City councilmember and businesswoman Erika Phillips, who somehow manages to find the time for a career as a bodybuilder, captured her first professional title last week at the Toronto Pro Supershow.
The victory provided Phillips, who earned International Federation of Bodybuilding pro status with a 2021 victory in Pittsburgh, a berth in the Masters Olympia in Tokyo Aug. 9-10.
“I’m super excited,” said Phillips, the owner of Fit Kitchen in downtown Turlock, who won the District 4 council seat last November. “I really can’t believe it. It hasn’t fully hit me yet. I’m going to take my parents — Sam and Livudina Moreno — to Tokyo with me. For them, it’ll be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
With the Tokyo show less than eight weeks away, Phillips will have just enough time for a dish of ice cream before resuming intensive workouts with husband and trainer Mike Phillips, himself a bodybuilder working to earn his IFBB pro card.
“Typically, I start prepping about 16 to 20 weeks before a show,” said Phillips, who narrowly missed earning pro status last year with a second-place finish in Reno. “But I have to get right back to it. I have to focus on my cardio and my nutrition and get everything down to a T.”
Phillips works out six days per week, rising at 3 a.m. each morning to get on the treadmill or the stairs for about 45 minutes. In the afternoon, she’ll visit Lifted Fitness to work out with Sabrina Polous for about an hour.
Each day is devoted to an individual body part. On Monday she works her quadriceps, and on Tuesday she works her back. Wednesdays are for hamstrings, while Thursdays are for shoulders. On Friday she’ll work her glutes, and on Saturday she focuses on a back/shoulder combo.
Arms and chest don’t get individual attention; Phillips said arms get enough work on back and shoulder days.
Phillips competes in the Figure division, which focuses more on an athletic physique, rather than on mass.
“It’s crazy to say, but I enjoy it,” said the 5-foot-8 Phillips, who competes at 155 pounds and weighs just over 170 during the offseason. “I dig deep and do what I have to do to get the job done. You just have to embrace the suck. But I really love the sport.”
Phillips was a self-described tomboy growing up, playing softball in elementary school and middle school. During her days at Modesto’s Johansen High School, she was a sprinter on the track team.
But after her athletic career ended, her weight sailed to 175.
“Me being tall, I kind of carried the weight well,” said Phillips. “I weighed about 175, which is not much more than my off-season weight, but it was a soft 175. Bodybuilding changed my life. Really, it kind of saved my life.”
