Bodybuilder fights stereotypes

By Jizelle Estrada

Staff Intern

SPRINGFIELD At no more than five feet, two inches, Carla Salotti has a big message to send for the public.

"I just want to prove to the public that female bodybuilders can still be pretty and feminine," Salotti said.

Salotti said she feels very strongly about female bodybuilding's public image.

"If you pick up a muscle magazine, you could see a woman on the cover, but very rarely will you see a female bodybuilder on the cover," she said.

The professional bodybuilder resides in Springfield and said her number one goal is to get positive press coverage for women's bodybuilding, and to hopefully help promote it in a feminine way.

"I'm thinking that when I make my pro debut that people are going to look at me and say 'aw look how cute! Look how pretty!' and if I get press because of that it will be worth it even if I don't place in the competition."

She said there is a misconception in the American public that female bodybuilders are masculine women, which is not the case at all.

Salotti has been a social worker for 20 years and currently works full time in that field. After her nine-to-five weekly schedule, she heads off to the gym each day to train and act as a personal trainer. Salotti uses the gym to release the stresses of her full time career.

When asked about her jobs she replied, "That's why they call it 'work', if they called it 'play' it would be too much fun." Generally speaking, bodybuilders don't make an exceptional amount of money, especially if you're a female.

Salotti is 44 years old, and is 120 pounds in the off-season. When she is competing, she is a mere 106 pounds.

The West Springfield Gold's Gym is not only where she trains and works, but is also one of Salotti's sponsors for competitions.

"It's hard to find people to sponsor you when you're a female body builder. The public has this thing with thinking that all body builders are big and disgusting we're not so marketable" she said.

However, sponsorship is imperative for bodybuilders. Before becoming a professional female bodybuilder, Salotti had difficulty finding sponsors due to the lack of demand incorporating women bodybuilders.

VYOTECH is her newest and biggest financial sponsor. VYOTECH is a nutritional product company involved in pro-body building. Salotti explained that, until last year, her parents were her biggest financial supporters, for which she is "eternally grateful."

She also receives major assistance from her long-time trainer, who is providing free services to her as a reward for Salotti being the first one of his clients to win a national level competition. She also had 'tons of support' from her training family in Tampa, Florida.

She spoke about the upsides and downsides of bodybuilding. When being an elite athlete and pro-bodybuilder, one has to do a lot of traveling, which according to Salotti, can be a benefit as well as a downfall.

A positive is that she has friends all over the U.S.

However, Salotti spends most weekends traveling for judging, competing, training, or supplying her services as a pro-athlete backstage at competitions; which means that she rarely gets time to herself.

Another negative aspect of bodybuilding is the dieting. When training to get ready for a competition, bodybuilders have a rigorous diet ritual that they must follow in order for their bodies to be in the condition needed.

Their diets are so meticulous that they must bring their food everywhere they travel.

"I travel sometimes with a [George] Foreman grill and a rice steamer ... that can be really cumbersome every weekend or every other weekend," she said. She has also started a business where she provides the food at competitions. This reduces the stress level of competitors, making it better for them to contend.

But Salotti's passion is training.

"If I could somehow pay all of my bills by only seeing clients for personal training, I would," she said. "It's also very rewarding for the people who are really dedicated to training."

Salotti said bodybuilding is the hardest physical job that she has ever had, but at the same time, it is gratifying and fun. In fact, she said if she doesn't have time to get to the gym and train after work that she will train on her lunch hour.

Salotti fears that many women are too afraid to get in the gym and really take full advantage of their bodies in dread that they will start to look (or possibly feel) like men.

As a trainer, she said on occasion she works with "women who are intimidated about getting too much muscle when working out. They think that if they gain too much muscle that they are going to look like men. I hate it when they get scared of gaining a little bit of muscle."

She believes that consistency is the key when it comes to training. Some people have asked for help in losing 10 lbs. and then after they lose the weight they put it right back on.

"Everyone wants a quick fix but you need good habits," she said which led to the next issue: steroids. "When you become an elite athlete you're going to always be tempted to bring your physique or your game to the next level," she said.

There are two kinds of organizations to compete for: the drug testing and non- drug testing. Salotti is a natural bodybuilder but she is well educated about steroids.

"There is use and abuse. Generally speaking, the American people abuse their bodies in bigger ways by smoking, drinking and over eating than the small population of people that use steroids," she said

Female bodybuilders are often rumored to use steroids because it might seem unbelievable for a woman to have so much muscle.

She claims "a lot of the pro athletes that you see in bodybuilding use steroids to enhance their physique and in no way, I would say, is that what they are depending on winning or becoming pros on. There is a hard work and dieting ethic that goes along with it."

The Agawam native added that she feels healthier now than she did when she was 20.

"Working out and eating right makes me physically feel better and mentally feel better," she said.

Salotti plans on continuing her career as a professional bodybuilder as long as she is sponsored to do it but "once it's not fun anymore, it's time to hang it up."