Heather Foster is a Jamaican-born American professional bodybuilder.
Early life and education
Heather Foster was born in 1966 in Kingston, Jamaica. She has two brothers and one sister. Her parents migrated to Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, when she was two and half years old. She was always a very active child, not wanting to make potholders in Girl Scouts, but rather go outside and play stick ball, basketball and sprint against the boys. She has always been into sports: participating in competitive high school and college track & field, and playing junior high school, high school and college basketball. Heather, her sister, and younger brother all started playing in the church basketball league after their father insisted they did. She studied classical piano for 10 years, performing in numerous concerts as a young girl. She filled in at church, and often played for a few gospel group engagements. In junior high school and high school, she joined the chorus. She joined the high school chorus as a sophomore. Her teacher saw a gift in me and decided to sign me up to audition for New York State Voice. They were only accepting 300 students from various New York high schools, and she was selected with a score of 99 out of 100. While in high school, our church choir competed in, and won the 3rd annual McDonald's Gospelfest, which awarded us the opportunity to perform in two concerts at the famed Apollo Theater, where she performed one and a half leads for both scheduled performances. Due to vocal inactivity, she is not as good as she used to be. After high school, Heather attended to City College of New York where she studied physical education, and LaGuardia Community College, where she studied physical therapy. She has been practicing physical therapy since 1991, spending 9 years working for a reputable institution, specializing in sports medicine and rehabilitation. She also has experience in geriatric and pediatric physical therapy. She regularly give seminars in health, fitness, and training for a wide variety of individuals: staff, students, professors, artists, dancers, martial artists, and more.
Bodybuilding career
Amateur
While attending the City College of New York, the college was holding their very first bodybuilding competition. Lyndon Brown, Heather's friend, took it upon himself to start recruiting some female bodybuilders since they didn't have enough women participants. Heather, who originally wanted nothing to do with bodybuilding, got approached by him about participating in the competition and explained what would be expected of me. She rejected his request after learning she had to wear a two-piece bathing suit. She was on the CCNY women's basketball and track teams and had always been muscular, even as a child in junior high school. Eventually Heather agreed to do the show. She was taught the seven mandatory poses and told to put a routine together to music. On competition day she was so nervous that she wore shades on stage so she wouldn't see anyone in the crowd and she demanded they dim the house lights for the same reason. She placed second in the heavyweight class and managed to do so without lighting a single weight prior to the competition. She turned pro at the 2000 NPC Nationals in New York.
Professional
In 2001, Heather won the heavyweight and overall at her first pro competition, the Women's Pro Extravaganza. In 2006, she won her second pro competition, the Europa Super Show. In 2008 and 2009, she did not compete due to osteitis pubis. In 2010, she placed 6th place at the Ms. Olympia. Heather's routines have gained so much notoriety that an eight time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman contracted her to do his routine for the past two years. Flexonline went so far as to state that his routine at the 2006 Mr. Olympia "was arguably the best routine ever seen on an Olympia stage." She also does music arrangements, voice-overs, choreography, training, and contest preparation for regional, national and professional bodybuilders. She is also a regional judge. She is regarded as a bodybuilding prodigy.
