IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Brittany Pienta discusses her triumph at Nationals and how she combines Nanovi® and Cryotherapy to win at recovery too.
“I’m working out harder than ever before now because I am not so broken down, the strength has increased; the intensity has gone up – everything that I need to be in top shape has just improved dramatically since I started using NanoVi.”-Brittany Pienta
Brittany Pienta won her pro card at the National Physique Committee (NPC) Nationals and gracefully ascended to International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) Pro status. NPC Nationals is the qualifying competition for entry into Pro Bodybuilding and status as an IFBB pro. This is the highest most selective rank among professional bodybuilders, enabling them to compete in the top shows. Brittany has earned her spot in a field where men in a field where men have often claimed more attention.
IFBB Bodybuilding Pro Brittany Pienta is a Standout Onstage
Brittany’s success comes from a life’s dedication to athleticism. She also credits the support of her loved ones and her Cryo recovery center, Glacé Chattanooga. It was here that Brittany was introduced to a new recovery technology, NanoVi, that she knew immediately made a critical difference in her ability to recover. In addition to needing to recover in order to train even harder, competitive bodybuilders endure the stress of transforming their bodies. When they “bulk up”, they attempt to gain as much mass and muscle as possible. Bulking up is followed by pre-competition “cutting” when fat is lost while maintaining muscle mass. This is why bodybuilders look so sculpted on stage as they flex and pose in front of fans and judges. The bulk-up and cutting process involves both physical and mental dedication and stamina—and strains the body. It’s not for the weak. Recovery is what allows bodybuilders to pull off these superhuman efforts.
In the conversation that follows, Brittany reflects on the invincible recovery combination of NanoVi and cryo as well as what inspired her to take up bodybuilding—and what the future may hold:
How are you feeling about your triumph at Nationals?
Brittany Pienta: I don’t know if it has hit me yet. It’s still feels kind of weird to say I am an IFBB Pro. To give you a little bit of background…My dad was a competitive bodybuilder. He didn’t make it to the Pro level, but I grew up in a bodybuilding family on bodybuilding foods, so bodybuilding worked really well for me. When I was growing up, I was a gymnast first, and then I ran track and was a competitive cheerleader during high school. After that, I needed something else and I wanted to go beyond the collegiate level. I came to my dad with “What do I do next? and he said, “Why don’t you try bodybuilding” So, I went in with him and I just kind of took it, ran with it and here we are. Essentially my whole life up until now has been training. In the last five years, I have really been buckling down and doing what I needed to do. Especially this past year, my coach has pushed me harder than he has ever pushed me before and it has paid off.
Yes! So you mentioned that you really stepped up your training in the past year in preparation for the IFBB Pro challenge and sounds like it made the difference… can you be more specific about what this supercharged training entailed?
Brittany: This year I focused on adding as much muscle as I could before we had to start cutting down the fat, so I would say a good amount of time was spent just staying on my diet and doing what I needed to do training-wise. My recovery was super important because I would have really-really tough workouts, and I would just be so sore. I’d wake up and feel like I had been hit by a bus. So, usually, I would say alright, I need to get to Glacé because I’m going to have an even harder workout tomorrow. I would do full body cryo, and then I would do the NanoVi. With NanoVi, I just felt the biggest difference in my soreness level. For example, lift days are the toughest days for me. Usually, I can’t walk the next couple of days, but if I go and do a NanoVi session, the next day I wake up and I am only a little bit stiff. At first, I questioned my workout, “Am I pushing myself enough if I’m not that sore and my body isn’t hating me. Did I slack at all? What’s going on?” but that just goes to show how great NanoVi is. I recognized NanoVi definitely speeds up recovery.
Are you able to work out harder now because you are not feeling as sore?
Brittany: Oh, my gosh! Yeah, I’m working out harder than ever before now because I am not so broken down, the strength has increased, the intensity has gone up – everything that I need to be in the top shape has just improved dramatically since I started using NanoVi. I was doing cryo and making sure I did the NanoVi at least three times a week leading into that show. I was feeling fantastic. After that show, we kind of flipped the switch on the amount of training I was doing, just more of it, and I felt so weak. All my energy was dedicated to training. Glacé Chattanooga is about a 45-minute drive from where I am, so the commute was tough. Driving three times a week was worth it because it helps that much, but I unfortunately got to the point where I just couldn’t get myself to drive the hour down there to do it three times a week. With NanoVi three times a week versus the way that I felt with NanoVi less often was dramatic. I told my fiancé, I need one of these in the house. I don’t know what needs to happen, but I need to be doing NanoVi more because when I was doing it more often, I felt so much more refreshed on stage.
Speeding Recovery with NanoVi and Cryo time at Glacé Chattanooga
Maybe Glace Chattanooga needs to open another center next to you! Did you always combine cryo and the NanoVi? It sounds like you were doing cryo first and it was very helpful with your recovery, but then you added the NanoVi, so you were able to isolate what benefits were from the NanoVi?
