St. Thomas junior Taylor Kinney placed first in the National Physique Committee bodybuilding competition after going up against 222 other participants.

Although most contestants trained for months in advance, Kinney made the decision to compete less than two months before the competition.

“I only trained for about six weeks, so it was a really impulsive decision,” Kinney said. “It was definitely not planned. I just kind of jumped into it.”

Kinney said she wanted to do something for herself and rise to the challenge of achieving a nearly impossible goal.

“It was a personal goal. I’ve been such a time-oriented person and never taken a second to do anything for myself,” Kinney said. “All summer I was working two jobs and (taking) three classes, so I just kind of needed to relax and do something for me.”

Kinney’s training consisted of major lifestyle changes, including altering her exercise routine and diet.

“I was in the gym every day, sometimes twice a day. I ate six meals a day of pretty much fish and asparagus. That was definitely a big change for me,” Kinney said.

Although six weeks is a short time to prepare, Kinney said her athleticism helped her reach her goal so quickly.

“I’ve always been really into working out. In high school, sports were a big thing for me,” she said. “My mom is big into working out. My dad just ran the (Twin Cities) Marathon. We’re an athletic family, so they were on the ride with me too. I couldn’t have done it by myself.”

However, Kinney admitted that she wasn’t expecting the sudden success, especially in her first competition.

“It was a complete surprise for me,” she said. “It was incredible. I still can’t believe it myself.”

While Kinney is enjoying her title, she has her eyes set on the next competition in April.

“As of now, I would be ecstatic to do another one, but April is a long time from now. I don’t know if my goals will change by then,” she said. “If I wanted to start training, my goal would be to start again in January and do a longer process of training. Most girls train for 12 weeks.”

Kinney said she hopes to be an inspiration to others who have difficult goals to reach.

“People with crazy goals should definitely go after them because I would have never seen myself doing something like this,” she said. “If you want to put your mind to something, you can do it.”

Kathleen Murphy can be reached at murp0003@stthomas.edu.