I had a chance to rap with Joe Bayer of HDPhysiques.com about IFBB Figure Pro and American Gladiator Valerie Waugaman. Joe is friends with Val and kind enough to pass along the following information from her. Yes, Waugamaniacs, this is straight from V-Dub…
The reason I am not doing the Arnold is because I really needed the recovery time between Gladiator seasons one and two. There are no particular “acute” injuries, nothing torn, broken, etc… Just wear and tear, especially on the upper body joints, from doing a lot of physical stuff in a short period of time. I kind of relate it to how a football player might feel at the end of a season. This was a very difficult decision and I waited until the very last possible moment to make the decision. I’m really going to miss competing in the Figure International this year – it’s such a wonderful show and it’s in my backyard. I’m definitely not done with competing. I’m hungry for a title and plan on competing more in the future. After consulting with my physical therapist and realizing that I wouldn’t be able to train the way I’d need to train to bring the best Valerie Waugaman to the Arnold stage, I decided that it would be best to continue to recover and get back to 100%. I’m really excited about seeing everyone in Columbus, as I’ll be there working various booths, watching the competition and supporting the other athletes. I’m very proud of my background with the IFBB and continue to talk about that in each interview I do for the Gladiators. Positive mojo! See you in Columbus!
Thanks Joe and Thank you Val for sharing your reasons behind the decision. We look forward to seeing ya at the Arnold Expo!
