Michele is a national level light heavy weight bodybuilder. She last competed at Junior North Americans. The pictures I am sending were taken just after the 2005 Oklahoma Championships which she won. She has been training since 1991. It was at that time that Michele was training for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in Tae Kwon Do when she was injured. This injury kept her out of the Olympics but started her on a brilliant bodybuilding career. She went to the gym to rehabilitate her injury and fell in love with working out and building muscle.

Michele is a very accomplished martial artist. She holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a brown belt in Judo.

Professionally Michele is a doctor and she practices both in the areas of internal medicine and sports medicine. Additionally she is certified as a naturopath. It is her intention to find a way to heal using every available method.

Michele has a very busy schedule with her training and her practice of medicine. Both disciplines can take full time attention. Michele has said she would miss sleep rather than miss a work out. Her dedication, discipline and attention has really show in the development of her physique.

When asked what she likes about bodybuilding she said it was the people she has met in the sport. She feels it is like family the way the competitors all pull together and help each other. Also she likes the positive reaction she gets to her look and physique from others.

Michele lives in Oklahoma and is currently training for her next national contest.

An interview with Michele:

Where and when were you born? I was born in St Paul Minnesota. I was adopted and located my birth parents in 1995 that are still married and I have two other sisters.

What is your profession? I am an Internal medicine physician, with a subspecialty in Sports Medicine. I am also a naturopathic physician-I treat soft tissue pain and dysfunction with multiple modalities including acupuncture.

Were you involved in sports or fitness prior to bodybuilding and how did you get started with weight training? I was involved in many sports my favorite of which was Taekwondo. I injured my left knee which ended my career in the arts and began my interest and lust for bodybuilding.

Was it a goal for you to compete in bodybuilding competitions right from the beginning or was it something that grew in your mind as time went on and you saw the progress in your body? I was a competitive athlete in the arts and very hard core. When I got hurt I was not ready to quit competing and delved very heavily into the body building sport to swallow up my thirst for competition.

Can you give me your competition history? Not off of the top of my head other than the past couple of years.
2005 Ms Oklahoma overall and 1st in the heavy weight division.
Junior Nationals- 4th Light Heavy weight
2002 1st Place in the female heavy weight at the Oklahoma
2006 NPC USA 2nd Place in the heavy weight division
2006 NPC North Americans 3rd in the Heavy weight division
2007 NPC Oklahoma and Central Classics 1st Heavy weight and Overall

My first competition 1991 I was disqualified for doing the moon pose. I should not have been on stage any way. I still had a martial arts type of physique. I looked kind of like a dart.

Which contest has been your biggest success; which has had the most meaning to you? Junior Nationals was the one that had the biggest meaning for me. I swore I would never do a national level show. I have a very awesome personal trainer that convinced me that I was national level material. When I got there, my muscle quality was too much and I was penalized for being too ripped. I thought that was the point of bodybuilding. No matter how much I get punished I am not going to change my look. I do not want to be 20 % softer. I have worked years to get rid of the plush hind end.

Please tell me something about your training routine (ie: how many days per week / training split /cardio, etc.). My training routine is never the same. It varies week to week. I also put in a lot of Vinyasa yoga which adds flexibility to power.
Sunday –Legs (quads and hams), calves
Monday- Chest, biceps, side delts, abs
Tuesday- off
Wednesday-Legs (quads and ham pick up), calves
Thursday- Back and triceps, abs
Friday- full shoulders/traps
Saturday – off (abs)
Cardiovascular- at least 30 minutes each training day
This year I pulled in the reigns on cardio and maximized the time spent. With this approach things grew like crazy.

What is your favorite exercise in the gym and which one you don’t like so much? My favorite exercise is squatting- STILL after all these years.I really despise deltoids because they burn like fire. Maybe that is why they have a tendency to be my weaker link. They are shining now though

Which body part is your best in your opinion? My back out ranks all of my body parts. It just gets shredded. My legs have caught up in the past year though.

If you don’t mind would you give me some stats (best lifts and some body measurements)? Ripped: Quads 24, biceps 15, calves 15, waist 27

What do you enjoy about training for competition....what do you enjoy about the 'off season'? I love to train for Showtime because it inspires my personal best and always uncovers things about myself that I did not know. The off season is tough for me because I don’t like to carry around the extra weight. I do however like to indulge every once in a while (sometimes quite frequently).

Please describe a typical day in the life of Dr. Michele Neil. I work like a dog because I love what I do and enjoy helping people be the best that they can be both physically and mentally. When I finish at work the gym is my next stop. I would rather not sleep than not train.

Please tell me about what you do when you don’t work out (hobbies, what do you do to relax?, etc.)
My friends and family will get my spare time. Every person that is in my life brings different qualities and we never lack for adventures.
I love to travel and explore the unknown.
I like to volunteer for projects that I have no idea about.

What do you enjoy most about the bodybuilding/fitness lifestyle? I enjoy the self gratification about feeling good all of the time not just some of the time. The fact that I can’t wait to get out of bed and simply seize the day makes me enjoy the fitness/bodybuilding lifestyle even more.

Tell me something interesting about yourself, something people may be surprised to hear. I lived in my car for a period of time in my life because I was so poor I could not afford a home. I know what it is like to do without and pull the bits and pieces together to build a house with a solid foundation.

What are your competition goals or personal future goals? At Least two shows per year…

Latest news:
Michele won the 2007 NPC Oklahoma Bodybuilding Championships

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