The Muscular Asian Woman: What is your name? (Please include kanji, too!)
My name is Yuko Shimizu. In kanji it’s 清水優子.  清水 is the last name and  優子 is my first name. 優 has a few meanings to the kanji: (1) sympathetic, nice; (2) to excel; and that’s why my parents named me Yuko.

MAW: Where were you born?
YS: I was born in Osaka, Japan.

MAW: What is your age (always optional )
YS: I’m 32 years old. Physically I’m in the best shape even compared to when I was in my 20s that I forget I'm 32. (Or is that due to old age?)

MAW: Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a beautiful suburb in Bergen County, NJ; (a few years in Osaka, Japan in during my elementary school years.)

MAW: Where do you live now? 
Tokyo, Japan

MAW: How tall are you?
I'm 167.7cm (5 ft. 5 in.)

MAW: How did you get started in bodybuilding?
I saw Monica Brant on a cover of OXYGEN Magazine back in 1998.  She looked so beautiful, athletic, and really amazing. It was more my interest in having a physique like Monica that eventually got me interested in competing. At the time there was no Figure category in Japan, so I competed in bodybuilding instead.

MAW: Who are your role models? Why?
My role models in life are my parents.  My father for being driven and being a pioneer. He is fearless when it comes to making decisions, and has great capacity to make decisions with foresight and plan that will always lead to further progress or success. My mother for her carefree, naïve sweetness, but also for being strong enough to raise me with strict Japanese morals and ethics.  She was the one really enforcing the Japanese culture in our family.

MAW: When did you start training –AND/OR- How long have you been training?
I started weight training as part of our team practice playing college basketball. I was so weak that I could barely lift the bar bench pressing.  Being a fighter at heart, I decided that I want to keep training to at least be able to train with the rest of the team. After I graduated college, I joined a gym and trained a lot as a tri-athlete with a weekend team so it shy-ed me away from weights for a few years.  

I traveled a lot as an expatriate due to my job and found the easiest way to make friends is through the gym and training. In 2000, my trainer in Italy got me back into weights after showing me his wife's picture, who was the Italian Bodybuilding champion at the time.

MAW: When was your first competition and how did you place?
My first competition was 2003 in Japan. It was the "Tokyo Open," which is a novice-only competition.  I placed 4th and was hooked on competing because of beginner's luck!

MAW: Which weight class do you compete in?     
Now I compete in Figure so I compete in the Tall Class.

MAW: Are you preparing for a contest now? Which one?
Yes. Tokyo Bodyfit on July 1, which is my 33rd birthday also!  I've always been dieting during my birthday so this will be a real treat when I can really have my cake and eat it too!
My second competition this year is All-Japan Bodyfit on August 26th and it will be held in Hiroshima this year. It's my first competition to actually travel so it will be challenging.

MAW: What do you do when you are not at the gym?
I work as a Project Manager for a telecommunication company. I enjoy my job but if I had more free time, I definitely wouldn't allocate it toward my job! I love to cook but due to the dieting phase I've been cooking less and less these days. My recent hobby I picked up is Photography. I like to take pictures of my friends training, competing, but the best moment is when I'm taking pictures of my 3 beautiful nieces running around.

I've recently been asked to write for MTD (Muscular Training & Development) and have been busy researching topics and writing articles.

MAW: What keeps you motivated?
Obviously fitting into my skinny jeans is motivating but, more so, it's really the support I feel from my family, friends and colleagues. It’s touching, especially because most of them don't even have a membership to a gym, nor is the athlete type but really support me. Also, my fitness circle of friends keeps growing and growing. It's too much fun isn't it?  Everyday I learn something new ranging from crazy exercises that will burn your hammy's, nuking protein powder to make a mock brownie, to the latest cardio queen's ipod song list.   

MAW: What is your most favorite exercise AND/OR your favorite bodypart to train?
YS: My favorite exercise is Stiff Leg Dead lifts because I can really feel them burning.  My favorite body part to train…it used to be my shoulders because I always made good progress but in the past year, it's changed to my back.  I love the intensity that goes into the each movement because you can't see your back, you really need to focus on each movement and go with how it feels. Image training and positive thinking goes a long way, and I know how important the V-taper is in Figure, so I think that's another reason why I keep saying back is my favorite!

