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Design on Body Building
Don't ask Cyndi James why any female would want to be a body builder. "I'm not just any female," she'll say, and boy is she right. Even once you get past the imposing 5-foot-2, 125 pound frame, it's blatantly obvious that she's not someone who's going to be told what to do. Not even by the doctors who told her she would never walk again when a fall from uneven bars left her partially paralyzed. The accident is not something on which James likes to focus, however. "It's a bad memory," she said. "And I have too many good things going on in my life."
This attitude didn't come with the muscles; she's had it since she can remember. "My life has always been an adventure," James said. "I don't think about next week or month, I have to think about what's happening today, right now."
While she's only been a body builder for five years, she's been sewing since she made her first pin cushion when she was just 4 years old. "In the third grade I made my first quilt," James said. "By the time I was in the eight grade, it was all over with.." She's been designing and sewing costumes for the entertainment industry since 1980 when her father died and she took over his clientele. Her credits include working with Joe Piscopo and Danny DeVito in "Wise Guys", designing outfits for the Redd Foxx show, an HBO special with Rhonda Shear of "Up All Night" fame and recent stint on the Montel Williams Show.
The body-building seamstress is about to put to put another title under her cardillo, business owner. On Dec. 16 she opened her Unique Physique boutique at 901 E. Sample Road Ste. I in Pompano Beach. James started off designing and sewing posing suits worn by many of the body builders before she became one herself. .
Technically her first brush with the world of body building came in 1980 when she was 22, fresh out of Westchester State College and working as the Health Club director for what was then the Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. "My old gymnastics coach recommended me to Playboy," James said. "I guess he had some connections because I got the job." That was the same year Playboy held the first Mr. and Mrs. Olympia competition.
Since she renewed her interest in the sport in 1990, she's won quite a few titles including the Overall Gold's Classic, the New Jersey State title and the middleweight class at the Jan Tana amateur competition. "The one I a most proud of is winning the Masters Nationals in July of this year," James said.
James is quick to point out that bodybuilding is much more than just lifting weights, "It really is a science," she said. "You've got to know what you're doing. "A big part of this science is diet.
She is quick to give credit to her sponsors - Hugh Gantor, Chuck Dunn and Sun Fast Tanning - but the one person she gives the most credit to is her brother Cornelious. "He was my biggest inspiration," James said. "After my parents died he practically raised me by himself." So, with all her accomplishments what does she want to be remembered for? "For setting the trend," she said. "That a female can be a body builder and still be feminine."
Cyndi James
© 1999 C.J'S "Elite" All rights reserved