A battle of the fittest makes its way to Wichita Falls on March 5

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Global Bodybuilding Organization will be bringing the Natty Nights Classic Bodybuilding Show to Wichita Falls on March 5 at the MPEC.

It will be the first of its kind for the city where bodybuilders will be competing against other athletes from across the country for titles and cash prizes.

“We’ll have amateurs that will compete to earn pro status and then we’ll have professionals, both men’s classic bodybuilding and women’s shape. They will compete for cash prizes and qualify to compete in the Altus at the end of the year, which is our world championship,” Bob Johnson, president, and co-founder of Global Bodybuilding Organization, said.

The competition will invite over 100 athletes to compete in over seven different classes, including women’s shape, women’s figure, men and women classic, standard and beach body for amateurs, and men’s pro classic and women’s shape for professional status.

“The goal for me this year in 2022 is to get my pro card. If it’s not this show, I’ll do another one and then I want to go for that Altus to win the cash and the prizes they were talking about,” Stephanie Barton, a competitor in The Natty Nights Bodybuilding show, said.

Barton stepped into the gym to embark on her journey of becoming a bodybuilder two years ago.

“I went through some tough times and wasn’t as strong emotionally as I should have been as a young adult woman, so you start to think about what can I do to pick myself up,” Barton said.

To prepare for next week’s competition, Barton is spending six days a week in the gym alongside Crystal Bragg, who will also be a judge in the show.

“You’re tired and you’re doing your fasting cardio. You’ve manipulated your macros to be the leanest you can be and you’re doing those last-minute finishing touches for your suit. It’s fun, everybody gets super nervous but I’m like when is it my turn to get on stage,” Barton said.

“The thing about competing is it is hard, it takes sacrifices, it takes discipline, but everybody that steps on our stages has a story,” Bragg said.

Barton said one of her biggest sacrifices has been spending time away from her family who call her a rock star.

“I think that people don’t realize the inner strength that they have. They don’t give themselves a chance and they have these negative talks with themselves, ‘oh I can’t do that,’ but guess what, you can do it,” Barton said.

Bragg said they also want to use this opportunity to help other local businesses that will be at the MPEC next Saturday as vendors.

All interested athletes have until March 4 to register, and for more information on The Natty Nights Bodybuilding Show, visit their website.

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