Mak attack: get ready for the beach with Laura Mak's thigh and glute workout - Workout - personal trainer, fashion entrepreneur, fitness competitor Laura Mak

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, June, 2002 by Kathleen Engel

With that million-megawatt smile and mega-wow physique, IFBB fitness pro Laura Mak isn't exactly your average corporate type. Yet she could easily have been the cover girl for Finney and Foley's new book, which asserts: "To be successful today, women must be bold... audacious... courageous ... in short: bodacious!" The radiance emanating from her wide-open smile reveals only a hint of the phenomenal stash of personal energy that sparks Laura's career as fashion entrepreneur, pro fitness competitor and ACSM-certified personal trainer. Ambitious, feminine, confident and strong, Laura waits for no judges to bestow success. She writes her own success story That is bodacious.

HOW does she do it?

Much like her body-revealing fitness wear, there's little breathing room in Laura's daily schedule. "From 6 to 11 is personal training," she rattles off. 'And then from 11 to 3 is website, writing and clothing stuff. Then I get back into the gym -- from 4 to 6:30 is more personal training. After that it's a little more website stuff and then after that I'm delirious!" At which point Laura lights a candle or two and crashes in her "girly" bedroom, which she insists is the one serene spot left of her Atlanta apartment-turned-clothing warehouse.

Two salespeople now market her line both locally and nationally. "In the last six months, I've grown in the business tremendously," she says. "I've learned a whole new industry, and I've made all these decisions myself. It's empowering!"

Laura is especially appreciative of the support given to her by fellow competitors, but then, put good vibes out and they do bounce back. "I think my parents helped me with that. They always instilled good things in me," she explains. "They taught me that people are good and if they're going through things, you just have to accept that. I think I grew up in this 'happy bubble.' I was blessed to have two really good parents; they were very loving. They were both teachers and they taught me a lot, too.

Good fortune doesn't always shine in one place, however. Two years ago, Laura faced a series of challenges when both her parents were being treated for cancer and her brother was going through some problems. 'At that time, I was a mess. I didn't know who to cry for!" Mid-year, Laura broke her foot at the Jan Tana fitness contest. 'All these things, boom, boom, boom," she recalls. She rallied in 2001, returning to place top-five at the Jan Tana and top-10 in the Fitness Olympia, starting her own business and winding up the year with a seven-page feature in MUSCLE & FITNESS. "It was a heck of a year," she says incredulously.

"I have a book I read every morning, The Daily Word [published by Unity Churchl, that gives you an inspirational thought for the day. It reminds me of the goodness that I try to present to other people, and that there are different ways to handle different situations, and to realize there's a purpose for everything," Laura notes. 'And if I start to get that overwhelmed feeling, then I'll do an adult time-out. I might light a couple of candles and put on some soft gospel or new-age music. I'll lie down for a few minutes, just relax and regroup and talk myself out of whatever tornado I just got into."

Amid marketing strategies and taxes, contest prep and personal training, a new element has entered the twister: the Mak Attack Fitness Classic, Laura's venture into contest promotion, scheduled to include bodybuilding, fitness and figure competitions on June 22 in Gasden, Alabama. In a few years, she hopes to host a pro show in Atlanta. No doubt, when Laura says she's going to do something, you can take her word.

Dumbbeli Squat

Laura stands with dumbbells by her sides, feet slightly closer than shoulder width with toes pointing forward. Standing upright with her abs tight, head up and chest lifted, she is careful to keep her knees behind her toes to maintain balance as she bends her knees and descends into a full squat. "When I descend, I press my glutes back; as I stand up, I push through my heels and squeeze my glutes hard. I go up all the way, then take it back down in one continuous motion to burn the legs and glutes with constant tension."

LEG extension

On this quad-emphasis movement, Laura positions her back against the pad and legs straight out from her hips, hands gripping the handles. With her toes flexed toward the ceiling, she squeezes her quadriceps as she lifts the ankle pad to straighten her legs. "I pause slightly at the top, squeeze and then release slowly so my legs return nearly to the start position," she explains. The stack doesn't touch, which ensures tension on her quads. "Sometimes I turn my toes out; when I do this I feel I hit more of the teardrop [the inner portion of the quadriceps, just above the knees]."

PLIE

squat

Here, Laura places her feet fairly wide with her toes turned out roughly 45 degrees, but she points out that individual flexibility will determine your turnout. "Stand erect with those shoulders up and back and your chest out, and keep the dumbbell close to your body. Make sure your knees go directly over your toes as you descend; you don't want to lean forward and stress your low back. I'll take it down so my knees are at 90-degree angles, then press up through my heels while squeezing my glutes and hams. I usually take it up about three-quarters, where my knees are slightly bent, before I go back down, which really burns because of the constant tension."