VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — There’s a mom in Virginia Beach raising three young boys, running a business, and training for a bodybuilding competition!
“I believe I have more energy than some 24-year-olds these days. You know I’m in my 40s, and this is the fountain of youth,” explained Kim Havunen.
Havunen said working out has always been a part of her life. Her parents owned a local gym up north for several years.
“I remember having my coloring books right in the middle of the gym floor," she recalled. "I remember the old twist machines and the Jane Fonda socks.”
Havunen wakes up at 4 a.m. every day and heads straight to the gym.
“I wake up and it’s literally just go-mode,” she explained.
She and her husband own two gyms in Hampton Roads called Natural Bodyz Fitness. One is in Kempsville, the other is in the Bayside area.
“We got this location here on Kempsville and Indian River, right next to the Dairy Queen," she said laughing. "You drive right past and take a right.”
Havunen follows a tight schedule.
“I wake up in the morning, I hit the treadmill and walk uphill for 40 minutes,” she said. “I hit legs on Monday, I hit chest on Tuesday. Wednesday is back, Thursday is glutes and hamstrings and Friday is shoulders.”
She keeps a calendar and several lists of what she needs to do every day.
“If I didn’t have a structure to what I’m supposed to be doing, I would be a basket case,” Havunen explained.
Havunen completed her first competition at age 40. She said she doesn’t even remember being on stage, because she practiced so many times.
“I hate to say it, but I did it for everyone else. I wanted to do it for the job, and for my husband and to prove to me that I could do it," she said. “I won the open figure, I won novelist and debut and I won masters, and masters is over 40.”
Now, she’s training for the OCB Virginia Natural Pro Women competition. It’s on September 11 in Norfolk!
"This time I’m doing it for me," she said. "To prove to me I can do everything I can to win,” Havunen explained.
With her husband and children cheering her on, she’s pushing herself to the limit. But Havunen knows, there could be some small obstacles thrown her way.
“My kid’s snacks, that’s probably my biggest challenge, those French toast sticks,” she said.
For more information about the competition, click here.