Bodybuilder mom is set on gold

Ballito’s champion bodybuilder mom, Bronwyn Dean, is making a comeback after a year of absence from the sport and has her sights set on a third national title.

Mother of two teenage daughters, Dean was the 2012 and 2013 South African national amateur bodybuilding association (NABBA) women’s figure champion and hopes to lift the champion’s trophy again this weekend at the NABBA South African championships Sibaya Casino on Saturday, October 10.

Success at the national championships this weekend will see Dean compete later this year at the World Fitness Federation (WFF) championships in Pretoria.

“Placing at the world stage would be a dream come true for me,” said Dean.

People often question why bodybuilders would want to have such a large lean muscle mass and what they get out of it.

“I do it for the everyday challenge of keeping myself ahead of Joe Soap. There is a story behind every trophy of sacrifices made, tough sessions in the gym and waking up in the middle of the night, hungry,” said Dean.

Dean said she has loved exercise and training since childhood and started training to compete in 2011 with the then Godfather of bodybuilding, Chris Scott.

After only six months on stage, Dean won the international federation of bodybuilding and fitness (IFBB) northern Gauteng title. Crossing over to NABBA, she became the KZN champion in her category in 2012, before winning the national title later that same year and repeating the same feats in 2013.

Tragedy struck in 2014 when Dean’s coach, Chris Scott passed away and Dean also went through a divorce. Circumstances forced her to take a break from training and she did not have an opportunity to defend her national title.

“It was a tough year for me and my daughters,” said Dean.

The tide started turning towards the end of 2014 when she teamed up with a new trainer, Vic Alley, who she said built her back up from scratch.

“It is very tough to have to start over once you have been at the top.”

She said she wanted to win the national championships again but there were a lot of new girls that would pose tough competition.

Competing in the figure category, Dean focuses on achieving a small bodybuilder look that is well conditioned with body fat of around six percent, her ideal competing fat percentage. Dean said judges look for the most muscle with the least body fat and they judge on appealing muscle mass, symmetry and balance – the proportion between different muscle groups.