Meet Andi Wager
Andi has been involved in fitness competitions for over a decade. She has a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology, and is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. She is the owner of Andi-Fit Personal Training and Fitness Coaching and serves as the Pittsburgh area CSF ambassador. A former Health and Physical Education teacher, Andi uses her experience as an educator, to give our clients the knowledge they need to be successful, in a way that best fits their needs.
As a competitor, Andi has competed in over 30 shows, and has been a top 5 finalist in several national level competitions. She is a former Fitness America Pageant ESPN Series champion, and has placed 2nd at the Fitness Universe Pageant 3x, and 2nd at the Fitness America Pageant World Championships once. She has switched roles, and is now on the coaching side of fitness, but has left the door open to make a comeback sometime in the future.
Education: Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Pittsburgh Occupation: Andi-Fit Personal Training and Fitness Coaching Family: I am married to my best friend, Chad Wagner. We have one son, Nash, who was born on 10/19/05.
My Story: I guess you can say I am an old-timer in the fitness arena. I have been competing in Fitness America Pageants since 1999, and plan to continue as long as my body allows. I decided to enter my first competition after seeing it on ESPN. I had been a dancer from age 4 through college and fitness competitions seemed like a great way to continue performing and entertaining, which I love to do!
I entered a local competition, and took 3rd place. I was hooked immediately. However, back in those days, resources for fitness competitors were scarce! It was kind of trial and error with everything – diet, tanning, bikinis, etc. – no websites, dvds, or camps to guide us. That just made me work even harder, and in 2001 I finally made it into the Fitness America Pageant National finals. Since then, I have continued to improve my placings, with the highlights being an ESPN Series victory in 2002, and being the runner-up at the Fitness Unvierse in 2003. I did try my hand at the Bikini Universe in 2004, placing 3rd behind the beautiful Alicia Marie and Jennifer Lee. Not too shabby if I do say so myself! That year, I also competed at the Fitness America National competition, placing 8th among a very strong group of girls.
In October of 2005, my husband and I had our first child, Nash. He is the sweetest little man in the world! We are so blessed! With my new role as a mom, I am learning to maximize my time and make sure to get my workouts in. We have a gym in our basement, and for the most part, I am training for my next competition at home. I am still working as a personal trainer part-time, but it is difficult to get any time for myself at the gym. I teach two Spinning classes each week, and I get some routine practice in whenever I can. Throughout my pregnancy I gained 35 lbs. I ended up having a c-section, but I recovered quickly and started exercising again as soon as I was allowed. I am pleased with the progress of my physique, and feel I”m right on track to be stage-ready. My family is wonderful, cheering me on from the audience or the telephone if they can”t be there! I have also found fellow competitors to be helpful in the journey to the stage. While living in Pennsylvania, I had the pleasure of training with an awesome group of girls with the same goals as me. We called ourselves Team Pittsburgh, and we were fierce! I trained with Sheri McCall, Amber Ameredes, Anne Boland, Lisa Stugart, Lisa Butz, and Ellie Gerdes. The support was amazing, and we truly pushed each other to be the best!
Andi Martin