Pawtucket’s Venagro wins title
32-year-old claims World Miss Fitness America Pro Division in Las Vegas
It’s unusual, for sure, but Stacie Venagro admitted to being both calm and nervous when she took to the stage in Las Vegas for her mammoth performance on Friday night.
The 32-year-old Pawtucket native stated she felt confident in her abilities when she flew out of Warwick early Thursday morning to compete in the World Miss Fitness America Championships’ Pro Division because it was nothing new to her.
After all, she had claimed the same or similar titles in 2012, ‘13 and ‘14.
Venagro, however, experienced some nervous butterflies because she had missed the last two annual competitions, spending them on the sidelines as a coach.
The reason: Exactly 13 months after win- ning the prestigious Miss Fitness Universe crown in Miami, Fla. in June 2014, she became pregnant with her now bouncing baby boy Aidan, who was born on March 25, 2016.
The 2003 Davies Tech graduate indicated before she traveled to the event that she wanted to prove to new mothers everywhere that they could return to peak physical fitness after childbirth just by making “working out and your nutrition a non-negotiable part of your schedule.”
Venagro actually achieved that goal and more late Friday, capturing the 2017 World Miss Fitness America Pro Division crown for the third time in four years (the ‘12 version came in the Amateur category).
During the competition, which included a two-minute fitness routine, a bikini round and an interview session, she outdueled eight other contestants hailing from Serbia, South Korea, Russia and Germany, not to mention Minnesota, North Carolina, Minnesota and California.
Yes! The Ocean Stater had captured her fourth national championship.
“When Aaron announced the runner-up, and it wasn’t me, my heart dropped! My first thought was, ‘I did it again.’”
– Pawtucket’s Stacie Venagro
“I will say I was kind of miffed because the show started two-and-a-half hours late due to technical issues; that was a royal pain,” she said, shaking her head. “The delay raised havoc with our eating schedules and warm-up times. At one point, one of my calves was cramping up really bad because I was dehydrated, so my coach went out and found me a banana.
“When the host (Aaron Zambrano) called out the top five finalists after the bikini phase, which is designed to show the body’s symmetry, and I was one of them, I was honored to be back in that spot again. It was a hard competition because all the girls are really good.
“The top five went through an interview round, and then they announced the fourth, third and second runner-ups,” she added. “When Aaron announced the runner-up, and it wasn’t me, my heart dropped. My first thought was, ‘I did it again.’ My second: I thought about all the support I had from back home – my husband (Mike), Aidan, my inlaws, my clients, friends and other family members.
“I have to thank them for allowing me to have the time to train.”
The trek was even sweeter for Venagro because, as a representative of Team Savage (the famed Cathy Savage Fitness contingent), she also choreographed the routines of four members competing in the amateur category.
Hardly a stunner, they finished first, second, third and fourth overall.
When asked if her competitors were jealous of her successful comeback, Venagro said, “No, because they knew after I had the baby I’d return to compete. It’s not that type of sport. We all get along and support each other, cheer each other on. We lift each other up (emotionally, spiritually).
“After my son was born, I took six weeks off; that’s what my doctor told me to do, and I followed that order to a T,” she continued. “It was hard on me because I’m always on the go. I just can’t sit still, but I had to do.
“I got pregnant in July of 2015, and I knew I’d get back to all this because I had only been a part of the fitness world for a couple of years, and girls in that world have been in it for seven-plus years. I wasn’t bummed I had to take a hiatus; I was thrilled. I was going to have a baby and this is life. Mike and I had an agreement; if it happened, it happened, and did, so I was ecstatic.”
Venagro explained she returned to working out (and providing fitness and nutrition workouts to clients of Stacie Venagro Fitness, 161 Macklin St., Cranston) in early May 2016 with light weight training three times a week a bit of cardio.
“I built it up each month after that by listening to my body, and also eating intelligently; a lot of this is nutrition based,” she said. “All the things I did in my routine require power. It consisted of two minutes of showcasing her strength, acrobatic and gymnastic moves, flexibility, conditioning and quickness.”
(She did all of that to – not surprisingly – the Wonder Woman movie theme and other like tunes).
“I thought I did pretty well; I actually jumped off the stage at the end, and people were cheering. It was amazing!” she offered. “I’m a national champion four times over; that hasn’t really hit me yet.
“I flew back home (Sunday) and landed at T.F. Green at 5 (p.m.),” she grinned. “My mom picked me up and gave me a hug, and I went right home. I wanted to give Aidan a hug, too.”
Before she left for Nevada, her last client on Wednesday night gave her a bottle of her favorite white wine to celebrate if she won. She must have been clairvoyant.
“My husband and I had a few glasses (Sunday) night, and he said he was proud of me,” she said. “He was so excited; he told me he knew I could do it. I can honestly say it wasn’t that difficult, trying to get back into shape, because it was my lifestyle before I got pregnant. I already had the base fitness, but I did have to be more disciplined.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Venagro’s story, or becoming one of her students, e-mail her at slvenagro@gmail.com.