Mariana Fernandes is a born and raised New Jersey girl, but this IFBB Pro athlete has tropical Brazilian blood running through her veins. Ever since Mariana was very young she has always been very active and attracted to this kind of lifestyle. At the age of 8, she became a part of a local dance company and pursued ballet, modern, jazz for the following 10 years of her life. However, when she got to Rutgers University she put her dancing aside and began focusing on her studies where she earned her degree in Psychology and a double minor in Public Health and Women & Gender Studies.

Nevertheless, in order to stay fit, she joined a local gym and began exploring different ways of staying in shape. At first, as any typical rookie to the gym, Mariana was completely intimated by the endless sea of equipment, which caused her to only stick to her comfort zone of treadmills and ellipticals. But with time she began exploring weight training and preparing for 5k races and obstacle challenges. When she began to realize how she was able to shape and mold her body to her liking she wanted to push herself even further. This was when she reached out to Bombshell Fitness and began preparing for her first NPC show. 

February 2014 marked that date she first began to seriously prepare for her first NPC Show. From the moment she stepped on stage she knew she had found her calling and completely fell in love with the sport. Mariana pushed herself not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well making her grow in ways she had never expected. Her first show was in April 2014 and by her 5th show on July 2014 she was on the NPC National stage and earned her IFBB Pro Card as well as taking the title of Overall Bikini Champion.

Mariana is determined to continuously push her limits to see how far she can go. Her heart is all about fitness, having fun, and being adventurous. She loves to be able to inspire others and the biggest compliment she can receive is when someone tells her that she was the one that caused them to change their lives for the better.

References

Mariana’s Facebook