I caught up with new IFBB Fitness Pro Tanya Merryman and got the scoop on how she builds her killer calves, when her pro debut will be, how her injuries are doing and more. Some of you easily identified the photo of her calves earlier on hardbody. (Check it here in case you missed it.)
Tanya in winning form.
1. What have you been doing since turning pro in Dallas?
Besides spending time with my husband and our two kids (2yr and 10yr old)…?
I was looking forward to switching gears from a long season of 6 stage appearances and my body needed a rest. Just after Dallas I was able to get my new website up (www.TanyaM.com) which has all the photo updates from this year’s contests. Also, I have been keeping very busy throwing myself into my new job as The Group Fitness Director and Pilates Coordinator for CRUNCH fitness in San Francisco. I had been interviewing prior to the Nationals and running back and forth to the city (an hour away) for the last 4 weeks. This is really big for me because I am giving up my job locally at a health club that I have been with for ten years. CRUNCH is known for edgy aerobics (pole dancing class anyone?) and an innovator when it comes to setting the next trend in fitness. I was working in the city as a CRUNCH Trainer for a couple months before getting my promotion at CRUNCH, so they let me dive in once my Nationals was over. They are a huge support system for my competition endeavors. Change is good and the transition has had its moments, but I have been busy getting to know my new team and creating the next big fitness craze.
2. When will you be making your pro debut?
I am undecided and you will have to wait and see. My coach Kim Oddo and my choreographer Gilda Tehrani have a major impact on my next show so I am working with them to see how my body and routines are coming along. Most likely I will stay as West Coast as possible for my debut in Fitness. I might do the Cal Pro Figure show as well.
3. Have you always had killer calves or what did you do to get them where they are today?
Yes, they are God given. I never felt comfortable with them until I turned into a gym rat in my 20’s, it’s like walking around topless with all the attention they get. Doesn’t matter where I am at (grocery store, gym, parking lots, crossing the street), people ask and stare at them constantly. The funny thing is that I keep them covered up everyday at work (and I work in a gym) and people would never know it by looking at the rest of me that I am so muscle bound. I can tell you that I have always been a really fast runner and have a pretty good high jump thanks to them… I might even still hold records from my elementary school days. To keep them in shape, I do a ton of cross training. Like running, hiking, biking, Plyometrics, Pilates, Pilates, Pilates. I might work on a machine just weeks before a show just to tighten them up a bit. I tear them up almost everyday doing other things and they are always in knots.
4. How are the injuries doing?
This is the first time I have suffered a pulled hamstring and I am still unable to reach for my toes or straighten my right leg 100%. I am just hitting the 6 week mark on my injury and will be working on my fitness routine for the first time since nationals (4 weeks ago) in the next couple days. We are currently working on my new 45sec mandatory routine so we will just work around the injury. I am still shocked at my ability to perform in the Nationals. It was not the routine I had planned for and hope that those that were there and know me for my routines will understand that I have a lot more in me and I feel physically better and stronger then I was ten years ago. Injuries are just a part of being an athlete and I have always dealt with them so as much as I hope one day I will not have a single injury and can be pain free, I just do the best I can with what I have.
The reason I even got the pulled hamstring was due to a sprained ankle just 7 days before the Sacramento show and I taped the ankle up too tight and my hamstring ended up overcompensating for it in one of my routine elements while warming up. I re-choreographed my routine in my head just minutes before taking the stage and somehow got through that show, which was just a couple weeks before Nationals. Earlier in the season I was trying to compete in fitness and sprained both ankles just 3 weeks apart from each other as well as an injured shoulder in preparation for the Fitness season, so that is why you saw me compete in Figure for the first half of the year. In pictures you can see that my ankle is swollen like a golf ball and I wasn’t able to put heels on until it was time to walk out on stage. Good Times!!
5. What advice do you have for women who are contemplating doing fitness but don’t think they have it in them?
Getting back on a fitness stage in 2007 was surreal for me. Everytime I trained my routine I pushed beyond my limits and faced my own fears, it is the scariest thing getting up there and going through it, BUT the feeling of accomplishment is priceless. Each training day I walked in scared, walked out fearless and that stays with you whether you win or lose the darn competition. Just go for it and see for yourself.
