Young builds bodies, character
By Lindsay Spann
Nov. 12, 2002 9:00 p.m.
53-year-old Renee Young has taken a drink from the fountain of
youth.
At her age, when most people are thinking of retiring, Young is
working as a physical therapist at the UCLA Medical Center, helping
to improve patients’ lives. In her free time, she is also a
competitive bodybuilder.
It’s ironic that her last name is Young, because her
youthful appearance suggests she’s much younger than she
actually is.
However, life wasn’t always this enjoyable for Young.
Young had a difficult start in life. When she was just 18 months
old, she contracted polio. From ages 4 to 19 she took ballet, which
helped her overcome the disease.
At the time, Young wanted to be a physical education teacher or
a nurse, but her uncle suggested that she become a physical
therapist so she could combine her gift and passion for helping
others.
Because of her bout with polio, Young “wanted to give
back.”
Six years ago, Young started working at UCLA as a physical
therapist. She works at the UCLA Medical Center three days a week,
commuting from her home in San Diego and staying with family in
Santa Monica during the week.
As a physical therapist, Young is well-liked and
highly-respected.
“Young is very creative, very motivational and works hard
to get patients up and moving,” said Cindy Jaeger, lead
occupational therapist, and one of her co-workers.
“She has a lot of experience and is able to bring her
background to her treatments.”
“And if one doesn’t work, she has a lot of tricks to
try and get the best treatment session she can.”
In February 2001, Young became interested in bodybuilding. She
was flipping through a medical magazine that was showing the life
cycle of both a male and a female. The article showed the mental
and physical changes of degeneration in every organ of the body.
This drew Young’s attention to how dramatic the body changes
were.
“Having gone through the battle of polio,” she said,
“has given me much in regards to staying in shape, and a
perseverance to deal with whatever life puts in front of
me.”
“I looked in the mirror and didn’t want to be the
stereotype of the menopausal woman with a thickening
midriff,” she said.
“I said to myself, “˜no way am I going to do
that.'”
At that moment, she made a decision to get herself a trainer and
work out at the gym. So she went to the gym to find herself a
trainer who really knew what he was talking about.
“If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it
right,” she said.
Young enlisted the help of her trainer Ivan Higashi, her
“master and mentor,” as she calls him.
At first, Young had no intention of pursuing competition.
Higashi agreed to help her reach her goal of trimming some body fat
and getting into the same shape she was in her during her 20s and
30s.
“I’ve always done cardio,” she
said. “I love running ““ I’ve always
run. I’ve done my skiing and
rollerblading. I’ve never lifted weights before this
because I was afraid I would bulk up like a guy. As a
teenager, I was also muscle bound and afraid to work out with
weights.”
Young was just glad about the 15 pounds she lost. But
Higashi had other ideas about competition.
In September 2001, he tried to convince Young to compete. At the
time, she was completely against it.
“Well, my insightful Ivan never gave up planting the
seed,” Young concedes.
She eventually succumbed to her trainer’s pressure and
entered a local bodybuilding competition in the Grand Masters
category (for women ages 50 to 59).
“I’ll do one,” she
said. “I’ll do the Grand Masters, but I’m
not going to compete with people who are younger then me.
It’s bad enough getting up there in a freakin’ bathing
suit with a bunch of people watching in an auditorium doing this
stuff.”
“That’s not my personality; I’m not an
exhibitionist in that regard.”
At the competition, Young took home second place. With a taste
of success, she entered and won nine more competitions, many of
them competing against the 20- to 30-year-old crowd.
Young recently changed trainers before representing the U.S.A.
Team at the Natural Olympia in Phoenix, Ariz. on Nov. 10, winning a
bronze medal in the Grand Masters Physique category, and taking
home fifth place in the Masters Figure, competing against younger
women in the 40 to 49 age group.
Young is considered an inspiration in the body building world,
at work and in the health industry. Trainers and judges have asked
for pictures of her to use as an example for others.
“Some of my clients, they’re in their 20s and
30s,” Young said. “I get so tired of them saying that
they can’t do this, they can’t do that.”
“I want to put my picture up there and say “˜look at
this woman, how old do you think she is?’ and then
they’ll guess … and I’ll say “˜well, she’s
53 and if she can do it you can do it too.”
Young’s next competition is the Natural Universe
competition, held this weekend at Fairfax High School. She will
represent the U.S.A. Team against bodybuilders from all over the
world.
