” So many start out strong by following a strict diet & intense workout routine, only to get burned out within a month and then go right back to where they were before they started. You don’t have to overhaul your whole way of living to make progress, especially not at first. Small changes and habits – like drinking enough water each day – make a huge difference in the long run and also make it way more sustainable. Also, to all my ladies out there -- don’t be scared of muscle, it’s not bulky! Muscle is what is going to give you a better quality of life now and in the future!
To learn more about Whitney, visit her social media, where she has links to her coaching page – specifically for competitors and lifestyle clients – and has her show pages and retreat pages listed on her main profile.
@WhitneyWiserFit
@WiserPrep
@NashvilleFitShow
@HerstyleEvents
@NPCNaturalTitans
WiserPrep.com
NashvilleFitShow.com
"Small changes and habits – like drinking enough water each day – make a huge difference in the long run and also make it way more sustainable."