Monica Brant

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Personal Info
Monica Brant

Nickname	Mo
Birth	October 26, 1970 (1970-10-26) (age 37), Ft. Hood, Texas
Height	5' 4"
Weight	(In Season): 127-130 lbs. (Off-Season):138-142 lbs.
Professional Career
Pro-debut	1991 Fitness USA Preliminary, 1991
Best win	1995 Jan Tana Pro Fitness Champion 1998 Ms. Fitness Olympia Champion, Best year (1995) and (1998)
Predecessor	Carol Semple-Marzetta
Successor	Mary Yockey
Active	since 1991

Monica Brant (born October 26, 1970) is an IFBB professional figure competitor and a former fitness competitor. She is well-known for competing in and becoming the 1998 Ms. Jan Tana Pro Fitness Champion and 1998 Ms. Fitness Olympia Champion.

1 Biography
2 Vital Stats
3 Bodybuilding philosophy
4 Contest history
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Originally born in Ft. Hood, Texas and raised on a 20 acre ranch in a small town outside of San Antonio called Castroville. Her mother is a professional horse training business and Monica started learning how to help her around the stables, riding and showing ponies and horses since the age of 5. By the time she was 14, she was giving riding lessons and training horses on her own with occasional advice from her mom. Along with volleyball and track in high school, she competed in many events: Western Pleasure, barrels and pole bending, English Pleasure, dressage, and Hunter/Jumper.

After Monica graduated, her love of horses took her to a fine arts college in Fulton, MO, where she studied basics and equestrian science for her first year. Unable to return for further studies in Missouri, Brant took classes at San Antonio College in Texas, and gave riding lessons at nearby stables. She also did promotional work for Budweiser, waitressed, and competed in bikini contests for extra funds.

In 1991, Monica started lifting weights with a friend and saw a photo of Marla Duncan winning a national competition. Her beauty and physique impressed her enough that she wanted to try what she was doing - Fitness Competitions. Up until 1995 she only competed for fun, not as a money making career. In 1994 she was honored with a Muscle & Fitness cover. This helped Monica realize that she had potential to earn some actual money in the fitness industry. She kept competing and in April of '95 moved to the Los Angeles area. Once she arrived, Brant dove into what would become her career and competed in the IFBB organization two to three times per year.

After competing four times, in 1998, she won her first and only Fitness Olympia and made number 45 on covers of magazines, books, and calendars worldwide. Brant says that she had a wonderful time traveling across the country and internationally, and have met some really incredible people everywhere. After placing second twice after her 1998 victory, Monica retired from fitness competition citing the demand on gymnastics in order to win were too great for her.

Monica Brant had lasik surgery performed by Dr. Glenn Kawesch.

Monica returned to competition in 2003 with the announcement that figure competition would be part of the sport of bodybuilding. After placing 3rd at the 2006 Figure Olympia, Brant decided to take a break from other competitions and focus on the 2007 Olympia. Unfortunately, Monica did not place in the 2007 Figure Olympia competition, despite the fact that she came in as lean as ever. This obvious oversight by the judges is predicted to catapult her career. Monica has a huge fan-base and has marketed her name exceptionally well. Her results speak for themselves, win or no win.

Monica has been a spokeswoman for BSN Supplements since 2005.

[edit] Vital Stats

Full Name: Monica Brant-Peckham
Birthday: October 26
Place of Birth: Ft. Hood, Texas
Current state of Residence: Texas
Occupation: Fitness competitor, Figure competitor, personal trainer, and fitness model.
Marital Status: Married.
Height: 5'4"
Weight (In Season): 127-130 lbs. (Off-Season):135-140 lbs.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Blonde (recently turned brown with blonde highlights)

[edit] Bodybuilding philosophy

Brant's training consists of simple compound movements with mostly free weights (she rarely uses cable exercises); she also rarely uses machines. She focuses on her shoulders, back, and legs when it comes to weight training and limits the time on training her chest and arms. She typically trains between 4 and 6 days a week in the off-season. She recently now only trains her back and shoulders in order to bring more balance between her upper body and lower body which is her strong point.