Brittany: Yeah, I have always done the whole body cryo, and sometimes I would only have 15 minutes or so to run in quick, jump in the chamber and head out again. Then Amy Lokken, who owns Glace Chattanooga, suggested “Why don’t you try NanoVi?” and I was like “What’s that?” She explained the recovery and improved cellular repair and everything, and so I gave it a try. The first time I did NanoVi I was knocked out within 10 minutes. I needed the rest I guess. I don’t know. I just passed out. When I woke up after using it for 30 minutes, I honestly felt like I had a six-hour power nap and was just ready to go.
Brittany: I let the Celluma do its thing while I am doing the NanoVi
Wow! Since then have you noticed any differences in your normal sleep patterns?
Brittany: I am glad you asked! So it is very common in pro bodybuilding, as you get closer to the show, you just can’t sleep because of the wear and tear on your body, your fat-burning and so many other things that are going on in your body; you’re in machine mode and y our your body is just constantly in process, so you just can’t sleep. You’re staring at the ceiling. In my past shows that’s what happened. I would wake up in the middle of the night. I would be up at 3:00 am, 5:00 am doing cardio because I couldn’t sleep. So this time my coach asked me at the show, “How is your sleep–is it enough at night?” He was expecting me to say “Oh you know, I got in a couple of hours” but this time I said “No, I get a full eight hours and naps.” He looked at me like I was insane. At the time, I didn’t really think anything of it, and then after the Flex competition, I stopped doing NanoVi quite as regularly. I was leading in the Nationals, and I noticed my sleep quality started to decline because I wasn’t doing the NanoVi as much. Yeah, I do need to get Amy to open a center here where I am; it is a bit of a drive, but it is worth it because it works…
I know they are so proud of you at Glacé Chattanooga – you are a star.
Brittany: I love their staff too, all of them, so supportive. They are great people.
It seems like you are starting to have a pretty big fan following. Are you noticing little girls wanting to be like you?
Brittany: Yeah! it’s funny. One girl actually asked for my suit, but I politely declined because this particular suit means so much to me. You know I’m one of those people who tries to stay humble. I keep my head down. I just do the work and hope for the best. I participate in social media but I try not to get super hung up on all the crazy hype of it. After I became an IFFB pro, I was getting messages from people like “I have been following your journey–I think you are amazing” and I am like “Whoa! you have been watching and actually care.” It’s really neat. I love it when people say that I have inspired them to get into competing, and it’s really cool and shocking to see how many people follow me now on social media. It’s a very selfish sport, so it’s great knowing that other people are able to gain confidence and inspiration from something that I am doing for myself.
Brittany reveals what she’s made of —dedication
It’s a timely message for the world right now—women are strong; women can be so strong.
Brittany: : It’s true. I get messages from girls like “I wish I could do it or I wish I had your drive” and I say “What’s stopping you? If I can do it, you can do it.”
Did you look up to any bodybuilders when you started out, aside from your father?
Brittany: Nicole Wilkins, she won the Olympia title more than once which is a huge accomplishment in itself, but also she is beautiful; she has class on the stage – she is everything that I want to be, so she is the one. In the beginning, I was thinking I don’t want to be a really-really big jacked person; that’s not the look I want to have. Then I came to my dad who showed me Nicole Wilkins and I was like “Oh, my gosh, you can have muscle and beauty at the same time!” and after that I was sold, I was like “I want to be her!”
It’s wonderful how supportive your dad has been. He didn’t hesitate to encourage you to surpass his own bodybuilding accomplishments…
Brittany: Yeah, he is great and it’s funny now, he took a break for a time and now that I am an IFBB Pro, he is saying maybe he’ll have a chance at Master’s Pro, so it’s kind of cool how he was able to turn me onto it and now I am motivating him.
And who else do you look up to who’s competing?
Brittany: Melissa Bumstead is the one I am a super fangirl of and they have a family affair going on too because her brother and husband are Olympian athletes as well. They are just genetically blessed, so amazing.
So what happens next for you?
Brittany: How it works after this is you just kind of pick whatever show you want to be your IFBB Pro debut and jump in to see how you fall. I need time to grow and improve in some areas that were lagging, before I can comfortably compete with those pros.
Well it’s exciting that you are at this point in your upward trajectory, and that NanoVi will be helping you prepare for this and future shows.
Brittany: Thank you. I am a zero or 100% type of person. It is very rare that is any grey area with me, so if I like something I want to tell everybody about it. I am 110% on the NanoVi. I am telling everyone you have got to have it. My fiancée is a bodybuilder too and he is about to start getting ready for a show and I told him you need to put this into your plan. We can go in together. So really whenever anyone asks what they can be doing to help them recover from anything, one of my first suggestions is NanoVi. I am like, just hear me out, you need to go do NanoVi.
You can keep up with Brittany on Instagram @bpienta and Eng3 will be sure to be informing everyone of her upcoming shows and successes too. Go Brittany!
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