Name: Barbara Barnowich
Birth Date: April 1, 1961
Height: 5'
Weight: 125-135lbs on-season 140-150lbs off-season
From: Baltimore, Maryland USA
CONTEST HISTORY
- all NPC contests -
2008 Masters Nationals - 12th Place in 45+ Heavyweight
2008 Arnold Amateur - 5th Place in Heavyweight
2007 North Americans - 12th Place in Light-Heavyweight
2006 North Americans - 5th Place in Middleweight
2006 Masters National - 6th place in Light-Heavyweight
2006 Junior Nationals - 6th Place in Middleweight
2005 North Americans - 2d Place in Middleweight
2004 Maryland - Overall Champion
2004 East Coast Regionals - Overall Champion
2004 Bodyrock - 4th Place in Middleweight
2004 North American Nationals - 2d Place in Middleweight
2003 Maryland - 1st Place in Middleweight
2003 Bodyrock - 4th Place in Middleweight
2003 Junior USA - 6th Place in Middleweight
2002 Jan Tana Amateur - 4th Place in Middleweight
- Powerlifting-
2000-2002 numerous comps - 1st Places in Bench, Deadlift & Squat
Q&A
How long have you been training?
Since I was 16. I started in the basement with my brother's weights and never stopped. Heavy-duty training at the gym: since 1999.
What would like to see done to help improve or promote the sport?
Give it as much attention in magazines and on TV as men's sport receives. And cover hardcore women athletes — such as Bodybuilders and Powerlifters — just as much as those in Fitness and Figure. Also, I think it's important to have fair and equitable judging in our sport: with the same standards as used for the men. Women's Bodybuilding is not a beauty contest, but too often it ends up that way. Quite a few athletes quit competing after loosing to a blonde with fake boobs and no muscles. And someone tell me how can I be too hard and vascular??? This is Bodybuilding!!! If the men can do it, I should be able to, as well.
Do you get negative comments from people with regard to your muscles?
For sure.... I will try to answer this without going on a long rant.
First of all, I cannot go anywhere without people staring. I have become quite used to that, and it no longer bothers me. Ever have 100 people in a large department store or thousands in a concert hall staring at you? Sometimes I find myself nearly liking it. But all that attention is like being a movie star: You can't just go out in public unnoticed or unbothered. I get a lot of comments both bad and good: from "Wow, how much can you bench?" ... to "Oh my God, is that a man or a woman?" Many people ask for diet and workout advice, which is fine.
What really bothers me is walking down the boardwalk at the beach. I can no longer do so without many idiots — mostly skinny teen or 20-year-old males — talking about me, laughing, and worst of all hollering out loudly: "Is that a man or a woman?" ... "f*g**t go home -- that's disgusting!" ... and so on. Well, the urge to kill one of them is practically overwhelming. Sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with it, so I don't go there.
It is also very hard to find boyfriends. Now there are a lot of men out there who like the way I look. But I have to go to the Internet to find them. Then their friends ask them why they want to be with someone like me. Also, some of them can't deal with the public attention. My issue is this: Why do people feel they can negatively comment about me and others like me? They wouldn't ask fat people how many cheeseburgers they ate to get so fat. They wouldn't ask an old woman why she has so many wrinkles. Or ask the man in the wheelchair, why can't he walk. So why are we bodybuilders the only minority that gets treated like this???
Have you ever surprised yourself with you own strength? Like you forgot you were THAT strong???
You mean when I break things by accident ... especially small objects? Or when I first squat 315 12 times?
How have you used your physical strength, outside the gym, when it has come in handy?
First of all, nobody bothers me. I can walk around bad neighborhoods if I choose. I am very unlikely to be a crime victim. If there is an altercation, the other person immediately backs down. When I step on someone's toes, THEY say "Excuse me!"
Most importantly, I am dependent on no one ... especially a man. I can put my own air-conditioners in windows ... pick up or move any object in my house ... or push my dead car off the road. Plus the time I am most grateful for, when my German Shepherd Dog was sick, dying from cancer. I found him in the basement. I carried all his 80lbs up the stairs to the vet and back and up another long flight of stairs to my room where we spent his last hours in comfort and bonding. I cannot imagine having to leave him in the cold basement to die. But I am a single mom, so who would help me?
Yes my complete independence is worth all the negative comments. Plus I think I look good.
Any message for fans?
Thank you for appreciating us. It makes a lot of the negatives unimportant and competing worthwhile.
What else you would like to share?
I am a nurse.
Thank you for your interest in me and my sport. Anyone with a sincere interest in bodybuilding can feel free to contact me.
