Winner woman wins national bodybuilding title

By Dan Bechtold

Editor

Felicia Hughes of Winner won the overall bikini division at the NPC North Americans bodybuilding show.

The competition was Sept. 4 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

There were over 1,200 competitors. Hughes, the daughter of Jon and Susan Hughes of Winner, competes in the bikini division. There were over 400 bikini competitors.

She said this was the biggest bikini show in history. “I think this is pretty neat,” said Hughes.

“To win a show of that magnitude felt really good. All the hard work I put in paid off,” she said.

She explained that pre-judging was held in the morning and a competitor has to win their height class to move on to the next round. Hughes competed in the 5-5 height class.

The Winner woman was proud to make the top five and competed before an audience in the evening. With winning her height class it earned her an IFBB pro card which was her goal.

Once the first place winners for each height class are announced they take all the winners in that division to compete against each other to determine the overall winner of the bikini division. Hughes came out on top winning the entire division in this national show.

“So I earned my pro card by placing first in my height class and am now considered a professional bodybuilder in the bikini division . Next year I will be invited to compete in pro status shows,” she explained.

This is not the only bodybuilding show she has entered. Hughes placed second   at a show last year in Omaha and then did two shows nationally both in South Carolina. In one she placed second and the other got fourth but missed getting her pro card.

“I thought I would give it more shot in Pittsburgh,” she said.

Her coach is from Canada who makes suggestions on her diet and how many calories she needs to eat each day.

A lot of lifting weights eventually turned into a love for bodybuilding.

Hughes went to school in Winner until her sophomore year in high school and then went to Colome High School her junior and senior year. She is a 2007 graduate of Colome High School.

It was Dean Keith who instilled the love of weight lifting in Hughes.

Keith was a former WHS principal and started a weightlifting class for girls in the gymnastics program.

“I just kept on weight lifting and when I went to college at South Dakota State University I used the wellness center.” In every town she worked one of her goals was to find a gym to work out.

In one of those gyms, someone asked her if she had thought about bodybuilding. “I kind of laughed at them but I did some research and found there were different  divisions for women and started looking into it more,” Hughes explained.

She started doing bodybuilding with a natural federation where they drug test, lie detector test each participant. She stayed with that federation for  year but was looking for something more challenging and that is when she joined NPC.

“NPC is where Arnold Schwanzengger got his start,” she said.

In bodybuilding, Hughes loves the regiment and the structure. “It was difficult for me at first because I am not someone who likes to diet but I love lifting weights. I like having something to keep me on track for my goals,” she added.

For Hughes, dieting is not fun but she does it to reach her goals. She says she eats a lot of chicken, rice and vegetables.

“You  have certain calories and as you get closer to a show you start to dwindle those calories down so you can get leaner and leaner. As you come off a show you eat more calories so you bulk up.”
Hughes works out five to six days a week  at Performance Fitness and Tan. She has used The Body Shop in Winner also but likes to have just one fitness gym  for consistency.

Her workouts are usually an hour to two hours. She makes her own routine, “It gets creative at times as I like to play around with it. I do a lot of lower body work in addition to working on my upper body.”

Hughes has a degree in graphic design from SDSU graduating in 2012. She then moved to Massachusetts and worked there for a year as an administrative assistant for ABLS.

From the Boston area, she moved to Sioux Falls and started work as a recruiter. She currently works as a recruiter for Interstates. In her job she recruits electricians.

Hughes travels all across the country to tech schools to attract these students to work for Interstates.

She is able to work remotely from home in Winner. When she is not traveling she spends a lot of time interviewing persons over the phone.

Interstates is a national company based out of Iowa.

Hughes moved back to Winner last June to continue her job.

Last week she was in Louisiana to talk to students.

“I enjoy talking to students who are bright eyed and bushy tailed about their future. I like being able to steer people in a certain direction it is sort of like being a career advocate. That is also why I like fitness because I am able to help people.”

That help has come as a personal trainer to some women in Winner. She does it for fun and a hobby.