Melissa and Shae Usher recently achieved a monumental life goal in Toronto at the 2023 Canadian Physique Alliance (CPA) Pro Qualifier — they both won their overall category and earned their IFBB Pro Cards.
The International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) is the most prestigious bodybuilding organization in the world. It hosts many competitions for professional bodybuilders, such as the Mr. Olympia and the Arnold Classic. To compete in these events, a bodybuilder must have an IFBB Pro card, a symbol of elite status and achievement that only a small percentage of amateurs in the sport will ever achieve.
“This is going back to when I was 12 years old and I decided I wanted to be a professional athlete,” Shae Usher told the Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com. “I never thought it would be in bodybuilding.”
Getting an IFBB Pro card is not easy. It requires years of discipline encompassing not just lifting weights and cardio, but careful targeting of body proportions for the category the bodybuilder competes in — and a commitment to an often-torturous dieting routine.
A bodybuilder must first place in a regional event in his or her weight class, which will qualify them for national championship tournaments like the one in Toronto. The Ushers have both won multiple amateur contests, beginning with the Saskatchewan Classic in 2019, allowing them to register for pro qualifying events.
“When I won the Sask Classic, I realized from my coaching people that an IFBB Pro Card was a real option,” Shae explained. “So, I continued to push and push for that goal.”
Melissa Usher won her Pro Card by taking top spot in the 35+ Masters Figure category, and Shae won his in the Masters 40+ Men’s Classic Physique category.
“We don’t have to compete yearly to qualify for shows anymore, we don’t have to pay to get into shows, we can just choose the shows we want, anywhere in the world, and we’ll get paid when we win,” Shae said. “The new goal is obviously to make it to the Mr. Olympia, which is the world series of bodybuilding, for the best of the best. You have to win a pro show to qualify for that.”
“Now we’ve broken into the pro circuit, we’re basically starting over at the bottom, but getting into the pro circuit is such a big deal,” Melissa commented. “We’re 40 years old, so it kind of shows people that age is just a number and doesn’t define what you can do in life. A lot of people use that as an excuse not to be in shape, so part of this is that we’ve really motivated a lot of our own clients to work even harder.”
The Ushers both have fulltime jobs, and are parents to five children. They train at Ironwood and Snap Fitness and have an online business as diet and exercise coaches.
Training and prepping for shows often means drastic weight cutting — Shae lost 60 pounds preparing for Toronto — and hours of exercise every day. It means a lot of meal prepping and taking those meals along everywhere they go, because bodybuilders have to eat every three hours or so to keep their metabolism as active as possible.
“We’re going to take some time now to celebrate becoming pro athletes,” Shae said. “We’re going to enjoy some regular things we haven’t had a chance at in the last four years, like camping, going to Sidewalk Days, taking the kids to the Fair, stuff like that. And mentally recovering, because it’s so taxing to do this sport.”
“For me, when I finish my prep and get on stage, I’ve already achieved what I set out to do,” Melissa said. “I never really focused on winning, so that made it all the better in Toronto when I realized, like, holy, I’m in the running for two Pro Cards right now.
“That was huge, too, standing beside women who were half my age, don’t have children, lots of factors. I was really happy with the way I looked, it was the best I’ve ever come into a show, so I was pretty confident I would do well, but I just feel blessed that I made it to the top and I’m still kind of absorbing it.
“It is emotionally taxing, it’s physically taxing, it isn’t for everyone, that’s for sure. But it was 100 per cent worth it in my mind.”
