| Theresa M. Ivancik | |
| Birth Date: | September 2, 1983[1] |
| Weight: | On-season: 160lb Off-season: 175lb |
| Firstproshow: | IFBB Professional League (IFBB) Norfolk Pro |
| Firstproshowyear: | 2017 |
| Bestwin: | IFBB Chicago Pro champion & best poser award |
| Bestwinyear: | 2020 |
| Active: | Since 2007 Professional Athlete since 2016 (women's bodybuilding)[2] |
Theresa M. Ivancik (born 2 September 1983) is an American professional bodybuilder and former professional physique and figure contestant. She is currently ranked as the 7th best professional female bodybuilder.
Ivancik grew up an active child. She got her first job at 16 years old. She would do runs on her break and did Tae Bo after work. She was on the sequinette dance team at the Butler Area Senior High School, which she graduated in 2001.
In 2001, while Ivancik was under house arrest for driving under the influence, she started messing around with the old Weider system in the basement of her parents house. She stumbled across an Oxygen magazine, where saw pictures from a competition and decided she wanted to look like that. She went to the local gym and started training. After asking about competing, she was directed to Jeff Harlan, owner of his own gym and knowledgeable of the sport and competing. He told she had to eat to complete, but she didn't want to due to being a cardio freak and also suffering from bulimia. So she left him and tried to figure it out herself. While under house arrest, she did research on all the contests. She started training on her own in her basement in 2006. She did her first three shows by herself. Then got back with Jeff as her personal trainer and lover and began prepping for the 2008 National Physique Committee (NPC) Pittsburgh. She later decided to quit figure because she was too big for it.[3] [4]
After the 2008 National Physique Committee (NPC) Pittsburgh, Ivancik decided to move up to bodybuilding. She took off 2009 off so she could eat and grow. This different style of training and nutrition was addicting. In January 2010, she entered her first bodybuilding show, the 2010 NPC Pittsburgh. She also took her 83-year-old grandfather, Pete Ivancik, with her to compete for the first time in Mr. Pittsburgh masters over 80 class, which he won. Soon after, she began taking performance-enhancing drugs, going from 120lb to 180lb in a few months. At the 2016 NPC Nationals, she placed 1st in the heavyweight category, earning her IFBB Pro card. In 2016, she hired amateur bodybuilder Brian Hoydic as her coach.
In 2017, Ivancik placed 2nd at her pro-debut at the 2017 IFBB Norfolk Pro contest. This qualified her for her first Rising Phoenix World Championships in 2017, placing 16th. In 2019, she won her first IFBB Pro League show at the 2019 IFBB Norfolk Pro, which qualified her for the 2019 IFBB Rising Phoenix World Championships, where she placed 6th and got 5th in the best poser award category. In 2020, she won 1st place and the best poser award at the 2020 IFBB Chicago Pro, which qualified her for the 2020 IFBB Ms. Olympia. She got invited to the 2020 IFBB Rising Phoenix World Championships and placed 7th and won the best poser award. She attended her first Ms. Olympia in 2020, where she placed 14th. In 2022, she placed 1st at the IFBB Indy Pro, which qualified her for the 2022 IFBB Ms. Olympia, where she placed 7th. Her current coach is professional bodybuilder Branden Ray. She is currently working on a documentary film about women's bodybuilding called Beyond Bodybuilding.
In 2021, Ivancik was told by judges to switch to women's physique division. At the 2021 IFBB Professional League Chicago Pro, she placed 7th, much poorer results compared to her female bodybuilding career. She didn't feel at home, along with feeling she was too big for the division. So she decided to switch back to female bodybuilding in 2022.
Ivancik currently lives in Butler, Pennsylvania. She is engaged to Jeff Harlan since 2019.[9]