MAW: Which bodypart do you like training the least?
YS: Chest.  Not fun at all. Maybe it's the traumatic experience of not being able to bench the bar back in college?!  (haha!)

MAW: What is your favorite CHEAT FOOD?
YS: I’m usually either ON or OFF. OFF season, I eat everything in moderation. During my ON season, I never cheated but my treat I used to look forward was this amazing tasting Peanut Butter & Jelly flavored protein bars and the White Chocolate Chip protein cookies! My current trainer enforces cheat meals once a week so it's only recently that I had to define what I like as a cheat.  After a few tries of experimenting what I crave for and what satisfies me, I realized I crave for gummy bears, dried mango, and any kind of Japanese sweets with red-bean paste (it's called "anko").  So I guess that's anything loaded with sugar!!

MAW: What does a typical meal look like when you are getting ready for a contest?
YS: I don't think it's anything special or different than anyone else dieting. Your basic lean protein, carbs with minimal fat. I usually chose from protein pancakes, eggwhites, chicken breast, fish;  carbs through out the day, usually oatmeal, couscous or brown rice and then steamed veggies, if I’m preparing it myself. Otherwise, I eat a lot of sushi and sashimi, and Japanese stews which we call "Nabe." I always use PAM and Splenda but I never cared too much about my sodium intake. This year, my trainer has me eliminating sodium from 7 weeks out so it will be interesting to see what difference it will make.

MAW: What are your future goals? 
My near future goal is win All-Japan and turn pro.  As for my ultimate goal, I would love to be able to utilize my outgoing personality and linguistic ability to influence the Japanese fitness industry and competitors to be up to par with the rest of the fitness world.  The fitness circle is quite small in Japan, and it's very closed and competitive. . . I think it's such a waste when there's so much information and opportunities all over the world! The biggest difference can be reflected by asking "hey, how's your comp prep going?"  Most girls I know in the US fitness circle will complain about how low carbed they are, or "man, I'm training like a mad woman!" and talk about their diet or training, whereas most Japanese girls would say "oh, not much. I don't even think I will compete,"or "I've been sick for the last week and haven't really been training much."  It's very strange how they don't like to share information here.  Perhaps because it's very limited inflow of information? I'm not sure.

We only have two bodybuilding magazines, and a couple fitness magazines, whereas the US, my god... you have SHAPE, SELF, OXYGEN, M&F Hers, FLEX, Men's Health, Muscular Development. . .countless!  I'm fortunate enough to be able to gain info and knowledge from different magazines and discussion boards abroad because I understand English.  I try to pick up a few different workout routines or excercise and try them out.   I always ask girls if they want to train one day together but it's always a polite non-definitive answer, so I usually end up training by myself or with guys at the gym!

MAW: So, how is fitness and bodybuilding perceived in Japan, particularly for women?  Given your cross-cultural experience, do you feel comfortable providing a clearer view of how the sport is perceived in Japanese society? I think it's a bit difficult for the Japanese society to change their concept of "Beauty"-- where feminine, white skin, long black hair, quiet, submissiveness and subtleness is the key factor. Bodybuilding is not exactly fitting that description, is it! Also, being more muscular or stronger than the man is not exactly the best feeling for a guy; especially not in a society which is still quite male-dominant.

MAW: What would you say to other women who are interested in bodybuilding and fitness?
YS: What are you waiting for? Dive into it! 

MAW: Is there anything else you would like to say?
YS: Thank you for the interview, the pleasure was all mine!  I’m putting in my 100% into the competition preparation right now.  Wish me luck and I hope I can tell you next time that my goals have become my accomplishments!

MAW: Many thanks to you, Yuko!  I hope to talk to you again soon.  Best wishes for the Tokyo Bodyfit on July 1 and the All-Japan on August 26!


Yuko Shimizu links:
...at Muscular Training & Development here
...MySpace.com here
...featured in Metropolis Tokyo Magazine here