Mina Mitsuoka: a Profile

Every once in a while a bodybuilder comes along who is such a perfect blend of beauty and muscularity, she makes it look easy. Seeing her for the first time on the forums, I, like many others, was impressed by her jaw-dropping good looks and obvious strength. After getting to know her a bit, even more striking is Mina’s strength of character, good heart, and determination. She is taking it all in stride, and making bodybuilding a part of her life.

Mina Mitsuoka was born in Torrance, CA in 1985 and moved to Bellevue, WA at age six where she has lived most of her life. The child of Japanese parents, a teacher mother and entrepreneur father, she also has a “little bro” who is 5’10”. Mina was into athletics from an early age, going for gymnastics in elementary school and continuing on to varsity gymnastics, volleyball, and pole vaulting in high school. A self-described “perfectionist” in high school, she was involved in key club, National Honor Society, student government and even took voice lessons.

However, it was a skateboarding accident which indirectly led to her bodybuilding. Jumping off the skateboard too early at age 18, she suffered a severe ankle sprain with partial tearing of the ligaments. Poor healing and further injuries led to physical therapy in the gym and lifting weights. After training a bit, Mina saw results which surprised her. “One day I looked in the mirror after training, flexed my bicep, and saw changes”, she says. “I had been skinny, and although I had seen the usual before and after pics in the magazines, it was amazing to see that I could change my body like that.”

Originally attending the University of California at Los Angeles in part because of opportunities for surfing, she soon developed a single-minded determination for bodybuilding. Mina eschewed the usual party and drinking scene, and focused on her training, classes, and close circle of friends. She was also a personal trainer in the UCLA recreation department.

Returning home to Bellevue for the summer, the trainers at her local gym saw her potential and encouraged Mina to enter her first show. After 16 weeks of preparation, she entered the 2004 Northern Gold’s Classic, where at 120 lbs. she placed 3rd in the teen division. “I performed all the time in front of people for gymnastics, so posing in front of an audience came naturally”. Back at UCLA, she continued to pack on the size, and from entering college in 2003 at 117 lbs, to graduation in 2007 at 155 lbs, she had gained roughly 10 lbs of muscle per year.

Back home after graduation, she continues to pursue the bodybuilding lifestyle. In a typical day, she wakes at 7am, runs with her Staffy terrier Blaze, goes to class and helps run her father’s business. Then it is off to the gym. “The training is fun, the cardio can be annoying sometimes, but the hardest part is the diet”, Mina says. Eating oatmeal, chicken, and whey protein six times a day and training five days a week with one bodypart per day is not easy, but this is what she likes about bodybulding. “It is a healthy hobby which takes discipline and dedication. How you look on the outside speaks a lot about your character.” As for current role models in bodybuilding, she lists Britt Miller and Cindy Phillips.

Her strongest bodyparts are her back and traps, which enable her to pull some serious weight in the gym. For example she can do bent over rows with 225 lbs, dumbbell rows with 120 lbs, and T-bar rows with five plates. She can bicep curl 40 lbs for reps and bench press 165 lbs. Prizing symmetry above mass, she says, “I’d rather be mobile than ‘stuck’ with muscle”, and she is working to bring her legs more in line with her upper body. “I almost have a body dysmorphic disorder, always wanting my calves bigger”, she laughs. However, she is all natural, and plans to stay that way.

It may be surprising to most readers, but Mina says that society is still judgemental about her muscular physique and her friends and family still pressure her to be skinny and reflect a more conventional ideal of beauty. However, she enjoys being different and unique and says, “my skateboarding and surfing are activities that show why I would be interested in bodybuilding."

Next up for Mina is the Northern Classic in September 2007, and an upcoming DVD. After that, she will focus on optometry school, setting up a practice, and then her training. “I will always do bodybuilding, but I am moving towards a more balanced life right now.”

Thanks so much for the interview Mina, and may you reach all your goals in life!

(Photo courtesy of Mina Mitsuoka and James Cook)