Cedar Rapids firefighter tests strength in competitive body building

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids firefighter Mick Wightman has been putting his strength to the test outside of his work, competing in bodybuilding competitions across the country.

In October, Wightman won first place in the men’s 50-plus division in a world championship bodybuilding competition hosted by International Pro Elite in Liberty, Mo.

A Gazette reporter recently talked with him about his bodybuilding training and how he fits it into his life as a firefighter.

Q: How did you first get involved in bodybuilding?

A: I started working out as a young kid, like 13 or 14, and went through stages, like power lifting stuff, and I got into CrossFit and triathlons. I did a whole bunch of different types of training. Then in my later 40s … starting during COVID, I had a bunch of equipment in my garage, and I just started training at home instead, because the gyms were closed. I decided to go on a weight loss thing.

I had a goal, and then when I got to my goal, I knew I had a couple more months before a natural bodybuilding show in Des Moines, an amateur show. So, I just put my name in there, just to do it, because I always thought, “let's try it.” Then I got a pro card … in the organization. A lot of organizations have natural amateur competitions, and then if it qualifies you, you can win a pro card. So, now I can go to events and win money and stuff like that.

Q: What was the process to qualify for the International Pro Elite competition in October?

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A: Actually, I qualified for it the year before. I qualified for it in ‘23. I was going to do a masters show, exclusively for masters (competitors age 40 or older) only, that was going to be in Memphis. … They canceled it about halfway through my prep, and I'd already lost half the weight, so I signed up to do a show in Minneapolis that was an open show, which means it's all ages, so I was up there against guys 20 to 30 years younger than me.

That qualified me to do the world championships last year … but they didn't have masters available, so I ended up competing against some of the best people in the world that were 20 to 30 years younger than me. … I wasn't going to compete this year, but they added a masters category for the first time for that same show in … Liberty, Mo. So, I signed up for that just so I could go up against people that are my age group.

Q: Tell me about your training schedule. How do you balance bodybuilder training with your firefighting training?

A: Sometimes I have to look and see what we're doing at the fire department, as far as a training. I can't predict what's going to happen, obviously, with emergency calls, or 911, or being up all night, but I can look ahead at the training schedules. Then I try to work my training schedule at the gym around that. I typically try to work every body part about twice a week or every six to eight days.

Sometimes I have to train a different style because of the job, but you can't really get all caught up in that. Sometimes I just have to do it a little bit different in order to get the same frequency of training that I want to get. Sometimes the intensity has to change a little bit because I didn't get as much rest, so I go a little bit lighter on certain days. There definitely has to be a flexibility there, but that's OK, because there's way more than one way to build muscle.

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Q: What are the similarities and differences between the strength requirements to be a firefighter versus what you have to train for bodybuilding?

A: It's not a functional style of fitness, with bodybuilding, but I've done a lot of functional stuff in the past. I did some CrossFit. I played rugby for years. I did triathlon training. I do yoga. … Some people who do bodybuilding are not into a wide array of things, or they never were, so they don't have the flexibility. But in my job, you're going to have to have that core strength, and you're going to have to have flexibility and that range of motion and cardiovascular ability. I feel like I train that way. It's a little bit more of a crossover, I guess.

Right now, it's more of a matter of staying injury-free and working those muscles without getting injured, and continuing to build certain areas. You're working specific muscle groups when you're doing bodybuilding. You're trying to be a little bit more precise, whereas in the other types of training, you just work your whole body. But it definitely crosses over to my job, where I have to have a certain amount of strength to lift, or to carry, or to put something overhead.

Q: How long have you been a firefighter with Cedar Rapids?

A: It's just over 25 years.

Q: Was this your first firefighting position?

A: This is my first firefighting position. I graduated from (the University of Northern Iowa) in ‘92 and I managed a Gold’s Gym in the mid-90s in Omaha, and then came back to Waterloo and Cedar Falls, where I was from. Then I went to paramedic school, I think in ‘98, at the University of Iowa, and then started a different career. I started to work on an ambulance for a little while in Cedar Falls, and then got hired in Cedar Rapids in ‘99.

Q: What inspired you to make the career shift to paramedics and firefighting?

A: I have a business management degree, but I went and tested with police. I think it was Marion. It was a long time ago. I didn't get that, and then I started doing the fitness stuff, as management, and I enjoyed working with people to make them healthier and more fit. I guess the difference between that and emergency medicine is you're going to help somebody immediately. Fitness is usually a long haul, consistent kind of thing, whereas you go to a … call where you can help someone right now. It was always just something I wanted to do, where I help people. So, I went to paramedic school first, and then the fire department was just natural progression.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com